The sky is pink, then purple; the umbrellas and the palm trees darken against a twilight canvas.
There’s nothing like sunset in the Caribbean, a ritual of renewal, a nod to a day enjoyed.
Take yourself for a moment to Frederiksted, St Croix and the pool deck at The Fred boutique hotel; it’s a calm, tranquil 20 seconds of Caribbean sunset.
Next to smell, there’s nothing like music to spark memories. So
while we can’t bring you the fragrance of Frangipani (or even suntan lotion),
these 15 songs capture the memory of times spent relaxing on Caribbean beaches,
drinking rum drinks at resort bars, and dancing at sunset on party boats.
Of course the whole list could be Bob Marley and the Wailers tunes — and we really would have no problem with listening to Bob all day long — but we opted to include a range of songs that you almost certainly have heard if you’ve been to the Caribbean in the last few decades but might not know much about the artist or even the name of the song playing as the background of your island vacation. Big up to all the artists and here’s hoping the music takes you back to good times in the Caribbean!
Hot Hot Hot — Arrow
Thanks to MTV, many Americans of a certain age know the remake of
this song by David Johansen (as Buster Poindexter) better than the original.
But the song was born of the genius of Arrow, a calypso and soca star from the
tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat.
Bam
Bam — Sister Nancy
Pioneering
female Jamaican dancehall singer Sister Nancy recorded this slow-burn classic
in 1982.
Sean
Paul – Temperature
Kingston,
Jamaica rapper Sean Paul topped the international charts with the driving beat
of this 2005 dancehall hit.
Three
Little Birds — Bob Marley and the Wailers
We
literally could have included the entire catalog of this band on the list — One
Love, Buffalo Soldier, Jammin’, Redemption Song (my favorite). But if there’s
one song you’re nearly guaranteed to hear any day in the Caribbean, this is
it.
The
Boat Ride Anthem — Jason Benn and Pelf
We
defy you to stay seated when this soca song starts playing and the winin’ start
on a Caribbean party cruise.
Dollar
Wine — Colin Lucas
I
hear this song and immediately think of a conga line. Listen carefully and
Trini soca artist Colin Lucas will even teach you how to “chip down de road.” The
faster tempo remake by Soca Boys as “One Cent, Five Cent, Ten Cent, Dollar” a
few years later was perhaps even more popular.
The
Harder They Come — Jimmy Cliff
This
song and the film of the same name are widely credited with introducing reggae
to the world.
Night
Nurse — Gregory Issacs
Gregory
Issacs’ velvet voice propels this laid-back paean to sexual healing.
Follow
the Leader — Soca Boys
Put
yuh hands in the air and follow along with this distinctly Caribbean twist on
the Electric Slide.
Jump
in the Line — Harry Belafonte
“Shake,
shake, Señora” remains an irresistible call to the dance floor nearly 60 years
after Jamaican-American legend Harry Belafonte recorded this rousing calypso
song.
It
Wasn’t Me — Shaggy
Shaggy’s
inimitable singing style makes any of his songs instantly recognizable,
including this irresistible tale of a playa who gets caught.
Chase
the Devil — Max Romeo
You
may or may not know this as the “put on the iron shirt” song. Jamaican reggae
artists Max Romeo says the shirt represents the human strength of spirit needed
to “cast out the devil” — perhaps right to outer space.
You
Don’t Love Me (No, No, No) — Dawn Penn
Sixties
rocksteady artist Dawn Penn scored a global comeback hit with this seductive
dancehall song in 1994.
Big
Bamboo — Horace Peterkin
Does
anything say Caribbean vacation like a calypso ode to sexual prowess sung by
the general manager (Horace Peterkin)
of a Sandals resort in Jamaica? We think not.
Pressure
Drop — Toots and the Maytals
This
1969 song by one of the kings of Jamaican ska and rocksteady music rode the
soundtrack for The Harder They Come to worldwide fame, and is still commonly
found on Caribbean resort playlists. The song title refers to the drop in
barometric pressure that occurs when a hurricane is approaching.
Jamaica is creating a “tourism recovery task force” in a bid to help the country’s industry recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
The task force will consist of two layers of partners with a mission to “provide a recovery and growth stimulation framework for the sector,” according to a statement from the Ministry of Tourism.
“We will be working on a hard 2-week drive, to get the framework of the recovery ready, for first discussion with a major international company. This company will be working with us to develop the technical aspect of the plan,” said Jamaica Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett. “We are going to be taking that plan to our partners. We want to create a new tourism after COVID-19 because we recognize the changes that are going to take place.”
Jamaica has also announced plans for a “cruise recovery program,” which will be chaired by Port Authority of Jamaica President and CEO Gordon Shirley.
“The panel that we have established is a very eminent one, which includes some of the best minds in the cruise sector,” Bartlett said. “This will allow us to start putting protocols in place and begin engaging with our partners, to get that sector back on track as quickly as possible.”
In a move to help stakeholders during the crisis, the country has also announced a six-month moratorium on licenses and fees paid by tourism entities, according to Bartlett.
The move covers tourism entities like resort cottages, apartments, villas, car rentals, bike rentals, watersports and craft traders, among others.
Bartlett said he hoped the move would give “some level of reprieve and hopefully help with the cash-flow situation for a number of our partners.”
The moratorium will be reviewed “depending on the length of time it takes for the country to recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the Ministry of Tourism.
It’s the Caribbean capital of windsurfing, one of those seminal spots where a few intrepid surfers turned an empty beach into a Mecca.
And it’s easy to spend a moment daydreaming about the breezy, fun-loving vibes of Lac Bay in Bonaire, a place where the waves seem to get you whether you’re on a board or not.
It’s all there: the toes-in-the-sand beach bar, the energetic, youthful vibe and the marvelous, shallow turquoise waters of Bonaire’s southeastern corner.
So take yourself there digitally right now, to the cool winds and the surf shacks and the smiles.
At least you won’t have to worry about losing your balance.
… being processed, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, April 16, 2020. … San Juan, Puerto Rico, … more
Photo: Carlos Giusti, AP Puerto Rico under scrutiny as … patient dies
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Ricans are becoming increasingly disgruntled with …
