The Sound of 1989: Salsa, Vallenato and Rock en Español

Medellín Mystery is set in 1989, and for us that year is about atmosphere: the clothes, the light and especially the music. If you're building a playlist for getting ready, hosting a themed party or just exploring the era, this is a guide to what was really playing, with every release year checked.

A note on accuracy: songs below are listed by their original release year. A track that peaked later, or that most people know from a later cover, is flagged.

Salsa: the Colombian golden age

By the late '80s Colombian salsa had a strong identity of its own, with Cali as its spiritual capital and Joe Arroyo as one of its biggest voices.

• Grupo Niche – "Cali Pachanguero" (1984). Written by the group's founder Jairo Varela and released on No Hay Quinto Malo, it's widely called an anthem of Colombian salsa. Grupo Niche kept a rapid pace through the decade: Tapando el Hueco came out in 1988 and Sutil y Contundente in 1989.
• Joe Arroyo y La Verdad – "La Rebelión" (1986). From the album Musa Original. Arroyo wrote it, and it has been ranked among the most important Colombian songs ever recorded. His 1989 album was En Acción.
• Lalo Rodríguez – "Ven, Devórame Otra Vez" (1988). The Puerto Rican singer's hit from Un Nuevo Despertar was a defining track of the salsa romántica wave. It won Tropical Song of the Year at the 1989 Premio Lo Nuestro awards.

Salsa romántica, smoother and more sentimental than the hard-driving salsa of the '70s, was a defining sound of the late '80s. If you're dressing up in 1989 style, these are the songs to do it to.

Vallenato: the accordion's country

Vallenato comes from Colombia's Caribbean region around Valledupar. It's built on three instruments: the button accordion, the caja (a small hand drum) and the guacharaca (a ribbed wooden stick scraped with a fork). Valledupar's Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata is held every year around the end of April, and traditional vallenato is recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding.

• Binomio de Oro. One of vallenato's best-known groups, releasing albums nearly every year through the decade. Internacional came out in 1988 and De Exportación in 1989, which makes them the right shelf for a period-correct playlist.
• "La Gota Fría." Written by Emiliano Zuleta, this is one of vallenato's most famous songs. Be careful, though: the version most people outside Colombia know is Carlos Vives' recording, which opens his album Clásicos de la Provincia, released in 1993. That album later took vallenato to audiences around the world, years after 1989.

Rock en español: guitars cross the borders

The '80s were when Spanish-language rock crossed borders. Bands from Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Spain found audiences across Latin America, and local scenes, including Medellín's, grew alongside them.

• Soda Stereo – "Persiana Americana" (1986). The lead single from the Argentine band's album Signos.
• Soda Stereo – "En la Ciudad de la Furia" (1988). From Doble Vida, and the band's most recent album as 1989 began.
• Hombres G – "Devuélveme a Mi Chica" (1985). From the Madrid band's debut album, and a singalong staple ever since.
• Los Prisioneros – "El Baile de los que Sobran" (1986). From the Chilean band's album Pateando Piedras.
• Caifanes – "La Negra Tomasa" (1988). The Mexico City band released it as a maxi-single in December 1988, a rock take on a Cuban cumbia, a few months after their self-titled debut album.
• Compañía Ilimitada. This Colombian pop-rock band released Contacto in 1988, with the single "Siloé," and followed it with Estado Inmóvil in 1989.

Medellín's own heavy edge

Medellín had a loud underground of its own. Ekhymosis formed in the city in 1988, founded by Juan Esteban Aristizábal, later known worldwide as Juanes, and Fernando García. They started as a metal band and released the EP Desde Arriba Es Diferente in 1989. It's a good reminder that 1989 Medellín sounded like distortion pedals as well as brass sections.

The global crossover of 1989

• Kaoma – "Lambada" (July 1989). The debut single from the album Worldbeat became the summer's dance craze, reaching No. 1 in several European countries. It was an unauthorized adaptation of "Llorando Se Fue" by the Bolivian group Los Kjarkas, which led to lawsuits.
• Gloria Estefan – "Oye Mi Canto" (1989). From Cuts Both Ways, a bilingual hit that captured the Latin pop crossover of the end of the decade.

Near-misses: songs that feel like 1989 but aren't

• Soda Stereo – "De Música Ligera" (on Canción Animal, 1990)
• Los Prisioneros – "Tren al Sur" (on Corazones, 1990)
• Carlos Vives – "La Gota Fría" (on Clásicos de la Provincia, 1993)
• Caifanes' second album, El Diablito (1990)

They're all great songs. They just don't belong in 1989 yet.

A period-correct starter playlist

1. Grupo Niche – "Cali Pachanguero" (1984)
2. Hombres G – "Devuélveme a Mi Chica" (1985)
3. Joe Arroyo y La Verdad – "La Rebelión" (1986)
4. Soda Stereo – "Persiana Americana" (1986)
5. Los Prisioneros – "El Baile de los que Sobran" (1986)
6. Compañía Ilimitada – "Siloé" (1988)
7. Lalo Rodríguez – "Ven, Devórame Otra Vez" (1988)
8. Soda Stereo – "En la Ciudad de la Furia" (1988)
9. Caifanes – "La Negra Tomasa" (1988)
10. Kaoma – "Lambada" (1989)
11. Gloria Estefan – "Oye Mi Canto" (1989)

Put it on while you get ready using our 1989 dress code guide, or take it to a themed party from our holiday ideas. If the salsa makes you want to dance, our date night guide points to where to do it.

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