Reference: was probably instrumental

was probably instrumental

   It is reputed that Sidney Gallop and George Goddard, both staunch supporters of, and at different times, Presidents of the Trinidad and Tobago Steelband Association, would have together supported and probably originated the idea of Panaroma.

   Sidney Gallop, appointed president in an evening open air street meeting, in the South East quarter of Port of Spain in 1948, was known in government circles and was a friend of the Prime Minister Dr Eric Williams. Gallop who had championed the cause of the steelbands and was deeply concerned for the respectable acceptance of the steelbands, probably saw in Panorama a vehicle that would unite the steelband movement and also provide a wider audience for its members.

   With government support, it would become a more stable platform from which the steelbands could develop their art and onto which they could focus their attention.

   Post Independence was an ideal time to promote a competition of national importance that would lead the steelbandsmen away from their supposed preoccupation with violence on one hand and the prejudices still held against them by some in the working middle-classes and by some authorities, particularly the police; with whom George Goddard himself had been required to intervene in support of his steelbandsmen.

[This reference is a matter of research for these pages]