Veteran calypsonian Hollis Liverpool (Chalkdust) said yesterday his late comrade Kelvin Pope's beloved classic How Many More Must Die will be sung at his send-off at Coronation Park, Pt Fortin, on January 22nd.
Pope died at the Ellerslie Park Private Hospital (formerly Stanley's) at 1.05 pm on January 13. For some time, he had been battling bone marrow cancer.
Liverpool said the double celebration on Pope's life would take place at City Hall, Knox Street, Port-of-Spain, on January 19 and 20 and in Pope's hometown of Point Fortin on January 22. Duke, 77, was born in St Vincent and came to Trinidad at a tender age and lived at Andel Road in Point Fortin, before moving to Cap-de-Ville Main Road. Liverpool said: "How Many More Must Die is one of the songs Duke was most famous for. It brought home the message of the evil of apartheid in South Africa under PW Botha's regime.
"It will definitely be sung in his honour. We will be singing a lot of songs from his repertoire. I know Teach The Children, too. It was another one of his favourites. But I haven't selected them all yet."
Liverpool said he was still in the process of finalising the programme for Thursday. "There will be a lot of calypso and calypsonians. I know (calypsonians) Luta and Gypsy will be there for sure. We want to give the grand man of calypso a fine send-off."
Celebration at City Hall, Port-of-Spain
Liverpool said Duke's legions of fans in the North and East will also get an opportunity to pay tribute to him in Port-of-Spain. He said: "We are inviting the public to come and pay tribute to him in song, dance or lyrical verse. We want to accommodate people who cannot make it all the way to South. People will want to pay their respects to this great icon." Pope, a four-time Calypso Monarch, left a legacy like his 1987 Road March hit Thunder, Work It For Me, Black Is Beautiful and Visina.
Relator pays tribute
Meanwhile, his colleagues like Relator continued paying tribute to Pope yesterday. Strumming on his guitar, Relator sang Black Is Beautiful at a media luncheon hosted by T&TEC at the Grand Ballroom, Hilton Trinidad, St Ann's, yesterday.
