The Lat-Teens – Smoke Shop
The Lat-Teens – Buena Gente
The Lat-Teens – Soulful Thing
I’ll admit that I haven’t found too much on the Lat-Teens. I know they had a “hit” with their first single “Mary-Wanna,” which must have endeared them to the Hippies. I wonder if group member Carlos Papon is at all related to Jorge “Popmaster” Fabel Papon of the legendary Rock Steady Crew, I know Popmaster grew up in Spanish Harlem which was the epicenter of all things boogaloo in the 1960s. “Smoke Shop” is clearly a follow-up to “Mary-Wanna,” “Buena Gente,” a track I imagine was inspired by their parents after they found out that their first hit was a song about Marijuana, starts off real upbeat and then settles into a nice boogaloo beat. “Soulful Thing” could have been titled “Fly Girl” which kind of trips me out, because I didn’t realize that referring to someone as “Fly” went all the way back to the 1960s, I thought that was a 1980s Hip-Hop thing, but clearly not. Again and again what I really dig about this album is the added element of the electric guitar. Even when it is included in latin groups, it’s often pushed into the back of the mix. Here it’s pushed more upfront and has a little bit of grit and fuzz to it, that makes everything all extra groovy.
Cheers,
Michael