Solo Harmonites Steel Orchestra - Lord Kitchener's "The Wrecker" (1968)

Solo Harmonites Steel Orchestra and their 1968 Panorama winning selection, Lord Kitchener's "The Wrecker"
I've been thinking of my most memorable Panorama experience, and I have to give that honor to Solo Harmonites performance in the preliminaries of 1968.
The decade of the 1960's saw the greatest advances in the steelband world, and we saw the steelbands grow from the single pan "pan 'round neck" era of the fifties to the large racks and chariot like structures used to give mobility to the bands from the mid sixties, onwards .
By 1968, the bands had gotten much larger, and one of the largest and most powerful of the steelbands was the Solo Harmonites Steel orchestra.
For the youth in those days, Panorama was more about the preliminaries, and the finals was almost anticlimactic. And the place to be was on the drag, since the bands started playing their tunes near the Savannah entrance, and went down the "drag", across the staging area, to the exit, in full "pan on the move " mode.
I remember going down the drag behind my tenor bass pans with my band Wasa Silvertones, playing Lord Kitchener's "Miss Tourist" arranged by Kenrick "Kicker" George.
After playing, I took a seat in the Grand Stand to watch some of the other bands coming down the "drag", and then Solo Harmonites came down , and what an impression they made!
The band was so large, it seemed to fill the whole of the track, and it looked as if half the people in the Savannah was coming down the track with them.
One of the earliest bands to use canopies over their pans, they presented a most impressive sight.
And how sweet they sounded. The pans tuned by the late great tuner Alan Gervais sounded sweet and clear, and Earl Rodney's arrangement of Lord Kitchener's "The Wrecker" had the Grand Stand rocking.
I recall that as the music swept over us the crowd started chanting along with the music (at 02:20) Solo, Solo .....Solo Solo.
That performance has stayed with me since that day, and after the performance Solo Harmonites was the talk of pan lovers.
Their finals victory was a foregone conclusion.
Here is my best recording of Solo Harmonite's "The Wrecker".

[@jlucass8367]

Thank You véry much for your band ! Fire ! Great ! I'm french People of Reunion island créole ! Blessing .Indian Océan 👍👏🌴💃💯🎶🎼🙏..

[@charlesbarry971]

One of the great arrangements of the past. Thanks 👍😊😊😁😁
Earl Rodney.

[@charlesbarry971]

History

[@marquisgittens3223]

Thank you!!! Solo, Solo .....Solo Solo!

[@joehiggs100]

Many thanks for sharing. I'm a big fan of calypso, soca, mento etc., we used to have many steel bands here in Manchester UK , the great Earl Rodney is a gem, along with the other masters. I'm ashamed to say I hadn't heard of Solo Harmonites until I found ''How You Sweet So!' a couple of days ago in my favourite second hand shop. Brilliant!

[@yvettemunroe2176]

Great Steelband.
I played my. First Masks this year.
They won Panorama.
Twas the Biggest Band

[@yvettemunroe2176]

Great Arrangement

[@edcee5072]

cannot forget this. 1968....we hit town with an array of pans virtually in answer to Cavaliers of 1965, and when the Wrecker passed down the track the whole savannah emptied. Never seen anything like this again.

[@mortycaton3779]

Come again Joseph Renaud you can, yes you can.

[@mortycaton3779]

RODNEY jamming STILL

[@makedaregis4833]

ed cee did you play for them??

[@HameedShaqqthepanpiper]

love it

[@independentpuppy7520]

Beautiful. Thanks Glenroy. Keep posting :) Always a pleasure to listen to. A nice happy sound.

[@renmark1412]

Damm, you guys know how long I have been looking 4 this, thanks man, a true classic!
$11 a head is 11 bamboo instead, and the part that sent us reaching for the sky was... Solo! Solo!

[@SuperSnk1]

CLASS, FIRST CLASS, TOP CLASS AND MORE CLASS. Without a doubt one of the very BEST .

[@SuperSnk1]

Solo just "Wrecked" the others with their rendition of "The Wrecker" and to me it was just FANTASTIC . Hoping they would play this again on the road for hearing this being played by their Big Band would be just GREAT . Thanks .

[@harmoknights]

.....Thanks Glenroy !!!

[@HameedShaqqthepanpiper]

HARMONITES FOREVER ROADRUNNERS #1

[@mikewalters3299]

class will be always class sir earl Rodney doing his thing solo solo

[@marquisgittens3223]

That Jourvert morning you ran the risk of being crushed in the largest band of party goers I have ever seen.

[@SuperSnk1]

Winners from the Intro. True Champs.

[@makedaregis4833]

I’m trying to find my dad and my twin brothers who played for them, my dad died out here in new your in 1987. I was that he was an arranger for solo harmonites too, and my twin brother played in the band. My dad was 50 years old when he died, can you help me

[@matthewlee7648]

Great win but I would like to hear the live version at the finals.

[@grjoseph]

Sorry. You had to be there 😊

[@tsahiharris4468]

My daddy Gary Harris was a member and recorded this song

[@VincentSmith-rh2cm]

🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😂 0:26

[@davesingh6066]

Turbans brand Starland flag woman

[@nealscott822]

The flagman look like GeorgePants.

[@joelseeberan2856]

I was in the park. That day.we all know who was the winner that day.
I was 16 at the time
Still remember like yesterday