| Bachata Song Samples: |
| Boracho de amor - José Manuel Calderón |
| Nadie me quita esa hembra - Marino Perez |
| Equivocada - Blas Duran |
| El salón - Julio Angel |
| Voy pa’lla - Antony Santos |
David C. Wayne
Bachata is a popular guitar music from the Dominican Republic. While bachata is based on the bolero rhythm, bachateros have traditionally included other kinds of music like son, merengue, vals and ranchera in their repertoires. The influence of all of these styles, and particularly that of merengue, can be felt in the rhythms, harmonies and melodies of bachata proper.
Guitar music has always been a part of the Dominican musical landscape, but the first bachata recognized as such was recorded in 1961 by José Manuel Calderón. The bachata of Calderón and his contemporaries was virtually identical to the bolero of other Latin American countries like Puerto Rico and Ecuador. In fact many of the songs which these bachateros recorded were covers of earlier boleros, and the music was viewed by society at large in the same way that bolero was viewed throughout Latin America—a romantic music popular with lovers and serenaders.
In time, however, bachata began to be associated with another world, that of prostitution, poverty and delincuency. The reasons for this are many and complex and involve the conflicts within Dominican society around poverty and wealth, tradition and modernity, as well as genuine bad faith on the part of other elements in the music industry. So strong was the stigma against bachata that only one national radio station would play it. While this situation was deplorable and extremely difficult for the musicians involved, it also helped to consolidate the genre. Relegated to the brothel and the barrio, bachata began to tell the stories of that world, the experiences of the lover of a prostitute, the poor country boy who gets to the city and gets ripped off, the plight of the barrio dweller without light or water—all replete with slang and sexual double entendre. From about 1970 to about 1990, bachata was thoroughly unique among Latin American musical genres in its free expression of the underground life of a nation. This free expression naturally provoked even more fiercely the contempt of the Dominican mainstream. Ironically, it was the most despised of these cabaret bachateros, Blas Durán, the master of sexual double entendre, whose music marked the end of bachata’s isolation when he began to record with an electric guitar in 1987.
After Durán’s innovation bachata’s popularity began to soar, as Anthony Santos and other bachateros used the new style to record more acceptable, romantic songs. The influence of merengue became marked in the rhythm and the guitar lines of the music, and in fact modern bachata was first made popular by the bachateros’ merengues rather than by their bachatas. Several middle class musicians, notably Juan Luis Guerra, also experimented with the form, and were so successful that the music began to be accepted by all sectors of society.
In its current form, bachata is listened to throughout Latin America, and is probably the most popular kind of Latin music in New York City today. It has been fused with other styles, like vallenato (Monchy y Alexandra, among others) and R&B (Aventura), with great success.
--David C. Wayne
Other Articles:
Edilio Paredes and The Birth of Bachata
The History of Bachata
By Sydney Hutchinson:
An Overview of Merengue
108 Comments - viewing 1-108
This website actually helps u it helped me for my homework. Thanks! !!!!!!
Jacky
28-Apr-10
i am writting a research paper about the history of achata
A.M.
16-Apr-10
HELLO
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
18-Mar-10
this is good info helped me for my spanish project/homework
u know who
24-Feb-10
thats real nice how you people talk on here and you wonder why hispanics are looked down apon or not very high class, and even if you're not hispanic then its nice how you talk on pages that are supposed to be educational and if some little kid needs this information for a project they will see your vulgar comments
melissa
24-Feb-10
tu eres lokkkkaaaa hehekqwkwkwidfjejej
thanks for the info.:
lalalala loka
18-Feb-10
Always'&'Forever .
lady hydro
12-Feb-10
yo sor una almiradora tu ya y te amiro mucho ati y de tu musica ok me gusta tu bachata todad tt. massiel
massiel chavez rodriguez
23-Jan-10
i am doin a biology project about evolution we are supposed to find out how a sertain genre of music evolved(evolution)
:)
22-Jan-10
this helped me a lot in presentation speech!! :D
man i have to show white peeps how to damce BACHATA:)
..dats going to be funny..in so many ways,lmao.
.but umm,yeah thanks this helped me out alot:P
Go0d gIRlY
21-Jan-10
Did A Nice 2 Out Of 4 Paqe Essay (:
Angelika
06-Jan-10
i love bachata en especial a aventura
mariposa
21-Dec-09
La bachata es bonita pero la mayoria de sus interpretes son feos. Eso significa que no solo los bien parecidos pueden ser buenos cantantes, porque la belleza del ser humano cuando es genuina se lleva por dentro y sale del corazon.
BLENDY
18-Dec-09
thanks a lot this infomation help for my h.w.
paula
17-Dec-09
nice lots of details that helped me in ma project!!!!!!
thanikz
jasmine
02-Dec-09
I believe this is an amazing site. I think bachata is very, very, very, very cool, and I like to listen to it. I belive everone can love merengue, even if they do not like it because every one has a different opinion and I respect that. All in all, this was a very well thought out site, and I love it, THANK YOU, this is sick. I love you, this whole site was genius, thanks a bunch
Jake
06-Nov-09
hi there i really like this type of music its very different and shows other cultures and what they talk about
shalom:)
06-Nov-09
I like this website because I like the music. But i dont like the music because i do like it but i dont.
NOOOOO
06-Nov-09
this is good, but i like modern bachata like aventura:)
barbara
06-Nov-09
Ellos son muy estpidos
Timoteo
06-Nov-09
k viva la bachata de aventura y de anthony
cristian
01-Jul-09
la bachata es lo mejor enla musik
cristian
01-Jul-09
bachata is the best music everrrrrrr i love aventura
martha
08-Jun-09
PARA MI LABACHATA ES COMO LA REPUBLICA UNICA LINDA ERMOSA SEXY ROMANTICA PUEDE DECIRLO TODO CON UNA BACHATA VIVO MUCHO TIEMPO EN USA PERO CUANDO ESCUCHO UNA BUENA BACHATA MI CORAZON Y MI MENTE SETRASPORTAN AMILINDA TIERRA SI SOY COMO LABACHATA DOMINICANA...
YVELISE PERALTA
01-Jun-09
esta paigina es estupida
dashortycoqui
22-Apr-09
HOY SE BEBEM ME GUSTA ESA VAINA.....LA MEJOR BACHATA DE ANTHONY ES UNA CLASICA QUE SE TITULA, ASI: POR QUE TANTO PROBLEMA,ESCUCHENLA Y VERAN. DESDE JIMANI PAL MUNDO.
VICTOR MINAYA
11-Apr-09
me encanta la bachata!
Blanca
17-Mar-09
es umilde mantiene las mallor parte de su musico no como frank reyes gue tenia un guitarrita gue lo mantubo todo el tienpo en sima y lo canbio y aora parese gue frank desaparesio de la musica gue pena me da las ultima produsion princesa y aora le dise al otro suena magia gue tu ere el mejor no selo merese rafael con el lograte demasiado meresia ser parte de su grupo el fue parte del esito de frank deve pesarlo y regresarlo porgue es el mejor el y papeleta asta el bagita de sacaria ferreira le guito gue pena tu asesor te esta acesorando mal o pienso guel dinero te guito la umilda
alver
14-Mar-09
grax!!! i needed this for my project =]
me encanta bachata; esa es mi musica preferida!
yARAY! =/ TU CUbANitA ;)
05-Jan-09
gee-em. people learn how to talk spanish. kay.
m.v
25-Nov-08
ola soy sinthia y me gusta la musica bachata
cinthia
11-Nov-08
Hola, yo soy de Portugal y no conecia bachata mas ahora que ha ido en viaje al Republica Domincana, ha volvido a casa gustando mucho. Existe una musica que me ha quedado en el oido solo que yo no se como se llama y tambien no se quien es lo cantor ... solo se que es cualquier cosa como " La suerte mala, mala suerte " (?!). hola anthony no te lleve de toda esas coqueteria de toda esa chica yo soy tu fan #1 desde santo domingo hasta boston estoy aqui en boston y no dejo de escuchar todo tu exito .y tambien tiene otra fan es mi hija ella se le a pegado tu baina ella le guta tu musica.tiene tres aano. te quiero mucho.hasta pronto. la bachata es lo que mas me gusta de la republica dominicana antony santos,frank reyes,raulin rodriguez,zacarias ferreiras. gracias senior, este fui mucho bueno. Me gusta tu articulo.
rosita
04-Nov-08
gracias senior, este fui mucho bueno. Me gusta tu articulo
Roberto
04-Nov-08
voricua pero megusta la vachata no puedo varlar pero memuero por lavachata chaooooooooooooooooooo dominican
el vorincano 03
07-Oct-08
hey thank you for starting bachata if it was it for you i would not know what listening to now thank you.....
melissa
06-Oct-08
hoy se bebe muy bueno, eres el mejor
jose cain
27-Sep-08
me gusta mucho la bachata ya que soy orgullosa de ser dominicana
yokasta
25-Sep-08
me gusta la bachata musica
sarah
23-Sep-08
me emociono mucho el leer este articulo sobre la batacha, soy un gran
amante de ese genero musical dominicano.
juan eladio gomez vilorio
13-Sep-08
hola anthony no te lleve de toda esas coqueteria de toda esa chica yo soy tu fan #1 desde santo domingo hasta boston estoy aqui en boston y no dejo de escuchar todo tu exito .y tambien tiene otra fan es mi hija ella se le a pegado tu baina ella le guta tu musica.tiene tres aano. te quiero mucho.hasta pronto
natalia
07-Sep-08
la es lo mejor k hay en republica dominicana al igual k el merengue eso es lo mejor de nuestro pais un saludo para todos bye !!!!
esthefany
29-Jul-08
can you give me more info. im doing a project on this type of music.
karen
01-Jul-08
como toco bachata??
augusto
09-Jun-08
In reading this short story about the history of bachata i have truly learned alot about this music which is the beat of our latin society we have come of age to listen to not just politically but musically also. It's good to hear that our brothers in the dominican republic are putting that good music for all to hear.Keep up the good music
ivonne
24-May-08
omg!!! there's not enough of info com'mon ppl damn! there are not enough info in bachata!
laddi
22-May-08
megustan toda la musica estan muy buena dominicanos
kelvin
18-Apr-08
me gusta mucho la bachata no puedo dejar de moverme para los lados porque me fasina la bachat mucho .....
norma
14-Apr-08
hola pariguayo...usted si son palomo no tiene nada mas k hacer dike perdiondo el tiempo escribiendo diparate
niky
14-Mar-08
me gusta mucho la bachata
juan hernandez
05-Mar-08
IS TH EBEST EVR e
DDAS
26-Feb-08
BACHATA IS THE BEST
DAS
26-Feb-08
bachata is the best i luove iti sooo much..
briana
25-Feb-08
Genara Cruz
14-Feb-08
klk mi jente.. bueno todos sabemos k la bachata es lo mejol k se an inventao pero na mi jente sigan pa lante y ta jevii la pagina k tienen aki
beba
09-Jan-08
LA BACHATA ES LO MEJOR AVENTURA ES EL #1!
mati
13-Dec-07
bachata es lo mejot
maricela
07-Dec-07
que orgullo me da mi pais q viva la bachata
chepe
03-Dec-07
La republica Dominicana es el mejor! Que sigan con esta musica!!!!
Rafael
02-Dec-07
podrian enviarme musica de este ritmo vivo en buenos aires es dificil conseguirla muchas gracias
luis buttarro
20-Nov-07
me gustaria recibir musica de esta clase ya que soy de argentina y no se consigue
andres
17-Nov-07
wwwwwwwwwwwwwooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwww dr rocks
angie
07-Nov-07
la bachata es lo mejor
ana karen
22-Oct-07
nice i like that thing
not
18-Oct-07
CREO QUE SE HIZO JUSTICIA AL LIBERAR ESTA MUSICA AHORA TIUENE MUCHA FUERZA,AUNQUE EN ESTA PARTE DEL CONTINENTE AUN NO SE CONOCE TOTALMENTE.SALUDOS
DENYS CALDERON D.
LIMA-PERU
DENYS
24-Sep-07
Yo Amor Bachata Muy Mucho
Aileen F.
07-Sep-07
la bachata es lo que mas me gusta de la republica dominicana antony santos,frank reyes,raulin rodriguez,zacarias ferreiras.
franseli
05-Sep-07
Bachata es mi vida! All my life I was a Rolling Stones fan (still am)until I discovered the Dominican Republic and Bachata. I have all of Antony Santos, Frank Reyes, Raulin Rodriguez and Zacarias Ferreira's CD's. I just love it.
Gabriele
09-Jul-07
somos de la salle y estamos haciento un trabajo
dulce
04-Jul-07
SOY MEXICANA Y ME ENCATA LA BACHATA, ESPECIAL MENTE ZACARIAS FERREIRA.
NELY
30-Jun-07
la musica bachata me encanta porque habla de los amores fallidos con mucha alegria y movimiento por mas triste que sea la historia se escucha bien
silviagto
21-Jun-07
hola mellamoyolayny y megusta su musica y video
yolayny
14-Jun-07
dOMINICANOS FEOS LOL, CLARO QUE HAY FEOS POR TODAS PARTES PERO UNA COSA ES CIERTO, LOS DOMINICANOS SON GENTE BONITAS;-) EN TODOS SUS SABORES COMO DIJO aNTHONY sANTOS .. INDIA BLANCA MORENA TENEMOS DE TO ...RECONOZCAN ;-)
aBELIO
20-Apr-07
I`writing excellent songs .I will love to be in contac with alexandra and Monchy . To see if they wants to sings my songs. I know if they leseng . they like.
carmen
24-Mar-07
yo no soy dominicana pero me encanta la musica bachata y reggaeton cuando esta mezclado con r&b. mi papa es d bolivia y el me dice q estoy loka pero no me importa...q VIVA BACHATA!
emily
13-Mar-07
eu nao conheço muito mas ganhei 1 cd do meu namorado q trabalha na republica dominicana e eu fiquei apaixonada curto muito, sou brasileira e fâ do frank reyes, gostaria de saber mais sobre ele bjos c krinho
aucilia andrade
06-Mar-07
etsa bien chingon la bachata its real tight i like julio angel
beto
27-Feb-07
i love aventura they are coolest of all and frank reyes , antonysantos and rubby perez
Fabain
15-Feb-07
i listen to aventura at all times. IM in love with thier music and most of all anthonys lyrics.
Perla Marie
27-Jan-07
aventura the best bachata on dis planet.....theeee best ya herrddd!!!
beba morales
25-Jan-07
i love bachata....mostly i listenin to aventura(romeo)..there songs just lift you up and it takes away alot of thaughts that i have in mind...bachata is my second favorite thing to listein to...the first is reggaeton
nicole morales
25-Jan-07
I LOVE BACHATA...im actually doing my senior project on BACHATA...i love it... i have been listenin to bachata music since i was 6.. although im not dominican i love its music....
Adilene
21-Jan-07
soy orgullosamente dominicana al igual que antony santos.
alba martinez
19-Jan-07
antony santos is the best I have ever seem ! I love him
alba m
19-Jan-07
I LOVE BACHATTA
SRINI
15-Jan-07
soy venezolano y me gusta la bachata desde Los siete años, que viva la bachata en el mundo entero, yque crezca la musica
freddy
07-Jan-07
Domincano=Loves Bachata
Que vive to lo dominicanos y qual tengan problemas que se valla a la mierda
Austin Texas
John
13-Dec-06
CRISTO LE AMA A TODO POR FAVOR BUSQUEN DE DIOS, PARA Q NO TENGAN QUE LLORAR LAGRIMAS DE DOLOR EN ESTOS ULTIMOS DIAS "CRISTO VIENE PRONTO"
100% dominicano
EL CHICO LEY
05-Dec-06
hey im dominican i reprisent d.r yea bachata iz b@ngin their is nuffin better than bachata,merenge,salsa,reggeton u know how us dominican role. ohh yea lover of aventura Luiana
aka dominican mami
(edited - IASO)
luisana
03-Dec-06
i love batchata!! it's so fun to move your body with the songs. These make you happy when your down and it's so fun to dance with a parter!!!
Cherry Carcamo
03-Dec-06
I absolutely love this music, it's so cool and romantic. A friend in Toronto introduced me to it 3 years ago and yeah, bachata and merengue really lift me up when I am down.
Wanjiru Ndungu
21-Nov-06
i love bachata its soo easy to dance to and i am a dancer so i love it and the music is sooo good to and when iam down i listen to it and it makes me feel good
jessica m hernandez
08-Nov-06
I am new to Bachata, my first exposure being through Juan Luis Guerra tapes and now from living in Inwood, New York City. I like the music, but my only question is if it is supposedly still a romantic form, why is it usually played so ear-splittingly loud, with a heavy bass comparable to the most agressive hi-hop?
Andrew
02-Nov-06
hey im a st.maartener but i love bachata especilly anthony santos aventura zacarias and el camaron i am from st.marten and my mom is from consulo that in santo domingo and my dad is from curacao but seriously i love bachata especially aventura they were the bomb when they performed on st.maarten for carnival and i also went to a one day concert in alto chavon on the25th of march that was hot
charleny the st.maartener
05-Oct-06
bachata will always be the love music for the latinos in america and many other latin american countries
ELMO
13-Sep-06
PORQUE SON TAN FEOS
LEONEL
30-Aug-06
como dominicana estoy encantada con la bachata en especial las del el grupo aventura soy sencilla romantica y sexy como la de no,no,no con talia
stephanie dominicana
23-Jul-06
Como dominicana que soy me encanta la bachata. El ritmo de bachata es incomparable y es un ritmo que como ese no hay ninguno. Algunos les gusta y a otros no lastima porque no saben lo que se estan perdiendo.
Dominicana
09-Jul-06
Hola, yo soy de Portugal y no conecia bachata mas ahora que ha ido en viaje al Republica Domincana, ha volvido a casa gustando mucho. Existe una musica que me ha quedado en el oido solo que yo no se como se llama y tambien no se quien es lo cantor ... solo se que es cualquier cosa como " La suerte mala, mala suerte " (?!).
Se alguien conece la musica, por favor me haceria muy feliz si me enviase un email para filipe1982santana@hotmail.com dicendo lo nombre para yo hacer download.
Muchas Gracias
Filipe Santana
08-Jul-06
bueno bachata es lo mejor q hay pa` baila aunque salsa y merengue no se quedadn atra pero q viva el chupe y la musica.
nathali
05-Jul-06
bueno bachata es lo mejor q hay pa` baila aunque salsa y merengue no se quedadn atra pero q viva el chuoe y la musica.
nathali
05-Jul-06
What was the name of the film on the independent film channel?
dancer
03-Jul-06
I come from DR. i think this note has something wrong, Because before edilio Paredes were several bachata singer, Ej; Bernardo Oriz etc, I remember because my brother was musician of then.
And you do not make any mention about Radio Guarachita and Leonardo Paniagua,etc.
Ido not agree with this coment.
Augusto Ruiz
26-Jun-06
Me encanta mucho la musica . Bachata y Merengue are part of my life in some way> Sometimes I listen just to relax
Viva La Republica Domincana Mi gente
Gracy
05-Jun-06
I WATCHED A FILM ON THE INDEPEDNET FILM CHANNEL ABOUT THIS MUSIC,ITS PERFORMERS,DANCERS AND THE VERY BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.I LOVE IT!!!.I AM SURE I WILL TRAVEL THERE SOON......FROM A LOVER OF GOOD MUSIC.....SAM
SAM GRAY
26-May-06
u remeber me david i am karina from miss lykkens class
karina
12-May-06
B@ch@t@ !$ M@d B@ng!ng . @$ $oon @$ !t $t@rt$ It M@k3$ U D@nce. B@ch@t@ is Th3 V3ry $oul of Our H!$p@n!c H3r!t@g3
Victoria DeJesus
10-May-06
grupo aventura son los mejores del mundo los amo.att.zoraida
zoraida
29-Apr-06
Thnks for this moment, this is real music
thanks ok
muchars gracias
William ROSADO
21-Apr-06