Lord Invader

Trinidad calypso vocalist and songwriter, notably of "Rum And Coca-Cola", which was plagiarized by Morey Amsterdam and the Andrews Sisters.

Born: December 13, 1914
Died: October 15, 1961

Grant performed and recorded in Trinidad in the 1930s, New York in the 1940s, and toured the UK and Europe in 1956, before settling in New York.

"Rum and Coco-Cola", a song Lionel Belasco first wrote the music for in 1906 (with the title "L'Année Passée"), had lyrics added by Lord Invader in early 1940s. Morey Amsterdam, who was visiting Trinidad in 1943, had the song copywritten in the U.S. with Amsterdam and others as songwriters. The song hit #4 overall for Abe Lyman and His Californians, and #8 overall by Vaughn Monroe, both in March of 1945. It became the #1 song in the country for [a=the Andrew Sisters] in June of 1945, spending 10 weeks there. After the song's popularity in the states, Belasco and Lord Invader sued for copyright infringement. In 1948, after many years of litigation, both won their cases, with Lord Invader receiving an award of $150,000 in owed royalties. Amsterdam, however, was allowed to retain copyright to the song.

Not to be confused with other calypso / soca artists named Invader: Invader and Invader # 3

Data provided by Discogs