Boogaloo
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A short-lived but explosive mid-1960s New York fusion of Afro-Cuban mambo and son montuno with African-American R&B, soul and doo-wop, sung largely in English for a bilingual Nuyorican-and-Black teenage audience. Boogaloo pairs a piano-and-horn Latin groove and cowbell-driven percussion with a backbeat feel, hand claps, party shouts and simple, chanted call-and-response hooks. Tempos are danceable and infectious, arrangements loose and celebratory, and the mood is pure barrio party. It stands as the sound of 1960s Latin New York cross-pollinating with Motown and soul.
History
Boogaloo (bugalú) erupted around 1966–1968 as young Latino musicians in New York blended their parents' mambo with the R&B and soul they heard on the radio, scoring crossover pop hits sung in English. Joe Cuba's Sextet broke through with 'Bang Bang' in 1966, Pete Rodríguez's 'I Like It Like That' and Johnny Colón's 'Boogaloo Blues' followed in 1967, and Joe Bataan and Ricardo Ray extended the style; the music thrived on independent labels and neighborhood dances. Industry pushback from established bandleaders and promoters, along with the rise of the harder Fania salsa sound, helped kill the fad by the end of the decade, but boogaloo's soulful Latin groove has been repeatedly revived and remains beloved by crate-diggers and dancers.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Juan Flores, From Bomba to Hip-Hop (2000)
- John Storm Roberts, The Latin Tinge (1979)
- Ed Morales, The Latin Beat (2003)