Spouge

Spouge is a style of Barbadian popular music created by Jackie Opel in the 1960s. It is said to be primarily a fusion of Jamaican ska with Trinidadian calypso, but is also influenced by a wide variety of musics from the British Isles and United States, include sea shanties, hymns and spirituals. Spouge instrumentation originally consisted of cowbell, bass guitar, trap set and various other electronic and percussion instruments, later augmented by saxophone, trombone and trumpet. Janice Millington, musician and author, lists the American and British influences as including Welsh, Scottish and Irish elements, "transmitted through literature and poetry (Shakespeare and Milton), rhymes, folk songs, sea shanties, classical music, hymns, and other songs of praise (all of which have) been constantly available, providing entertainment, edification and general education to all people of Barbados. North American love songs, parlor songs, African-American spirituals and folk hymns, and hillbilly music have also contributed to a cultural mixture in which the love of a song, the expression through movement, and demand for theater continue to be of paramount importance".

Two different kinds of spouge were popular in the 1960s, "raw spouge" ("Draytons Two style") and "dragon spouge" ("Cassius Clay style"). The spouge industry grew immensely by the end of the 1970s, and produced popular stars like Blue Rhythm Combo, the Draytons Two and The Troubadours, Desmond Weekes. Desmond Weekes the former lead singer of the Drayton Two claims the 1973 album "Raw Spouge" to be "the only 100 per cent spouge album ever produced. The album topped the charts in a number of islands, including but not limited to St. Kitts, St. Lucia and Dominica.

In 2002 Caribbean Records Inc released a CD entitled Vintage Spouge with hits on it such as Gimme Music by Mike Grosvenor, Any Day Now by Richard Stoute and a cover of Sam Cooke's You Send Me, sung by spouge creator Jackie Opel.