I’ve much debated putting this song in this slot, but I keep coming back to it. This is my all-time favorite West African highlife band, mostly because, yes, they were my first (thank you Culver City Public Library!), and because of their joyous cover of Eddie Floyd’s “Knock On Wood”, with the hand-drum jam at the end. But their slightly melancholy home-grown tunes are excellent too. I have fond memories of listening to our cassette recording (thank you Culver City Public Library!) in the black catacombs of the Cal State LA photography lab while Laurel distilled monochrome images of some weird old man’s wrinkly butt or whatever.
Joyous is also the word for this track, apparently a salsa classic, covered by many, and usually spelled ‘Caramelo a Kilo’. What does that mean? Google translate says ‘kilo candy.’ Babel fish says ‘caramel to kilo.’ My guess is, it really means ‘candy by the kilo’. Probably expensive. Is this song Columbian?
