Search - All Great Stars :: 60's Gold

Boogaloo Blues' Got a Hold on Me!

John C. Forbes | South Jamaica, NY USA | 12/31/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ever since 1967, when I first heard the first "cut" of this CD, "Boogaloo Blues", I have been searching for the album "Boogaloo Blues". Of course we didn't have CD/s back then. "Boogaloo Blues", by Johnny colon, quickly became an underground hit. Unfortunately, it seemed that the album itself went underground because I could not find it anywhere. As the years passed, I continued to search for the album. Even my Hispanic friends could not help me. Most did not know who Johnny Colon was. Some insisted that Johnny Colon did not exist. They insisted that I was mistaking the more famous Willie Colon for a non existant Johnny Colon. In 1998, after becoming computor literate, I began to search the internet. A title seach through Amazon.Com proved to be futile. It turned up every boogaloo but Boogaloo Blues. Undaunted, I did a full scale internet search. I finaly hit paydirt. My search led me to the web site of a tiny little "record" shop in Puerto Rico. The CD containing the track "Boogaloo Blues" was titled "All Great Stars/60's Gold". I ordered the CD immediately! When it arrived I immmediately put it in my sound system, with some trepedation I might add. I wondered if my matured 48 year old musical ear would still be enthralled with what enthralled me at age 17. I wondered if the CD was a quality reproduction. My joy was unbounded when the song opened up with the familiar melody and lyrics I remembered from my youth. Not only was I transported back to 1967 but my beloved Boogaloo Blues had been digitally remastered. It was better sounding than I had remembered. If it were the only song on the CD, It would still be worth its price. However, there is more gold on this CD. I cannot reccommend this CD more emphatically. In my day, we did not call this genre of music Salsa. It was "Afro-Cuban" or just plain "Latin". With the current resurgence of the popularity of Latin music, I think the current generation of Salsa lovers are in for a rare treat if they purchase this CD."