In honor of the world reopening and dancing coming back to clubs, this week’s Throwback Thursday post is about salsa music, something we haven’t covered yet. The artist doing us the honors this week is Colombian icon Joe Arroyo. We wrote about Arroyo a bit in our musical history of Colombia.
Alavro Jose Arroyo Gonzalez was born in 1955 in Cartagena, Colombia. Given the nickname El Joe, Arroyo began singing at the age of 8, performing in brothels. At the age of 15, he signed his first official contract and began his career. Over the course of his career, Arroyo performed with a number of groups including Fruko y Sus Tresos as well as his own group La Verdad. Arroyo became a massive figure in Colombia because of his ability to combine salsa with other native forms of music. Arroyo died at the age of 55 in 2011 after multiple organ failures.
This week’s song is La Noche. I chose this song mainly because its a Salsa Saturday staple. It’s a relatively simple song about a beautiful night of love and dancing. The composition is full of energy and excitement. It’s a perfect party song and a perfect song for dancing.
The refrain “otra, otra noche otra” is probably one of the most iconic lines in Latin music history. It’s been referenced by dozens of artists of the years. The most famous example of this is Don Omar’s 2005 song Dile which is easily one of the most iconic early reggaeton tracks of all time. It’s also another Salsa Saturday staple. This also tends to be one of those lines that everyone shouts together at the club. La Noche has also been covered by Juanes on his fantastic 2002 album Un Dia Normal.
From 1988, La Noche.