Afrofilipino

bass_fever · May 2009

Is it just me or is this album amazing?!?!

Tonearm_Robbery · May 2009

"...ordinary guy. SAMBA!"

Thanks to J-D'z and Danny Boy for hipping me to this one.

Reynaldo · May 2009

I've always found it a little too disco-y for my tastes. No one of my favs.

bottomfeeder · May 2009

Great album but it doesnt touch "singin some soul" lp

bass_fever · May 2009

disco-y

I think that's why I like it. The songs that he covers off of "Riot!" (i.e oridinary guy, what good is a castle) are lovely. Riot! still trumps, but this LP never gets mentioned and deserves some shine.

LoopDreams · May 2009

Love this record to bits, especially the second side--Women don't wanta luv me-Ordinary guy-what good is a castle....

actually, one of the best B-sides on a record I can think of.

Birdman9 · May 2009

Is it just me or is this album amazing?!?!

amazingly great record.

mannybolone · May 2009

I dig. It's a different sound for him compared to his Fania years but it works as an evolution in style.

Murdock · May 2009

Just listened to to what good is a castle which spawned some love making with the lady. w/out disco edit

LokoOne · May 2009

Love this record to bits, especially the second side--Women don't wanta luv me-Ordinary guy-what good is a castle....

actually, one of the best B-sides on a record I can think of.

One of the most played LPs in my collection....

The bassline breakdown in "What Good..." and the uptempo organ flip out at the end is one of my fav moments on record. Plus I love " Woman Dont wanna..." especially the fact he invents a few new words on it (Respection?)..

I also dig how they split the sides up into East Coast/West Coast (not that I can tell much difference in sounds, I think the muso line up is changed).....

However, I need to mint up, I scored my copy years ago and the shit has been played to death. Whos got a spare copy?

BTW- Was Joe Battan Afro Filipino? I always thought he was Latino......

LoopDreams · May 2009

Is Joe Battan Afro Filipino?

yes

mannybolone · May 2009

BTW- Was Joe Battan Afro Filipino? I always thought he was Latino......

Well, not to point out the painfully obvious, but his album was called I>AFROFILIPINO[/i].

LokoOne · May 2009

BTW- Was Joe Battan Afro Filipino? I always thought he was Latino......

Well, not to point out the painfully obvious, but his album was called I>AFROFILIPINO[/i].

yeah I know, probably didnt phrase the question well. i guess Ive always wondered what he meant by Afro Filipino- did it mean, a filipino who's parents came from africa? a half african half filo living in the US? Or was it refering to the music style? ...

I had always assumed he was born/based in the US, Either way, we need more albums like this....
Did he ever perform in the pinoy toungue?

mannybolone · May 2009

Joe's dad was Filipino, mom was African American.

There's no such thing as a "Pinoy tongue". Pinoy is an ethnic or national designation, there is no linguistic equivalent. In any case, Joe doesn't sing in any Filipino language.

clint_torez · May 2009

I've always found it a little too disco-y for my tastes. No one of my favs.

I'm for sure in the same boat. When I think of how much I love Joe Bataan's music this record is not the first to mind. On the bright side at least he hadn't gotten to rap yet when he made this record.

mannybolone · May 2009

See, this was the very first Bataan album I ever heard; I discovered his boogaloo/Latin soul stuff AFTER and I think that's probably why I enjoy "Afrofilipino". If I came to it the other way, I think I'd probably be less enamored with it. But for a Latin disco LP, I think Joe cut one of the better ones.

kidinquisitive · May 2009

The 45 version of Woman Don't Want To Love Me is pretty great too, different version than the LP. It's on Epic.

spelunk · May 2009

The "pinoy tongue" (this wordage reeks of imperialism, but okay), nationally speaking = english. all other languages in the philippines are regional, somewhat mutually intelligible across smaller distances but beyond that it gets tricky. There's a lot of Tagalog spoken amongst US immigrants of older generations, because it's the most prevalent native language in big cities, but within the philippines Tagalog represents a minority of the population. A huge weath of languages that are quicky disappering thanks to a long history of government propped up by the US, that pushes English very forcefully on the population. Within the states, it is very common, more common than for other immigrant groups, for 2nd generation Filipinos not to learn their parents native language - the generation gap is pretty vast for the people I know.

Odeezy, I know you've spoken with Joe quite a bit...and I know the answer to this may be in something you've already written, but I'm curious if the naming of this record was a big deal for Joe or a more casual statement, and if there was any kind of reaction to it and his music from within the community. I always find it interesting that when I've played Joe Bataan for filipino friends they haven't usually heard it, and then when I tell them he's filipino they flip out and start telling their friends about him.

johmbolaya · May 2009

A huge weath of languages that are quicky disappering thanks to a long history of government propped up by the US, that pushes English very forcefully on the population. Within the states, it is very common, more common than for other immigrant groups, for 2nd generation Filipinos not to learn their parents native language - the generation gap is pretty vast for the people I know.

Reynaldo · May 2009

Bataan is a Filipino surname/province so it's not like he's undercover. When my mom (who grew up in the Philippines) heard his last name she just assumed he was Filipino.

mannybolone · May 2009

The "pinoy tongue" (this wordage reeks of imperialism, but okay), nationally speaking = english. all other languages in the philippines are regional, somewhat mutually intelligible across smaller distances but beyond that it gets tricky. There's a lot of Tagalog spoken amongst US immigrants of older generations, because it's the most prevalent native language in big cities, but within the philippines Tagalog represents a minority of the population. A huge weath of languages that are quicky disappering thanks to a long history of government propped up by the US, that pushes English very forcefully on the population. Within the states, it is very common, more common than for other immigrant groups, for 2nd generation Filipinos not to learn their parents native language - the generation gap is pretty vast for the people I know.

Odeezy, I know you've spoken with Joe quite a bit...and I know the answer to this may be in something you've already written, but I'm curious if the naming of this record was a big deal for Joe or a more casual statement, and if there was any kind of reaction to it and his music from within the community. I always find it interesting that when I've played Joe Bataan for filipino friends they haven't usually heard it, and then when I tell them he's filipino they flip out and start telling their friends about him.

You know, at some point, I'm sure I asked him why he named the album "Afrofilipino" but to be honest, I can't remember what his answer was. Certainly, his racial ambiguity was an issue throughout his career; he felt like he got (no pun intended) blacklisted from certain opportunities because he wasn't Latino. I'm open to buying that but it doesn't explain the massive careers of colleagues like Larry Harlow. I think the main diff is that Harlow was down with the older gen of Latin musicians while Bataan was trying to take on his elders in terms of bookings and album sales.

In any case, I agree that Joe isn't well-known in many Filipino circles - he never made a huge effort to reach that community in the 1970s since he didn't grow up around many Filipinos and mostly identified as Puerto Rican more than anything else.

spelunk · May 2009

which is exactly the point - I have said dudes name to filipino kids and they haven't picked up on that. That kind of generation gap is crazy to me.

spelunk · May 2009

Okay and one more thing that gets me thinking about this is that the parents of nearly all of my filipino friends were all into black music in that late disco era / early 80s, stuff that would have been played right alongside Joe Bataan. But you just never hear his name. I mean I'm making gross generalizations based on personal experience but it really speaks to the long-time search (and absence of, for many) cultural identity within the filipino community within the states.

johmbolaya · May 2009

Bataan Nitollano[/b]

clint_torez · May 2009

You know, at some point, I'm sure I asked him why he named the album "Afrofilipino" but to be honest, I can't remember what his answer was. Certainly, his racial ambiguity was an issue throughout his career; he felt like he got (no pun intended) blacklisted from certain opportunities because he wasn't Latino. I'm open to buying that but it doesn't explain the massive careers of colleagues like Larry Harlow. I think the main diff is that Harlow was down with the older gen of Latin musicians while Bataan was trying to take on his elders in terms of bookings and album sales.
I was under the impression that he wasn't taken as seriously by the latin community because of spanish not being his first language. He often handed off the singing duties to Joe Pagan on the spanish cuts and sang the english ones. Because he was singing in english over salsa the purists had a hard time calling it salsa but it was always latin soul.

LoopDreams · May 2009

You know, at some point, I'm sure I asked him why he named the album "Afrofilipino" but to be honest, I can't remember what his answer was. Certainly, his racial ambiguity was an issue throughout his career; he felt like he got (no pun intended) blacklisted from certain opportunities because he wasn't Latino. I'm open to buying that but it doesn't explain the massive careers of colleagues like Larry Harlow. I think the main diff is that Harlow was down with the older gen of Latin musicians while Bataan was trying to take on his elders in terms of bookings and album sales.

I was under the impression that he wasn't taken as seriously by the latin community because of spanish not being his first language. He often handed off the singing duties to Joe Pagan on the spanish cuts and sang the english ones. Because he was singing in english over salsa the purists had a hard time calling it salsa but it was always latin soul.

and as a result made him more accessible to those of us who don't comprende espagnole...Joe was a definite gateway drug for me, Afrofilipino being the first I ever found of his. Bought it for The Bottle, but I shreaded a pair of speakers blasting the B-side over and over. For me Joe's appeal is the fantastic band he always seemed to have backing him, as well as his smokin' lyrics and delivery, in English. Love lines like 'don't know much about psychology, my degrees in streetology': may sound cliche now but not when song by Joe in the seventies.
These days I'm equally as likely to reach for "Mr. NY and the Eside Kids" as Afrofilipino, but it's all the same: Bataan. From My Opera Joe sings:

...
I don't need a sheet
to cover my bed when I fall asleep...
I'm a guy that's not allowed inside
I've died twenty times since I was five
Ever since I killed my baby sister Jane
I've been ina mental hospital for the insane
When It's my time to die
knowone's going to cry
when thet bury me 6 ft low
that's when folks will never know
that my sister Jane fell
I promised my mother not to tell
here comes a doctor
I must convince him I'm crazy
so that my folks will stay away
Oh Lord, teach me how to cry before I die...

just nabbed his new album... once again he's found a killer band and his deliveries on point.

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Afrofilipino

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