I'm afraid that this record is a complete mystery, and I can't offer any biographical info about the band. My guess is that it's probably a New York City studio concoction designed to capitalize on the booglaoo craze of '67. I can say almost unequivocally that I've never met a boogaloo record that I did not like. Sounds to me like the singer is a native Spanish speaker, but I'm not the best judge of these things. Whatever the backstory, this record cooks.
from 1967...
THE FUN CITY - MONO
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Thanks, Derek, for sharing this great boogaloo single. Is it possible to download this?
ReplyDeleteI don't have any info on the band....but happen to know the song really well.
ReplyDeleteIt was originally recorded as "The Monkey's Guapacha [Mono-Monito]" in the late 50's. It's a pre-boogaloo cha cha cha/pachanga thing by Randy Carlos.
Mono=monkey, monito=little monkey.
Probably of little interest, but 'mono-monito' may actually translate as 'little blond monkey'.
ReplyDeleteGenerally speaking, 'mono' does mean monkey, but I just ran across something which says that in Venezuela, which is where Randy Carlos was from, 'mono/mona' can also mean 'blond'.
So maybe it's a play on words?
It sounds like the lead singer is a native spanish speaker, indeed, and the recording is entirely latin in fashion. By the way, Mono means Monkey in Spanish.
ReplyDeleteThis Mono is not a one-channel recording. Great post!
Definitely, it sounds like foreign Spanish to me, I can tell you :)
ReplyDelete