Sold Date: November 13, 2025
Start Date: June 13, 2024
Final Price: £18.00 (GBP)
Seller Feedback: 14575
Buyer Feedback: 1707

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TWO GREAT SIDES ON THIS UK HMV 78 FROM PEREZ PRADO

Ladies and Gentlemen this is ...

MAMBO No. 5

b/w   MAMBO JAMBO

The son of a schoolteacher and a newspaper worker, Dámaso Pérez Prado was set upon a musical path early in his life, training in classical piano techniques at the Principal School of Matanzas while still a young child. His earliest professional work was found playing organ and piano in local cinemas and nightclubs, but by the age of 26 Prado had relocated to Havana to seek out better opportunities. After a period spent performing with various small bands, he took a position as pianist and arranger with the Orquesta Casino de la Playa (the leading Cuban orchestra at the time) in 1943; this marked the beginning of both his explorations into the emerging style of mambo and his subsequent rise to fame. 

In 1947 Pérez Prado left Cuba behind, having provoked the ill-will of members of the Cuban music industry due to his integration of non-traditional (jazz) elements into his arrangements. An attempt to find work in Puerto Rico proved fruitless, prompting him to join a group of musicians on a tour of major South American centers for the remainder of the year; the tour reached its conclusion in Mexico City in 1948 at which time Prado made the decision to settle there, assembling his own orchestra and finally launching his career as a bandleader. 

Popularity in his new home grew quickly, his band appearing as a frequent attraction at the upscale Club 1-2-3, and he himself becoming a highly sought-after Mexican film arranger and actor in addition to his work in the studio. A series of well-received 78s recorded with singer (and fellow Cuban expatriate) Beny Moré ultimately led to a contract with the Mexican office of RCA Victor.

"Mambo No. 5" is an instrumental mambo and jazz dance song originally composed and recorded by Cuban musician Dámaso Pérez Prado in 1949 and released the next year.

German singer Lou Bega sampled the original for a new song released under the same name on Bega's 1999 debut album, A Little Bit of Mambo.

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10" 78 RPM RECORDS NEED CAREFULLY PACKING, AND I CLAIM TO HAVE THE BEST PACKAGING IN THE WORLD FOR DISPATCHING THEM!

 THE GREG'S GREAT'S SYSTEM CONSISTS OF A SPECIALLY DESIGNED INNER BOX MADE OUT OF 1" THICK POLYSTYRENE, WHICH THEN GOES INSIDE A DOUBLE CORRUGATED STIFF OUTER CARDBOARD CARTON. THE BOXES CAN TAKE UP TO 21 RECORDS,

I SEND OUT ON AVERAGE ABOUT 30 PARCELS A WEEK AND DISPATCH IS NORMALLY DONE ONCE A WEEK