Allrounder and Sista Ava of Kaiso House
“THIS thing is thunder, is real murder!
“People want to know the recipe, the formula, for the Garlic Sauce.
“They even change mih name from Allrounder to Garlic Sauce,’’ complained Anthony Hendrickson, better know in the calypso arena as the “Allrounder’’.
“I wanted to call the song Hamburger, but is mih daughter Shirlane who insist on calling the song Garlic Sauce. Now look what happen,’’ he said, pointing to the vehicular traffic crawling along Charlotte Street, Port of Spain.
Taxi drivers, pedestrians, vendors, pensioners et al kept calling out to Roundie: “We want some garlic sauce. Gee we the garlic sauce. Is only sauce we want, oui. Bring some for mih later nah.’’
“From New York, London, the Caribbean, people calling, day and night for garlic sauce. Ah dunno what this thing have in it?’’
“I thought Jimmy Swagart was big! I thought Keep Fit was big. But you see the Garlic Sauce, this is a tsunami hit. Nothing to stop it,’’ noted the bard, who has been heading the Klassic Ruso Calypso Tent for a number of years.
And the man who arranged Allrounder’s music is the maestro himself, Pelham Goddard.
“Pelham is ah boss, the man good. When he tell you that song going places, book you ticket. He know what he doing. He put everything in the music,’’ said Allrounder.
At the recent “Clash of the Sexes’’, Roundie was in superb form, hitting boundaries only fours and sixes.
So far he has performed in Fyzabad, Point Fortin, Skinner Park, Woodford Square, receiving encores, rave reviews and plaudits from huge audiences.
After 45 years in the Kaiso arena, Allrounder is now a grand master.
“I made my debut on 6th January 1967 at the Revue on Richmond Street, Port of Spain singing ‘My Little Brother Charlie’ . I received five encores for that song. I never look back after that,’’ he asserted.
“In that tent you had Lord Melody, Kitchener, Composer, Growling Tiger. I get schooling from the biggest and best bards in the land,’’ he recalled.
“Sparrow took me on tours,’’ said the bard, who has performed in many countries around the world, bringing joy to people via his songs and music.
Roundie has taken part in numerous calypso competitions over the years, scoring victories in the Buy Local Contest in 1973 and the North Calypso Contest in 1976.
“I made the Monarch semis many times and the finals on three occasions,’’ he remembered.
He won the Calypso King of the World in 1983 and 1984 and walked away with the Best Humorous Calypso in 1984, singing the witty ditty “The Miracle’’.
It’s about a baby talking as soon as he was born.
That number swept the nation off its feet.
Allrounder’s family is a calypso family.
“So if you can’t sing in this family, then something wrong with you,’’ said Roundie, whose daughters, Shirlane and Lady Wonder, have carved a niche for themselves in the calypso world.
And in this family, too, you must be a good cricketer because they opening the bowling with pace and ending with pace. It’s bouncers and beamers forever.
“We have some spin here and there, a little chinaman, googly, doosra, back-of-the-hand stuff and things like that. We have we own wicket-keeper, umpire, scorer. So doh try anything ‘cause we go run you out,’’ said a laughing Allrounder.
“You know, I believe in making people laugh. I like humour like the late Cypher. I could sing jump and wave, wine and jam, but that’s not my thing,’’ he said.
“If you singing about boxing, put on boxing gloves. If you singing about cricket, put on some cricket gear. You have to look nice,’’ he advised.
His witty ditties over the years have left many an audience begging, bawling, calling, crying, craving for more.
“Ah Loss Right Round, My Man Doh Like Dat, Yuh Lie, Jai Cry, Blackman Get Serious and Know Who You Are, to name a few, are some of his memorable hits.
His ditty “Meat is Meat’’ tells the story about meat.
It’s about a woman selling meat.
“She give me hog, dog, lappe and bat. But the sweetest meat is cat,’’ he laughed.
Right now Allrounder and his super cast can be located at the newly refurbished City Hall in Port of Spain.
However, you’ve got to be a little careful with all that kinda pace bowling on the new wicket.
But Roundie promises that the newly laid turf wicket at Klassic Ruso is real friendly, so doh worry!
