Salsa music you do not like! Aka true confessions

Mentirosa- Ray de la Paz

La rebellion- Joe Arroyo

Yo no se manana- Luis Enrique

la Vida su Carnaval- Celia Cruz

If I never had to play any of these (and many others) again, I would not be sad! :)
 
It's all relative - I have no problem playing cheese every night as long as:

The cheese is LATIN and in Spanish (e.g. La Vida)

I get to play the good stuff too, in large quantities, and people dance to it and respect it the same way I respect their desire to hear music I can live without. I have to play bachata and merengue, often in large quantities, and that does nothing for me either, so it's no big deal.

As I say, it's all relative - hear Show Me and all that lot over and over again (i.e. music that's popular because it doesn't sound Latin), and suddenly La Vida is a bit of a bore, and nothing worse. (Actually, you're better off taking my word for it - I wouldn't wish the experience of hearing Show Me et al repeatedly on any of you.)
 
Listen to this every time you go out, year after year, and La Vida doesn't sound so bad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RorB7XbZ4I

Take it from me!
 
Anyone know what the tune that goes, 'Mambo through the nation, on a friday night' is? Has to be heard to be believed.
 
I can't ask the DJ who rinses it, because she has a policy of not knowing the names of any artists on the tunes she plays.
 
Well I hope any DJs reading this take note, but the ones that should probably don't look in here. Instead they will carry on with what they know "works" and their customers will dance the Hokey Cokey if played. Who cares? Only a few.
 
flowrite said:
Well I hope any DJs reading this take note, but the ones that should probably don't look in here.
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Any DJ who thinks there's an inverse relationship between how Latin a salsa tune sounds and how often they should spin it, and who thinks it's good policy to play these non-salsa salsa tunes literally every time they DJ, year after year, is NEVER going to be a good salsa DJ. It's the promoters who hire these people, and the dancers who like their salsa delatinised, who make me despair. Particularly the former, as I do not believe the dancers' demand for this style of DJing is strong enough to actually warrant the amount of gigs these people get. Only hardcore people like me go as far as to stop going to popular nights because the music's no good, so the promoters think that they're giving people what they want.

In a way the appearance of the k word has been for the best, as those who don't like salsa music can now go to their k word rooms and leave the rest of us in peace.
 
To be fair, if someone wants a salsa version of Rock The Boat, the one I posted earlier is faultless. It's the idea that it's suitable/compulsory for a salsa night that I take issue with.
 
DJ Yuca said:
Any DJ who thinks there's an inverse relationship between how Latin a salsa tune sounds and how often they should spin it, and who thinks it's good policy to play these non-salsa salsa tunes literally every time they DJ, year after year, is NEVER going to be a good salsa DJ. It's the promoters who hire these people, and the dancers who like their salsa delatinised, who make me despair. Particularly the former, as I do not believe the dancers' demand for this style of DJing is strong enough to actually warrant the amount of gigs these people get. Only hardcore people like me go as far as to stop going to popular nights because the music's no good, so the promoters think that they're giving people what they want.

In a way the appearance of the k word has been for the best, as those who don't like salsa music can now go to their k word rooms and leave the rest of us in peace.
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Well, I don't know if everybody defines "hardcore" the same, but I can say for myself that I stopped going to many quite popular venues because the music wasn't to my taste, and the venues I frequent are considered "hardcore" by the average salsero in my scene (that is, the relatively not so large numbers of salseros that actually listen to the music and have a defined musical taste...) .
 
Well at least Cuban nights are authentic, they don't comatize their crowd with Lovely Day, Rock Me Baby and other flaccid fare.
 
EMOYENO said:
Yes thank you for saying soo clear. I think the same just plain lazyness, the Dj didnt do his homework, didnt do research and of course most of all he DOESNT know anything about salsa, he's just like the rest of the crowd. as we would say in spanish "mas del monton"!!
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actually i would say that in many cases this kind of DJ is underestimating the crowd. many people within the rest of the crowd would appreciate more from a DJ but have gotten used to less


DJs like that survive often due to lack of alternative options for their crowd. they may have secured a good venue or probably are quite good at hustling and getting/organizing gigs (which in itself is an important trait) but musically there is 'nobody at home'
sometimes it can be someone who deep down doesnt even like Salsa but
do it because its easy money

thats why i hate to see perfectly good artists such as La 33, Celia cruz, Ray de la Paz, Alex Wilson and others mentioned in this thread, getting bashed simply because they have had a song which unfortunatley has ended up in the repertoir of some "chapusero" DJs lol

i would wager that SOME of those songs mentioned could possibly be played as part of a "balanced diet"
but its the continuous one-after-the-other order that is intolerable

have i used that word "Chapusero" correctly Emoyeno? :P LOL
 
@matty "chapucero" (The advantage of living a part of my time in Spain is that I don't
make a lot of the "seseo" mistakes.) :)
 
Abayarde said:
Those who label Ubaldo "Lalo" Rodriguez as a Salsa Romántica singer, have no idea of it's roots in the 70's.
.
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Exactly! Thanks for your overview of Lalo's music. I love Lalo Rodriguez and play his old CDs often at home (and dance in the kitchen while making dinner) and in the car (singing along)!

DJ Ara said:
Let's not forget Lalo's vocal's with the legendary Machito and his orchestra's album, "Fireworks". I would rate Lalo Rodriguez singing salsa dura as one of my top salsa vocalists and I am glad that you brought him up and highlighted his talent as a top Salsa Dura singer!
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Yup! He is one of my favorites, too!
Here with Machito (from "Fireworks") for those who are interested:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZYvrXLJPTI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1m_HAVv3jc

Here with Eddie Palmieri: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7ZkIbVBY0k

@DJ Yuka: As I said before, I really feel for you because I know how desperate one gets. You are right, the songs you posted are really not so bad when you listen to them every once in a while at home or somewhere else where you do not go specifically to dance salsa. But when you go out, looking forward to dancing, you do not want to have to listen to them every time! I am all with you on that. I prefer the real thing to dance to! When the music gets real strange, hubby rolls his eyes and says sarcastically: "This makes you wonder where he (the DJ) found this track!"

Although I definitely prefer my salsa in Spanish 99% of the time, I am not against all salsa in English when the salsa piece is really danceable. Not everybody can sing salsa convincingly in English. For me, the artists whose salsa in English sounds really good are Tito Nieves (I'll always love you), Ray de la Paz (Suddenly) and Ray Sepúlveda.

I feel that many DJs do not have much clue about salsa music. There are others who really love salsa music but have no clue about *danceable* salsa music. They play what they like most, no matter what the crowd wants and no matter if these songs are suitable to dance to or not.

We do not go out dancing much anymore unless we know it is really worth it (i. e. live performances of Lalo Rodriguez, El Gran Combo etc.) because often we hardly dance all night because the music is just not appealing. Here, the music is always mixed: salsa, merengue, bachata and later they also play reggaetón. Then you dance a little bit and then you sit for about 45 minutes at least until the DJ plays another salsa song. (We never liked bachata, so we never dance to bachata, much less reggaetón.) And if the salsa is not to your liking, tough luck.
 
Lalo Rodriguez. What a phenomenon. I think he was only 17 years old when he first recorded with Eddie Palmieri. And you know what? He still sings his songs in the original key. I have worked with Lalo many times over the years, most recently about six months ago, and when he is ON, nobody can touch him. One of the most gifted singers ever.

Fireworks was one of the very first Latin music albums I ever heard -- Soy Salsero really connected with me ( maybe something to do with that great trumpet solo by Victor Paz ). Someone gave it to me in 1981 so I could learn something. That, and the Pacheco / Casanova album, Los Amigos. A great start to this music.
 
salsera_alemana said:
Although I definitely prefer my salsa in Spanish 99% of the time,


.

For me, the artists whose salsa in English sounds really good are Tito Nieves (I'll always love you),


Here, the music is always mixed: salsa, merengue, bachata and later they also play reggaetón.
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Make mine 100%


Ive played that a couple of times over the yrs, but I still cant get used to the english lyrics. And also, Im afraid punters would ask for more " english " songs!! .

I was told that, he had trained as an opera singer.

As to the "mixed bag ", so typical of many latino clubs.
 
salsera_alemana said:
@DJ Yuka: As I said before, I really feel for you because I know how desperate one gets. You are right, the songs you posted are really not so bad when you listen to them every once in a while at home or somewhere else where you do not go specifically to dance salsa. But when you go out, looking forward to dancing, you do not want to have to listen to them every time!
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Some of them fit that category. Others should never even be played, let alone played to death.
 
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