SILVER STARS

by Donavan Alvarez

Imagine it is the late1940s and you live in Trinidad. The island is not yet independent and is ruled by the British Crown. Racial prejudice exists on a large scale and the steelpan is frowned upon by nearly all members of society. That is the scenario that confronts a small group of schoolboys, most of whom attended the prestigious St.Mary’s College in Port of Spain. The group consisted of Roy and Ramon Young, Ronnie and Ray Chan, Peter Quong Sing, Selwyn Gomes, Hugh Maze, Hollis Rodriguez, Courtenay Guillen and Maurice Alvarez.

Excitement was thick in the air where the boys were liming, in Roy Young’s yard, 54-56 Woodford Street, Woodbrook. They had in their possession two tenor pans given to them by Ellie Mannette of Invaders Steelband and were fascinated with the instruments. One pan called “el Maestro” had been given to Hollis, in appreciation of a good deed he had done, by hiding Ellie from a rival group of panmen. The other pan, had been delivered by Maurice, using his car. In the following weeks the Young’s yard became their personal music room and soon, another request was made to Ellie, who loaned them more pans. Their next move was to relocate to the more spacious backyard of the Chan family, at 80 Picton Steet, Woodbrook. Held in high esteem by the other youths, Ramon Young was accepted as captain of the band. One of the band’s first engagement, organised by the Guillen family, was to play music for a carnival band called Valentinos. Soon, people began referring to them as “The Newtown Boys Steelband” and sometimes, “Valentinos.”

Meanwhile, another story was developing which helped shape the band’s future. In 1950, another St.Mary’s College schoolboy, Edgar ‘Junior’ Pouchet, received a tenor pan as a birthday gift from his parents and together with some of his schoolmates, formed a band called “Gold Coast.” The boys gathered what money they could and bought more pans from a St.James band called Tripoli. During the Jouvert celebrations the following year (1951), Junior’s group (Gold Coast) met the Newtown Boys (Valentinos), resulting in a decision being made to join forces and become one steelband. That union boosted the ranks with players that included Fred Penco, Carl Cabral, Kenneth ‘Grief’ Saunders, Edgar ‘Junior’ Pouchet and Everard Pouchet.

For a while, the band was allowed to use the Chan’s residence for practice sessions but knew they would have to move, as the Chan’s wanted to extend their home. They did so in 1951, after getting permission to use the backyard of Mr. and Mrs.Halfhide at #7 Warner Street, Woodbrook. During their stay at the Halfhides, people began calling them different names like “the Chinee Band” and “the white-boy band” because of their affiliation with St. Mary’s College and the fact that many of the boys were of Chinese ancestry. This did not go down well with the boys who wanted to be respected and accepted by the other steelbands who viewed them as interlopers in their territory. Roy Young explained how they acquired their name. “Our name came about by chance. There was this magazine we used to read called “Silver Screen,” in which a lot of