Hall of Fame - BAS Lifetime Achievement Award 2019 - Clive 'Mash Up' Phillip.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is the Association’s highest accolade. It is presented to an individual who has worked continuously to promote the music, culture and traditions of steel pan. Membership of the Hall of Fame is of the UK steel band community’s elite.
The recipient of the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award has been involved in carnival arts since he was a child. Although he lived within walking distance of Renegades, Desperadoes, Casablanca and Syncopators, his early years were spent wire bending and making mas. However, when his friends went to play with Casablanca he went too, only to be told to put the sticks down - the years of backchatting the band’s Captain had caught up with him. Thankfully that didn’t deter him from playing, or from being vocal. Following a brief stint with Syncopators where he played guitar pan, he came to the UK in 1961 settling in West London.
Although he never got the opportunity to play again, his interest in carnival arts never wavered. In the early 1960s he undertook the logistics for bands such as the legendary Blue Notes and was the first to have a sound system at the Notting Hill Carnival.
In the mid 1970s he and Darcus Howe brought out Mangrove Renegades mas band. The band was based at The Factory (now known as the Yaa Centre), their rack was built in the forecourt of The Tabernacle and their band on the road was Metronomes.
Although he wasn’t to know it at the time, but that community spirit, practice of inclusion and partnership working was a trait which would form the foundation of one of the UK’s premier steel orchestras and leading carnival arts organisation.
In late 1979 this recipient and Frank Crichlow decided to set up a pan round neck side. Taking its name from Frank’s restaurant on All Saints Road, Mangrove Steel Band’s first set of pans were made by the late Gerald Forsythe OBE. Ten months later the pan-round-neck band participated in their first Notting Hill Carnival. The year after they took part in the Panorama Competition as a conventional steel band, coming joint first with Metronomes.
The steel band has travelled extensively, not only to undertake performances at some of the most impressive venues in the world, but also to set up bands in remote regions such as Mauritius and Africa. Closer to home, they have supported the development of bands around the UK, including Reading All Steel Percussion Orchestra who are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year.
This individual has spent his life advocating on behalf of bands and pannists, and championing the values of cultural traditions, community cohesion, respect, and professionalism. He was instrumental in setting up the London Brotherhood of Steel and LBSS, now the British Association of Steelbands and Caribbean Music Association respectively. He remains and active member of BAS and is also a member of the Notting Hill Carnival’s Advisory Board.
Earlier this year he was presented with the Mayor’s Award for his outstanding leadership and efforts in raising awareness of the disciplines of the Notting Hill Carnival, both throughout our community and across the UK.
Ladies and gentlemen, please be upstanding for Clive ‘Mash Up’ Phillip, recipient of the 2019 BAS Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award.
