I Like It Like That (A Mí Me Gusta Así)

Though the Latin boogaloo era produced any number of chart-topping classics — the Joe Cuba Sextet’s “Bang Bang” or “Boogaloo Blues” by Johnny Colón for example — if you had to choose one definitive hit, it’s hard to deny Pete Rodriguez’s “I Like It Like That” that honor. It has a perfect slow burn build-up that culminates in a rollicking hook built around a driving piano montuno and that memorable chorus led by Tony Pabon, singing in English. Yet, it’d be a wild mistake to suggest Rodriguez was a “one hit wonder.” On this LP alone, songs like “Micaela” and “3 and 1” are stellar Spanish-language boogaloos while “Pete’s Madness” is a jazzy descarga cooker.