The Boogaloo

The Boogaloo can refer to several off-shoots of American popular music and dance from mid-1960 to approximately 1970. Also loosely known as the Latin-Boogaloo, or Latin Rhythm and Blues, The Boogaloo was a style of music combining Salsa with Rhythm and Blues. Current Boogaloo patterns are often interpreted as Funk or Rhythm and Blues with a moderate tempo range between 88-120 bpm.

Boogaloo patterns first originated in New York City among teenage Cubans, Puerto Ricans, African Americans, and other ethnic groups all striving for a common ground in musical communication, fusing styles of African American Rhythm and Blues, Soul, with Puerto Rican Mambo, Chachacha and early American Syncopated Funk, Soul and Rhythm and Blues.

Mainstreamed through American television and American Bandstand, The Boogaloo achieved short-lived popularity with the biggest known hits to be Bang! Bang! by Joe Cuba on the album El Alcade del Barrio, 1967, selling over 1 million copies.

Pete Rodriguez also produced a hit song during this short Boogaloo period with I Like It Like That from the album of the same name, A Mi Me Gusta Asi, 1967.

The Boogaloo, like many rhythms incorporated for the acoustic drum set, relies on accents, and a strong layering of Conga drums which helps propel the rhythm for the dancing audience. The Boogaloo is one of the few Latin-derived rhythms which also incorporated catchy English spoken lyrics which helped broaden the Boogaloo’s initial appeal with teenagers.