This may sound boring to you because you read it in the Power Soca post... Soca remains true to its roots! This is the absolute truth when it comes to the music known as 'Groovy Soca' today—the original music style of Sokah, which we now refer to as 'Soca'!
Groovy music is simply what people call 'danceable music.' This description applies to all types of music, including what we currently label as "Groovy Soca." From the very beginning, Ras Shorty I aimed to create an innovative music style that was 'not boring' and easy to dance to (especially with a partner). Consider this: in the song Endless Vibrations (1974), he sang the following:
"Change the accent of Carnival
to a groovy, groovy Bacchanal.
Wailing, expressing—de old feeling do needs changing.
Wake up, people, examine your minds—
get with it, get with it, the change of the times.
It’s a new generation, endless vibrations
—Right on, right on, right on, right on!"
He aimed to create music for dancing and having a good time. The result was not the whining and grinding style of Carnival. As discussed in the previous article, we talked about the music's tempo. Soca music during that period was around 135 BPM or less. In Trinidad and Tobago, the terms groovy and power soca relate to tempo (slower pace vs. faster pace), leading to the conclusion that soca initially started with a slower standard pace. This pace was labeled "groovy" in 2005 when the Soca Monarch competition was divided into two segments: groovy soca and power soca. This division occurred because 'jump and wave' Soca (with a speed around 155 BPM) was gaining popularity and paving the way for even faster tracks. This division was also a clever marketing strategy to help boost the International Soca Monarch Competition.
Once again, we see a case of labeling to satisfy a market segment. Regarding sweet music for dancing and grooving with a significant other, Groovy is easy to understand. Power, on the other hand, created a 'mad frenzy,' similar to the 'jump and wave' Soca that Super Blue dominated during that time.
So remember that Groovy Soca is what Soca originally was from the beginning. It was simply labeled in 2005 to distinguish it from the faster-paced 'Jump and Wave into Power Soca' style of music.