Times Store Calypsonians: Shop-Label Recordings, Repertoire, Cultural Role & Legacy

Meet the Times Store Calypsonians, an ensemble tied to Kingston’s shop-label recordings in the 1950s, where mento and calypso were sold alongside household goods to everyday Jamaicans.

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Introduction

The story of Jamaica’s recording industry is often told through the names of artists, producers, and labels. Yet some of its earliest chapters belong to shop-label ensembles—groups whose records were pressed and sold in everyday retail spaces rather than through major distributors. Among these was the Times Store Calypsonians, an ensemble whose recordings exemplify how mento became woven into everyday Jamaican life.

The Times Store label operated in Kingston in the early 1950s, pressing 78 rpm records that could be purchased in the store itself alongside groceries, textiles, and household supplies. For many Jamaicans, these shop-label discs were their first exposure to recorded mento, transforming folk music into a commodity accessible to the working class.

As Scarlett (2008) observes, “The shop-label phenomenon demonstrates how mento’s circulation was tied to informal economies, where songs could move as easily as soap, fabric, or rum.”

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Formation and Early Background

The Times Store Calypsonians were not a fixed, named band in the same sense as Lord Fly’s backing orchestra or the Jolly Boys. Instead, the group functioned as a rotating ensemble of musicians associated with Times Store’s recording initiative.

• Instrumentation: Banjo, guitar, rumba box, maracas, bamboo saxophone—classic mento instrumentation.
• Repertoire: Focused on popular mento and calypso standards that resonated with everyday listeners.
• Context: Performed primarily in recording sessions rather than in hotels, positioning their music as “folk for the people” rather than staged tourist entertainment.

Their recordings illustrate the grassroots commercial life of mento, distinct from the polished hotel circuit.

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Career Highlights

• Shop-Label Recordings (1950s): Released 78 rpm discs under the Times Store label, sold directly in Kingston shops.
• Accessible Distribution: Their records reached everyday Jamaicans who may not have attended hotel shows or tourist circuits.
• Repertoire of Folk Standards: Documented mento classics like “Linstead Market” and “Hill and Gully Rider.”
• Community Identity: Captured songs that reflected market life, gossip, and humor, resonating with working-class audiences.
• Precursor to Independent Labels: Their existence foreshadowed Jamaica’s thriving small-label culture of the 1960s and 1970s (Moskowitz, 2006).

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Notable Repertoire / Known Recordings

The Times Store Calypsonians’ surviving discography is limited but reflects the mento canon:

1. “Linstead Market” – Folk classic with everyday appeal.
2. “Hill and Gully Rider” – Dance tune rooted in work songs.
3. “Evening Time” – Nostalgic folk piece.
4. “Slide Mongoose” – Comic folk narrative.
5. “Matilda” – Humorous mento staple.
6. “Solas Market” – Evokes Kingston street life.
7. “Big Bamboo” – Playful double-entendre number.
8. “Rum and Coca-Cola” – Imported calypso favorite.
9. Market Medleys – Mixtures of folk tunes arranged for 78 rpm sides.
10. Seasonal/Topical Numbers – Short-run songs tied to events or festivals.

These recordings show how the group favored familiar, populist repertoire rather than experimental arrangements.

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Influence & Legacy

The Times Store Calypsonians contributed to Jamaican music history in key ways:

• Democratization of Mento: Made recordings accessible to everyday Jamaicans, not just elites or tourists.
• Grassroots Commercialization: Demonstrated how folk music could be commodified outside formal label structures.
• Cultural Mirror: Their repertoire reflected the humor, gossip, and daily life of Kingston’s working class (Bogues, 2014).
• Precedent for Local Labels: Foreshadowed the rise of small independent labels like Studio One and Treasure Isle, which also targeted everyday listeners.
• Ethnomusicological Value: Their surviving 78s remain crucial documents for scholars tracing mento’s distribution and popularity.

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Expansionary Content: Shop-Label Culture

The Times Store recordings highlight a broader Caribbean pattern: music circulated not only through elite labels but also through grassroots, small-scale enterprises.

• Parallel in Trinidad: Similar shop-label calypsos were pressed in Port of Spain during the same era.
• Informal Economies: Music moved alongside groceries and fabric, showing how sound was embedded in daily consumption.
• Everyday Modernity: Owning a 78 record from Times Store was a way for working-class Jamaicans to participate in modern entertainment culture (Manuel, 2006).

This makes the Times Store Calypsonians an important case study in how music entered Jamaican households before ska, reggae, and the explosion of the 1960s studio culture.

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Conclusion

The Times Store Calypsonians may not have enjoyed the fame of hotel bands or touring ensembles, but their recordings hold immense historical value. By bringing mento into everyday retail spaces, they democratized access to recorded music and preserved Jamaica’s folk repertoire on fragile 78 rpm discs.

Their story underscores that the foundations of Jamaica’s music industry were not only laid in studios and hotels but also in corner shops and community stores, where mento became part of daily life. In this sense, the Times Store Calypsonians embody the grassroots soul of Jamaican music history.

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References

Bilby, K. (2016). Jamaican mento: A hidden history of Caribbean music. Caribbean Studies Press.
Bogues, A. (2014). Music, politics, and cultural memory in the Caribbean. University of the West Indies Press.
Henriques, J. (2011). Sonic bodies: Reggae sound systems, performance techniques, and ways of knowing. Continuum.
Manuel, P. (2006). Caribbean currents: Caribbean music from rumba to reggae (2nd ed.). Temple University Press.
Moskowitz, D. (2006). Caribbean popular music: An encyclopedia of reggae, mento, ska, rock steady, and dancehall. Greenwood Press.
Nettleford, R. (1979). Caribbean cultural identity: The case of Jamaica. Institute of Jamaica Publications.
Potash, C. (1990). Reggae, rasta, revolution: Jamaican music from ska to dub. Schirmer Books.
Scarlett, G. (2008). Jamaican folk traditions and the roots of mento. University of the West Indies Working Papers.
Stolzoff, N. (2000). Wake the town and tell the people: Dancehall culture in Jamaica. Duke University Press.
Taylor, T. (2012). Global pop: World music, world markets. Routledge.