Posted September 16, 201014 yr http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/arts/mus...?ref=obituaries o1QhjTfLn40 September 16, 2010 Arrow, Soca Musician, Dies at 6o By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN JUAN, P.R. (AP) - Arrow, a soca musician who won global fame with his 1983 hit "Hot Hot Hot," died on Wednesday at his home on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. He was 60. The cause was complications of brain cancer, said his brother, Justin Cassell, a singer-songwriter who often collaborated with him. Arrow, whose real name was Alphonsus Cassell, was among the best-known artists of Caribbean-born soca, a fusion music with roots in calypso. "Calypso is political, tropical, slower," Arrow told The Associated Press in a 1996 interview. "Soca is dance. 'Feeling Hot Hot Hot.' " Many North Americans also heard the song in a cover version by Buster Poindexter. Alphonsus Cassell was born on Nov. 16, 1949, into a musical family. In the 1970s he was influenced by the Trinidadian musician the Mighty Sparrow, long the international king of calypso. He was crowned Calypso King at Monterrat's annual Christmas carnival four times before focusing on an international career. In 1975 Arrow released "Monique," a fusion of calypso with the cadence rhythms of Guadeloupe and Martinique. In later albums he continued to mix and match dance rhythms, adding bits of Dominican merengue, Venezuelan and Cuban salsa, Jamaican reggae, hip-hop, African music and American rock and country. His songs also moved away from calypso's traditional role as social and political comment. In the 1980s he performed on tours in Africa, the United States, Europe and Japan. Arrow is survived by four children and two grandchildren. "My first three or four albums were very strong lyrically," he told The New York Times in 1989, "but that kind of song lacked commercial appeal. People want music to enjoy themselves with. This is the whole message of my music: 'Have a good time, enjoy yourself.' " Edited September 16, 201014 yr by Mark.
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