Kelvin Pope, better known as The Mighty Duke (1932 – 14 January 2009)
''

Trinidad Express The ''Trinidad and Tobago Express'', better known as ''Daily Express'' (and the weekend editions ''Saturday Express'' and ''Sunday Express''), is one of three daily newspapers in Trinidad and Tobago. The ''Daily Express'' as per its masthead is p ...

'', 15 January 2009. was a

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

ian calypsonian. He was born in

Point Fortin Point Fortin, officially the Republic Borough of Point Fortin, the smallest Borough in Trinidad and Tobago is located in southwestern Trinidad, about southwest of San Fernando, in the historic county of Saint Patrick. After the discovery of p ...

Career

Born in Point Fortin in 1932, Pope was a former school teacher who left a career working at

Shell Oil Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yor ...

to perform calypso music.Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, 0-87930-655-6, pp. 183–184 In the 1950s, he played locally in his hometown, then began playing in

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

at the Southern Brigade Calypso Tent. In 1964 he relocated to

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

and performed at the Original Young Brigade. He won the National

Calypso King The Calypso Monarch (originally Calypso King) contest is one of the two major annual calypso competitions held in Trinidad as part of the annual carnival celebrations. History While Trinidad's carnival has its origins in the 18th century, a sing ...

title for four years straight (1968–71), the only person to achieve the feat: In 1968 with "What Is Calypso" and "Social Bacchanal", in 1969 with "Black Is Beautiful" and "One Foot Visina", then in 1970 singing "Brotherhood of Man" and "See Through" and finally, in 1971 he won the competition performing "Mathematical Formula" and "Melvine & Yvonne".The Mighty Duke
, ncctt.org. Retrieved 20 May 2016 Furthermore he was noted for exploring ideas such as black consciousness,

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

, and global politics in his lyrics.

Lord Nelson Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British people, British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strate ...

was one of many for whom he composed music. In 1970, he was awarded the Silver

Hummingbird Medal The Hummingbird Medal is a state decoration of Trinidad and Tobago, instituted in 1969. The medal is awarded for loyal and devoted service beneficial to the state in any field, or acts of conspicuous gallantry or other outstanding humane action. Th ...

for his contribution to calypso. In 1987, his

soca Soca or SOCA may refer to: Places * Soča, a river in Slovenia and Italy * Soča, Bovec, Slovenia * Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport, by ICAO code * Soca, a village in Banloc Commune, Timiș County, Romania * SoCa, Southern California Other u ...

song "Thunder" was awarded the

Road March The Carnival Road March is the musical composition played most often at the "judging points" along the parade route during a Caribbean Carnival. Originating as part of the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, the term has been applied to other Caribbean ...

prize.Scaramuzzo, Gene "

Mighty Duke Biography Mighty may refer to: * ''Mighty'' (The Planet Smashers album) * ''Mighty'' (Kristene DiMarco album) * ''The Mighty'' (1929 film), a 1929 American action film *'' The Mighty'', a 1998 comedy-drama film * ''The Mighty'' (comics), a DC Comics title * ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. Retrieved 20 May 2016 Pope died on 14 January 2009, aged 76, in St. Clair (

Port-of-Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

myelofibrosis Primary myelofibrosis (PMF) is a rare bone marrow blood cancer. It is classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a type of myeloproliferative neoplasm, a group of cancers in which there is growth of abnormal cells in the bone marrow. ...

, which he had been battling for five years.

Discography

Singles

* "Woop Wap"/"Racial Segregation" (National Record Company 031) (Single) (1964) featuring the Bert Inniss National Recording Orchestra * "Grenada Girl"/"Crime Wave" (Telco US) (Single) (1968) * "Black Is Beautiful"/"Visina" (Tropico T-71098) (Single) (1969) * "Macajuel Oil"/"Blackskin Whiteman" (Tropico T-7-1128) (Single) (196?) * "Black Power"/"Mathematical Formula For Peace" (1971) * "Steelband Panorama"/"Trouble in '72" (1972) * "V Is For Peace"/"Child Of The Ghetto" (Camille Records C138) (Single) (1974) * Cock of the Rock (Camille Records 9038) (12") (1975) * "Ah Wish I Was"/"Swing With King" (Camille Records C152) (Single) (1975) * "Poo Po Doo"/"Axe Handle Freda" (Camille Records C155) (Single) (1975) * "Teach The Children"/"Don't Waist Yuh Waist" (Camille Records C161) (Single) (1976) * "My Night To Party"/"Mr. Jarvis" (1977) * "Carnival Fire"/"Uhuru" (Charlie's Records CR 535) (Single) (1977) * "Do What You Doing"/"Bam Bam Oui" (Charlie's Records DDCR 239) (Single) (1979) * "Ah Like It"/"Bam Bam Oye" (Romey's RS 015) (Single) (1979) * "The Imitators"/"If" (197?) * "Work It Up"/"Doh Horn Meh" (Duke Record D 01) (12") (1980) * "Is Thunder"/"Love Vibrations" (Hot Vinyl HVT 43) (12") (1987)

Albums

* ''All Night Tonight'' (MCA Records 1890) (1969) * ''A Message From The Man'' (Camille Records C 09027) (1973) * ''Poetry & Music'' (Charlie's Records CR-136) (1977) * ''Harps Of Gold'' (Sharc International SS-1079-1) (1980) * ''Over And Over And Over Again'' (B's Records B'sR1009) (1982) * ''Carnival Anniversary'' (Straker's Records GS 2245) (1983) * ''Calypso Forever'' (Straker's Records GS 2253) (1984) * ''Land Of Love'' (Straker's Records GS 2262) (1985) * ''In These Times'' (Straker's Records GS 2266) (1986) * ''Yesterday Today Tomorrow'' (Lem's Records LEM-DKE-0101) (1987) * ''Poison'' (JW Productions JW-DKE-002) (1988) * ''Party For Yuh Life!'' (JW Productions JW-DKE-018) (1989) * ''Total Dis-Order'' (JW Productions JW-DKE-028) (1990) * ''Hotel Time'' (Charlie's Records DCR 3559A) (1991) * ''The Phung-Uh-Nung Sweet'' (Straker's Records GS 2355-B) (1992) * ''Ah Duke Ah King Ah Pope'' (Spice Island Records SILP-0020) (1993) * ''Mask'' (Ice Records 931401) (1994)

External links

Oral history with Kelvin Pope
recorded in 1995

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mighty Duke, The 1932 births 2009 deaths 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago male singers Calypsonians Recipients of the Hummingbird Medal