{"id":8539,"date":"2018-03-19T20:35:46","date_gmt":"2018-03-20T00:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinomusiccafe.com\/?p=8539"},"modified":"2022-10-27T13:31:13","modified_gmt":"2022-10-27T17:31:13","slug":"hector-lavoe-comeback-comedia-40-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinomusiccafe.com\/2018\/03\/19\/hector-lavoe-comeback-comedia-40-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Hector Lavoe\u2019s Comeback: “Comedia” at 40 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a couple of years out of the music scene trying to get his life back in control, H\u00e9ctor Lavoe<\/a> made his anticipated comeback with the album “Comedia<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Following his first two albums as a soloist, \u201cLa Voz<\/em>\u201d (1975) and \u201cDe Ti Depende<\/em>\u201d (1976), \u201cComedia<\/em>\u201d (1978) was also well received by Salsa fans. “Comedia<\/em>” was carried mostly by two songs; the iconic \u201cEl Cantante\u201d<\/em>, and the flavorful \u201cSongoro Cosongo\u201d<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Comedia<\/em>” was produced by Willie Colon, just like the previous two albums. It was Willie that orchestrated Hector’s comeback, as he knew Salsa needed Hector as much as Hector needed Salsa to get over the hump in his private life.<\/p>\n

“El Cantante<\/em>” carries “Comedia<\/em>“<\/h3>\n

Willie knew he needed a strong hit to bring Hector back. Not any song; it had to be a special song that stirred emotions in Salsa fans.<\/p>\n

\"Hector
“Comedia” was Hector Lavoe’s 3rd album as a soloist.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Willie heard Ruben Blades’s<\/a> “El Cantante”<\/em>, he knew it was the song he was looking for Hector. Although Ruben had offered many of his songs to other Fania artists, he wanted “El Cantante”<\/em> for himself.<\/p>\n

But Willie was able to convince Ruben that this was THE song for Hector’s comeback. This is why the song became a super hit, and the cherished comeback of Hector Lavoe was realized, all at the same time.<\/p>\n

“El Cantante”<\/em> not only defined Hector’s comeback; not only became a huge hit, but it also defined the rest of Hector’s career. Hector was not only known as “El Cantante<\/em>“, but later was also baptized as “el cantante de los cantantes<\/em>” (the singer of the singers) by his colleagues.<\/p>\n

There’s so much about this song, that I’m going to write a special blog just for it.<\/p>\n

“Songoro Cosongo<\/em>” Sustains “Comedia<\/em>“<\/h3>\n

If “El Cantante”<\/em> was the lead vocal of “Comedia”, “Songoro Cosongo”<\/em><\/a> was the chorus. The song became a huge hit, mostly because it allowed Hector to highlight his unique singing style and “soneos<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Who besides Hector Lavoe would come up with a “soneo<\/em>” in “jeringosa<\/em>“?<\/p>\n

For those of you who don’t know what “jeringosa<\/em>” is, it was a fad mostly among pre-teens and teens that took place sometime in the early to mid-’70s. It was simply about putting a “chi” in front of every syllable of every word spoken.<\/p>\n

In Puerto Rico, teen girls were the ones that would use it the most, so boys wouldn’t understand what they were saying. Although it’s no secret how it works (you would think everyone would therefore understand it), girls spoke it so fast that most boys couldn’t tell was the hell the girls were talking about.<\/p>\n

This was just one example of Hector’s wit for the various great “soneos<\/em>” he did in “Songoro Cosongo”<\/em>. Because Hector was able to stretch his creative juices and showcase his great singing style in the song, it became a huge hit.<\/p>\n

“Songoro Cosongo”<\/em> also has quite a unique history of its own. It was the title of an Afro-Cuban-themed poetry book written by Nicholas Guillen. Eliseo Grenet was inspired to write the song in that decade. But I’ll elaborate on this history on a separate blog so that I don’t make this one too long.<\/p>\n