Abogados de Inmigracion

The music is real and from the heart. It is not a creation but a natural force that defined a generation of Latino’s that lived most or all their lives in the United States. Here are the thoughts of these artists through conversations I had with them concerning this landmark evening. What it means to them mirrors what it means to us. It is our Music and nothing has taken its place or replaced it in the minds of many.

Noel Pagan tells his story, “My heritage is Hispanic. The way I got into music was a case of being in the right place at the right time. There was a talent scout looking for singers and I auditioned for him and eventually it led to a record deal. He opened the doors for me but it was basically up to me to take it the rest of the way. After I recorded a rough demo I handed it to the guy who later became my manager. He cut me a record deal with 4th and Broadway/Island Records.”

Noel hit it big in 1987 with the hit “Silent Morning”. It would become Noel’s Signature song. “I entered the scene in 1987 and I won a couple of New York Music awards for Silent Morning”

Noel tells us about Sal Abbatiello, “Sal was into several different things, not just club promotions. His involvement with me was as a booking agent for a lot of the local clubs. Not only in New York City but out of state also.”

Freestyle is the general name of this genre but Noel has his views on that. “If I had to describe what freestyle is, not that I like calling it freestyle. I prefer to call it Club Music. I don’t know where it picked up the title Freestyle. The way I would best describe it is a mixture of Hip-Hop and 70’s Disco. When I did “Silent Morning” there was a band that had a European feeling to that style of music called Information Society and I got a chance to work with them. So we combined a Hip-Hop and 70’s Disco style with a European Depeche Mode vibe and that’s how we got the sound. We just used to call it Club Music.”

“I would have to call Silent morning my Signature song. I can’t believe the longevity but as far as the younger generation concerning Silent morning and I’ll give you an example. When Silent morning became a big hit I used to live east of Central Park and I was taking my dogs for a walk. I had a classroom of first graders who recognized me and blew their minds when they saw me. “Oh my God there’s Noel! They went nuts and these were kids who were 5,6 years old. So obviously there were a lot of kids listening to that style of music that we, myself and other artists were doing at the time. Basically they are the ones who determine whether you are going to have that longevity in this business because they are the ones who buy your records.”

“The fans to me always came first. Even now my philosophy hasn’t changed, I still feel that in order to have success in the Music Industry you have to able to be in the public. That’s always been important to me. Not so much where my records are going to chart but whether those people are going to enjoy it because all of that is based on whether people except what you do.”

“I like all kinds of Music and I think that in the mid 80’s to early 90’s a style of music that people preferred to listen to was club music, dance music. Later on that changed to HIP-Hop and Rock and they have to go with what’s marketable. Being an artist who listened to all kinds of music I couldn’t imagine myself rapping or doing Hip-Hop even though I do listen to it. My interests lie elsewhere. So I did a Pop- Rock album in ’93 called Hearts on Fire. Although the public didn’t receive it very well because they were used to my dance roots, it did have some success. We had a track on an episode TV Series Baywatch. As an artist I don’t like to limit myself to one thing. I like to experiment with different things. I started to dabble with Rock so we did that album in ’93. Now I’m doing more of a Dance oriented being. I did a Trans record called Will I find True love?
It was on a slow indie label and the reason why that song probably didn’t share the same success, as the other was that they had limited resources. I’m in the studio now and doing Peter Presto type of music that I am interested in doing now at the moment. “

It’s where my ambitions lie right now.
Absolutely it’s not about me but about helping others. Another of the things I’m starting to dabble is helping to develop neighborhoods like the ones I lived in the Bronx and help people with their housing and mortgages if possible, however I can help I feel I want to give back in the communities that basically supported me in my careers.”

“This is my first performance at MSG. It doesn’t make any difference to me because I can perform to three hundred people or thirty thousand and I’m still going to put on the best performance I can because I realize that is why people are there. I try to really put on a show for them by doing a lot of dancing around and I’m going to have some dancers on stage. It’s not about being there to sing the songs but to put on a performance.

Don’t get me wrong I’m excited that I m performing at MSG but I still feel that whether it’s the Garden or some hole in the wall I’m still going to put the best show I can out on.
It’s all the same to me.”

“ I think gatherings like this are about having a good time and people enjoying themselves. If I can help somehow by being involved with people enjoying themselves then to me it’s a privilege”

The evening turned out to be an uplifting event. Noel that evening summed it up well when I asked if this was like being in a Super Bowl. He responded “I feel like a championship boxer ready to go into the ring.”

SAL ABBATIELLO

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