Lord Kitchener – Hot & Sweet: The Soca Years 1976-1978 (1978)

Lord Kitchener (born Aldwyn Roberts) shares with Mighty Sparrow the title of the world's best known Calypso singer. He began his career in Trinidad and won his first Road March award for singing in 1946. In 1948, Kitch emigrated to England in the company of singer Lord Beginner and newsreel footage of the time shows him singing "London Is the Place for Me." In less than two years, he and Beginner were recording for EMI. Kitch enjoyed massive popularity in England, winning the support and affection of England's Princess Margaret. In the 1950s, he toured West Africa and enjoyed a big hit there with his single, "Nora." Like many calypsonians, Kitch drifted toward soca and in 1978 hit the charts with "Sugar Bum Bum." Additonally noted for his hit single, "Give Me the Ting," he died February 12, 2000 at the age of 77. ~ Leon Jackson