So Shorty defined SOCA as being the Soul Of CAlypso rather than being a fusion of American Soul & Calypso as was misinterpreted by some. Shorty also explained that the “kah” part in the word Sokah is also the pronunciation of the first letter in the Sanskrit alphabet that also symbolizes the power of movement and that Sokah in addition to representing the Soul of Calypso also represents the power of movement in sound. The “H” was added at the end of the word Sokah by Shorty to reflect the Hindu/East Indian influence that had inspired him in his musical experiments between 19 to move from the traditional calypso beat to his then new Calypso and East Indian rhythmic fusion or Sokah/Soca beat. When Shorty came up with the name Sokah he defined it as being an abbreviation for Soul Of KAiso/CAlypso (Kaiso is a short way of pronouncing Calypso). In 1975, while recording the title track for his album, “Sweet Music” Lord Shorty coined the word Soca, which he originally spelt Sokah. The 1974 track, “Endless Vibrations” immediately took off and traditional soca music as we know it today was born. Shorty came up with the track “Endless Vibrations” which he deliberately sprinkled with catchy American phrases and funky horn lines to attract the interest of the younger generation who were at the time more tuned into American funk and soul music. To appease the African community regards their charge of him spoiling calypso music, he removed all the East Indian instruments but would transfer the rhythmic pattern of the dholak to the drum set, the rhythmic pattern of the dhantal to the triangle and the lead notes of the mandolin/sitar to the lead guitar. In 1974, Shorty decided that he had to something rhythmically new and also unifying for the nation of Trinidad & Tobago.
Shorty then wanted to find something to help relaunch calypso to make it more attractive to the younger generation.Īfter trying experimental tracks like “Indrani” and “Love Man” that contained a rhythmic fusion of the Calypso beat with East Indian rhythms and instruments, he was faced with anger from the East Indian community in Trinidad & Tobago that accused Shorty of trying to desecrate their traditional music, while the African community also criticized him for spoiling his Calypsos with unwanted East Indians musical influences! As a result Shorty’s ‘Love Man’ album generally got bad reviews and so flopped in record sales.
He was born Garfield Blackman, in Trinidad, but was better known as Lord Shorty, despite his imposing height of 6-ft 4-in! Shorty began his career with sexual themes in music, but in the early 70s, Shorty was concerned that calypso was dying, and reggae was the new thing.
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