Salsa Songs from the New York Era of the 60s and 70s

Back in the 1960s and 1970s, New York City emerged as the unquestioned capital of salsa music and Latin dancing. The great bands of that era gave us some of the most memorable salsa songs of all time and they are still heard and played to this very day. Some of the greatest music ever recorded came out of Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Manhattan and featured the greatest musicians of our generation.

One of the greatest all time salsa song writers of that fantastic age were Willie Colon. Willie Colon was a trombone player and he really invented modern day salsa as we know and love it today. Collaborating with arguably the greatest salsa singer of the day, Hector LaVoe, Colon was one of the first artists to record on the Fania record label which was started by entrepreneur and Latin music lover Jerry Masucci. Masucci and Colon single handedly started a musical revolution with albums such as “Crime Pays” and “Lo Mato”. These landmark albums featured such memorable salsa songs as “Senora Lola”, “Che Che Cole” and “Aguanile”. The feature film “El Cantante” which was released in 2007 was the life story of Hector LaVoe and starred salsa singer Marc Antony as the drug addicted LaVoe and Jennifer Lopez as his wife. The movie was a huge hit internationally and brought a lot of attention to the genre.

Most movie goers know Ruben Blades as the great Hollywood character actor but few know that he was also one of the greatest salsa song writers and singers of all time. Ruben made his debut singing lead for conga player and band leader Ray Barretto and later graduated to become the front man for Willie Colon after Hector LaVoe went solo. Panamanian Ruben Blades wrote some of the great salsa songs ever written including “Juan Pachanga”, “Pedro Navaja”, and “Pablo Pueblo”. He also actually wrote the salsa song “El Cantante” for Hector LaVoe. Blades were also featured in the Fania All-Stars which included all the greatest salsa musicians of the day and which performed all over the world to gigantic stadium crowds.

Some of the other great salsa song writers and salsa musicians of the era were Larry Harlow (“La Cartera”), Roberto Roena (“Cui Cui”), Ismael Rivera, Kako, Celia Cruz, Eddie Palmieri, Cachao, Ismael Miranda, Cheo Feliciano, and many others. Some of the great bands of the day were Tipica ’73, Roberto Roena and the Apollo Sound, Tipica Novel, Charanga ’76 and Saoco led by the great Henry Fiol.

Salsa music was performed at many venues around New York including the Village Gate in Soho and the Cheetah. Madison Square Garden was the site of several filmed and sold out shows by the Fania All Stars. Great artists such as Willie Colon and Eddie Palmieri took their shows on the road to places such as the Fillmore West and the Hilton ballroom in San Francisco. Many of these bands played outdoors at the annual summer festival at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley.

Salsa songs were never as good or as popular as during that time in history with the exception of Cuban music from the 80s and 90s. Salsa dancers all over the world dance to these swinging salsa songs to this day. Long live Latin music!

How to promote your music?

Search Amazon.com for musicSearch Amazon.com for music

Years ago it seemed that the only way to make it big in the music world was by being signed by a major record label. Of course no one is disputing that this approach can indeed launch a successful singing career but it’s no longer the only way to make it big as a musician. If you are a budding singer, songwriter or musician there is a lot you can do to ensure your future success. If you want to know how to promote your music so that you get the most exposure possible, look to the Internet.

Anyone who has a profile on one of the social networking sites, like MySpace or Facebook is likely already aware of the fact that there are some fantastic musicians hanging out on there. MySpace is really the place you need to be if you want to know how to promote your music online. You can create a full profile, upload your music and start inviting friends. One quick glance at some of the musician profiles on MySpace reveals thousands of friends. Many of these people are listening to this music and in some cases people who started their recording careers on MySpace are being offered recording deals.

Having your own website is also one of the best ways to get your music heard. By setting up a website you are going to have the ability to showcase your work. You can add musician or band profiles, clips of music and even a music video if you’ve had the benefit of making one. You can hire a web designer to create a site that reflects the feel of your music. When you are thinking about how to promote your music online, don’t forget this important step.

No one will come to your website though if you just set it up and leave it there. You need to get the traffic to the site so people will sit up and take notice of how great your band is. This can be accomplished in several ways including posting on music related forums, linking to other music sites and submitting the site to search engines. If you are more concerned with writing and recording music than worrying about the website, hire someone to do it for you. The minimal investment you’ll make will be well worth the additional traffic to your website and resulting interest in your music.

The Internet really does offer unlimited possibilities for people who want to have their songs heard. You just need to think about how to promote your music online so that the people who will potentially enjoy it will actually get a chance to hear it.