La Sonora Dinamita - Biography
La Sonora Dinamita are a Colombian cumbia band who helped popularize the music beyond South America over their long career. Through continuous line-up changes, the one constant until recently was acclaimed songwriter Lucho Argaín, who led the band until his death in 2002.
Colombian songwriter Lucho Argaín (born Luis Guillermo Pérez Cedrón) cut his first record in 1959, for Antonio Fuentes Estrada's label Discos Fuentes, the oldest label in Colombia and one sometimes known as "The Colombian Motown." Soon after, Argain and Fuentes formed a cumbia band in Cartagena de Indias, Sonora Buscapié, with other musicians. Sonora Buscapié became Sonora Dinamita in 1960. Their horn driven strain of cumbia with female singers was modeled after the successful Cuban band, Sonora Matancera. They released the album, Ritmo (1960 Discos Fuentes), and their first single, "Yo la vi" which made them stars in Colombia and Venezuela. Their second album included Argaín's "Cumbia Barrulera," "Golpes que da la vida" and "Yo por tí" and their fame spread north to Mexico. The following year they released "Rosa Angelina"and "Quítate el zapato" but, shortly thereafter, the band disbanded. Meanwhile, Discos Fuentes made a deal with Mexico's Discos Peerless, who served the growing market there. Before long, cumbia became the latest Latin dance craze in the US.
Encouraged by cumbia's continued popularity, Julio Ernesto Estrada "Fruko" Rincón (the artistic director at Discos Fuentes) asked Argaín to re-form La Sonora Dinamita which he did in 1977. They release "Del montón" which provides them with their first hit after their fourteen year hiatus. The new line-up made its first trip to Mexico in June, 1979, where "Se me perdió la cadenita" had been a massive success. The ensuing album, La explosiva Sonora Dinamita (Discos Fuentes) was a bigger success in Mexico than at home. They acquired a new singer, La India Meliyará, in 1981, who sang on their hit, "Mi Cucu." La Cumbia de Sida (1986-Discos Fuentes) was followed by many appearances on Televisa where they appeared on programs including Aqui esta, Mala noche no and Siempre en Domingo.
Meanwhile, in the US, San Fernando Valley-based club operators Kiko Vargas Sr. and his wife Ruby began releasing recordings credited to La Sonora Dinamita, Explotando con la Nu (1990 Sonotone), La Vibrante (1990 Sonotone), Tropicalisima (1990 Sonotone), Son Montuno (1991 Sonotone), Picante Y Caliente (1991 Sonotone), Sonora Dinamita, Vol. 3, (1992 Sonotone) and Vuela Vuela (1992 Sonotone) were all misleadingly credited to La Sonora Dinamita on the grounds that the line-up of their band included former members of Argaín's. After legal action, they changed their name to the Internacional Sonora Show.
Argaín's band released Que Te La Pongo (1992 Discos Fuentes), Esto Si Es Dinamita (1993 Discos Fuentes), Chispeante (1993 Discos Fuentes), Con Sonido Banda (1994 Discos Fuentes), Sonora Dinamita Y Sigue La Fiesta (1994 Discos Fuentes), Imparable (1994 Discos Fuentes), En Baru (1995 Discos Fuentes), Cumbia con Sabor (1996 Discos Fuentes) Con Lucho Y Chincan Chones (1996 Discos Fuentes), Llego La Reina de la Cumbia (1997 Discos Fuentes) and Cumbia Explosiva (1997 Discos Fuentes) in the years that followed. By the late '90s, their popularity declined as the Mexican cumbia they'd helped inspire had gradually overtaken the Colombian variety in popularity. After Warners bought Discos Peerless, La Sonora Dinamita were temporarily label-less. After joining Monterrey's Apodaca Artistic Representations, their albums were distributed in North America by Miami Records. After the Christmas album, Navidades con la Sonora Dinamita (1999 Discos Fuentes), La Mera Mera (1999 Discos Fuentes), De Reventos (2000 Discos Fuentes) followed. Sadly, Lucho Argaín died on January 15, 2002.
After Argaín's passing, direction of band was taken over by Pedro Manuel Osorio Hernández and they acquired singer Alma Divina. Yo Soy la Cumbia (2002 Discos Fuentes), Cumbia Pa' Todo el Mundo (2002 Discos Fuentes), Puras Cumbias and Originales Con la Sonora Dinamita (2002 Discos Fuentes) Hecho en Mexico (2003 Discos Fuentes), Las Divas de la Sonora Dinamita (2004 Discos Fuentes), Dinamitazos Chilangos (2004 Discos Fuentes), Cumbia Pa Saborear (2005 Discos Fuentes), Dinamitazos de La Cumbia (2006 Discos Fuentes), and Cumbia Picara, Cumbia Sexy (2007 Discos Fuentes) followed. The recordings stopped in 2007, when legal disputes over the ownership of Argaín's music and the name "Sonora Dinamita" arrose, after more groups began adopting the moniker. Hernández's version now tours as “Sonora Dinamita de Lucho Argaín."
