logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2015
9m 1s

Buena Vista Social Club

Bbc World Service
About this episode

In 1996 a group of veteran musicians made an album that changed the image of Cuban music for ever. Some of the artists had come out of retirement for the occasion. Laoud-player, Barbarito Torres, remembers that ground-breaking recording session in Havana and his excitement at playing on the very first Buena Vista Social Club album, which went on to sell millions of copies around the world.

(Photo: Members of the Buena Vista Social Club outside Carnegie Hall, July 1998. Credit: Donata Wenders)

Up next
Feb 2021
Gay and lesbian support for the British miners' strike
In 1984 a group of lesbians and gay men organised a benefit concert to support striking coal-miners. They sent the money they raised to a mining village in Wales. The miners' strike was the biggest industrial dispute in British history. Hear from Mike Jackson, one of the gay men ... Show More
8m 58s
Dec 2015
The Millennium Bug
There was a frenzy of celebrations on New Year's Eve 1999. But amid the partying, there was also some anxiety over the effects of a potential global computer meltdown, the so-called Millennium Bug - or Y2K.(Photo: The White House Y2K Crisis Centre in Washington in 1999. Credit : ... Show More
9m 1s
Dec 2015
The Poster Boy for the Communist System
In 1935, Alexei Stakhanov, a coal miner, became a Soviet celebrity. He invented a more efficient coal production method and started a movement to encourage innovation amongst Soviet workers. His daughter, Violetta Stakhanova, tells Dina Newman about her father's achievements and ... Show More
9m 2s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2020
Sofá Sonoro: Buenavista Social Club y el milagro más bonito de la música
Esta semana recordamos, junto a Arturo Lezcano, el fenómeno mundial que supuso el debut de Buenavista Social Club, una banda formada por ancianos cubanos que se convirtieron en estrellas mundiales y que vivieron una segunda juventud de la mano del productor Ry Coorder. Un program ... Show More
31m 17s
Dec 2023
La Habana (Cuba)
Cantada cómo pocas, admirada cómo pocas, La Habana está ubicada en la costa norte cubana. Conocida por su colorida arquitectura colonial, animada escena musical y por sus calles que reflejan el paso poderoso de innumerables historias, melodías y letras. El bello centro histórico ... Show More
1h 23m
Nov 2022
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Cuba)
El Caribe es el escenario de este episodio de nuestro viaje por los Museos de América Latina. Nuestro invitado es el Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Cuba, un lugar tan increíble que parece propio del realismo mágico que cubre al Mundo Caribe. Les relataremos entonces la importa ... Show More
53m 43s
Aug 2022
The nightclub that changed Ibiza
In June 1973, the nightclub Pacha opened in Ibiza. Other clubs with the capacity to fit thousands of people on the dancefloor opened in the years after, turning Ibiza into a destination for music and party lovers from around the world. Vicky Carter speaks to Carlos Martorell who ... Show More
10m 9s
Oct 2022
Founder of the Cuban National Ballet
We go back to 1959 when Cuba’s most famous ballet dancer Alicia Alonso turned her back on a successful career on the world stage and returned home to form Cuba’s National Ballet Company. She spoke to Mike Lanchin in 2015.(Photo: Alicia Alonso. Credit: Alicia Alonso) 
10m 54s
Jul 2021
The birth of Karaoke
Daisuke Inoue was playing keyboards in a band in Kobe, Japan, when he invented the Karaoke machine in 1971. He had a customer who wanted to impress business clients by singing along to his favourite songs. Ashley Byrne spoke to Daisuke Inoue about his invention in 2015.(Photo: A ... Show More
9m 39s
Sep 2023
History of Everything: The Rise of Fidel Castro Part 2
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 2008. But his rise to power is a fun story BE SMART and get Rocket Money Click the ... Show More
2h 16m
Sep 2023
History of Everything: The Rise of Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 2008. But his rise to power is a fun story BE SMART and get Rocket Money Click the ... Show More
1h 38m
Sep 2022
Gorbachev's legacy
The former President of the Soviet Union's reforms in 1987, known as Perestroika, and the release of the dissident poet Irina Ratushinskaya in 1986. Plus a survivor of the Marikana Massacre in South Africa, the Native American nicknamed 'the Last Indian' and Princess Diana's danc ... Show More
49m 54s
Aug 2021
Bacardi vs Pernod Ricard | Does Cuba Still Love Havana Club? | 7
For Cubans, rum is more than just a drink. It's become a symbol of identity, culture and politics, and each bottle has a lot to say — especially when it's labeled "Havana Club." As Bacardi and Pernod Ricard battle it out in court to determine the true owner of this traditional Cu ... Show More
24m 27s