Rough Guide to Boogaloo

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 14, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: World Music Network
• ASIN: B0007OQ7GA
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,105 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Do The Boogaloo - Pete Rodriguez Y Su Conjunto

2. Fat Mama - Tito Puente Y Su Orchestra

3. Boogaloo Mania - Charlie Palmieri

4. Soul Nitty Gritty - Ralph Robles

5. Boogaloo Lebron - Lebron Brothers Orchestra

6. Batman's Boogaloo - Bobby Valentin

7. Timbalito - Tito Puente Y Su Orchestra

8. Son, Cuero Y Boogaloo - Fania All Stars

9. Ismael Y Monchito - Ismael Rivera Y Sus Cachimbos

10. Oh, Yeah - Joe Cuba Sextet

11. Getting Happy - Ralph Robles

12. Viva Tirado - Fania All Stars

13. Tumbaloflesicodelico - Celia Cruz

14. Maggo's Boogaloo - Ismael Rivera Y Sus Cachimbos

15. Willie Whopper - Willie Colon

16. A Deeper Shade Of Soul - Ray Barretto

17. Use It Before You Lose It - Bobby Valentin

18. Good Lovin' - Gilberto Sextet

Editorial Reviews

A fusion of Cuban salsa and American soul, boogaloo was the brightly burning dance craze fixating every young dancer in New York’s barrios in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Boogaloo was born out of the creativity of the 1960s generation of USA-born Latinos, who musically grafted American culture on to their Latin roots, leading many established Latin bandleaders to adopt the dance to irresistible results. The Rough Guide To Boogaloo is packed full of classic boogaloo firecrackers from Tito Puente, Charlie Palmieri, Ray Barretto, Joe Cuba and others.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Latin for dabblers, May 11, 2005

By 

Dr. Memory (rural Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rough Guide to Boogaloo (Audio CD)

I know zip about Latin music. However, I do know soul, and this is plenty soulful. If you were weaned on rock 'n' roll or R&B and think you'd like to try Latin music, this is a possible entry point. It will not sound alien to your ears, yet will have enough exoticism to keep you listening past your normal attention span. All the artists play and sing their butts off, and who couldn't use a little more "Good Lovin'"? Highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best of the Rough Guides., July 2, 2005

By 

Matthew Shapiro (Detroit, Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rough Guide to Boogaloo (Audio CD)

I'm trying to collect all of the Rough Guide CD's, and this was one I welcomed into my music collection with open arms. Having listened to artists like Willie Bobo, Cal Tjader, and Mongo Santamaria since college, this was a great addition. The cover of "Good Lovin'" is phenomenal, but the standouts were "Fat Mama" by Tito Puente (did this man EVER make a bad album?), Celia Cruz's song (which is way too short, left me wanting much more), but the clincher was the Ray Barretto song "A Deeper Shade Of Soul", which I was happy to find the original of, having only known it through the Urban Dance Squad song of the same name. The Barretto original SMOKES the UDS's version, and check out the way the horn section quotes both "Knock On Wood" and the theme to "Sesame Street". All in all, a terrific compilation.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Of A Number Of Dance Crazes From the 1960s/1970s, July 10, 2008

By 

AvidOldiesCollector (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rough Guide to Boogaloo (Audio CD)

The dance craze known as The Boogaloo (sometimes shown as Boogalu) is best described in the note that appears on the reverse of this 2005 release from World Music Network: "A fusion of Cuban salsa and American soul, boogaloo was the brightly burning dance craze fixating every young dancer in New York's barrios in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Boogaloo was born out of the creativity of the 1960s generation of USA-born Latinos, who musically grafted American culture on to their Latin roots, leading many established Latin bandleaders to adopt the dance to irresistible results."

I assume the author of that note is Susan Steward who also wrote the seven pages of excellent liner notes, including track-by-track comments, accompanied by a number of nice mini-photos of some of the artists. The sound reproduction is excellent.

Like all the dance crazes of the past (Twist, Mashed Potato, Madison, Jerk, Limbo, Freddie, Swim, Pony, Monkey, Hully Gully, Continental Walk, Pop-Eye, Watusi and Boomerang - to name the most memorable), hit singles soon ensued to capitalize, although in this particular volume, which concentrates more on the roots of the sound and beat, there is just one such hit: Oh Yeah! by The Joe Cuba Sextet which hit # 45 R&B/# 62 Hot 100 in early 1967 on the Tico label. Earlier in 1966 this group from Puerto Rico had also scored with El Pito (I'll Never Go Back To Georgia) and "Bang" "Bang," which reached, respectively, # 44 R&B/# 115 Hot 100 "bubble under" in August, and # 21 R&B/# 63 Hot 100 in November, both also on the Tico label.

But there were plenty of other "Boogaloo" hit singles, beginning in 1965 with Boo-Ga-Loo by Tom (Robert "Tommy Dark" Tharp) & Jerrio (Jerry Murray), which made it to # 11 R&B/# 47 Hot 100 that May for ABC-Paramount. Murray, changing the spelling to Jerryo, would then add Karate-Boo-Ga-Loo (# 16 R&B/# 51 Hot 100 in October 1967) and Funky Boo-Ga-Loo (# 40 R&B in February 1968) as a solo artist, both for Shout Records.

Also in 1966, The Flamingos, a renowned R&B vocal group that had been around since the mid-1950s, tried their hand at the beat/sound with The Boogaloo Party and saw it rise to # 22 R&B but just # 93 Hot 100 in April in a Phillips release, while in 1967, the biggest hit of them all came from The Fantastic Johnny C (Johnny Corley) whose Boogaloo Down Broadway topped out at # # 5 R&B and # 7 Hot 100 late that year for the Phil-LA label.

Then, in 1972, even ex-Beatle Ringo Starr got into the act when Back Off Boogaloo got as high as # 9 Hot 100 that spring. But by then the craze was on the wane, although it would make a re-appearance on the charts in 1984 when Electric Boogaloo, from the film Breakin' 2 Electric Boogaloo, got to # 45 R&B by Ollie (Ollie Brown) & Jerry (Jerry Knight) for Polydor.

If you lived through, and participated in, this particular dance craze, or perhaps are just curious about what all the fuss was about, you will love this offering.