Dj Alex Gutierrez SFDJA/ Rewind 1039
Although the track was released in 1972 , it wasn’t until the summer of 1975 that I attended a house party where the record player was being manned by an older kid about 17 or 18 years old. Salsoul’s ” Tangerine” has just finished playing , and the dance floor ( the middle of someone’s living room ) was clearing when I first heard the song that would attach itself to a memory I would create that night. My first slow dance . At first it sounded like something my parents would hear at the time, Latin Music was something I only heard at adult parties, but slowly I saw many of the kids leading girls to the dance area and turning down the lights, after a minute or so only one girl remained and only one shy, introverted boy , looking awkwardly at each other knowing that by the process of elimination they were destined to be each others ” First Slow Dance”
The song was Suavecito by Malo a SanFrancisco group led by, Richard Bean, Arcelio Garcia and Jorge Santana brother of Carlos. The song was written by and sung by, Richard Bean. Abel Zarate and Pablo Tellez Fifty years later, the song is known the unofficial “Chicano national anthem.” although a couple of Cubans I know will tell you that for any kid growing up in Miami in the 70s ,it was our anthem too.
Suavecito” is a song recorded by Malo in 1971. … Suavecito means “soft” or “smooth” in Spanish. The song has been called “The Chicano National Anthem.” The song became a hit in the U.S. (#18) and Canada (#14) during the spring of 1972.