6. Fania Finds its Roots in Africa
6/30/202646 min
At the height of Fania’s success, the label’s artists are invited to Zaire to perform at a highly anticipated boxing match. For many of these Black artists, this is the first time they are stepping foot on African soil. Welcomed by a rapturous crowd, the Fania All Stars give a legendary performance and many of them connect with their roots.
Listen to the Music Behind Our Thing: The Birth of Salsa in Nueva York playlist here.
Archival courtesy of The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx Historical Society, Mary Kent’s Salsa Talks interviews, Aurora Flores Hostos Interviews, Craft Recordings, a Concord company, and Maria Hinojosa for Latino USA. This episode also utilizes fair use clips from Hemdale Leisure Productions, ESPN, Ora TV, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Antidote Films, and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.
Additional music this episode also courtesy of SONGS of Media Creature.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsRosie Perez· Host0:00
Before we get started, I wanna let you know that you can listen to the entire season of Our Thing: The Birth of Salsa in Nueva York right now ad-free, plus exclusive episodes on Futuro Plus. Our Thing: The Birth of Salsa in Nueva York was made possible by the Mellon Foundation, which seeks to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Heads up, this episode contains some explicit language.
Johnny Pacheco· Soundbite0:35
Futuro.
Jerry Masucci· Soundbite0:39
The plane was like eight hours late because James Brown wouldn't leave without his equipment on.
Willie Colón· Soundbite0:50
One, two, three, four.
Rosie Perez· Host0:51
[upbeat music] It was 1974 on a runway in New York City. Fania co-owner Jerry Masucci, along with sound engineer Bernie Fox, boarded a very, very, very heavy plane.
Bernie Fox· Soundbite1:05
James Brown insists that his equipment goes on the same plane as the musicians. Completely overloaded, and there's 57,000 pounds of equipment, and it ain't gonna fit on this 707.
Rosie Perez· Host1:21
This plane had some of the biggest musicians at the time on board.
Bernie Fox· Soundbite1:26
The entire Black music industry.