Tico Records: The Label That Helped Produce Salsa's Biggest Stars
In the 1940s, New York City's clubs overflowed with the sounds of cha cha, mambo, and rumba – and one label quickly seized on all of these music tr...
In the 1940s, New York City's clubs overflowed with the sounds of cha cha, mambo, and rumba – and one label quickly seized on all of these music trends, helping to set the stage for salsa's dominance in the mainstream years later. Tico Records was started by George Goldner, a garment manufacturer turned record impresario who began his career in music by running dance halls. At the time, the mambo craze was at its peak, and Goldner – an avid dancer and music aficionado – decided he wanted to record some of the sounds that captured the energy of New York's buzzing nightlife.