A look at contemporary Merengue

Latin Beat Magazine, Sept, 1998 by Nelson Rodriguez

When I think of merengue, I remember being a youth during its early days in New York at house parties my parents would drag me to. The only thing I enjoyed about the parties was the music and the people dancing. Most of the music consisted of Trios, Boleristas and popular bands from Puerto Rico. My early recollections of merengue were Canario y su Grupo, Angel Viloria, Johnny Ventura and Félix del Rosario.

As a young DJ, one of the early turntable scorchers I played was La Luz by El Cieguito de Nagua (Bartolo Alvarado) during the holiday December of 1973. At parties, I would have to play it two or three times a night. That's when we began to mix the 45s into each other, and hence, the new party mix was born in New York. Every DJ quickly learned to mix the sounds of salsa, merengue, R&B and the new "Hustle" craze that led to Disco.

Before the seventies, merengue was still a sound for the older crowds, and a new twist would ha to be added in order to attract the younger generation, especially in upper Manchester N.Y., Boston, and Providence. That twist came in the form of Wilfrido Vargas y sus Beduinos featuring the vocal talents of Vicente Pacheco on the hit Asi Asi that began to attract the younger Dominicans and Puerto Ricans. The music had been raised to a new level, making it more danceable and with the pace it needed to compete with disco music.

I had the pleasure of being at a Madison Square Garden concert that introduced me to Wilfrido Vargas and his young group Los Hijos Del Rey. From this youthful group the graduates included Bonny Cepeda, Los Kenton, Freddy Kenton, Fernando Villalona, Rasputín, Raulín Rosendo, Dionis Fernández and Sergio Vargas. One of the historical moments came when the top radio personality at the time, Hugo Adamés from WRIB "La Inconfundible" in Providence, Rhode Island, introduced MSG to the birth of the new age of merengue. Dressed as a bishop, Hugo was lowered from above the crowd as if coming from heaven. Adamés astonished the crowd, which was also a bit stunned by the religious turn that the event had taken. Hugo Adamés was a poet that evening as he got the crowd into blessing and welcoming Los Hijos Del Rey, who introduced us to the new merengue millennium. That evening I saw for the first time Fernandito Villalona, Rasputín, Raulito Rosendo and the Kentons.

The clothes and dancing were a major impact at the time. Johnny Ventura was king but Wilfredo and Los Hijos attracted a whole new generation. While Millie y Los Vecinos ruled throughout the '80s, Karen Records, the label that recorded Wilfredo and Los Hijos Del Rey, then released another Vargas creation, Las Chicas Del Can. Known to fans as Las Chicans, the girls were the female answer to Los Beduinos, (who over the years employed the vocalists Rubby Pérez, Sandy Reyes, Sergio Hernández and Eddy Herrera).

The '80s sprouted the growth of merengue, with acts like Fernandito Villalona, Los Vecinos, Wilfredo y Sus Beduinos, Bonny Cepeda, Cheche Abreu, Carlos Manuel "El Zafiro," Cuco Valoy and the arrival of the ladies' spiced up merengue. Belkis Concepción had a hot group as did Las Chicas de Ringo y Jossie (included Olga Tañon, Celines and Mayra Mayra). The female groups appeared by the dozens and many were clearly not very good and consequently began to saturate quickly. Some of the graduates from these groups went on to successful solo careers: Olga Tañon, Miriam Cruz of Las Chican, Mayra y Celines and more.

Other groups that became favorites during the '80s were La Gran Manzana led by Victor Roque and Herry Hieno, Luis Onalle, Dionis Fernández, Orquesta Internacional led by Ramon Orlando, Aranis Camilo y La Organización Secreta (with the trademark sunglasses).

Merengue had reintroduced the fashionable use of suits for all band members in the '70s, when salsa was going through the hippie days of dressing down. The tradition set in the '50s and early '60s by the bands of Tito Puente, Tito Rodríguez, Cortijo, El Gran Combo and others had been lost to salseros with the new Fania days. Merengueros in the late '70s and '80s brought back the visuals in clothing and dance steps. El Gran Combo of Puerto Rico personified dancing and still do, but many other bands abandoned the style for the cooler jam session performances.

The mix of sexy ladies and double-entendre lyrics became a staple of the merengue look and sound.

Pochy y La Familia with Kinito Mendez rocked the airwaves with their unique sound, as did the best family group, Los Hermanos Rosario, first with Toño Rosario, and then years later without him. Sergio Vargas and Alex Bueno became idols following the Fernandito Villalona era.

Conjunto Quisqueya ruled in Puerto Rico until Jossie Esteban y La Patrulla 15 arrived on the scene. Monchy Capricho, Sandy Reyes, La New York Band (originally with Cheito), Chery X, Magda Lake, Franklin Rivera, Nereida, and Aníbal Bravo also made an impact in their early acts in New York City.

Puerto Rico made a strong push for merengue and today has many voices with hot acts like Grupomanía, Manny Manuel, Limi-T XXI, Los Sabrosos Del Merengue, and a new invasion of ladies on the scene. In actuality, merengue is catching up with salsa as far as exposing young, good looking, generally untested vocalists to the limelight via heavy promotions and exposure by record labels.