Tributes poured in yesterday for Earl Crosby, son of St James entrepreneur Cecil Crosby who celebrated his 98th birthday on June 9. The younger Crosby succumbed to pancreatic cancer on Wednesday.
Earl, co-bandleader of Jus’ Friends Carnival band with Annmarie Placide, he was strickened with the ailment in February.
Crosby would have celebrated his 66th birthday next week Friday.
A true son of St James and proprietor of Crosby’s Music Store on Western Main Road, Crosby attended St James Government Secondary School and was one of the country’s more popular disc jockeys, starting in the industry as DJ Village Soul Choir back in the 60s.
He was also the founder of the St James Community Improvement Committee (SJCIC) 16 years ago, producer of the annual St James WeBeat Live event.
As Crosby’s popularity as a disc jockey increased at the turn of the 80s he was contracted by the late Wayne Berkeley, with Roy Cape All Stars, to provide road music for his carnival mas bands.
With the demise of Berkeley, Crosby began producing his own Carnival band, one which has won the Band of the Year (Small) title.
Port-of-Spain Mayor Keron Valentine, who knew Crosby as a child growing up in St James, said:
“His passing had made St James and by extension all of Port-of-Spain poorer by his loss. I have shared a very good relationship with him.
Even as deputy mayor, I found him to be a cultural icon and visionary.
“As a little boy growing up in St James, I could remember going to stand in front of Crosby’s store to see the record launchings he held at Carnival.
This grew so big that he had to move it to King George V Park.
“As Port-of-Spain mayor I would often call on him to lend advice on various issues, especially of a cultural nature and more so the annual WeBeat celebration of which the mayor is the patron.
“I want to also add that only recently I was in discussions with a member of the WeBeat committee to have Earl Crosby honoured by the city of Port-of-Spain.”
He added: “It didn’t materialise because he had the challenges of his health.
However, the city will definitely be moving to honour Earl Crosby for his sterling and valuable contribution to St James and Port-of-Spain in the spheres of business and culture.
“All of Port-of-Spain is saddened at his passing and my office extends our condolences to his family and loved ones, and all of the St James community. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.”
Popular radio personality and fellow St James Secondary student Phill “De Thrill from Laventille” Simmons, said:
“Earl was one of the most creative and imaginative people I have known. We began our friendship way back as students at St James Secondary. He and I began then as DJ Village Soul Choir, then Earl became DJ Crazy Man Earl.
“I remember we were the first DJs in this town to have an Earth Wind & Fire album.
We always sought to get the best music of the day before anybody else did.
“When he began the Crosby’s Carnival record launchings, after leaving Telco and joining his father’s business, it was all upward for Earl.
For the first of the record launchings I remember our first stage on Western Main Road was two wooden pallets, before progressing to being on the tray of a truck.
“The crowd got so big in St James we had to seek a much larger venue. From King George V Park we moved the event to PSA and the last one we staged was in the Queen’s Park Savannah.“Earl was one of the founding members of the St James Secondary Alumni and he sacrificed a lot to keep it going, just as he did with the St James WeBeat event.”