It’s disturbed me to see the perversion of the term “Boogaloo” by extremist militant groups to mean an upcoming (often racial) civil war, a complete reversal of the term’s origins as a beautiful interracial movement of music and dance uniting Latin and Black youths in the late ‘60s. Puerto Rican immigration to NYC began in 1919, but between 1940 and 1970 the Puerto Rican population in New York grew ten times in size. By the late ‘60s Nuyoricans who were raised on both the Afro-Cuban sounds of son montuno, guaguanco, guajira, guraracha and mambo popular with their parents, also spoke English and listened to the African-American sounds of R&B, Doo Wop, jazz and soul. Boogaloo emerged at the confluence of these sounds in Spanish Harlem and the Bronx and brought Black and Latin crowds together in a dancing frenzy. The sound blew up, with singles such as Joe Cuba’s “Bang Bang” selling a million copies, and international scenes developing in Peru, Colombia and Panama, but by the end of the decade the craze had died, or been stamped out by an industry coalition seeking to promote more traditional Afro-Cuban sounds, depending on who you believe. Today’s Chor Bazaar radio episode features a showcase on the sound on www.xray.fm from 6-7 pm Wednesday Pacific Time and archived thereafter at https://xray.fm/shows/chor_bazaar #boogaloo #bugalu #latinbugalu #latinboogaloo #chorbazaar #chorbazaarradio #xrayfm #independentradio https://www.instagram.com/p/CBRV_beBVG4/?igshid=ljnq9ukvqfjh