Suntanned Latin Soul To Enjoy On A Winter's Day

Liliane Maestrini

The sky looks very grey today, so hopefully this Latin soul mix gives you the feeling of taking a well-deserved South-American trip. It summarizes almost 60 years of suntanned fun in modern music. Enjoy!

Years ago my parents bought a house from the Meek's family, but they were not related to music legend Joe Meek, as far as I know. He was the first independent record producer in music history. In the late 1950s Meek started as an engineer and soon made a name for himself, because he added instruments and sound effects to recordings, which no one had done before. He experimented with the weirdest electronic effects and built his own early versions of synthesizers, a decade before Kraftwerk did. The spacy instrumental 'Telstar' by Tornados is particularly noted for being the first British record by a band to hit #1 in the United States, in 1962.

You can hear Joe Meek sing on it as a drunken sailor at the end. He also created 'Have I the right', the first glam rock track, almost ten years before this kind of extravagant rock and roll became popular, particularly in the UK and the continent. The members of the Honeycombs ran up and down the stairs to create a louder beat. This beat became the characteristic of glam rock in the early 1970s. Meek was not only highly creative, he was quite a dark character too. In 1967 he was struggling with his career and he had some serious financial and personal problems too. In the midst of a deep depression he tragically took his own life, after killing his landlady with a gun. At that time his ideas about 'overdubbing' sounds were used in all big studios and bands like The Rolling Stones and The Beatles took them to another level. ‘Something I’ve Got To Tell You’ by Glenda Collins turned out to be one of his last productions.

Tracklist:

Astrud Gilberto – Who Needs Forever [Thievery Corporation Remix] (2002)
Stan Getz & Luiz Bonfá – Menina Flor (1963)
Syreeta – Tiki Tiki Donga (1977)
Fania All Stars ‎– Ella Fue (She Was The One) (1978)
Orgone – Funky Nassau (2004)
Serge Gainsbourg – Mambo Miam Miam (1959)
Alaida Costa – Catavento (1976)
Sabrina Malheiros – Salve O Mar (2017)
Nouvelle Vague – Putain Putain (2010)
Earl Grant – Fever (1958)
Glenda Collins – Something I’ve Got To Tell You (1966)
The Drifters – Under The Boardwalk (1964)
Cléa Vincent – Samba (2017)
Jon Lucien – Motherland (1975)
Jens Lekman – What’s That Perfume You Wear (2017)
Violetta Zironi – Toast (2017)
Ralfi Pagan ‎– Didn't Want To Have To Do It [4 Hero Bossa Reprise] (2007)
Mr. President – I Can't Go For That (No Can Do) (2014)
Tim Maia – Verão Carioca (1977)
Marcos Valle – Estrelar (1983)
Milt Jackson – Enchanted Lady (1970)