Sapo – Been Had
Sapo – Ritmo Del Corazon
Sapo – Get It On
Been hard at work, grading for school and getting ready for the second round of fundraising on KPFK, so here’s a no-brainer. I’ve been on the lookout for Sapo’s lone album for years, since hearing “Been Had” on a Soul Jazz compilation and immediately recognizing those distinctive drums from Jurassic 5’s “Lesson #6 The Lecture.” I’d rarely run into a copy when I was at stores, and wasn’t willing to drop $50 for it, but eventually I ran into a nice copy at Atomic and finally got a chance to hear the whole record. Sapo was a part of the San Francisco latin rock scene that produced Santana and Malo. Singer Richard Bean was the lead vocalist for Malo (singing on their biggest hit “Sauvecito”) and formed this group shortly after leaving that one. Sapo treads in a lot of the same water, upbeat, hard driving, latin based rock music. What sets them apart are the B-boyrrefic drums and conga work from Bobby Gaviola and Raul Rekow. As good as the drums are that start “Been Had” the rhythm that follows is even better. “Get In On” has some similar breaktastic moments. Just tailor made for dancers who know how to rock. Well worth the wait to finally track this one down.
Cheers,
Michael