Steelband in the 1980sIn 1980, the biennial Steelband Music Festival was held for the first time in eight years as a result of the laborious efforts of Arnim Smith who served as President of Pan Trinbago from 1980 to 1988. In 1982, two steelbands received the Trinidad & Tobago Humming Bird Medal Gold for their cultural contributions: Casablanca and Trinidad All Stars. In 1986, Pan Trinbago changed its status from a union to a cultural organization when it was incorporated by an Act of the Parliament of Trinidad & Tobago. In 1987, Pan Trinbago, was awarded a Trinidad & Tobago Trinity Cross for its outstanding organizational work in representing the steelbands. Lord Kitchener's calypsoes were the winning selections of four Panorama winners in the 1980s. However, in 1987, history was made when Lennox Sharpe won the Panorama competition with his own composition; he repeated this feat in 1988. In 1988, George Goddard, one of the early leaders of the Steelband Association, was awarded the Trinidad & Tobago Humming Bird Medal Gold posthumously for his contribution to the development of the steelband. Other panmen who made significant contributions to the furtherance of steelband music in this decade were arrangers Leon Edwards, Clive Bradley, Jit Samaroo, Beverly Griffith, and Robert Greenidge, and ambassadors Clifford Alexis and Othello Molineaux. Four steelbands dominated Panorama in this decade with multiple wins: Renegades (3.5); Trinidad All Stars (3); Phase II Pan Groove (2); and Desperadoes (1.5). In addition to these four winning steelbands listed below, only four other steelbands finished among the top three during the ten years of Panorama competition in this decade: Casablanca; Fonclaire; Pandemonium; and South Stars.
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