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merge into
Desperadoes. Rudolph "Charlo" Charles, who came from Spike Jones was given the captaincy in 1961, and he brought in Mr. Beverly Griffith as an arranger. Mr. Charles managed Desperadoes up to his passing in 1985. They band placed third in the first Panorama competition in 1963, 2nd in 1964. In 1965 the band's sponsor changed to the West Indian Tobacco Company, and they became the WITCO Gay Desperadoes. They won Panorama for the first time the in 1966, with a rendition of
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246:'s "Obeah Wedding". Charles recruited a few members away from other steelbands and transformed Desperadoes from a steelband into a STEEL ORCHESTRA. In later years he invited several pantuners such as Bertie Marshall to join. They dropped 'Gay' from the name in the 1970s. Under Rudolph Charles' leadership, the band won Panorama 6 times and Classical Music Festivals on 2 occasions. As of 2020, Desperadoes has 12 Panorama and 5 Classical victories.
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in NYC. Desperadoes have also toured some of
Trinidad & Tobago's motherlands; such as Africa, India, China, England and Grenada. The band has qualified for the most Panorama finals, 53 of 57 with {12} 1st, {6} 2nd and {9} 3rd. Desperadoes was a finalist for 36 consecutive years 1976 through 2011,
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In the 1950s another group of youths from Ovid Alley, Laventille, formed calling themselves Spike Jones. Ovid Alley was changed to
Desperslie Crescent in the late 1970s. Then, the founders of Desperadoes said: "there can be only one steelband here", so the young Spike Jones group had no choice but to
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in 1992. Their classical renditions were all arranged and conducted by the late, Dr. Pat Bishop. Desperadoes have also won The Best
Village Classical Competition for pan in 1965. They performed "The Marriage of Figaro", which was arranged By Mr. Beverly
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community began calling their group the
Morocco/Dead End Kids, after some of them had seen a movie entitled "The Desperadoes" at the Royal Cinema on Charlotte Street. The name Desperadoes Steelband first came out at Carnival in 1947. There were several rival steelbands at the time: Sun Valley, Hill
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Griffith. In 1967 they won The Champ of Champs
Classical Competition. Their rendition of "Palaestra" and "The Merry Wives of Windsor" were arranged and conducted by the late Raymond "Artie" Shaw. Desperadoes Steel Orchestra has never lost a classical competition as a finalist.
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Sixty, the
Crusaders, and Destination Tokyo. In the early 1950s, Wilfred "Speaker" Harrison and Donald "Jit" Steadman began bringing out the Mas Band. Later, this took a professional focus that saw the band sign a sponsorship deal with
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These bands and a description of Fish Eyes (Rudolph
Olivier) and his band practising down in The Dry River during this time can be found in Fermor, Patrick Leigh, "The Traveler's Tree," pp 170-72 (New York: New York Review Book)
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has a winning average of (1) victory every 4.75 years as of 2020, has won every entered competition, and has a total of 21 combined MAJOR victories and 7 minor wins at various competitions, from 1965 to 2020.
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competition of
Trinidad and Tobago a total of twelve times in their history. Their most recent win took place in 2020, where they won with a total of 286 points.
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with up to 200 children participating. Besides playing steelpan, the program includes foreign language training, life skills and field trips.
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Voices from the Hills: Despers & Laventille - The steelband and its effects on poverty, stigma & violence in a community
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Desperadoes have won the (Pan Is
Beautiful) Steel Orchestra Music Festival of Trinidad and Tobago three times. They played the "
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at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and the late, Insp. Anthony Prospect conducted their English tour in 1981. The late Dr.
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In late May 2017, the band held elections, and Mr. Kenneth Collis was elected the 11th Manager since Mr. Rudolph Charles.
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The late Raymond "Artie" Shaw was the first musician to conduct Desperadoes Steel Orchestra at their performance for
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The Dead End, The Desperadoes, The Gay Desperadoes, The Coca-Cola Gay Desperadoes, The WITCO Desperadoes
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The orchestra always takes part in the 'Large Band' category, with a minimum of one hundred musicians.
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572:(197?), Bestway - as Gay Desperadoes Steel Orchestra, split with Solo Harmonites Steel Orchestra
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Music From Behind the Bridge: Steelband Aesthetics and Politics in Trinidad and Tobago
543:(1966), Recording Artists - as The West Indian Tobacco Gay Desperadoes Steel Orchestra
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Despers also make an effort to educate their community in Laventille, and has hosted
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555:(1967), Tropico - as The West Indian Tobacco Gay Desperadoes Steel Orchestra
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in 1962. Thus, the band name changed to the Coca-Cola Gay Desperadoes.
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The orchestra has made worldwide appearances and has performed at the
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In Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1943, some young men who lived in the
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in 1972, Carnegie Hall in 1987, and performed with the Opera singer
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559:"Steel + Brass = Gold" (1968) "Despers Classics Volume #1" (1969)
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537:(1965), RCA Victor - as Coca-Cola Gay Desperadoes Steel Orchestra
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Trinidad's Steelpan Players Turn Trash Into Something Beautiful
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Desperadoes - Rudolph Charles Era and Beyond" by Ian Franklin
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549:(1966), Tropico/RCA - as Gay Desperadoes Steel Orchestra
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400 Questions & Answers on Pan from 1960 to Present
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Maximum players allowed in the 'Large Band' category.
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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584:(1991), Charlie's - as WITCO Gay Desperados
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109:Learn how and when to remove this message
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301:Despers have won the National Steelband
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784:, 23 May 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2016
734:Steel Drums and Steelbands: a History
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47:adding citations to reliable sources
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754:Cardinez, Gary (October 23, 2006).
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900:Musical groups established in 1950
890:Trinidad and Tobago musical groups
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578:(1981), Charisma - as Desperadoes
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421:B. Griffith & R. Greenidge
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268:conducted their performance at
34:needs additional citations for
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630:, by Ancil Anthony Neil, 1987.
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1:
758:. Trinidad and Tobago Newsday
756:"WITCO Despers celebrates 40"
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58:"Desperadoes Steel Orchestra"
664:Reggae & Caribbean Music
582:The Magical Music Of Despers
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694:, Oxford University Press,
566:(1971), Despers Productions
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203:Desperadoes Steel Orchestra
125:Desperadoes Steel Orchestra
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617:(1977), Hildrina/Charlie's
594:Live at Holder's, Barbados
489:Carlton "Zanda" Alexander
478:Carlton "Zanda" Alexander
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776:Dreisinger, Baz (2015) "
570:Classics With the Giants
690:Dudley, Shannon (2007)
835:June 30, 2008, at the
817:June 30, 2008, at the
799:June 30, 2008, at the
662:Thompson, Dave (2002)
140:Background information
732:Smith, Angela (2012)
602:(1999), Rituals Music
600:Steel in the Classics
257:in Barbados in 1997.
225:Origins and evolution
535:Carnival In Trinidad
464:"Picture on my Wall"
43:improve this article
736:, Scarecrow Press,
615:The Best Of Despers
418:"Pan Night and Day"
320:PRELIMS/SEMI-FINAL
666:, Backbeat Books,
502:Polovetsian Dances
442:"Fire Coming Down"
221:, formed in 1945.
16:Trinidad steelband
718:978-1-59017-380-0
547:Caribbean Holiday
516:in 1988 and the "
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445:Robert Greenidge
429:"Musical Volcano"
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508:in 1986, the "
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475:"Different Me"
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32:This article
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762:27 September
760:. Retrieved
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607:Compilations
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564:Calypso Rock
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510:Marche Slave
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486:"More Sokah"
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192:1945–present
188:Years active
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41:Please help
36:verification
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674:, pp. 96–97
576:Desperadoes
529:Discography
514:Tchaikovsky
177:Trinidadian
895:Steelbands
884:Categories
635:References
588:The Jammer
396:"Crawford"
266:Pat Bishop
231:Laventille
215:Laventille
159:Laventille
99:April 2016
69:newspapers
407:"Rebecca"
353:Arranger
317:CATEGORY
286:Pan Camps
280:Education
236:Coca-Cola
211:steelband
833:Archived
815:Archived
812:Panorama
797:Archived
372:"Margie"
303:Panorama
297:Panorama
219:Trinidad
209:, are a
173:Steelpan
163:Trinidad
875:YouTube
871:Despers
794:Pancamp
622:Sources
522:Smetana
512:" from
506:Borodin
207:Despers
181:Calypso
83:scholar
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596:(1998)
590:(1991)
328:Large
323:FINAL
169:Genres
155:Origin
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520:" by
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90:JSTOR
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764:2017
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483:2020
472:2016
461:2000
450:1999
439:1994
426:1991
415:1985
404:1983
393:1977
382:1976
369:1970
358:1966
350:Song
347:Year
201:The
62:news
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782:NPR
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