The Shooting Star of David Rudder ....68 not out
In 1986 David Michael Rudder became a global calypso superstar.
In his debut year as a solo act, the then 32-year-old Rudder created history by becoming the first and only performer to win every Carnival calypso title possible including: the Young King, National Calypso Monarch, Road March) and Panorama competition -- Trinidad All Stars steel orchestra won the National Panorama competition with Rudder’s “The Hammer”.There was no Soca Monarch at the time. That competition only started in 1993. But if there was a Soca Monarch competition, Rudder would have won that too, and quite easily, as there was no stopping the sweet “pim-bi-lim-bim-baye-diddy-bam-bam” of his ubiquitous “Bahia Girl”.
Rudder’s unprecedented sweep earned him the title King David, an honour bestowed on the Belmont-born chantuelle by none other than Calypso King of the World The Mighty Sparrow (Slinger Francisco).
King David celebrated his 68th year on this earth on May 6. Thity-five years on, the memories from that yet to be duplicated feat remain fresh in his beautiful aging mind.
“I appreciated the moment very quickly. I had no choice. All I heard was “Bahia Girl” and “The Hammer” non-stop. People ‘catching power’, schoolgirls screaming and fainting. International press calling, record companies calling; it was wild,” a reflective Rudder recalled during a nostalgic online exchange with the Kitcharee on Friday morning.
A rising star
In his debut year as a solo act, the then 32-year-old Rudder created history by becoming the first and only performer to win every Carnival calypso title possible including: the Young King, National Calypso Monarch, Road March) and Panorama competition -- Trinidad All Stars steel orchestra won the National Panorama competition with Rudder’s “The Hammer”.There was no Soca Monarch at the time. That competition only started in 1993. But if there was a Soca Monarch competition, Rudder would have won that too, and quite easily, as there was no stopping the sweet “pim-bi-lim-bim-baye-diddy-bam-bam” of his ubiquitous “Bahia Girl”.
Rudder’s unprecedented sweep earned him the title King David, an honour bestowed on the Belmont-born chantuelle by none other than Calypso King of the World The Mighty Sparrow (Slinger Francisco).
King David celebrated his 68th year on this earth on May 6. Thity-five years on, the memories from that yet to be duplicated feat remain fresh in his beautiful aging mind.
“I appreciated the moment very quickly. I had no choice. All I heard was “Bahia Girl” and “The Hammer” non-stop. People ‘catching power’, schoolgirls screaming and fainting. International press calling, record companies calling; it was wild,” a reflective Rudder recalled during a nostalgic online exchange with the Kitcharee on Friday morning.
A rising star
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