Marvin Santiago was a
Puerto RicanPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
salsaSalsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
singer who became famous all across Latin America during the 1970s. He was also a part-time
comedianA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
on Puerto Rican television. His brother, Billiván Santiago, had some success in Puerto Rico as a
plenaPlena is a folkloric genre native to Puerto Rico. Its creation was influenced by African and Spanish music.-History:The music is generally folkloric. The music's beat and rhythm are usually played using hand drums called panderetas, but also known as panderos or pleneras. The music is accompanied...
singer.
Early life
Santiago was born in San Juan. After residing in various neighborhoods in the Santurce subsection of the city he moved to the
Nemesio CanalesNemesio R. Canales was a Puerto Rican essayist, journalist, novelist, playwright, politician and activist who defended women's civil rights...
public housing project in his youth; he was eventually nicknamed
"El Grifo de Canales" ("The kinky-haired, fair-skinned-one of Nemesio Canales") by close friends and fans. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at a young age.
During his youth, Santiago would participate in jam sessions in his neighborhood, as well as in school talent shows, as both a singer and a comedian. Later he became a member of an orchestra led by Roberto Valdés.
With Rafael CortijoRafael Cortijo , was a Puerto Rican musician, orchestra leader, and composer.As a child, Cortijo became interested in Caribbean music and enjoyed the works of some of the era's most successful Plena music musicians...
Santiago was originally groomed as a
boleroBolero is a form of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms which are both significant and which have separate origins.The term is also used for some art music...
singer (a genre he didn't feel comfortable with) and was a struggling salsa singer with Valdes. He was hired on short notice by
Rafael CortijoRafael Cortijo , was a Puerto Rican musician, orchestra leader, and composer.As a child, Cortijo became interested in Caribbean music and enjoyed the works of some of the era's most successful Plena music musicians...
, during the "Cortijo y Su Bonche" days, to cover for Camilo Azuquita, who had left his band. He toured the
Dominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
,
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
with Cortijo's band. On an impulse, he decided to base himself in Chicago and play alternate occasional dates in San Juan.
One of the songs Santiago was forced to learn in a hurry was "Sorongo", written by
Tite Curet AlonsoTite Curet Alonso was a renowned composer of over 2,000 salsa songs.- Early years :Born Catalino Curet Alonso in the southern town of Guayama in Puerto Rico. Alonso's mother was a seamtress and his father a Spanish teacher and musician in the band of Simon Madera...
and arranged by Cortijo's pianist and arranger at the time, Jorge Millet. It followed a syncopated rhythm called
mozambique, which Millet later used in various other songs.
Santiago remained with Cortijo until 1971, when he joined the orchestra led by
Bobby ValentínBobby Valentin, also known as "El Rey del Bajo" , is a musician and salsa bandleader.-Early years:...
, another type 1 diabetic.
With Bobby ValentínBobby Valentin, also known as "El Rey del Bajo" , is a musician and salsa bandleader.-Early years:...
Their first LP,
"Rompecabezas", ("Puzzle") sold well, and their second LP,
"Soy Boricua" ("I'm a Boricua") is considered by many to be a salsa classic and an informal patriotic anthem for Puerto Ricans. That album's title song and the
Tite Curet AlonsoTite Curet Alonso was a renowned composer of over 2,000 salsa songs.- Early years :Born Catalino Curet Alonso in the southern town of Guayama in Puerto Rico. Alonso's mother was a seamtress and his father a Spanish teacher and musician in the band of Simon Madera...
-written
"Pirata de la Mar" ("Pirate of the Seas"), both sung by Santiago, became major international hits.
Valentin was one of the original members of the
Fania All-StarsThe Fania All-Stars was a musical ensemble established in 1968 by the composer, Johnny Pacheco, as a showcase for the musicians on the record label Fania Records, the leading salsa record company of the time.-Beginnings:...
, an exclusive salsa conglomerate of
Fania RecordsFania Records was a New York based record label founded by Dominican-born composer and bandleader Johnny Pacheco and Italian-American lawyer Jerry Masucci in 1964. The label took its name from an old Cuban song by the singer Reinaldo Bolaño. Fania is known for its promotion of what has become...
musicians that showcased other performers such as
Celia CruzCelia Cruz was a Cuban-American salsa singer, and was one of the most successful Salsa performers of the 20th century, having earned twenty-three gold albums...
,
Rubén BladesRubén Blades Bellido de Luna is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres...
,
Hector LavoeHéctor Juan Pérez Martínez , better known as Héctor Lavoe, was a Puerto Rican salsa singer. Lavoe was born and raised in the Machuelito sector of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Early in his life, he attended a local music school and developed an interest inspired by Jesús Sánchez Erazo. He moved to New York...
,
Roberto RoenaRoberto Roena is a salsa music percussionist, orchestra leader, and dancer. Roena was one of the original members of El Gran Combo Puerto Rican's first successful salsa music orchestra. He later became the leader of his own band, "Roberto Roena y Su Apollo Sound", arguably one of the best Latin...
and many others. Santiago would become an impromptu member of the group, and later a member in his own right.
Another strong hit by Valentín's band was
"El jíbaro y la naturaleza", a nostalgia / protest song with environmental overtones, which featured Fania All-Stars member
Barry RogersBarry Rogers was a salsa musician and jazz fusion trombonist.Born Barron W. Rogers in The Bronx, he descended from Polish Jews who came to New York City via London and was raised in Spanish Harlem...
in a trombone solo.
Santiago and Valentín continued making hits together during \the 1970s until Valentín was forced to drop Santiago off his band due to Santiago's strong
cocaineCocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
addiction at the time.
Solo career
Santiago went solo in 1977. In that year he had done some small work for another salsa conglomerate that featured Puerto Rican musicians exclusively, called the
Puerto Rico All StarsThe Puerto Rico All Stars was a salsa & latin jazz ensemble band that was founded in 1977 by Frankie Gregory. Based in Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico All Stars were an alternative and rival to the New York based Fania All-Stars created by Johnny Pacheco.PRAS...
(PRAS). PRAS was a rival to the Fania All-Stars. Santiago provided background vocals for the original PRAS lineup.
Jorge Millet
After a hiatus to recover from his addiction, Santiago had a very successful pairing with Jorge Millet, who had become a record producer; they would record two albums together. In his solo records Santiago improvised "soneos" (rhyming verses common to salsa) with a strong sense of
alliterationIn language, alliteration refers to the repetition of a particular sound in the first syllables of Three or more words or phrases. Alliteration has historically developed largely through poetry, in which it more narrowly refers to the repetition of a consonant in any syllables that, according to...
,
consonanceConsonance is a stylistic device, most commonly used in poetry and songs, characterized by the repetition of the same consonant two or more times in short succession, as in "pitter patter" or in "all mammals named Sam are clammy".Consonance should not be confused with assonance, which is the...
and rhythm that was described once by
Rubén BladesRubén Blades Bellido de Luna is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres...
this way: "(Rhythm-wise) Marvin is capable of fitting a
MackMack Trucks is an American truck-manufacturing company and a former manufacturer of buses and trolley buses. A wholly owned subsidiary of Renault Véhicules Industriels since 1990, Mack Trucks is currently a subsidiary of AB Volvo. The company's headquarters are located in Greensboro, North Carolina...
truckA truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
into a parking space where a
Volkswagen BeetleThe Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...
won't fit." He also used strong Puerto Rican figures of speech and
slangSlang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
that eventually granted him the moniker of
"El Sonero del Pueblo" (The People's Sonero).
He attained a major hit in Puerto Rico and
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
with Cortijo's song
"Fuego a la jicotea" ("(Light a) Fire to the Tortoise , a thinly-veiled ode to
marijuanaCannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
. Other hits were newer versions of two Cortijo songs:
"Al Son de la Lata (baila el chorizo)" and
"Vasos de Colores". Santiago also had other original hits of his own, particularly
"El Mangoneo" (a
mozambique very much in the style of Cortijo's "Sorongo") and
"La Picúa", a veiled homage to the
female anatomyThe vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...
.
Drug arrest and sentence
At the height of his popularity, however, Santiago was arrested and imprisoned for
cocaineCocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
possession. This was his second conviction, and the amount confiscated implied that he intended to distribute the drug. He served five out of nine years of a prison sentence. He became a born-again Christian in prison, and recorded an album,
"Desde Adentro", behind bars. A minor hit spawned from the album was
"Auditorio Azul" ("Blue Auditorium", based on the fact that Puerto Rico prison uniforms are usually blue in color). Blades visited him in prison, something for which Santiago would be eternally grateful to him.
Post-release and decline
After his drug conviction, Santiago's fame waned. By the time he finished his prison sentence, Jorge Millet, the musical architect of Santiago's sound, had died from a heart attack. Due to his spiritual reawakening, Santiago cleaned up the subject matter of his lyrics considerably, something that his hardcore fans did not approve of. Other notable facts that further pushed his fame's decline included the surge of
merengueMerengue is a type of music and dance from the Dominican Republic. It is popular in the Dominican Republic and all over Latin America. Its name is Spanish, taken from the name of the meringue, a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar...
groups such as the Puerto Rico-based Conjunto Quisqueya and Freddie Kenton orchestras, as well as new local talent such as
Eddie SantiagoEddie Santiago is a salsa singer from Puerto Rico. At a young age, Eddie demonstrated great love for salsa music...
,
Gilberto Santa RosaGilberto Santa Rosa, also known as "El Caballero de la Salsa" , is a Puerto Rican bandleader and singer of salsa and bolero.-Early years:...
, and
Frankie RuizFrankie Ruiz was a famous Puerto Rican salsa singer.-Early years:Born Jose Antonio Torresola Ruiz, he was born and raised in Paterson, New Jersey. His parents moved from Puerto Rico to the United States in search of a better way of life. In Paterson, Ruiz received his primary and secondary...
who popularized the so-called "romantic salsa", which eventually displaced more urban-based subject matter in salsa songs. Santiago, however, kept a busy schedule through the 1980s, making several Latin American and inter-
Puerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
tours and appearing on Puerto Rican television shows several times, often as a comedian in
Luisito VigoreauxLuis Vigoreaux Lorenzana is a Puerto Rican actor and producer. He is the son of Luis Vigoreaux, a legendary Puerto Rican media personality and Rosaura Lorenzana Vilches...
's television programs. Poor vocal coaching eventually affected Santiago's vocal cords, turning it raspier with time.
Santiago's health began to decline during the 1990s, but he still went on with his music, releasing
"Donde lo Dejamos" ("Where we Left It") in 1992 alongside Valentin. Later on, a "greatest hits" album of his solo songs was released.
Santiago, who adopted
Marvin HaglerMarvelous Marvin Hagler , is a former professional boxer who was undisputed world middleweight champion between 1980 and 1987. Hagler holds the distinction of having the highest KO% of all middleweight champions at 78%...
's
"Marvelous" nickname (both because of their common first name and the fact that, at one time, his head was shaved bald like Hagler's), had begun conversations to join a Fania All-Stars comeback as a tribute to Celia Cruz by the summer of 2004, but then, he became severely ill.
Death and Legacy
Already having lost a leg to diabetes through
amputationAmputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...
, Santiago lost vision from one eye and suffered severe
kidneyThe kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...
,
heartThe heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
and
liverThe liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
damage on the weeks prior to his death. At about noon (AST) on October 6, 2004, he died at a
BayamónBayamón is a municipality of Puerto Rico located on the northern coastal valley, north of Aguas Buenas and Comerío; south of Toa Baja and Cataño; west of Guaynabo; and east of Toa Alta and Naranjito. Bayamón is spread over 11 wards and Bayamón Pueblo...
hospital. His funeral was well attended, with his brother Billyván paying a plena tribute to Marvin.
Santiago left a legacy of songs still heard and popular phrases still in current use in Puerto Rico. One phrase was an affirmation:
"¡O-fi-cial!". Another was a stream of references to Puerto Rican towns:
"¡Baya-móntate, Barran-quítate, Vega Bájate, Ad-júntate!", roughly translated to "get on, get out of the way, get down, get together!", mentioned along the names of
BayamónBayamón is a municipality of Puerto Rico located on the northern coastal valley, north of Aguas Buenas and Comerío; south of Toa Baja and Cataño; west of Guaynabo; and east of Toa Alta and Naranjito. Bayamón is spread over 11 wards and Bayamón Pueblo...
,
BarranquitasBarranquitas is a small mountain town located in the central region of Puerto Rico, south of Corozal and Naranjito; north of Coamo and Aibonito; west of Comerío and Cidra; and east of Orocovis. Barranquitas is spread over 6 wards and Barranquitas Pueblo...
,
Vega BajaVega Baja is a municipality in north central Puerto Rico located in the northern coast, north of Morovis; east of Manatí; and west of Vega Alta. Vega Baja is spread over 13 wards and Vega Baja Pueblo...
and
Adjuntas, Puerto RicoAdjuntas is a small mountainside municipality in Puerto Rico located central midwest of the island on the Central Mountain range , north of Yauco, Guayanilla and Peñuelas; southeast of Utuado; east of Lares and Yauco; and west of Ponce. Adjuntas is spread over 16 wards and Adjuntas Pueblo...
. A third one was:
"¡Linda melodía!", (
Beautiful melody!), which he uttered when a musical arrangement was particularly complex or remarkable.
He also used code phrases to refer to drugs:
"¡GuayacolGuaiacol is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula C6H4. Although it is biosynthesized by a variety of organisms, this colorless aromatic oil is usually derived from guaiacum or wood creosote. Samples darken upon exposure to air and light. Guaiacol is present in wood smoke,...
, con uña rallá!" was his code phrase for
cocaineCocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, and
"¡AcetilenoAcetylene is the chemical compound with the formula C2H2. It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in pure form and thus is usually handled as a solution.As an alkyne, acetylene is unsaturated because...
!" his reference for
heroin. After his religious conversion, however, Marvin affirmed that the only substance in his life from that moment on, besides the insulin he needed daily for his diabetes, was
"Cristomicina", a portmanteau of the name of
ChristChrist is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
and
erythromycinErythromycin is a macrolide antibiotic that has an antimicrobial spectrum similar to or slightly wider than that of penicillin, and is often used for people who have an allergy to penicillins. For respiratory tract infections, it has better coverage of atypical organisms, including mycoplasma and...
.
Urban band
Calle 13Calle 13 is a band formed by stepbrothers René Pérez Joglar , who calls himself Residente and Eduardo José Cabra Martínez , who calls himself Visitante Calle 13 is a band formed by stepbrothers René Pérez Joglar (born February 23, 1978 in Hato Rey, a subsection of San Juan, Puerto Rico), who calls...
has recorded a version of "
Sorongo" for an upcoming tribute to Tite Curet, to be released in December 2011.