"Hey You Loca" is definitely the starting place for anyone interested in getting into Charanga Habanera and along with NG La Banda's "En la Calle", it's also the entry point to the world of Timba in general.
Not long after recording "Love Fever" in Havana at EGREM, David Calzado took advantage of a sudden opportunity to record an international release in Barcelona, re-recording two of the best tracks from the earlier disc with a cleaner, brighter mix and adding ten new tracks, among them some of the most inspired pieces of music ever recorded. "Hey You, Loca!" begins with 35 minutes of uninterrupted musical genius that significantly raised the standards for Latin pop music in the way that the Beatles and Bob Dylan raised the standards for Rock & Roll in the late 60's. Tasteful, swinging Latin dance tracks were no longer good enough -- every measure had to contain something excitingly original.
Such is the case with the opening track, “Quítate el Disfraz”, the second in the trilogy of songs that Leonel Limonta contributed to CH’s repertoire. For the complete lyrics, including guías, refer to our audio/visual presentation [click here]. As Juan Carlos González put it, “Limonta wasn’t a trained musician but every song he brought us had some kind of magic and became a huge hit”.
The music of CH itself became a taking-off point for rest of the Timba revolution. Manolín penned a number of CH’s hits, but when he formed his own band, its style was in turn deeply influenced by CH's arrangements. The mambo at 2:35 of “Quítate el Disfraz” is an example of the type of R&B phrasing and abrupt dynamic changes that became such an important part of the style of Manolín and his “chamacos” when they took the island by storm a year or two later.
