All about Nicky Russell

Also known on the Virgin Islands as the "Mighty Whitey," Nicky Russell was voted St. Thomas Entertainer of the Year 2003 and 2004 by the Daily News. For twenty-five years he was the voice of Radio One here on St. Thomas, heard from Puerto Rico down-island to Grenada….

He has entertained locally for 30 years in every resort and bar on St. Thomas, opening for John Prine, Jerry Jeff Walker, Donovan, Richie Havens and The Beach Boys! He has toured with the Mighty Sparrow, Lord Nelson, King Shortshirt and King Swallow.

Nicky is The Virgin Islands' very own and ONLY white calypsonian! Plus he was Runner-Up in the Calypso King of the World Competition in both 1977 and 1978! He's an entertainer you won't want to miss!

Want to learn more about Nicky? Read on!

Nicky-Pooh and You!

By Janet Reiter

[This is an edited version of an interview Mighty Whitey's closest companion wrote in late 2001--updates coming!]

Boy! Have I hit upon a new way to look at your man! Just interview him! It's amazing the amount of information I never knew!! So, here we go down the enlightening and sometimes, revealing, path of yet another long-time, local musician, famous for his "Stories of St. Thomas" - Nicky Russell.

JR: Where were you born and how long have you lived here?

NR: I was born in Austin, Texas and my sisters, Pam and Nadine and I just celebrated 40 years of living here on June 9th this year.

JR: I'm sure things were quite different back in 1961... So what was it about your background that you attribute to this life-long career of musician/entertainer?

NR: Well, my dad was a performing magician, besides being in the construction business, and my mom was his assistant in the pretty bathing suit (that's how they met) and she did tricks with him...and magically she became pregnant with my oldest sister, Merrilyn, who lives in the states.

JR: OOOOOH!

NR: Well, it certainly had to be the "performing" nature of his magic shows, that I saw often as a kid. He was great! Everybody loved his shows...I even started doing magic shows when I was a kid, but I always combined it with singing!

JR: When did you pick up the guitar?

NR: Well, I had a girlfriend that was taking guitar lessons from Dottie Fabian in the Lagoon when I was about 16 or 17 and I took them with her, not because I wanted to play the guitar but because I wanted to spend more time with her...

JR: And you've been searching for a girlfriend that plays guitar ever since...?

NR: ...and then alot of my friends in high school were playing guitar in little bands for parties etc... So I kept playing even as I went up to the University of Houston to go to college...coffee shops and folk music was real big...

JR: You worked part-time at The Guitar Lady, owned by Joyce LaMotta, right?

NR: Yeah, her husband, Bill, had four locations of The Music Man store - he wrote hundreds of songs, not the least of which is one of my big favorites, "Come Back To The Virgin Isles".

JR: I haven't heard you sing that one in awhile and I DO love it too...especially when you sing it... And one day, you're sitting in The Guitar Lady with Sammy Watts and in walks Isaac Hayes who takes Sammy on the road with him for several years...

NR: Yep. Sammy's a great musician and that was a fabulous "break" for him. Then I came back from college and started working at the radio station and singing as a solo and with many bands in local bars like Sparky's on the waterfront and Drake's Inn and Tinkers (where Parrotfish Records is) and Up The Sandbox, Fat City, Laurie's Place...this is all early 70's. And then in 1974, The Frenchman's Reef Hotel opened and I was the first band to go in there. In the latter 70's I worked with a friend on guitar, Darrell, and we did a music/comedy show for several years, mostly at Drake's Inn, where we changed costumes every song...and Darrell fell down the stairs every night...

JR: Radio figured prominently for you as well...you had a morning show called "Nicky-Pooh and You"?

NR: Well, the announcer on the show ahead of me, Gene Francis, started introducing me that way...and it kind of stuck for awhile...but really, over the years, I've done everything you can do in radio...and maybe more!!!

JR: Honey!

NR: I actually started with one Saturday night show back in late 1969 and continued until the station blew down in 1995 (Marilyn). At that time, I was Station Manager and General Sales Manager.

JR: Can we switch gears to the Calypso Tent in 1977?

NR: Yeah...for years, as a local performer, I had been calling myself The Mighty Whitey and threatening to enter the Calypso Tent Competition year after year and finally in 1977, I said, I'm really gonna do this. Everybody would always laugh and make jokes about it...but I did it and came in second place to Blakey.

JR: What songs did you sing?

NR: "Tonight I Wearin' De Crown" and "Move Your Mudda Ass".

JR: Those are still big hits for you, aren't they? I remember back when I was first still getting to know you, I was at a gig of yours in the Lagoon and you started singing "Tonight I Wearin' De Crown" and this guy, Joe, jumps up and starts ranting and raving about "I was there! I was there!" and proceeds to tell me the whole story, firsthand, about "how the whole crowd was so absolutely with you, so quiet you could hear a pin drop - hanging on to your every word and then when the band sections came, they went absolutely nuts, screaming and yelling and pulling up chairs that were bolted to the floor in the CAHS Auditorium!!!" Was it absolutely the most incredible night of your life?

NR: Well, yeah, but it was really scary too - I'd never sung in front of thousands before.

JR: So, everyone in the competition gets up and sings two songs, right in a row?

NR: No, each contestant sings one and then the whole process starts over again for the second song.

JR: So, how was it for the second song?

NR: Well, the Carnival Committee told me I couldn't say "ass" though it clearly was about a donkey, so the girls in the chorus, the background singers, were supposed to sing "Move your Mudda Mas" even though it didn't make any sense. And they said they were gonna sing that but when the competition came, they were back there singing the proper words..

JR: And you?

NR: Me too! (accompanied by darling-mischevious laughter!) And it spawned weeks of Letters to the Editor...

JR: Oh yes! I've seen those in your files of memorabilia! How hilarious! And then you entered again in '78 - what songs did you sing?

NR: "I Wouldn't Sing" a song about current politics, specifically the sale of a power plant in St. Croix to the DR; and "Call Me The King" that was very visual. I wore a bald wig and at some point in the song, would whip off my herb hat and everyone would laugh and I wore an inflatable life vest under my costume and pulled the cord when I was singing "I was getting so fat..." And again, I came in second place. But the first year, The Mighty Sparrow, (who was one of the judges and has remained my friend every since) told me his opinion was "You clearly won!"

JR: Ok, ok...how about the 80's?

NR: Well, besides a brief marriage that didn't work, a trip to California and the radio, I mostly worked solo, but mid-80's put a band together with Tony Juliano and Morgan Soutter called "One Night Stand" and we became quite popular and worked alot in the resorts...

JR: But you've always stayed in the "public eye"...

NR: Well, being on the radio all the time, I was involved in every fund raiser for the community...especially golf...

JR: I know you love golf, dear... Marilyn was such a disaster for so many - how did it affect you?

NR: Well, the radio station blew down, I had no job and no singing jobs...my wife and two boys went up to the states and I joined them in late 95 for two years or so and came back, alone, in March 1998...

JR: ...and I came here a year later, in March 1999...how was that first year without me?

NR: Oh, it was awful, honey! I just couldn't wait for you to get here!!

JR: (A note to the reader: I've spared you the reminiscence of our first meeting but it'll definitely be included in both of our Memoirs!) So...what does the future hold for Mighty Whitey?

NR: Well, I've started to write again - I just entered a jingle in a contest for the 50th Anniversary of Carnival and I believe there's going to be a tribute to past Carnival Calypso Monarchs and I'd like to be a part of that...

JR: That's wonderful! Actually, of course, I've heard your jingle...and I hope everyone else gets to! Anything else?

NR: Well, I have plans to put out a new CD this year [2001] of Island Classics...of course, Tourist Tracks is still available at Parrotfish, Modern Music, up at Paradise Point, Limnos Charters and several of the resort gift shops [and this website]... I also have a lesser-known Christmas CD that I produced but there's only a few vocals on it - it's mostly steel pan...but that's me in the Santa suit on the cover! Oh!! and I imagine there will be a great big party in St. Thomas... when you become Mrs. Mighty Whitey!!!

JR: (blushing) OOoooh Honey! And for all you fans of his and his great St. Thomas stories, you can click on the schedule link to find where he is on any given night, or sign up for the Mighty Whitey News, which will come to your inbox! Thanks, dear, for such a lovely interview!