Today’s UFO comes to us from Saint-Martin, or rather St Maarten. Cool Creations Of St Maarten was formed in 1975 by Carlyle Barriteau, Funk Gumbs and Winston McCow, who were all in their final year of high school at the time. Their name was inspired by Kool & the Gang, one of their main influences outside the Caribbean. The group scored a small local success playing in the island’s clubs and hotels, and taking part in carnival parades. In 1977, they recorded an ambitious album called Vol. 1, but unfortunately that was to be the end of it. It was to be the only record on the short-lived local label, Jay Records. The result is an unclassifiable album that moves from carnival to funk, with a hint of reggae, soul and jazz. Above all, it has become an almost impossible-to-find cult classic!
Vol. 1 – Cool Creations of St Maarten, 1977
