Perez Prado
Encyclopedia
Dámaso Pérez Prado was a Cuba
n bandleader, musician (singer, organist and pianist), and composer
. He is often referred to as the 'King of the Mambo'.
His orchestra was the most popular in mambo. His son, Pérez Prado, Jr., continues to direct the Pérez Prado Orchestra in Mexico City
to this day.
, Cuba
, his mother was a school teacher, his father a newspaper man. He studied classical piano
in his early childhood, and later played organ
and piano in local clubs. For a time, he was pianist and arranger for the Sonora Matancera
, Cuba's best-known musical group. He also worked with casino orchestras in Havana
for most of the 1940s, He was nicknamed "El Cara de Foca" ("Seal Face") by his peers at the time.
In 1948 he moved to Mexico to form his own band and record for RCA Victor. He quickly specialized in mambos, an upbeat adaptation of the Cuban danzón
. Prado's mambos stood out among the competition, with their fiery brass riffs and strong saxophone
counterpoints, and most of all, Pérez's trademark grunts (he actually says "¡Dilo!", or "Say it!", in many of the perceived grunts). In 1950 arranger Sonny Burke
heard "Que rico el mambo" while on vacation in Mexico and recorded it back in the United States
as "Mambo Jambo". The single was a hit, which caused Prado to launch a US tour. His appearances in 1951 were sell-outs and he began recording US releases for RCA Victor.
" (later a UK chart-topper for both Lou Bega
in 1999 and animated character Bob the Builder
in 2001) and "Mambo No. 8". At the height of the mambo movement, in 1955, Prado hit the American charts at number one with a cha-cha
version of "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White
" (composed by French composer Louiguy
). This arrangement, featuring trumpeter Billy Regis, held the spot for 10 consecutive weeks. The song also went to number one in the UK and in Germany. Prado had first covered this title for the movie Underwater! in 1954, where Jane Russell
can be seen dancing to "Cherry Pink". In 1958 one of Prado's own compositions, "Patricia
", became the last record to ascend to #1 on the Jockeys and Top 100 charts, both of which gave way the following week to the then newly-introduced Billboard Hot 100
chart. The song also went to number one in Germany, and in the UK it reached number eight.
However, since the Castro government took over Cuba, it prohibited any existing recordings of him and his orchestra from being put into a record compilation for many years. For this reason, phony or secondary versions of "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" and "Patricia" were put into compilations instead, disappointing a lot of Prado fans. This, however, changed only in the mid-1990s.
communities during the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. He also performed in films in the United States and Europe, as well as in Mexican cinema (Rumberas film
), always with his trademark goatee
and turtle-neck
sweaters and vest
s. With the end of the 1950s, his success waned, and the years gave way to new rhythms, like rock 'n roll
and then pop music
. His association with RCA ended in the 1960s, and his recorded output was mainly limited to smaller labels and recycled Latin-style anthologies.
's grand Paseo de la Reforma
to live with his wife and two children, son Dámaso Pérez Salinas (known as Perez Prado, Jr.) and daughter María Engracia. His career in Latin America was still strong. He toured and continued to record material which was released in Mexico, South America, and Japan. He was revered as one of the reigning giants of the music industry and was a regular performer on Mexican television. In Japan, a live concert recording of his 1973 tour was released on LP
in an early 4-channel format known as Quadraphonic
.
In 1981 Prado was featured in a musical revue entitled Sun which enjoyed a long run in the Mexican capital.
In 1983 someone who had used his name had died, and the press erroneously reported the death of bandleader Pérez Prado.
His last United States appearance was at Hollywood on September 12, 1987, when he played to a packed house. This was also the year of his last recording.
Persistent ill health plagued him for the next two years, and he died of a stroke in Mexico City
on September 14, 1989, aged 72.
" was later featured in
His mambo records and the joyous dancing they caused are described in a late chapter of Jack Kerouac's seminal novel, On The Road
(1957).
His songs "Caballo Negro", "Lupita", and "Mambo n.8" are featured in the film Santa Sangre
(1989) by Alejandro Jodorowsky
.
His recording of "Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)
" features in the films Deal of the Century
(1983), Cookie
(1989), and Parents
(1989).
In the decade after his death, the popularity of Prado's music was on the rise again. CD reissues of his RCA recordings continue to sell steadily.
"Guaglione
"peaked at number 2 in the UK Singles Chart
in 1995, following its use in the Guinness
television commercial Anticipation
. "Mambo No. 5" was featured in another Guinness commercial in 1999 (the same year Lou Bega
took his cover version
of that same song to the top of the UK chart).
The soundtrack to the 1999 movie Office Space
features two of his performances, "Mambo No. 8" and "The Peanut Vendor."
The soundtrack to the 2004 movie Diarios de Motocicleta features Prado's "Qué rico el mambo", more commonly known as "Mambo Jambo".
Avant-garde musician Nurse With Wound
released a compilation entitled Funeral Music for Perez Prado in 2001. The album's title track exceeds 30 minutes.
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n bandleader, musician (singer, organist and pianist), and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. He is often referred to as the 'King of the Mambo'.
His orchestra was the most popular in mambo. His son, Pérez Prado, Jr., continues to direct the Pérez Prado Orchestra in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
to this day.
Early life
Born as Dámaso Pérez Prado in MatanzasMatanzas
Matanzas is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. It is famed for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore.It is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas , east of the capital Havana and west of the resort town of Varadero.Matanzas is called the...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, his mother was a school teacher, his father a newspaper man. He studied classical piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
in his early childhood, and later played organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
and piano in local clubs. For a time, he was pianist and arranger for the Sonora Matancera
Sonora Matancera
La Sonora Matancera is a long-time band. Led by guitarist and vocalist Rogelio Martínez, La Sonora Matancera has been called, by the Guinness Book of World Records, "the group with the longest duration."...
, Cuba's best-known musical group. He also worked with casino orchestras in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
for most of the 1940s, He was nicknamed "El Cara de Foca" ("Seal Face") by his peers at the time.
In 1948 he moved to Mexico to form his own band and record for RCA Victor. He quickly specialized in mambos, an upbeat adaptation of the Cuban danzón
Danzón
Danzón is the official dance of Cuba. It is also an active musical form in Mexico and is still beloved in Puerto Rico where Verdeluz, a modern danzón by Puerto Rican composer Antonio Cabán Vale is considered the unofficial national anthem...
. Prado's mambos stood out among the competition, with their fiery brass riffs and strong saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
counterpoints, and most of all, Pérez's trademark grunts (he actually says "¡Dilo!", or "Say it!", in many of the perceived grunts). In 1950 arranger Sonny Burke
Sonny Burke
Sonny Burke was a big band leader. In 1937, he graduated from Duke University where he had formed and led the jazz big band known as the Duke Ambassadors....
heard "Que rico el mambo" while on vacation in Mexico and recorded it back in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as "Mambo Jambo". The single was a hit, which caused Prado to launch a US tour. His appearances in 1951 were sell-outs and he began recording US releases for RCA Victor.
Famous pieces and hits
Prado is the composer of such famous pieces as "Mambo No. 5Mambo No. 5
"Mambo No. 5" is a mambo and jive dance song originally recorded and composed by Pérez Prado in 1949.The song's popularity was renewed by Lou Bega's sampling of the original, released under the same name on Bega's 1999 debut album A Little Bit of Mambo....
" (later a UK chart-topper for both Lou Bega
Lou Bega
David Lubega , also known as Lou Bega, is a German musician of Italian and Ugandan descent, and is famous for his song "Mambo No. 5 ". This song is a remake of the Perez Prado instrumental from 1949...
in 1999 and animated character Bob the Builder
Bob the Builder
Bob the Builder is a British children's animated television show created by Keith Chapman. In the original series Bob appears as a building contractor specialising in masonry in a stop motion animated programme with his colleague Wendy, various neighbours and friends, and their gang of...
in 2001) and "Mambo No. 8". At the height of the mambo movement, in 1955, Prado hit the American charts at number one with a cha-cha
Cha-cha-cha (music)
The Cha-cha-chá is a style of Cuban music. It is popular dance music which developed from the danzón in the early 1950s.- Origin :As a dance music genre, cha-cha-chá is unusual in that its creation can be attributed to a single composer, Enrique Jorrín, then violinist and songwriter with the...
version of "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White
Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)
"Cereza rosa", or "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" or "Gummy Mambo" is the English version of "Cerisier rose et pommier blanc", a popular song with music by Louiguy written in 1950. French lyrics to the song by Jacques Larue and English lyrics by Mack David both exist and recordings of both...
" (composed by French composer Louiguy
Louis Gugliemi
Louis Guglielmi was a Catalan musician of Italian extraction who wrote under the nom de plume Louiguy...
). This arrangement, featuring trumpeter Billy Regis, held the spot for 10 consecutive weeks. The song also went to number one in the UK and in Germany. Prado had first covered this title for the movie Underwater! in 1954, where Jane Russell
Jane Russell
Jane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....
can be seen dancing to "Cherry Pink". In 1958 one of Prado's own compositions, "Patricia
Patricia (Perez Prado song)
"Patricia" is a popular song with music by Perez Prado and lyrics by Bob Marcus, published in 1958. The song is best known in an instrumental version by Prado's orchestra that became the last record to ascend to #1 on the Billboard Jockeys and Top 100 charts, both of which gave way the next week...
", became the last record to ascend to #1 on the Jockeys and Top 100 charts, both of which gave way the following week to the then newly-introduced Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart. The song also went to number one in Germany, and in the UK it reached number eight.
However, since the Castro government took over Cuba, it prohibited any existing recordings of him and his orchestra from being put into a record compilation for many years. For this reason, phony or secondary versions of "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" and "Patricia" were put into compilations instead, disappointing a lot of Prado fans. This, however, changed only in the mid-1990s.
International popularity
His popularity in the United States matched the peak of the first wave of interest in Latin music outside the LatinoLatino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
communities during the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. He also performed in films in the United States and Europe, as well as in Mexican cinema (Rumberas film
Rumberas film
The Rumberas film was a sub-genre film of the Golden age of Mexican Cinema , whose plots were set primarily in cabarets...
), always with his trademark goatee
Goatee
Goatee refers to a style of facial hair incorporating hair on a man’s chin. The exact nature of the style has varied according to time and culture.Traditionally, goatee refers solely to a beard formed by a tuft of hair on the chin...
and turtle-neck
Polo neck
A polo neck or turtle neck or skivvy is a garment—usually a sweater—with a close-fitting, round, and high collar that folds over and covers the neck...
sweaters and vest
Vest
A vest is a garment covering the upper body. The term has different meanings around the world:Waistcoat :. This is called a waistcoat in the UK and many Commonwealth countries, or a vest in the US and Canada. It is often worn as part of formal attire, or as the third piece of a lounge...
s. With the end of the 1950s, his success waned, and the years gave way to new rhythms, like rock 'n roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
and then pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. His association with RCA ended in the 1960s, and his recorded output was mainly limited to smaller labels and recycled Latin-style anthologies.
Later life
In the early 1970s Prado permanently returned to his apartment off Mexico CityMexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
's grand Paseo de la Reforma
Paseo de la Reforma
Paseo de la Reforma is a wide avenue that runs in a straight line, cutting diagonally across Mexico City. It was designed by Ferdinand von Rosenzweig in the 1860s and modeled after the great boulevards of Europe, such as Vienna's Ringstrasse or the Champs-Élysées in Paris...
to live with his wife and two children, son Dámaso Pérez Salinas (known as Perez Prado, Jr.) and daughter María Engracia. His career in Latin America was still strong. He toured and continued to record material which was released in Mexico, South America, and Japan. He was revered as one of the reigning giants of the music industry and was a regular performer on Mexican television. In Japan, a live concert recording of his 1973 tour was released on LP
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
in an early 4-channel format known as Quadraphonic
Quadraphonic
Quadraphonic sound – the most widely used early term for what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of the listening space, reproducing signals that are independent of one another...
.
In 1981 Prado was featured in a musical revue entitled Sun which enjoyed a long run in the Mexican capital.
In 1983 someone who had used his name had died, and the press erroneously reported the death of bandleader Pérez Prado.
His last United States appearance was at Hollywood on September 12, 1987, when he played to a packed house. This was also the year of his last recording.
Persistent ill health plagued him for the next two years, and he died of a stroke in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
on September 14, 1989, aged 72.
Alumni of Pérez Prado's orchestra
During his lifetime, a cast of musical luminaries passed through his orchestra, including:- Alex AcuñaAlex AcuñaAlejandro Neciosup Acuña aka Alex Acuña is a Peruvian drummer and percussionist, in the Afro-Cuban jazz style.Born in Pativilca, Peru, Acuña played in local bands from the age of ten, and moved to Lima as a teenager. At the age of eighteen he joined the band of Perez Prado, and in 1967 he moved...
, percussionist - Pete CandoliPete CandoliPete Candoli was an American swing and West Coast jazz trumpeter. He played with the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, and many others, and worked extensively in the studios of the recording and television industries...
, trumpeter - Beny Moré, singer
- Johnny PachecoJohnny PachecoJohnny Pacheco is a Dominican producer, musician, bandleader, and one of the most influential figures in American salsa music.-Early life:...
, percussionist - Armando PerazaArmando PerazaArmando Peraza is a Latin jazz percussionist. Through his long associations with jazz pianist George Shearing, vibraphonist Cal Tjader and guitarist Carlos Santana, he has been internationally known from the 1950s through to the 1990s...
, percussionist - Mongo SantamaríaMongo SantamaríaRamón "Mongo" Santamaría Rodríguez was an Afro-Cuban Latin jazz percussionist. He is most famous for being the composer of the jazz standard "Afro Blue," recorded by John Coltrane among others. In 1950 he moved to New York where he played with Perez Prado, Tito Puente, Cal Tjader, Fania All...
, percussionist
In popular culture
"PatriciaPatricia (Perez Prado song)
"Patricia" is a popular song with music by Perez Prado and lyrics by Bob Marcus, published in 1958. The song is best known in an instrumental version by Prado's orchestra that became the last record to ascend to #1 on the Billboard Jockeys and Top 100 charts, both of which gave way the next week...
" was later featured in
- the stripteaseStripteaseA striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner...
scene in Federico FelliniFederico FelliniFederico Fellini, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , was an Italian film director and scriptwriter. Known for a distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images, he is considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century...
's 1960 movie La dolce vitaLa Dolce VitaLa Dolce Vita is a 1960 comedy-drama film written and directed by the critically acclaimed director Federico Fellini. The film is a story of a passive journalist's week in Rome, and his search for both happiness and love that will never come... - background music for a pool party in the 1969 film Goodbye, ColumbusGoodbye, Columbus (film)Goodbye, Columbus is a 1969 American romantic comedy drama film starring Richard Benjamin and Ali MacGraw, directed by Larry Peerce and based on the novella of the same name by Philip Roth...
- the episode "Some Enchanted EveningSome Enchanted Evening (The Simpsons)"Some Enchanted Evening" is the thirteenth, final aired, and first produced episode of The Simpsons first season and originally aired on the Fox network on May 13, 1990. Although it was the first episode produced, it aired as the season finale due to significant animation problems. The episode...
" of the animatedAnimationAnimation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
sitcomSituation comedyA situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, first aired on May 13, 1990 - a long-running series of famous TV commercials for the Royal Mail in the UK (using the slogan "I Saw This And Thought Of You") between 1996 and 2003
- the closing credits of HBO's Real Sex series
His mambo records and the joyous dancing they caused are described in a late chapter of Jack Kerouac's seminal novel, On The Road
On the Road
On the Road is a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, written in April 1951, and published by Viking Press in 1957. It is a largely autobiographical work that was based on the spontaneous road trips of Kerouac and his friends across mid-century America. It is often considered a defining work of...
(1957).
His songs "Caballo Negro", "Lupita", and "Mambo n.8" are featured in the film Santa Sangre
Santa Sangre
Santa Sangre is a 1989 Mexican-Italian surrealist film directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky and written by Jodorowsky along with Claudio Argento and Roberto Leoni...
(1989) by Alejandro Jodorowsky
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky, known as Alejandro Jodorowsky, is a Chilean filmmaker, playwright, actor, author, comic book writer and spiritual guru...
.
His recording of "Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)
Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)
"Cereza rosa", or "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" or "Gummy Mambo" is the English version of "Cerisier rose et pommier blanc", a popular song with music by Louiguy written in 1950. French lyrics to the song by Jacques Larue and English lyrics by Mack David both exist and recordings of both...
" features in the films Deal of the Century
Deal of the Century
Deal of the Century is a 1983 American comedy film directed by William Friedkin and starring Chevy Chase, Gregory Hines, and Sigourney Weaver.The film follows the adventures of several arms dealers that compete to sell weapons to a South American dictator....
(1983), Cookie
Cookie (film)
-Plot:Cookie Voltecki is the illegitimate daughter of mobster Dino Capisco , who has just finished thirteen years in prison. Since being released from jail, all that Dino wants is to settle some old scores, and make up for lost time with his daughter.Cookie's mother, Lenore Voltecki , has been...
(1989), and Parents
Parents (film)
Parents is a 1989 horror-comedy film written by Christopher Hawthorne and directed by Bob Balaban. The film is about a suburban 50's boy living who suspects his parents of cannibalism. The film starred Randy Quaid, Mary Beth Hurt, Sandy Dennis, and Bryan Madorsky...
(1989).
In the decade after his death, the popularity of Prado's music was on the rise again. CD reissues of his RCA recordings continue to sell steadily.
"Guaglione
Guaglione
Guaglione is a Neapolitan song with music by Giuseppe Fanciulli and words by Nicola "Nisa" Salerno. It was the winning song at the IV Napoli Song Festival broadcast by radio in 1956. The song's title is Neapolitan language slang which translates to "street bum", "urchin", "back street boy", "corner...
"peaked at number 2 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in 1995, following its use in the Guinness
Guinness
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
television commercial Anticipation
Anticipation (Guinness)
Anticipation is an award-winning Irish advertisement launched by Guinness plc in 1994 to promote Guinness-brand draught stout. The advert, which appeared in print, posters, and cinema and television spots, was produced by Irish advertising agency Arks, was directed by Richie Smyth and starred the...
. "Mambo No. 5" was featured in another Guinness commercial in 1999 (the same year Lou Bega
Lou Bega
David Lubega , also known as Lou Bega, is a German musician of Italian and Ugandan descent, and is famous for his song "Mambo No. 5 ". This song is a remake of the Perez Prado instrumental from 1949...
took his cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of that same song to the top of the UK chart).
The soundtrack to the 1999 movie Office Space
Office Space
Office Space is a 1999 American comedy film satirizing work life in a typical 1990s software company. Written and directed by Mike Judge, it focuses on a handful of individuals fed up with their jobs portrayed by Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, Gary Cole, David Herman, Ajay Naidu, and Diedrich...
features two of his performances, "Mambo No. 8" and "The Peanut Vendor."
The soundtrack to the 2004 movie Diarios de Motocicleta features Prado's "Qué rico el mambo", more commonly known as "Mambo Jambo".
Avant-garde musician Nurse With Wound
Nurse with Wound
Nurse with Wound is the main recording name for British musician Steven Stapleton. Nurse with Wound was originally a band, formed in 1978 by Stapleton, John Fothergill and Heman Pathak...
released a compilation entitled Funeral Music for Perez Prado in 2001. The album's title track exceeds 30 minutes.
List of popular songs
- "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White"
- "A Go Go Mambo"
- "Concierto para Bongo"
- "Fantasia"
- "Ballin' The Jack"
- "GuaglioneGuaglioneGuaglione is a Neapolitan song with music by Giuseppe Fanciulli and words by Nicola "Nisa" Salerno. It was the winning song at the IV Napoli Song Festival broadcast by radio in 1956. The song's title is Neapolitan language slang which translates to "street bum", "urchin", "back street boy", "corner...
" - "Que Rico el Mambo"
- "Mambo No. 5Mambo No. 5"Mambo No. 5" is a mambo and jive dance song originally recorded and composed by Pérez Prado in 1949.The song's popularity was renewed by Lou Bega's sampling of the original, released under the same name on Bega's 1999 debut album A Little Bit of Mambo....
" - "Mambo #8"
- "Mambo del Politécnico"
- "Chicago Dengue"
- "Mambo Universitario"
- "The High and Mighty"
- "Tomando Cafe"
- "La Niña Popoff"
- "PatriciaPatricia (Perez Prado song)"Patricia" is a popular song with music by Perez Prado and lyrics by Bob Marcus, published in 1958. The song is best known in an instrumental version by Prado's orchestra that became the last record to ascend to #1 on the Billboard Jockeys and Top 100 charts, both of which gave way the next week...
" - "Mambo en Sax"
- "Mambo a la Kenton"
- "Mambo del Ruletero"
- "Mambo del Taconazo"
- "Mambo en trompeta"
- "Marylin Monroe Mambo"
- "Lupita"
- "Claudia"
- "La Chula Linda"
- "Tico, Tico, Tico"
Partial Discography
Prado recorded for RCA Victor from 1950 to 1965.- Perez Prado Plays Mucho Mambo For Dancing (1951)
- Voodoo Suite (1955)
- Mambo By The King (1955)
- Mambo Mania (1955)
- Havana 3 A.M. (1956)
- Latin Satin (1957)
- Mambo Happy (1958)
- Dilo (Ugh!) (1958)
- "Prez" (1958) - Prado's only US Top 40 album, reaching the #22 spot in May 1959
- Pops and Prado (1959)
- A Touch of TabascoA Touch of TabascoA Touch of Tabasco is a 1959 studio album by the American jazz singer Rosemary Clooney and the Cuban percussionist Perez Prado.This was the only album that Clooney and Prado recorded together; the album was promoted with bottles of Tabasco sauce....
with Rosemary ClooneyRosemary ClooneyRosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...
(1960) - Big Hits By Prado (1960)
- Perez Prado's Rockambo (1961)
- Exotic Suite of the Americas (1962)
- Our Man In Latin America (1963)
- The Best Of Perez Prado (1967) Reissue of "Big Hits By Prado"
- This Is Perez Prado (1971)
- Perez Prado - Pure Gold (1975) Another reissue of "Big Hits By Prado"