Calypso Crazy

Album: Tear Down These Walls (1988)
Charted: 35
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Calypso Crazy" isn't really Calypso, it's really synth-pop with some hints of Calypso music, but it's about a woman who loves it and drives the singer wild. Elvis Presley did something similar on his 1963 hit "Bossa Nova Baby," which isn't really bossa nova but is about a girl who loves dancing to it.
  • Billy Ocean was born in Trinidad and lived there until he moved to London with his family at age 7. He loves Calypso music but was very pragmatic when he became a singer, recording in whatever genre he thought could move his career forward. That was mostly pop and R&B.

    "Calypso Crazy" calls back to his island upbringing in a style that embraced the hit sound of the day. It wasn't released as a single in America but went to #35 in the UK.
  • Superproducer Mutt Lange was at the controls for this song and wrote it with Ocean. When you list the major artists Lange worked with in the '80s, you think of AC/DC, Foreigner, Def Leppard and The Cars, but he was there for some pretty significant Billy Ocean hits as well. In fact, his first co-write that went to #1 was Ocean's "Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car," which appears on Tear Down These Walls, the same album as "Calypso Crazy."
  • This song came at the end of Billy Ocean's spectacular run of '80s hits that started in 1984 with "Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)." He seemed to come out of nowhere but had been recording since the mid-'70s and even had a hit with "Love Really Hurts Without You" in 1976. In the '90s he didn't record much and became very family focused, but he continued to put out new music in the ensuing decades.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Al Kooper

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.

Oliver Leiber

Oliver LeiberSongwriter Interviews

Oliver Leiber talks about writing and producing hits for Paula Abdul, and explains his complicated relationship with his father, the songwriter Jerry Leiber.

Harry Shearer

Harry ShearerSongwriter Interviews

Harry is Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap, Mark Shubb in The Folksmen, and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.

Gene Simmons of Kiss

Gene Simmons of KissSongwriter Interviews

The Kiss rocker covers a lot of ground in this interview, including why there are no Kiss collaborations, and why the Rock Hall has "become a sham."

Meshell Ndegeocello

Meshell NdegeocelloSongwriter Interviews

Meshell Ndegeocello talks about recording "Wild Night" with John Mellencamp, and explains why she shied away from the spotlight.