SALSARICAN FEATURES DEPT. I
One Man
Broadcasting Salsa Picante to The World's Gain...
Hector Resendez Dishes Out The
Goods from Los Angeles
Interview by Les Rivera
 f
one was to write a book on the history of West Coast salsa
music, Hector Resendez would easily qualify as one of the
founding fathers. Growing up in a Mexican-American family in
Los Angeles during the era of Latin rock and Santana,
Hector’s interest in tropical music began while listening to
his parent’s records, which included LPs by Tito Puente, Ray
Baretto, Aragon, Beny More, and other great artists and
bands.
Hector tweaks profusely at the
knobs to get the essential salsal sound.
While interviewing this very well-known
Southern California personality of salsa radio shows, I
cannot help reflecting on Mr. Resendez’s very humble,
intelligent, likeable, and pleasant personality. In the
usual high profile hoopla of Hollywood glamour and glitter I
find myself face to face with a celebrity whose feet are
firmly planted on the ground. One cannot help being
extremely impressed with this radio producer/host, whose
voice is being heard by more than a quarter million people
every Saturday.
Les Rivera: Hector, how did you first get involved in
radio?
Hector Resendez: When I went to high school and
college, I worked on the school paper. I heard about these
two “radicals”, Latinos… They were trying to start up a new
show on the college radio station. It was Enrique 'Kiki'
Soto and Raul Villa. KXLU had always been a classical radio
station with chamber music. These two guys come along, and
they wanted to do a Latin jazz – salsa show.
After a year of beating their heads against the wall, they
were given the opportunity to do a one hour pre-recorded
show on Sunday afternoons. I went to their first meeting to
do a story on them. Here I was, walking into the studio, and
all these guys were lined up against the wall. Enrique and
Raul were sitting in the middle, explaining what they were
going to do.
Raul Villa gave the name “Alma del Barrio” to the show, from
the Joe Cuba album. So, they were going to meet every week,
to discuss the show before they actually produced it.
I would come back every week to write my story. As the weeks
went by, less and less people were showing up. After four to
six weeks, it was just Kiki, Raul and myself. Raul said,
Hector, you’ve been coming here every week, so we want you
to become a part of this. I said, are you crazy? I am just
here watching you guys. What ended up happening was Raul, as
the engineer, did not want to go behind the microphone. He
eventually did. Enrique and myself were the co-hosts. We did
the show, recorded it, and from there it just launched. That
was back in October of ’73.
Enrique left after a year, and I took over as Program
Director. What we started doing was getting an hour here and
there from students who did not want to do the show anymore.
This was an all-student operated station. A lot of students
did not want to stay on campus over the weekend. We grabbed
an hour here and there, and before you knew it we had the
whole weekend.
That’s how the show evolved. I was the Program Director
there for about 12 years. We played a variety of music, from
salsa to jazz. We were doing local groups, such as La
Tierra, with whom we did their first radio interview. We
also did the first interview with Los Lobos. I can still
remember the day when Los Lobos first showed up. They had
just recorded their first album, called “Just another band
from East L.A.”. They showed up at the station with full
beards, guayaberas, and they had their guitars, and they
jammed right there in the studio.
LR: How did Canto Tropical come about?
HR: After I left KXLU, I just laid low for a while. A
friend called me, and she said they were looking for someone
to do the salsa show at KPFK. So I tuned in, and the Program
Director was saying: If anybody out there would be
interested in doing this show, send us your tape and your
resume. I did that. A few days later they called me, and
asked: Can you start this Friday? The show was on Friday
mornings from 9:30 to 11:30. That was back in April of 1986.
LR: How did Kathy and Carlos become a part of your
team of hosts?
HR: When I started the show I always believed in
sharing the microphone. I invited Gloria Guitierrez and
Gustavo Aragon to come to the show with me. He had just left
KXLU also, and he joined me. I actually hired Gustavo at
KXLU. Then I had Pia Franco start up with us. She was
referred to me by HAMAS, the Hispanic Academy of Movies,
Arts and Sciences, an advocacy group. The president of HAMAS
referred Pia to me, and he talked about a gal who wanted to
learn about the radio.
Carlos Montani did not come until much later. When I met him
he had been a long-time fan of Alma del Barrio. So we kind
of knew each other, but not directly. We invited him on, and
that’s how Carlos became a part of the show. He became what
we call our “color person”. He was adding a little humor and
flair to the show.
Then it was Kathy… I heard that Kathy was available, and I
invited her to be a part of the show. She was with me for
about seven years. Then she left to go to Miami. She was an
editor for Hispanic Magazine. She left us for about eight
years. While she was in Miami she also worked for WDNA
public radio station, where she met Arturo Gomez, who’s now
up in Colorado, doing a public radio show. When Kathy came
back it was like a grand reunion. From there we ended up
with the staff we have today.
LR: How did you get the nickname “La Voz” (“The
Voice”)?
HR: It actually started Les, as a joke! It was 1975.
The great Puerto Rican singer Hector Lavoe came out, with a
new album called “La Voz”. My colleagues always used to give
me a lot of heat, because people could not say the name
Resendez. It was so hard for people… Resendez. I don’t know
why, but they started calling me Hector La Voz. The name
kind of stuck. I started using the handle Hector La Voz,
because it was easier, just like a nickname.
One day I was in a club where Tito Nieves was performing.
They were announcing Tito to the audience. When I went up
the host said… “and up now… Hector La Voz Resendez!” When I
came back down from the stage, this couple came up to me,
and they said: “Excuse me Mr. La Voz, when are you going to
sing a song? Could you sing Mi Gente?” I said I was sorry,
and that they had been mistaken, as I was not the singer.
They went back, and after about five minutes they were back,
and they said: “So when is your son coming then?” They
thought Hector Lavoe was my son! That’s how the name
started.
LR: You are fresh off a well-deserved award from the
2003 West Coast Salsa Congress. How do you feel about the
award?
HR: I feel very honored to be a part of the honorees
that evening. To be up on stage with Alma del Barrio, Latin
Beat Magazine, Sabor Magazine, Vista LA Magazine, those are
the people who have put in a lot of sweat, blood and tears
to help promote Latin music, to help keep salsa alive.
To receive the award was great! We are in our 17th. year,
and have received many awards in the past. This is kind of a
nice jewel to add to the other recognition awards we have
received.
An award is a way of saying “Hey, we appreciate what you’ve
done”. And, believe me; I would do this again, without
having to receive any award. The real award comes from just
doing the show and hearing from our listeners, making those
two hours the most enjoyable that we can.
LR: How many listeners tune into 90.7 F.M. and to the
internet at KPFK.org on an average Saturday from 8 to 10 pm?
HR: The internet is a recent addition to KPFK. I
believe it’s been on now for about a year or two. We also
have a sub-carrier at 98.7 F.M., in addition to 90.7 F.M.,
covering Southern and Central California.
The latest Arbitron figures run roughly about a quarter
million to 325,000 on an average given night for our
timeframe. We like to say we’re always reaching out to
100,000 to 400,000 people on any Saturday night.
What’s impressive to me is our audience. 60% to 70% are
non-Latin! People are just enjoying the rhythm and the
music, the percussion, the history, and let’s not leave out
the ticket giveaways. We always have ticket giveaways every
week. We help to keep a calendar, so people can find out
which events are coming up, where to go, where to have fun,
and where to find the music. That’s part of the show; it’s a
one stop source for salsa music.
Hector Resendez’s Canto Tropical can be
heard every Saturday on 90.7 F.M., 98.7 F.M., or at
www.kpfk.org, from 8 to 10 pm P.S.T. See here:
www.cantotropical.net
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