Quote of the day

February 15, 2008

Steph suggested that it should be “It’s the worst Bachata ever.” No. Not even close. “If I didn’t have a girlfriend…” was much better but still no cake.

Well past 3 AM, a bunch of us who were still standing had munches. Cyrille suggested "the kebab place over the bridge." There weren’t many options by this odd hour (e.g. no kebabs, which would have tempted me more) thus burgers for Liam, Cyrille and Zern while Euvian texted away in the car.

I danced to El Cantante again. Just under 10 1/2 minutes. It was the last song of the evening – I guess I had complete control over it. I don’t think anyone else danced to it, but then again the song did end after 3 AM. It could have been worse – I could have played live version of Ahora Si by Sonora Poncena at just under 16 1/2 minutes.

Let’s do the playlist. Second half first – after I relieved Sally.

Total songs for the evening = 17. 1 Bachata. 16 Salsa including 7 new. Given that the social started before 10 PM and ended after 3 AM, I estimate I played less than third of the songs for the whole evening. There were three DJs – Joe, Sally and me – unless you count Vish picking a couple of songs after the hours and Haihan possibly for one song.

Playlist (reverse chronogical)

El Cantante – Hector Lavoe (last song)
Quiero Enamorarte – Marco Ferretti (1)
Boranda – Sonora Poncena (2)*
Dejate Querer – Jose Alberto “El Canario”*
Hablame – Frankie Ruiz
Fantasia Cubana – German Villarreal
Ahora Si – Ismael Miranda
Picadillo – Tito Puente (50s version)
Que Bonito Es Sonar – Jimmy Bosch
Ya Lo Veras – Oscar D’Leon (first song of the second session)

(1) Worst Bachata according to Steph. I thought it worked great as a song to clear the floor at the end of a very late evening.
(2) Arguably the most questionable song choice of the evening in my opinion although some might argue for El Cantante.

Sally was the third DJ. Haihan might have picked a song too during this session. The selections were mostly taken from recent regular Thursday playlist - Alabanciosa, Juana Pena, Pa Los Bravos, Presumida (arguably my least favorite of Sally’s current selections – too similar to Noche De Salsa except not as good), Muneca (Eddie Palmieri - this one's new), Salsa Romantica, Don Astacio, etc. Vish placed her here apparently because Sally expressed desire to leave early. It might have worked better if I had gotten to a point where I played some Bachata and maybe a Merengue because there really wasn’t much chance of Sally playing those. What ended up happening was that from midnight to nearly 3 AM, there was nothing but Salsa. In any case, it afforded me more opportunity to dance – this time with more choice of partner and increasingly larger amount of space.

Another candidate is “I don’t know what that was about.” No further details necessary. Everyone who saw it should know what I’m talking about. After all, I wasn’t the only one who said it.

I took over as DJ right after the two official showcases and a photo session with people wearing red. I sang along to many of the songs including Bilongo (I wasn’t alone with this one), Ahora Si, Hablame, etc. I did not set out to play five new songs in a row deliberately - it just worked out that way.

Playlist (first session – reverse chronological)

Bamboleo – Fania All Stars (last song before handing it off to Sally) (3)
Bilongo – Eddie Palmieri*
Esa Bomba – Tito Rodriguez*
Esposa Querida – Lebron Brothers*
Que Paso Contigo – Willie Rosario*
El As De La Rumba – Machito*
Isla Del Encanto – Orquesta Broadway (first song after the shows)

(3) I was told, “You are a bad man.” Do you remember the woman who was dancing by herself for much of the later part of the evening? She wanted something more lively with the music, and when I asked for a specific suggestion she came up with Gypsy Kings. I said I would play a version of Bamboleo, and I think she mistook me to mean that I would play the Gypsy Kings version of Bamboleo. Thus the comment – if that makes sense. It could have been worse – I could have played Louie Ramirez. So is this the quote of the day? It’s one of the better ones, but not the best. By the way, she didn’t seem too thrilled that Sally was taking over – perhaps she was considered less likely to be manipulated.

The shows started rather late – well after midnight. Sally and many of her student performers were not present until after midnight. The big student group went first – I think there were 8 or 9 of them. The song used was La Salsa Nunca Se Acaba – there was a glitch, but I’m unsure what it was – maybe speed of the song? The second show was with four people from Laith Sami’s group including Danie and Rico with local connection. I was a little busy at the DJ booth, but the latter group’s choreography looked more polished from what little glances I was able to cast.

I suppose I could nominate yet another as a candidate. However, I promised that I wouldn’t do it to the person who said it – a promise from long ago. Can I give a hint? It involves a three-digit number. Hmm. I just remembered another comment, which came off the incident that led to one of the previous candidates. Hint. Bachata.

Joe was the DJ from the start to a well past midnight. It started very commercial, but there were some good ones later. My favorite was Chupa El Piruli. He played Lluvia Con Nieve again – possibly an alternate version maybe by La Charanga New York. The dance floor was very crowded much of the time. At Club Salsa, Joe doesn’t always play songs I like, but I enjoy the element of not knowing what will get played.

“You are perfect.” It’s a stranger thing to hear than you would guess because this was said to me by a man, someone I would not be able to point out in a line-up of normal-looking English men in their 20s. It came after I finished dancing to a Merengue of all things. I don’t think it was a come-on by the way – just a compliment. What was the (extenuating) circumstance? I was dancing with some drunk and very enthusiastic middle-aged woman, who essentially dragged me to the dance floor in the first place. I think I managed to make her look decent – or at least not out of place. Does what I said make the comment sound reasonable? I hope so. By the way, the woman in question picked on pretty much all the best leads present at the time. So I think this might be it – it certainly is most cringe-worthy. By the way, I have no illusions about being prefect.

Of all big parties at Club Salsa, Valentine’s might be my least favorite. Maybe it has the wrong vibes. It brings plenty of people, but it may put off many people from showing up as well.

“Hey! It’s the SOS man!” This one came from one of the visitors who came with Laith Sami’s people when I descended the stairs into the middle of the lessons. I didn’t recognize him from SOS, but I did recognize his companions including Rico as the Laith Sami dancers. When I told him that I lived here in Cambridge, he seemed astonished about me going down to SOS all the time. I said I only go once every 2-3 weeks – sometimes less. It’s true! I didn’t go last week or the week before. Considering that the guy is from London, it was quite amusing to hear me referred to as the man from SOS – people who know me well there know me as the guy from Cambridge. We talked briefly about Ealing (well – or Joice’s Bar in my only attempt) as well. This would have been really good as the quote of the day, but I think “You are perfect” wins by a nose because it is a little more … twisted.