2025.1.284

an EP from the founding year of Los Van Van, capturing the birth of songo and of what became Cuba's most important and longest-running dance orchestra. Juan Formell — who had been musical director of Elio Revé's charanga — founded Los Van Van on December 4, 1969, and the new group quickly recorded two four-song EPs, EPA-6163 and EPA-6169, with a third (EPA-6208) following later that year; the three EPs were then combined onto the first LP in late 1969 (Areíto LDA-3320). This is that second EP. The disc label's explicit genre tag — songo — documents the new rhythm at the moment of its creation; developed by Formell with the group, songo fused the charanga/son base with rock, funk, and Afro-Cuban rhythms and laid the foundation for the later timba. That this youth-oriented fusion, openly absorbing North American and British pop and rock, was produced and distributed by the state label EGREM makes it a revealing artifact of how revolutionary-era institutions channeled and marketed new popular music. The packaging belongs to EGREM's "Sorpresa Musical" series, which used generic glamour/scenic cover photography (a model on location) rather than band portraits.

45 RPM Record

The Cabrera Arús family collection

Leopoldo Arús Gálvez collection

http://viernesdevirtuosos.blogspot.com/2012/01/la-sorpresa-de-los-van-van.html