Eddie Santiago
b. c.1961, Puerto Rico. Santiago's record-breaking solo debut Atrevido Y Diferente was full of saccharin-sweet romantic vocals and hip arrangements over a driving yet laid-back beat. It triggered a revival of salsa's fortunes with a new wave - variously called salsa rom ntica, salsa er¢tica, salsa sensual or sexy salsa - and spawned a breed of new solo singers and bands and some comebacks, including Nicaraguan Luis Enrique, Willie Gonz lez, Paquito Guzm n, Lalo Rodr¡guez, Roberto Lugo and Nino Segarra. Billboard's former Latin music reporter, Carlos Agudelo, attempted a definition of salsa sensual: "This Puerto Rican song-and-dance craze mixes the Spanish lyrics of romantic ballads - borrowed shamelessly from pop records even before they have exhausted their life span - with the traditional salsa beat. It's performed by a mostly new generation of soneros (salsa singers), all of them remarkably similar in the pitch of their voices, the moods and cadences of their sensually, or shall we say sexually, tinged tunes" (from New York's Village Voice, August 1988). Although Santiago's rapid rise to fame helped rescue salsa from the depths to which the Dominican merengue boom had pushed it, it was a massive set-back for the tradition of solid, progressive salsa associated with names like Willie Rosario, Papo Lucca And Sonora Ponce¤a, Mulenze, Libre, Angel Canales and others. UK salsa broadcaster, Tomek, said in 1991: "Eddie Santiago's success represents the nadir of salsa's commercialization. A thin voice made ludicrous by an impressive range of bum notes, even smoky reverb and echo failed to redeem its dismal squawk. However, his true crime was the success of that album - it launched a tidal wave of palsied imitators. Credit to his producer Julio C‚sar Delgado, though; a cunningly crafted if deeply cynical and ultimately resounding success, now thankfully on the wane".

Listen to Eddie Santiago at Finetune.

Albums
Top Tracks
  • Lluvia (Remix)
  • Insaciable
  • De Profesion...Tu Amante
  • Esta Noche Te Voy A Estrenar
  • Manana
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