Acclaimed musician Joe Bataan and filmmaker Mathew Ramirez Warren tell us about the "fascinating untold story" of Latin Boogaloo through the documentary We Like It Like That.
****
Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part III of a three part pancocojams series about the 1966 Boogaloo song "Bang Bang" (also known by its refrain "Beep Beep Ah").
This post showcases three YouTube videos about Latin Boogaloo music and dance, with a focus on the 2015 film documentary "The Story Of Latin Boogaloo": We Like I Like That". Information about that documentary is also included in that post.
Information about Boogaloo music and dance is also included in that post.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/02/nuyoricans-african-americans-other.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. Part II showcases a song file of YouTube sound file of Joe Cuba's 1966 hit song "Bang Bang" and presents a compilation of selected comments from that sound file and from another sound file of that song.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Joe Cuba and other members of his band for their musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.
**** SHOWCASE #2: We Like It Like That (Trailer)
Fania Records, July 30, 2015
Latin boogaloo is New York City. It is a product of the melting pot, a colorful expression of 1960s Latino soul, straight from the streets of El Barrio, the South Bronx and Brooklyn.
Starring Latin boogaloo legends like Joe Bataan, Johnny Colon and Pete Rodriguez, We Like It Like That explores this lesser-known, but pivotal moment in Latin music history, through original interviews, music recordings, live performances, dancing and rare archival footage and images.
From its origins to its recent resurgence in popularity, We Like It Like That tells the story of a sound that redefined a generation and was too funky to keep down.
Full Cast: Joe Bataan, Johnny Colon, Pete Rodriguez, Ricardo Ray, Joey Pastrana, Harvey Averne, Larry Harlow, Aurora Flores, Felipe Luciano, Jimmy Sabater, Tito Ramos, Bobby Marin, Benny Bonilla, Orlando Marin, Bobby Sanabria, Eliot Rivera, Nicky Marrero, Sandra Maria Esteves, Henry "Pucho" Brown, The Abakua Afro-Latin Dance Company, Oliver Wang, Bobbito Garcia, Carlos "Turmix" Vera, Alex Masucci, Daisy Rivera, and Spanglish Fly
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO #3: 'We Like It Like That': The Rise of Latin Boogaloo
Wall Street Journal, March 17, 2016
A new documentary, "We Like It Like That" tells the story of how New York's bi-lingual Latino population contributed to the invention and rise of a new art form, boogaloo, which mixed
Latin rhythms and English lyrics. Director Mathew Ramirez Warren joins Tanya Rivero to discuss. Photo: Saboteur Media
****
This concludes Part III of this three part pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
chinita41, Jan 8, 2009 -snip- The total # of views as of Feb. 12, 2022 at 12:50 PM ET - 2,771,516
**** Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest Update: Feb. 13, 2022
This is Part I of a three part pancocojams series about the 1966 Boogaloo song "Bang Bang" (also known by its refrain "Beep Beep Ah").
This post showcases a YouTube sound file of Joe Cuba's 1966 hit song "Bang Bang". Information about Joe Cuba is included in this post along with lyrics for that song.
Information about Boogaloo music and dance is also included in this post.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/02/nuyoricans-african-americans-other.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. Part II showcases a song file of YouTube sound file of Joe Cuba's 1966 hit song "Bang Bang" and presents a compilation of selected comments from that sound file and from another sound file of that song.
I'm particularly interested in comments from Puerto Rican (Nuyoricans)* and African Americans about their memories of Joe Cuba's "Bang Bang" in New York City and in other United States cities. *"Nuyoricans" = Puerto Ricans in New York City.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/02/three-youtube-videos-about-afro-latin.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. Part III showcases three YouTube videos about Latin Boogaloo music and dance, with a focus on the 2015 film documentary "The Story Of Latin Boogaloo": We Like I Like That". Information about that documentary is also included in that post.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Joe Cuba and other members of his band for their musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.
**** INFORMATION ABOUT JOE CUBA From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Cuba "Joe Cuba (April 22, 1931 – February 15, 2009),[1] was an
American conga drummer of Puerto Rican descent widely regarded as the
"Father of Latin Boogaloo".
Early years
Joe Cuba (birth name: Gilberto Miguel Calderón Cardona[note
1]) was born in Harlem, New York, United States.[2] Cuba's parents moved from
Puerto Rico to New York City in the late 1920s, and settled in Spanish Harlem,
a Latino community located in Manhattan. Cuba was raised in an apartment
building, where his father had become the owner of a candy store, located on
the ground floor (street level floor). His father had organized a stickball
club called the Young Devils. Stickball was the main sport activity of the
neighborhood. After Cuba broke a leg he took up playing the conga and continued
to practice with the conga between school and his free time. Eventually, he
graduated from high school and joined a band.[3]
Musical career
In 1950, when he was 19 years old, he played for Joe Panama
and also for a group called La Alfarona X. The group soon disbanded and Cuba
enrolled in college to study law. While at college he attended a concert in
which Tito Puente performed "Abaniquito". He went up to Puente and
introduced himself as a student and fan, and soon they developed what was to
become a lifetime friendship. This event motivated Cuba to organize his own
band. In 1954, his agent recommended that he change the band's name from the
José Calderón Sextet to the Joe Cuba Sextet,[2] and the newly named Joe Cuba
Sextet made their debut at the Stardust Ballroom.[3]
In 1962, after recording three albums for Mardi Gras
Records, Cuba recorded his first album with the Joe Cuba Sextet called Steppin'
Out featuring the hit "To Be With You", featuring the vocals of Cheo
Feliciano and Jimmy Sabater Sr. The band became popular in the New York Latin
community.[2] The lyrics to Cuba's music used a mixture of Spanish and English,
becoming an important part of the Nuyorican Movement.[4]
In 1965, the Sextet got their first crossover hit with the
Latin and soul fusion of "El Pito (I'll Never Go Back to
Georgia)".[2] The "I'll Never Go Back to Georgia" chant was
taken from Dizzy Gillespie's intro to the seminal Afro-Cuban tune
"Manteca." Sabater later revealed that "None of us had ever been
to Georgia."[5]
Along with fellow Nuyorican artists such as Ray Barretto and
Richie Ray, Cuba was at the forefront of the developing Latin soul sound in New
York, merging American R&B styles with Afro-Cuban instrumentation.[6] Cuba
was one of the key architects behind the emerging Latin boogaloo sound,[2]
which became a popular and influential Latin style in the latter half of the
1960s.[6] In 1966, his band scored a hit on the United States Billboard Hot 100
with the song "Bang! Bang!".[7] The record peaked at No. 63 on the
Hot 100,[2] and No. 21 on the R&B chart. The follow-up, "Oh
Yeah", peaked at No. 62 on the Hot 100.[8]"...
**** INFORMATION ABOUT BOOGALOO MUSIC Excerpt #1: From https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/ah-beep-beep-rediscovering-wonderful-sounds-latin-boogaloo-n544986 "Ah Beep Beep Rediscovering The Wonderful Soungs Of Latin Boogaloo" by Jack Rico, March 24, 2016 "Every generation gives way to a new musical sound that
defines their youth identity and cultural influences. For Latinos living in New
York City, circa 1960’s in Spanish Harlem, “Boogaloo” was exactly that, a sound
that allowed them to express themselves freely, to revel in the Latin beats of
their predecessors, but with the contemporary American rhythms of doo-wop and
soul.
Artists like Joe Bataan, Johnny Colon, Joe Cuba, Pete
Rodriguez, Richie Ray and others became New York City sensations. If you ask anyone
who loved this hodgepodge of musical arrangements, it was a sonorous and
intoxicating time to be a Latino in the Big Apple. But as the saying goes, all
good things always come to an end.
[...]
Today, Boogaloo isn’t heard as much on the airwaves, but a
new documentary by Mathew Ramirez Warren called “We Like It Like That” looks
not only to contribute to its revival, but to remind Latinos of their forgotten
rich musical heritage.
“I found it to be this fascinating, untold New York story,”
Ramirez Warren said in an interview with NBC Latino. “This community was
searching for a voice, a means of expression. The music represented who they
were, where they were coming from, their environment.”
Musicians such as Willie Colón and Johnny Pacheco led the
new sound of Salsa in the 70’s, and eventually sealed the fate of Boogaloo, but
Joe Bataan and company have not stopped touring and releasing albums.
Will it make a full revival? Only time will tell, but in the
meantime, you can indulge in rediscovering songs such as “Bang! Bang!,” “I like
It Like That,” “Micaela,” “Subway Joe” and “Boogaloo Blues”. You can find the
soundtrack for the documentary out now on iTunes, Amazon Prime and On Demand,
along with the soundtrack from Fania Records."
**** Excerpt #2 From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boogaloo "Boogaloo or bugalú (also: shing-a-ling, Latin boogaloo,
Latin R&B) is a genre of Latin music and dance which was popular in the
United States in the 1960s. Boogaloo originated in New York City mainly among
teenage Hispanic and Latino Americans. The style was a fusion of popular
African American rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music with mambo and son
montuno, with songs in both English and Spanish. The American Bandstand
television program introduced the dance and the music to the mainstream
American audience. Pete Rodríguez's "I Like It like That"[1] was a
famous boogaloo song.
Except for the name, the dance is unrelated to the Boogaloo
street dance from Oakland, California and the electric boogaloo, a style of
dance which developed decades later under the influence of funk music and
hip-hop dance.
History
In the 1950s and '60s, African Americans in the United
States listened to various styles of music, including jump blues, R&B and
doo-wop. Latinos in New York City shared these tastes, but they also listened
to genres like mambo or cha cha chá. There was a mixing of Puerto Ricans,
Cubans and African Americans and others in clubs, whose bands tried to find
common musical ground. Boogaloo was a result of this search, a marriage of many
styles including Cuban son montuno, guaguancó, guajira, guaracha, mambo, and
American R&B and soul. Styles like doo wop also left a sizable influence,
through Tony Pabón (of the Pete Rodríguez Band), Bobby Marín, King Nando, and
Johnny Colón and his vocalists Tony Rojas and Tito Ramos.
[...]
Though boogaloo did not become mainstream nationwide until
later in the decade, two early Top 20 hits came in 1963: Mongo Santamaría's
cover version of the Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man"[2] and Ray
Barretto's "El Watusi". Inspired by these two successes, a number of
bands began imitating their infectious rhythms (which were Latinized R&B),
intense conga rhythms and clever novelty lyrics. Boogaloo was the only
Cuban-style rhythm which occasionally acquired English lyrics. Established
Cuban-influenced orchestras also recorded the occasional boogaloo, including
Pérez Prado, Tito Rodríguez and Tito Puente[3] was an American musician,
songwriter . Most of the other groups were young musicians – some were
teenagers – the Latin Souls, the Lat-Teens, Pucho & His Latin Soul
Brothers, Joe Bataan and the Latinaires.
Use of the term boogaloo in referring to a musical style was
probably coined in about 1966 by Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz. The biggest
boogaloo hit of the '60s was "Bang Bang" by the Joe Cuba Sextet,
which sold over one million copies in 1966. "El Pito" was another hit
by this popular combo. Hits by other groups included Johnny Colón's
"Boogaloo Blues", Pete Rodríguez's "I Like It like
That",[1] and Héctor Rivera's "At the Party".
[…]
The older generation of Latin musicians have been accused of
using their influence to repress the young movement, for commercial reasons.
There was certainly pressure on booking agents by the established bands.[5] The
craze was mostly over by 1970, perhaps because of the hostility of established
bands and key booking agents; the reason is uncertain. Almost every major and
minor Latin dance artist of the time had recorded at least a few boogaloos on
their albums. It had been an intense, if brief, musical movement, and the music
is still highly regarded today.[5]
The Latin boogaloo bands were mostly led by young, sometimes
even teenage musicians from New York's Puerto Rican community. These included,
but weren't limited to, Joe Bataan, Joe Cuba, Bobby Valentín, the Latin Souls,
the Lat-Teens, Johnny Colón, and the Latinaires. As such, Latin boogaloo can be
seen as "the first Nuyorican music" (René López), and has been called
"the greatest potential that (Latinos) had to really cross over in terms
of music" (Izzy Sanabria). However, Latino musicians and composers also made
a big contribution to doo-wop.
[…]
The boogaloo faded from popularity by the end of
1969.[5]p168 What caused the fairly rapid end of the boogaloo's reign is in
dispute. According to several sources, jealous older Latin music artists
colluded with record labels (in particular, Fania Records), radio DJs, and
dance hall promoters to blacklist boogaloo bands from venues and radio. This
scenario is explored in the 2016 film We Like It Like That, a documentary on
the history of Latin boogaloo. Alternatively, it was a fad that had run out of
steam.[5]p168 Its demise allowed older musicians to make a comeback on the New
York scene. The explosive success of salsa in the early 1970s saw former giants
like Puente and the Palmieri Brothers return to the top, while most Latin
boogaloo bands went out of business (Joe Bataan being a notable exception).[6]
In the 2000s, Latin boogaloo has seen a resurgence in
popularity, with artists like Bataan experiencing renewed interest in their
Latin boogaloo output, and new groups emerging to form a Latin boogaloo
revival. [7]
In Cali, Colombia, boogaloo, salsa and pachanga are played
by disk jockeys in FM and AM radio stations and dance clubs. The Caleños prefer
their boogaloo sped up, from 33 to 45 RPM, to match the city's fast dance
style.[citation needed]"...
**** This concludes Part I of this three part pancocojams series.
