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A MARTÍNEZ: Spanish-language music is all over the pop charts these days, but back in the 1940s, Latino musicians reached U.S. audiences through what were considered specialty record labels. One of the most storied was called Tico Records, based in New York. NPR Music's Felix Contreras reviews a compilation album celebrating Tico's 75th anniversary.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BANG! BANG!")
JOE CUBA: (Speaking Spanish).
FELIX CONTRERAS: In the late 1940s, mambo was king in New York City, and nightclub owner George Goldner noticed that there were no record labels dedicated to Latin ballroom dancing here in the U.S. So he started one, and for the next 30-plus years, Tico Records was the home of the recorded mambo.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BANG! BANG!")
JOE CUBA: Bang, bang. (Speaking Spanish).
FELIX CONTRERAS: The new album "Hit The Bongo! The Latin Soul Of Tico Records" celebrates a subgenre of mambo, the mashup of Latin and R&B. For my money, "Bang Bang" by the Joe Cuba Sextet from 1966 was the perfect mashup, capturing the reality of...