HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: sancheza@cs.rpi.edu (Arturo Sanchez)
Subject: Re: ORIGIN OF SALSA
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Computer Science, Troy NY
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 21:23:06 GMT

In article <1992Apr13.192758.6081@news.iastate.edu> TW.MD7@isumvs.iastate.edu (Jane Anderson) writes:
>I need some help settling a friendly dispute between
>a Colombian friend and a Puerto Rican friend, of mine.
>One says that salsa (both music and dance) originated
>in Puerto Rico, the other says it's origins are more
>related to the the western coast of S.America, or other
>islands in the carribean. We all know that salsa spans
>all of Latin America, but does anyone know its TRUE
>roots? Any information will be greatly appreciated!
>Muchos gracias!
>
>Juanita-
>
>P.S. E-Mail is fine!

I hope to see many opinions!, so let me state mine.
The most difficult thing in this kind of discussion is to try to define
the term Salsa. If you are talking about that urban music promoted mainly
by the record label "Fania" (early 70's) then you have to conclude that
Salsa originated in New York City. Names that come into play here are
(among many) Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe, Johnny Pacheco, Pete (el conde)
Rodriguez, Ray Barreto, Jose (Cheo) Feliciano, Yomo Toro, Celia Cruz,
Ismael Rivera, Ismael Miranda, Charlie/Eddie Palmieri. All these 
"Salseros" are/were of Latin-American
origin, mainly from Cuba and Puerto Rico. I would say that the golden era
of this Salsa was the 70's and early 80's (then Merengue took over in the
late 80's.) 
Now, musically speaking, these movement wasn't original. It is "based"
mainly on the cuban rythm called "Son" (el Son Cubano, Juanita!) However
in some Salsa tunes you can also appreciate influences from other 
rythms such as "Bombas/Plenas" (Puerto Rico), "Cumbias" (Colombia),
"Paso Dobles" (Spain), Merengue Dominicano(*) (Dom. Republic) and "Boleros"
(which can be traced back to Spain as well!), Swing (USA.)
To complicate things even further, you usually hear the following "synonyms"
associated with Salsa: "Guaguanco'", "Pachanga", "Charanga", "Son Montuno",
"Changui" So, the more purists will say that Salsa doesn't exist, Salsa is
what you eat with your Tacos, Chimichangas and the like, period!  
I'd like to conclude with an OPEN list of contemporary salsa artists by
country of origin (I mean, they are still playing!):

Artist				Country		
----------------------------------------------------
Ruben Blades			Panama
Willie Colon			Puerto Rico
Joe Arroyo			Colombia
Niche				Colombia
Adrenalina Caribe		Venezuela
Oscar D'Leon			Venezuela
Trabuco Venezolano		Venezuela
Juan Luis Guerra		Dominican Republic (he plays Merengue as well)
Celia Cruz			Cuba
Los VanVan			Cuba
La Orquesta Reve'		Cuba
Orquesta de la Luz		Japan (well, even Salsa!!)
....				....

-------
(*) In Venezuela, we also have Merengue (a rythm) but it is completely
different!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arturo Sanchez-Ruiz                     e-mail:sancheza@cs.rpi.edu
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Dept. of Computer Science
Troy, NY 12180
From: mha1@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (MICHAEL H. ALAIMO)
Newsgroups: rec.music.afro-latin
Subject: Re: Youssou N'Dour ???
Date: 9 Apr 92 15:57:55 GMT
Organization: Lehigh University

>>>
>>>       Does anyone know of a source for Youssou N'Dour tapes/CDs that
>>>are not widely commecially available? I have Lion, Set, Nelson Mandela,
>>>but I have heard there are lots of bootleg tapes in Senegal.  Are there any
>>>in this country?  Or, other albums by him that may be available?
>>>       Thanks, pe please e-mail responses to : begonias@wam.umd.edu
>>>
>>>
>>
>>      I would highly recommed the virgin/real world re-release of the album
>> "Immigres".  I was recorded in 1984 and more strictly adhears to the
>> traditions of senegalese "mbalax" music.  I think it's his finest stateside
>> release.
>>
>>      The only other recording I've seen in the U.S. is a live cd that, I
>> believe, is a french or german import.
>
>I think it's going to be more difficult to get Youssou N'Dour stuff
>in the U.S. since he has been dropped from Peter Gabriel's label
>(can't remember the name).

I wonder if this has anything to do with Virgin records being bought out by
EMI?  (the RealWorld label was a division of Virgin).

>York (can't remember the name right now).  BY the way, Youssou's
>new album came just before Christmas and is called "X" (as in the
>X you see on baseball caps worn mostly by African-American
>teenagers).  The main cut on the album is called "Live TV" and
>addresses the issues of 1) globalization and 2) cultural alienation
>in an information-oriented world.

I read on rec.music.misc that there is supposed to be a Youssou N'Dour release
called "Eyes Open" on may 5th, although it gave no other info.  I wonder if
it's the same material as "X"?

>
>You might also be interested in knowing that most songs on "The Lion"
>and "Set" are actually rearranged or remixed versions of previously
>released songs. I happen to have both the old albums and the American
>releases, and it's quite interesting to compare them.
>
>Short of having contacts in Senegal and France, it's going to be
>difficult to get his stuff from now on.  Anyone know of a possible
>way ?
>
>Patrice Backer
>
>
Unless another label picks up the RealWorld catalog, we'll most likely be out
of luck here in the states.  That's a shame, since the label has put out a lot
of great music.  I recently picked up the album 'Exiles' by Ugandan folk
singer Geoffry Oryema;  it has some very moving songs and a surprise
appearance on several tracks by Brian Eno.
From: mcateer@gremlin ( iccad)
Newsgroups: rec.music.afro-latin
Subject: Thomas Mapfumo
Date: 13 Apr 92 00:13:37 GMT
Organization: Mitel. Kanata (Ontario). Canada.

I am looking for the name of the record company/distributor
and the catalog number (any format) for a release entitled
"Chimurenga: Justice for the Nation".  Is anyone familiar
with this?

Robin (for Phil)
e-mail: mcateer@mitel.icpd.com
From: backer14@wharton.upenn.edu
Newsgroups: rec.music.afro-latin
Subject: Re: Youssou N'Dour ???
Date: 9 Apr 92 04:13:32 GMT
Organization: University of Pennsylvania

In article <1992Mar30.155828.91230@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu>, mha1@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (MICHAEL H. ALAIMO) writes:
>>
>>       Does anyone know of a source for Youssou N'Dour tapes/CDs that
>>are not widely commecially available? I have Lion, Set, Nelson Mandela,
>>but I have heard there are lots of bootleg tapes in Senegal.  Are there any
>>in this country?  Or, other albums by him that may be available?
>>       Thanks, pe please e-mail responses to : begonias@wam.umd.edu
>>
>>
> 
>      I would highly recommed the virgin/real world re-release of the album
> "Immigres".  I was recorded in 1984 and more strictly adhears to the
> traditions of senegalese "mbalax" music.  I think it's his finest stateside
> release.
> 
>      The only other recording I've seen in the U.S. is a live cd that, I
> believe, is a french or german import.

I think it's going to be more difficult to get Youssou N'Dour stuff
in the U.S. since he has been dropped from Peter Gabriel's label 
(can't remember the name).

The only place I can think of that might carry his new album is an
African/Caribbean/R&B music store on 125th Street in Manhattan, New
York (can't remember the name right now).  BY the way, Youssou's
new album came just before Christmas and is called "X" (as in the
X you see on baseball caps worn mostly by African-American
teenagers).  The main cut on the album is called "Live TV" and
addresses the issues of 1) globalization and 2) cultural alienation
in an information-oriented world.

You might also be interested in knowing that most songs on "The Lion"
and "Set" are actually rearranged or remixed versions of previously
released songs. I happen to have both the old albums and the American
releases, and it's quite interesting to compare them.

Short of having contacts in Senegal and France, it's going to be
difficult to get his stuff from now on.  Anyone know of a possible
way ?

Patrice Backer
From: awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Al Crawford)
Newsgroups: rec.music.reviews,rec.music.misc
Subject: Review: Howard Jones - Lift Me Up
Date: Mon, 06 Apr 92 10:38:51 GMT
Reply-To: awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk
Followup-To: rec.music.misc
Distribution: world
Organization: The University Of Edinburgh - Department Of Computer Science



Howard Jones            Lift Me Up              East-West HOW15CD

        Total Running Time: 21 min 26 sec

        1.      Lift Me Up                      3:39
        2.      I.G.Y.                          5:44
        3.      Road To Cairo                   6:05
        4.      New Man                         5:52

I used to like Howard Jones, now I'm not so sure. The last album of his I
bought was _Dream Into Action_ and somewhere between then and now he seems
to have pretty much lost it.

While his vocals are still quite distinctive and pleasant, the change for
the worse seems to be in the musical arrangements. Part of the charm of the
likes of "New Song" and "Like To Get To Know You Well" was the simple,
uncluttered and occasionally cheesy synth sound. "Lift Me Up" is just too
swish and overproduced for its own good. A poster in rec.music.misc
recently said the single sounded a little like Steve Winwood and really
that's the best comparison I can make too - it *does* sound not unlike
"Valerie" in places. Jones' vocals prevent it from being consigned to the
bottom drawer but despite it having improved a little with repeated
listening, it's no great surprise that I found this CD single for #2 in the
bargain bin just a fortnight after its release.

The second track, "I.G.Y" was recorded live in Philadelphia and is
similarly safe and sedative. "New Man" has an intro that reminds me greatly
of the Pet Shop Boys "Suburbia" (well, the first three seconds do anyway)
but slips into the same easy-listening vein. Both "I.G.Y." and "New Man"
are a little reminiscent of the direction China Crisis took on _Diary Of A
Hollow Horse_, being slickly produced and pleasant to listen to, but they
seem rather sanitised and bland in comparison.

The remaining track, "Road To Cairo" is another slow one and is, surprise,
surprise, pleasant but dull.

Overall, a bit disappointing. I may give the album a listen when it's
released but I'm more inclined to wait until it inevitably appears in the
bargain bins in a few months time.

Erland Rating: +0

--
		      Al Crawford - awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk
       "Breakdown. Splinter. A thousand fragments disperse and die."
From: awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Al Crawford)
Newsgroups: rec.music.reviews,rec.music.misc
Subject: Review: Soft Cell - Non Stop Erotic Cabaret
Date: Mon, 06 Apr 92 10:39:55 GMT
Reply-To: awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk
Followup-To: rec.music.misc
Distribution: world
Organization: The University Of Edinburgh - Department Of Computer Science



Soft Cell               Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret         Vertigo 800 061 2

        Total Running Time: 40 min 41 sec

        1.      Frustration                     4:10
        2.      Tainted Love                    2:34
        3.      Seedy Films                     5:04
        4.      Youth                           3:15
        5.      Sex Dwarf                       5:12
        6.      Entertain Me                    3:34
        7.      Chips On My Shoulder            4:06
        8.      Bedsitter                       3:35
        9.      Secret Life                     3:38
        10.     Say Hello, Wave Goodbye         5:26

Marc Almond: vocals
David Ball: electronic and acoustic instruments

This, Soft Cell's first album from 1981, is the odd one out amongst the
recent batch of Soft Cell re-releases in that it's the only one which has
always been reasonably easily available on CD. In fact the "re-released" UK
pressing appears to be little more than a direct import of the German
version on Vertigo that's been out all these years. The odd one out status
is confirmed just by one look at the disc, which has a completely different
label style from the rest of this batch of re-releases.

This album represents the "classic" Soft Cell sound as epitomised by tracks
like "Tainted Love" and "Bedsitter", in many ways typical early 80s synth
pop but with Almond and Ball's shared affection for Northern Soul in full
view. This influence pops up all over the place, from the presence of a
saxaphone (not exactly the most common instrument amongst futurist groups)
on "Frustration" to their cover of the Ed Cobb penned "Tainted Love" which
was originally recorded by Gloria Jones. At times this mixture of styles
works nicely, at other times it jars a little, with the influence being too
obvious and the synths sounding gimmicky.

Still, the latter is a rare occurrence and mars the quality of the album
only slightly. The quality of the songs is high - David Ball's music is
simple (lots of one-fingered keyboard lines) but catchy and Almond's lyrics
are by turns grittily realistic, sleazy and amusing. The album includes
three hits single ("Tainted Love", "Bedsitter" and "Say Hello, Wave
Goodbye") as well as the cult favourite "Sex Dwarf".

Erland Rating: +2

--
		      Al Crawford - awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk
       "Breakdown. Splinter. A thousand fragments disperse and die."
Xref: sparky rec.music.reviews:198 rec.music.misc:13643
From: stewarte@sco.COM (Stewart Evans)
Newsgroups: rec.music.reviews
Subject: Norman & Nancy Blake - "Just Gimme Somethin' I'm Used To"
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 92 00:30:43 GMT
Followup-To: rec.music.misc


Norman & Nancy Blake - "Just Gimme Somethin' I'm Used To" 
Shanachie Records

As the title suggests, this album doesn't set out to shock anyone,
especially not those familiar with Norman & Nancy's relaxed style
of old-time country music.  At over 60 minutes, this album marks
the Blakes' real entry into the CD world, which is ironic since 
their own record collection probably consists mostly of 78s.

If you've seen Norman and Nancy in concert recently, this album
is indeed something you're used to:  just the two of them, no other 
players and no apparent overdubs.  Four of the thirteen tracks are 
instrumental duets with Norman on fiddle and Nancy on cello, one is a 
guitar instrumental, and the remainder are ballads on which Norman sings 
lead, backed by Nancy's harmonies and both of their guitars.  Whether 
bowing or picking, the Blakes play together so smoothly they sound like
one.  Norman plays the lead parts, but Nancy's playing is filled
with bass runs and fills that elevate it above mere accompaniment.
On the fiddle/cello duets it's impossible to say who's accompanying
whom, and these present a side of the Blakes' that I especially enjoy.  
The ballads are mostly melancholy, including a variant of the ancient 
"Little Matty Groves" and the cowboy tragedy "When The Work's All Done 
This Fall", and are suited well to Norman's relaxed, easy vocal style.

Curiously, no writing credits are given anywhere on the disc or in the 
booklet, so apart from "Wabash Cannonball" and a few other obvious ones
I'm unsure whether the tunes are originals or traditionals.  That in itself
is a tribute to this duo's ability to show their deep reverence for
tradition while creating a sound distinctly their own.

Xref: sparky rec.music.reviews:190 rec.music.misc:13636
From: leo@ph.tn.tudelft.nl (Leo Breebaart)
Newsgroups: rec.music.reviews,rec.music.misc
Subject: Kronto Review: Crowded House - Woodface
Date: Sat, 04 Apr 92 19:31:21 GMT
Reply-To: leo@ph.tn.tudelft.nl
Followup-To: rec.music.misc
Organization: Delft University of Technology


Crowded House - Woodface (1991)
Capitol CDP 7 93559 2
48:13 min, 14 tracks
Produced by: Mitchell Froom and Neil Finn

The brothers Finn (or at least Neil) and myself operate on different 
mental wavelengths, I think. How else can I explain the fact that 
for three albums now the Crowded House songs are leaving me cold, 
even though by all theories I should be hotly enthusiastic about 
them?

Consider: perfectly crafted three-minute mid-tempo pop songs, often 
and rightly called Beatle-esque. Rich in melody, expertly and 
cleanly produced by people like Froom. Great vocals. I mean, I ought 
to be *worshipping* this band.

But the songs simply don't connect. Oh, each album has a few
songs that I like -- "Woodface" in particular has 'Chocolate Cake', 
'Weather With You' (the only *truly* great song), 'How Will You Go' and 
the Police-like 'Italian Plastic'. But all the other songs sound the 
same to me: boring, unmemorable, unexciting, simply not much good at all.

This leaves me with preciously little else to say about this album, 
except: "check it out for yourself". How's that for a helpful 
review?

-- 
Leo Breebaart  (leo @ ph.tn.tudelft.nl)
Xref: sparky rec.music.reviews:196 rec.music.misc:13641
From: awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Al Crawford)
Newsgroups: rec.music.reviews,rec.music.misc
Subject: Reviews From The Crypt: Respect - What Comes After Goodbye
Date: Mon, 06 Apr 92 10:37:51 GMT
Reply-To: awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk
Followup-To: rec.music.misc
Distribution: world
Organization: The University Of Edinburgh - Department Of Computer Science



Respect         What Comes After Goodbye        Chrysalis CHSCD 3640    1990

        Total Running Time: 19 min 30 sec

        1.      What Comes After Goodbye (7" Version)           4:00
        2.      What Comes After Goodbye (Extended Mix)         6:59
        3.      The Girl Needs Respect                          4:00
        4.      Ghostdance                                      4:22

One that got away. This single was released, rather bizarrely, just a few
days before Christmas 1990 with the result that it only appeared on the
shelves in the gap between Christmas and New Year and was gone by the time
1991 came. If ever I wanted to kill a single stone dead, *that* is when I'd
release it.

Which is a pity, since it's a fine pop song. Respect were (and possibly
still are) a 3 piece from Sheffield producing dance music of the watered
down white soul variety. For this, their first single, they enlisted the
aid of another local musician, Philip Oakey of The Human League (who wasn't
doing anything at the time and, as far as I can tell, hasn't been doing
anything since). The result is a quality synth duet between Oakey and
Respect's female vocalist (whose name escapes me). Reminiscent of the Human
League in sound, although rather lighter and poppier. Very pretty indeed.

The second track is a rather tacky Phil Harding remix, which takes the
lightly danceable sound of the original 7" and mauls it thoroughly.

The third and fourth tracks *don't* feature Oakey on guest vocals and
illustrate why nothing has been heard of Respect since (except for another
single which also sank without trace and an album which was never
released). Without the seasoning of Oakey's distinctive vocals their sound
is palatable but not exactly tasty. Ugh, apologies for that metaphor.

Erland Rating: +2 for the first track
               -1 for the remix
               +0 for the other two

--
		      Al Crawford - awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk
       "Breakdown. Splinter. A thousand fragments disperse and die."
Xref: sparky rec.music.reviews:201 rec.music.misc:13645
From: sommar@enea.se (Erland Sommarskog)
Newsgroups: rec.music.reviews,rec.music.misc
Subject: Bloomsday - Fortuny
Summary: +2 - ? - 1990
Date: Mon, 06 Apr 92 20:29:29 GMT
Followup-To: rec.music.misc
Organization: Enea Data AB


Some records are more difficult to review than others. This is
one of the difficult.

I had never heard of this group before, I just found it at Mega's
huge sale. The price was fair and the cover art was tasteful.

Bloomsday is a trio: Neil Clark, Stephen Irving and Chris Thomson
on guitars, drums and vocals respectively. They're augmented by
Douglas Muirden on keys and sax, Mark Bedford on electric and
acoustic bass, Syd Straw on vocals and Bill Denton on harmonica.
Of these, Bedford is, quite naturally the most present. Produced
by Anthony Moore and Bloomsday. Unknown names to me except Syd
Straw (or have I heard Bedford's name before?)

Next problem is trying to locate them. The sound is American,
and so is Syd Straw I believe. The album is recorded in London
and the address for correspondance is also there. One of the
songs has a line "like a snow storm in Adeladie". US, UK, Australia, 
or somewhere else. Anyone knows?

It is very easy to put on this record and just let it play without
paying much attention to it. But if you do, you hear a lot of good 
stuff. And, no this is not new age or muzak. It's definitely
rock'n'roll in some meaning. Chris Thomson has that sensitive
and a bit sleepy voice, like Mark Hollis in Talk Talk, giving
a soul flavour to it, but only a flavour. The music is a little
airy, soft and sensitive too, but there is also place for good and
a little mean guitar. And all this without any appalling contrasts, 
au contraire all blend toghether very well.

But it's difficult to say that an album is really good when you
realize that despite having played it a couple of times, you
cannot really hum anything from it, or even discuss the indi-
vidual songs. A very volatile album somehow. I guess the jury
is still out on this one, but I can sense definite qualities,
so +2 seems a reasonable rating this far.
-- 
Erland Sommarskog - ENEA Data, Stockholm - sommar@enea.se
Xref: sparky rec.music.reviews:191 rec.music.misc:13637
From: @hermes.intel.com:AGOUGH@AZ.intel.com (Andy Gough, x4-2906, pager 420-2284, CH2-59)
Newsgroups: rec.music.gaffa
Subject: Kate Bush's Secret Carnival
Date: 13 Apr 92 10:11:41 GMT
X-Vms-To: DELPHI::IN%"Love-Hounds@eddie.mit.edu"
Originator: wisner@wiretap.Spies.COM


Hello All,
     I remember back when I first listened to _The Dreaming_*, I was struck by 
"carnival theme" of much of the music.  That is, it reminds of the music that
is usually played during carnival scenes in movies (having never been to a
real carnival, I can't say if this music is authentic to carnivals or not).  
It's that kindof lilting, sinusoidal kindof organ music (especially steam 
organs).  I'm sorry I can't describe it any better than that -- I never took a 
real music appreciation class.
      Anyhow, I've noticed that four songs have "carnival like" music:


	_Lionheart_
	 9. Coffee Homeground


	_The Dreaming_
	 2. There Goes A Tenner
	 3. Pull Out The Pin
	 4. Suspended In Gaffa


CH and SIG probably are the best examples.
      So, has anyone else ever noticed this?  Are there any more carnival
songs?  What does this mean for a) the songs, b) KaTe's music?  What say ye?


Regards,
Andy


* _The Dreaming_:  The only album that exists.  It's existence denies the
		   reality of all others.
From: lester@gandalf.etdesg.TRW.COM (JAL)
Newsgroups: rec.music.gaffa
Subject: Sarah covers
Date: 13 Apr 92 17:20:27 GMT
Originator: wisner@wiretap.Spies.COM


Farrell writes:


>I have seen Sarah a few times now, and she never sang the same cover in 
>another show. I am pretty sure that if you heard her cover a song, she would 
>not sing it again in concert...I saw two shows, a couple of months apart, 
>and she didn't cover the same tunes in the two show...first time was the 
>famous "Georgia", and the second time was a tune by Talk Talk.


She seems to be consistently singing "Gloomy Sunday" as her final encore. She
sang it in Boston (with a very similar introduction to what Vickie described)
as well as in Chicago.


-Jeff Lester