Silver Stars Steelband founder Edgar “Junior” Pouchet has died.
He passed away in his sleep early Saturday morning at his Orlando, Florida, USA home, at age 75.
A former St Mary’s College pupil, Pouchet founded the Silver Stars Steelband in the 1950s with a nucleus of players from St Mary’s and Queen’s Royal Colleges.
He led the steelband to an historic Band of the Year title in 1963 with its presentation of “Gulliver’s Travel”. To date, no other steelband has equalled that feat.
Pouchet, christened Edgar after his deceased father, left Trinidad and Tobago in 1970 to lead a steelband at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, USA. There, he enjoyed a successful 29 year-career with that band.
Under Pouchet, the Tragerete Road-based Silver Stars, which had moved to St James in the mid-1960s before returning to the Newtown area in the 2000s, never won a Panorama title, but enjoyed status as a popular fete band alongside Invaders, All Stars and Highlanders from the late 60s until the pan brand went into hibernation back in 1975.
Pouchet, who was the eldest of 11 siblings (Yvette, Camille, Tessa, Heather, Junior, Everard, Elliot, Edmund, Elton, Edwin and Edric) would see that feat achieved by his younger brother Edwin, arranger/leader of the two-time Panorama champions PCS Nitrogen Silver Stars (2009 and 2010) who led the revival of the band in 1986.
Junior leaves to mourn his wife Yvonne, son Johaan and daughters Francine and Michelle.
