DANIEL EMMANUEL JARDINE GILCHRIST
YOUNG KILLER DIES IN NEW YORK
Trinidad Guardian
November 1, 2001
Page 2
Veteran calypsonian Young Killer (Daniel Emmanuel Jardine Gilchrist) died on October 26, after a long illness.
He was a member of that elite group of calypsonians, which included the Mighty Sparrow, Lord Kitchener, Lord Melody, Lord Christo and Bomber.
His career started in 1956 and his first hit, was "Tight, Tight Pants," performed in 1957.
For the following decade, Young Killer produced an average of two hit songs each year, including, "Bad Talk", "Doctor Say to Buy Local", "Little Eight" and "Millie Rawls versus Killer". His calypsoes dealt mainly with social issues of the day and reflected his sense of humour.
In 1967, Young Killer was selected to represent Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada in the Montreal Expo. The following year he migrated to the United States, where he continued to perform extensively.
He was one of the many calypsonians who performed on the Calypso for Africa Project in 1985 to assist the drought victims in Ethiopia.
In 1999 Young Killer was inducted into the Sunshine Awards Hall of Fame by Dr Hollis "Chalkdust" Liverpool.
He was the uncle of Sunshine Awards founder and chairman, Gilman T Figaro. The Sunshine Awards takes place annually in New York and honours calypsonians as well as musicians and producers of the calypso genre.
On hearing of Young Killer's passing, Liverpool said: Young Killer was a dear friend and a wonderful calypsonian, who has made significant contribution to calypso and steelband music.
"I shall personally miss him tremendously. The world of calypso has lost one of its true elder statesmen."
A viewing of Young Killer's body will be held from 4 pm to 6 pm today at the First Baptist Church, Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York.