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mahatmakanejeeves

(56,896 posts)
Sat Jan 1, 2022, 08:49 AM Jan 2022

On this day, January 1, 1900, Xavier Cugat was born.

Don't try to stop me. I'm on a roll this morning.

Xavier Cugat



Born: Francisco de Asís Javier Cugat Mingall de Bru y Deulofeu; 1 January 1900; Girona, Catalonia, Spain
Died: 27 October 1990 (aged 90); Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Website: xaviercugat.com

Xavier Cugat (Catalan: [ʃə?iˈe kuˈɣat]; 1 January 1900 – 27 October 1990) was a Spanish musician and bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a leading figure in the spread of Latin music. In New York City he was the leader of the resident orchestra at the Waldorf–Astoria before and after World War II. He was also a cartoonist and a restaurateur. The personal papers of Xavier Cugat are preserved in the Biblioteca de Catalunya.

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Life and career

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In 1931 Cugat took his band to New York for the 1931 opening of the Waldorf–Astoria hotel. He replaced Jack Denny as leader of the hotel's resident band. For sixteen years, he led the Waldorf–Astoria Orchestra, shuttling between New York and Los Angeles for most of the next 30 years. One of his trademark gestures was to hold a chihuahua while he waved his baton with the other arm.

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Recordings

Cugat recorded for Columbia (1940s and 1950s, and Epic), RCA Victor (1930s and 1950s), Mercury (1951–52 and the 1960s), and Decca (1960s). Dinah Shore made her first recordings as a vocalist with Cugat in 1939 and 1940 for RCA Victor. In 1940 his recording of "Perfidia" became a hit. Cugat followed trends closely, making records for the conga, the mambo, the cha-cha-cha, and the twist when these dances were popular. Several songs that he recorded, including "Perfidia", were used in the Wong Kar-wai films Days of Being Wild and 2046. In 1943 "Brazil" was Cugat's most successful chart hit. It spent seven weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard magazine National Best Selling Retail Records chart behind Harry James's song "I've Heard That Song Before". In the 1950s he made several recordings with his wife, singer Abbe Lane.

His orchestra included Desi Arnaz, Lina Romay, Abbe Lane, Tito Rodriguez, Yma Sumac, Miguelito Valdés, Frank Berardi, Gene Lorello, George Lopez, Glenn E. Brown, Henry Greher, Isabello Marerro, James English, John Haluko, Joseph Gutierrez, Luis Castellanos, Manuel Paxtot, Oswaldo Oliveira, Otto Bolívar, Otto Garcia, Rafael Angelo, Richard Hoffman, Robert De Joseph, and Robert Jones.

Xavier Cugat was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

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Xavier Cugat - Lina Momay - Miguelito Valdés 1942 Chiu chiu
2,668 views Oct 12, 2020

JOHANNQUETEBEO
14.5K subscribers

Fagmento de(Bailando nace el amor) película dirigida por William A. Seiter con Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Adolphe Menjou, Isobel Elsom, Leslie Brooks .... Año: 1942.

Oh, so that's the name of this song:



Perfidia (Remastered)
1,981 views Apr 3, 2020

Xavier Cugat - Topic
2.39K subscribers
Provided to YouTube by La Cupula Music SL

Perfidia (Remastered) · Xavier Cugat

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Here's some Abbe Lane:



#AbbeLane #EdSullivan #EdSullivanShow
Abbe Lane "Brazil, Quando Quando & One Note Samba" on The Ed Sullivan Show
11,821 views Aug 7, 2021

The Ed Sullivan Show
348K subscribers
Abbe Lane "Brazil, Quando Quando & One Note Samba" on The Ed Sullivan Show, March 20, 1966. Subscribe now to never miss an update: https://ume.lnk.to/EdSullivanSubscribe

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Here's the one you've all been waiting for:



1943 HITS ARCHIVE: Brazil - Xavier Cugat
18,627 views May 31, 2019

the78prof
25.4K subscribers

Brazil (Russell-Barroso) by Xavier Cugat and his Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra, vocals by the Cugat Chorus

Here's where you've heard that:



Brazil (1985) Official Trailer - Jonathan Pryce, Terry Gilliam Movie HD
970,753 views Jun 28, 2014

Movieclips Classic Trailers
1.28M subscribers

Subscribe to CLASSIC TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/1u43jDe
Subscribe to TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/sxaw6h
Subscribe to COMING SOON: http://bit.ly/H2vZ

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Not everyone liked it.



Siskel & Ebert - “Brazil”
31,287 views Feb 4, 2015

HenryConway007
1.48K subscribers

Both voted thumbs down on “Brazil”, the confusing, overdone futuristic satire.
1 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
On this day, January 1, 1900, Xavier Cugat was born. (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Jan 2022 OP
Thanks for this--when I was about 10, we moved to an old house that still Baked Potato Jan 2022 #1

Baked Potato

(7,733 posts)
1. Thanks for this--when I was about 10, we moved to an old house that still
Sat Jan 1, 2022, 01:53 PM
Jan 2022

had some of the original owner’s stuff in a back room. There was an old Philco standing radio that still worked. It received all the shortwave bands and I put up a 50 ft long wire antenna. This worked fantastic and really got me interested in radio.

Anyhoo, on to Xavier Cugat… in the same room was a huge box of 78 records. I have carted some of these with me all around the country.

One of them was a Cugat record titled El Americano. I loved it as a little kid, and I still do. It is kind of hauntingly beautiful and makes me think of being in a club somewhere in South America.

Here it is… sounds good cranked up loud



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