My experience of Boogaloo, a style to which I'm quite new, has been varied. In short, I love some of it and don't quite get the rest. The key to me seems to be the right instrumental and percussive blend, and vocals that don't dominate too much.

Although it sounds quite generic, this track manages to satisfy me on the criteria above. From a very lucky thrift store find (this album is up there with James Brown's 'Black Caesar' among my top bargains ever), this opens with a nice solid groove, featuring saxophone, brass and layered, relentless percussion. The vocals seem pretty much off-the-cuff - the main 'Boogaloo baby - baby baby do the boogaloo' is joined by a mixture of muttered Spanish and screaming. The attraction of this song is really the texture - it can't really claim any musical or lyrical sophistication. But the instrumentation and groove are really first rate.