Harbor Lights, After Dark, Best Little Warehouse in Barbados – these were some of the hottest places for live performances here, only one still exists now… the very first mentioned.

Second Avenue, Square one and another “S” group were the bands to listen to… This other “S” band had the largest T-Shirt band ever at the National Stadium and they invented a festival which erstwhile elements associated with the NCF destroyed… ‘Congaline Carnival‘, so why was it demolished? It clashed with “Reggae On The Hill,” after they demobbed, only one stayed and changed into a Gray Lizard who sought the Limelight. Just who is this “S” Band? , BABY!

The group snuck in on a few days ago via Alan Sheppard who gave a free download of their version of Blue Swede’s “” and when the song was listed as “Spice” not The Heard, Alo or any other persona like his revived cafe – Bump N’Wine, based on a chorus from the group’s massive 1988 hit “In De Congaline” then tongues started to wag…

I got invited to join only today, in fact their Page was created only this afternoon and when I got home, it jumped to close to 500 members, in under one hour – here are just a few of the reactions;-

• “Alan, Make my year. Are you going back to T n T carnival as well…those were the very best years!!“
• “Miss you guy’s like crazy,so happy to hear your all playing together again“
• “I still have a Spice t-shirt and bandanna from Crop Over – the last time I jumped – I guess that is when we still had t-shirt bands“

These are just a few reactions from Bajans of all hues and society levels, only a few days ago, there was a query on Barbados Free Press;-

“Does anybody know where there is information about Spice & Co? I can’t find them anywhere on the net, not even a band-photo. Interested to know who the band-members where and so on“

(Hopefully this article and BR’s Video Gallery will put paid to all of these concerns) So what has the group itself released on Facebook?

“Spice & Co with Alan Sheppard, Dean Straker and Roger Foster have come together to do a huge concert in Barbados in early 2010. Join up to get special invitations to purchase tickets and info regarding the concert.”

My own recollections of Spice are many and fun, I remember Alan stopping one night and giving me a lift to Harbor Lights where he was going to sing that evening (I was a deejay then, but had no car and that is how close-knit announcers and groups were in those days, I got a lift one time from Alison Hinds another time over to After Dark) and we debated if George Michaels’ “Praying for Time” would go No. 1 and I thought so, he disagreed – we bet one hundred dollars!

Four weeks later, he had to buy all my drinks and I still had a profit after the bar tab in the wee hours, Alan swore never to bet me on another song ever again! It still seems amazing that one of Barbados’ best groups has done like the Eagles, many folk thought like that American band, that Lucifer’s pad would get air-conditioning first before this Bajan troupe would come out once again! Pity it seems to be a one-time gig only, really look forward to it…