Pérez Prado

The true Mambo King, Perez Prado helped invent the genre he worked in by fusing American Big Band Jazz with Afro-Cuban rhythms. In the current retro-Lounge fad, Prado is remembered as a kind of hip Lawrence Welk, but his music is full of real passion and verve. Even though he had a couple of number one hits during the 1950s, he has always been respected more by musicians than the general public. The man deserves your respect, though, and the best way to show it to him is to throw on a puffy shirt and mambo till dawn.