Burning Flames

Originating in Antigua, the group epitomizes the synthesizer-heavy, high-velocity soca ensembles found across neighboring islands, marked by their eclectic range of influences. Extensive rounds of tourist performances and a stretch backing Montserrat calypsonian Arrow prepared the way for their first independent outing, which produced outright supremacy at the Antigua carnival in 1986 through Stiley Tight. Rock, funk, reggae, cadence, zouk, and further styles, driven at tempos of near-amphetaminic intensity, defined their approach until the 1989 single "Workey Workey," a groovy, zouk-tinged second-line that registered as an international hit. They extended the zouk direction in 1990 with "Chook and Dig," after which their material appeared on the Mango anthology Dig, although the subsequent re-mixing impaired every selection. They have claimed the Antigua Road March in nearly every year beginning with 1985.