Douglas Cedras (10-10-1950 – 28-04-2014) |03 May 2014

Seychelles bids farewell to a multi-talented artist

It was with great sadness and a sense of great loss that the population learned of the passing on April 28, 2014 of popular multi-talented local music legend, song-writer and radio host Douglas Cedras.

Douglas Abraham Valaiydon Cedras was well known for his great sense of humour which flourished during his time as a radio host in the 1980s.
Douglas built a career spanning 17 years as a radio and television host and producer with the then Radio Television Seychelles (RTS) where among his other responsibilities he also produced educational and cultural programmes.

Popular among the public not only for the way he speaks but also for his ability to entertain through the stories he told on radio and through his songs, Douglas continued to be admired over the years.

“Everyone has his own sense of humour but it all depends how a person uses it. As for me I love entertaining people through the radio. Through the radio people do not see what is happening and you have to create the picture for them, impersonating different people, it is simple,” Douglas said in an SBC Récit programme recorded in 2011.

He said at that time Kwen Kreol on the radio used to be a very popular programme during which he told different stories mainly his own compositions. A very popular one was Maryo ek Souria which the public used to enjoy.

He also spent some time with television where he produced Lanmizik Dan Lemonn.
In 1986 he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the death of his then partner and work colleague Marjorie Baker but he was released after serving just a little over seven years of the sentence.
“On retrospect, the time spent in prison marked me and deprived me of a large part of my life. At 36 I was at the peak of my life then,” Douglas said in the programme.

But in prison Douglas said he tried his hand at a lot of activities namely gardening, carpentry, art, mechanic, masonry, to name but some.

In his home he kept some tangible proof of his time spent in prison such as different pieces of furniture and paintings on the wall.
“In prison you learn a lot of things because you have a lot of time to think and learn as you have nothing else to do,” he said.
In his long career as a song-writer and musician Douglas has written many songs for other musicians as well and he claimed he has a lot of lyrics waiting to be put on an album, something he has not done due to the exorbitant cost to do so.

But he has known great success and his songs continue to be popular on the airwaves and such titles like ‘Bakpe’ (back pay), ‘O Fon mon leker’, ‘En pizon blan’, ‘Kabare lari bazar’ and many more still bring back a lot of memories to many.

Douglas started to sing and be interested in music at the age of 13 after he went to live with his grandfather on Praslin and it was while there that he started playing and tasted success with the group Trio Tonnère. Their hits included Bel, bel comme le jour, bel, bel comme l’amour.

Other groups he played in and recorded great success included Bann Seselwa which produced such greatest hits as Ekrir Souvan, very popular among families and friends living or working on the outer islands or abroad.

Though he considered himself a very bright student Douglas admitted that he used to play truant a lot, evading lessons and preferring to go fishing instead.
Always up to mischief, it was why he was sent to live on Praslin but he owed this behaviour partly to the fact that he was raised without a father. However, that did not stop him from building a name for himself and leaving his mark in the music and entertainment world.

A good friend and work colleague of Douglas during his time at the radio, Jean-Claude Matombe, who was a part-time technician, remembered Douglas as a carefree person who loved life and his work as a technician during his early years at the radio.

“He was a multi-talented person and worked well under pressure,” Mr Matombe recalled.

“Another interesting thing about him was his knack for composing there and then a song or jingles for adverts,” Mr Matombe said.

Following his release from prison, Douglas did various jobs he had learned there and also undertook different advertising contracts namely with Interlotto where his sense of humour was greatly appreciated during the different weekly draws on television.

If the adults enjoyed his sense of humour and the original lyrics of his songs, the children loved him to bits and were always on the look-out for his presence on the television screen.
The father of eight children and several grandchildren, Douglas will always be remembered for his great sense of humour and significant contributions to the music and entertainment world.
Douglas’ funeral was held yesterday at St John the Baptist Church at Glacis and he was laid to rest at the parish’s cemetery.

Compiled by M-A.L