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[a brief history]
this week's show
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[a brief history]
a brief history
Ritmo Latino started out as El Ritmo Latino in August of
2003 on the small island of Saipan in Micronesia.
Shortly after arriving on Saipan, Neil began to miss the
Latin music he heard on the radio back in Denver.
So he decided to ask the local public radio station
director, Carl, if he could start a show.
This was during dinner one night.
Neil: I'd like to host a Latin music show.
Carl: Uh, okay. How many CDs do you have?
Neil: Five.
Carl: Can you pass the salt?
So, Neil started ordering CDs online. And soon they
began arriving by cargo ship, most of them caked in sea
salt and smelling of old men wearing black knee-high
socks with their sandles.
After he had acquired every Buena Vista Social Club
spin-off imaginable, he felt ready.
Neil: I'm ready.
Carl: For what?
Neil: You know, the show.
Carl: You were serious?
Neil: Yeah.
Carl: Can you pass the salt?
But being the nice guy that Carl is, he showed Neil
around the studio.
Neil: What's that button for?
Carl: Don't touch it.
Finally he allowed him to sit down and rotate a few dials
and even pretend to speak into the microphone.
The rest is history.
The name was changed in February of 2005 when one
too many native Spanish speakers said the "El" in El
Ritmo Latino was just plain stupid. They didn't really say
it out loud, but you could tell. (So says Neil.)
Since September of 2008 the show has been produced
in Rome, Italy where Neil now lives with his attractive
wife, 2 dogs, and 3 cats. His cat Jake drives him
absolutely batty. This often causes him to have
disturbing thoughts.
He moved to Rome because he heard the food was
decent -- but no one warned him about the prices.
Ritmo Latino started out as El Ritmo Latino in August of
2003 on the small island of Saipan in Micronesia.
Shortly after arriving on Saipan, Neil began to miss the
Latin music he heard on the radio back in Denver.
So he decided to ask the local public radio station
director, Carl, if he could start a show.
This was during dinner one night.
Neil: I'd like to host a Latin music show.
Carl: Uh, okay. How many CDs do you have?
Neil: Five.
Carl: Can you pass the salt?
So, Neil started ordering CDs online. And soon they
began arriving by cargo ship, most of them caked in sea
salt and smelling of old men wearing black knee-high
socks with their sandles.
After he had acquired every Buena Vista Social Club
spin-off imaginable, he felt ready.
Neil: I'm ready.
Carl: For what?
Neil: You know, the show.
Carl: You were serious?
Neil: Yeah.
Carl: Can you pass the salt?
But being the nice guy that Carl is, he showed Neil
around the studio.
Neil: What's that button for?
Carl: Don't touch it.
Finally he allowed him to sit down and rotate a few dials
and even pretend to speak into the microphone.
The rest is history.
The name was changed in February of 2005 when one
too many native Spanish speakers said the "El" in El
Ritmo Latino was just plain stupid. They didn't really say
it out loud, but you could tell. (So says Neil.)
Since September of 2008 the show has been produced
in Rome, Italy where Neil now lives with his attractive
wife, 2 dogs, and 3 cats. His cat Jake drives him
absolutely batty. This often causes him to have
disturbing thoughts.
He moved to Rome because he heard the food was
decent -- but no one warned him about the prices.
Neil pretending to create yet another booty-shaking episode of Ritmo Latino. He's also wondering
where his beer is. Photo courtesy of Mike Tripp -- a fine man and photographer.
where his beer is. Photo courtesy of Mike Tripp -- a fine man and photographer.
