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SpougeSpouge music is a marrying of ska from Jamaica and calypso from Trinidad with an influence of a wide selection of music from the British Isles and the United States. These included hymns, spirituals and sea shanties. This genre of music was given birth to by Barbados' very own Jackie Opel in the 1960s.
Original instruments used to play spouge on the island of Barbados included bass guitar, a cowbell and a wide selection of electronic and percussion instruments which were subsequently improved to the trombone, trumpet and saxophone.
The 1960s saw the popularity of two (2) different types of spouge. Raw spouge which was more along the lines of the Draytons Two and dragon spouge which was more along the lines of Cassius Clay.
By the end of the 1970s, spouge in Barbados had taken flight and the island was able to produce stars such as the Troubadours, the Draytons Two and Blue Rhythm Combo.
The popularity of spouge grew so much in Barbados that it spread its wings towards the other Caribbean islands.
About Jackie OpelJackie Opel was born Dalton Bishop in 1938 in Barbados' capital city Bridgetown in a neighbourhood called Chapman Lane. At a very early age, he grew fond of the red light area in Nelson Street as this is where he would spend time near the jukeboxes so he could listen to his idol Jackie Wilson. He soon adapted a voice that was very similar in sound to that of Jackie Wilson and in the 1950s, he started singing with a band at the Coconut Creek. The combination of this voice and his dance moves that resembled James Brown, soon gained him an immeasureable amount of popularity.
Spouge on the island of Barbados quickly became the island's version of Jamaican ska and Trinidadian calypso combined. This establishment took place while Jackie Opel was on tour in Jamaica.
March 9, 1970 was the date of the untimely death of this Barbadian icon. Jackie Opel died at the age of 32 in a car accident.
Today, Jackie Opel's memory is paid homage to by the Jackie Opel Amphitheatre, which is located in the general Post Office Complex in Barbados' capital city Bridgetown.
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