Montserrat, however, may be best known for its contribution to music and is home to calypso royalty. Alphonsus Cassell, better known as Arrow, hails from Wall Street just outside the island’s capital, Plymouth and in 1983 released the international blockbuster, Hot! Hot! Hot! It was chosen as the official anthem for the 1986 Football World Cup in Mexico and was the signature song played during the Notting Hill Carnival in 1988. It became a mainstay in night clubs and dance halls the world over and still gets a party rocking even today!
For a walk back in musical time, a must-do stop in Montserrat is a visit to the Hilltop Coffee House in St Peter’s. “The cafe includes lots of memorabilia of Montserrat’s musical and volcanic past. You will want to check out the 80s musicians who recorded some of the most iconic albums at Air Studios.” (Discover Montserrat)
In 1979, the late Sir George Martin, former manager of the Beatles, built the ultimate get-away-from-it-all recording studio. AIR Studios Montserrat offered all of the technical facilities of its London predecessor, but with the advantages of an exotic location. For more than a decade, AIR Studios played host to classic recording sessions by music royalty, including Dire Straits, The Police, Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, Duran Duran, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, The Rolling Stones, and Eric Clapton.
Only ruins of the studio remain today, following the island-wide destruction of Hurricane Hugo in 1989, but you can still get a glimpse of the remnants of the site from the spectacular view from the Montserrat Volcano Observatory and bear witness to a piece of true rock ’n roll folklore.
