How Shell drums created music history
In the summer of 2007, Shell officials at the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago were in a spot of bother. Business was fine for the oil company and environmentalists and other usual gadflies weren't making much noise. But the Shell factory in Barracones Bay was confronted with an awkward demand: musicians planning to play at the cricket world cup wanted oil barrels. The oil company wasn't caught unawares though: it had faced a similar demand a year earlier, during the football world cup. Barracones Bay honchos had learnt an important lesson in Trinidadian culture then: about steelpans. Crafted from oil drums, their lilting melodies were as essential to spectator sport