Ralph Mercado | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ralph Mercado Jr. (1941-09-29)September 29, 1941 |
| Died | March 10, 2009(2009-03-10) (aged 67) Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack |
| Occupation | promoter of Latin music |
| Website | Claudia Brant Office Website (in English and Spanish) |
Ralph Mercado Jr. (September 29, 1941 – March 10, 2009) was an American businessman and music promoter. He promotedLatin American music —Latin Jazz,Latin rock,merengue andsalsa — and established a network of businesses that included promoting concerts, managing artists, Ritmo Mundo Musical (RMM) arecord label the most important in the Latin industry during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, as well as a film company, nightclubs and restaurants.
Mercado was born on September 29, 1941, inBrooklyn,New York to a father who was aDominican dockworker and aPuerto Rican mother who was employed by a local factory. He told an interviewer that he was able to dance themerengue as soon as he learned how to walk.[1]
In his early teens, he was "completely blown away" after seeing theMachito Orchestra perform at thePalladium, and he left "knowing I had to be involved in this music somehow, personally involved".[1] Lacking any musical skill as a singer or performer, he started promoting "waistline parties", live music events in apartment building basements in which women were charged in proportion to their waist size, with thinner women charged less, and Mercado measuring at the door.[1]
Shifting across theEast River from his Brooklyn roots, Mercado started promoting Latin jazz atManhattan clubs such asThe Village Gate.[2] These expanded into concerts at major venues with stars such asJames Brown, who appeared with Latin acts such asMongo Santamaría. He turned to managing performers, foundingRMM Management in 1972, where his clients includedCelia Cruz andTito Puente, achieving acclaim as the biggest salsa manager in the United States by the 1970s.[1][3] He developed new talent, such asLa India andMarc Anthony, presenting salsa concerts at major venues across the country, fromMadison Square Garden to theHollywood Bowl.[1]
Mercado startedRMM Records in 1987, which had in excess of 130 artists performing across the Latin music spectrum, representing merengue, salsa, Latin jazz and Latin rock. He rode the expanding size and economic power of the nation's Hispanic population and a general interest in salsa music. Mercado brought in international groups and influences fromAfrica,Brazil and evenJapan.[1]
He achieved acclaim as the most successful promoter of salsa music, comparable toBerry Gordy's role inR&B. In 1991,Billboard magazine described him as "the entrepreneur who took salsa from New York to the world".
RMM Records was sold to theUniversal Music Group in 2001 for about $26 million, including its Latin music catalog of as many as 400 master recordings, winning the rights over competitorSony Discos. The sale came following financial difficulties exacerbated by the loss of a copyright infringement suit, in which composerGlenn Monroig won $7.7 million from a federal jury, which had grown to $11 million with interest, based on claims that RMM had modified one of his songs and used it without his permission or payment of royalties[3]
Thereafter the sale of RMM, Ralph Mercado returned to promoting salsa concerts, on a global basis.[1] He retained control of three music publishing firms, RMM Filmworks and Ralph Mercado Presents. He also owned, in whole or part, Manhattan clubsBabalu and theLatin Quarter, as well as theConga Room inLos Angeles.[3]
In 1998, Mercado received theEl PremioBillboard Lifetime Achievement Award.[4] On September 28, 2008, Mercado was honored byUnion City, New Jersey with the key to the city and a star on the Walk of Fame at Union City'sCelia Cruz Park.
Mercado had lived inCresskill andHackensack, New Jersey, before moving toCliffside Park, New Jersey, with his brothers John Ayala, Richard Ayala and Jorge Sanchez, and his sister Angelica Kreiger; he lived in Cliffside Park the rest of his life, although he also kept an apartment in Manhattan.[1] He was a father to 4 daughters and one son.
He died on March 10, 2009, at age 67 atHackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack from cancer.[2]
Ralph Mercado, a promoter who took his passion for Latin music and built an empire around it, not only staging concerts but creating a recording and publishing label, a film and video company, and nightclubs and restaurants, died on Tuesday in Hackensack, N.J. He was 67. The cause was cancer, said Blanca Lasalle, a spokeswoman, who gave no other details. ...
