Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Tuesday 12-inch Flashback: ‘Come Into My Arms’

Back in the ’80s, I became aware of a kind of music called “Latin hip- hop,” even though it wasn’t hip-hop.

It was electronic dance music with melodramatic singing... in the style of “I.O.U.” and “Let the Music Play.”

I bought a few of the 12-inches, including two by Judy Torres. Soon, I wasn’t hearing about Latin hip-hop anymore.

Recently I discovered that this music is now called “freestyle” (or “Latin freestyle”) and it still has fans. Artists such as Ms. Torres (the “Queen of Freestyle”) are out there singing their old hits.

The Latinos seem to dig it. So I’m spinning this one for Hispanic Heritage Month.

5 comments:

maria said...

david, did you know this is italian heritage month, too? think you could find us some ital music that has the special UBM blessing?

maria said...

apparently it's a two-fer:

http://www.umuc.edu/diversity/italian.shtml

Undercover Black Man said...

^ I did not know October was Italian Heritage Month... and also Polish Heritage Month.

I think I draw the line at polkas. But I definitely might dip into some classic Italian doo-wop before the month is out.

Thanks for the heads-up!

Anonymous said...

sounds good thanks for sharing

uglyblackjohn said...

We used to call it "LA Disco" before we knew that it was called "Freestyle".
It seemed that Miami dominated this genre but LA and New York had a few acts as well.
(Nocera might fill your Italian Heritage Month slot with her Freestyle club hit "Summertime, Summertime..")