Rei Momo

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Work

Rei Momo was released on 3 October 1989 and was David Byrne's first real solo album. Before that, in 1981, he had already made the collaborative album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. The record came out on Luaka Bop and Sire. Three songs, Loco de Amor, Good and Evil and Office Cowboy, were not on the LP, but were on the cassette and CD.

The album contains many different Latin American styles: rumba, mambo, cha-cha-chá and bolero from Cuba, merengue from the Dominican Republic, bomba from Puerto Rico, cumbia from Colombia and samba from Brazil. Even so, the singing is mainly in English. Kirsty MacColl, Willie Colón and Celia Cruz, among others, appear as guests. Byrne played Dirty Old Town and Loco de Amor on Saturday Night Live in 1989. Critics were positive. Alexis Petridis later called the record an underrated joy in The Guardian.

Listening

Track list

1. 1Independence Day5:44Apple Music ↗
2. 2Make Believe Mambo5:23Apple Music ↗
3. 3The Call of the Wild4:53Apple Music ↗
4. 4Dirty Old Town4:13Apple Music ↗
5. 5The Rose Tattoo3:51Apple Music ↗
6. 6Loco de Amor3:46Apple Music ↗
7. 7The Dream Police2:00Apple Music ↗
8. 8Don't Want to Be Part of Your World4:58Apple Music ↗
9. 9Marching Through the Wilderness4:30Apple Music ↗
10. 10Good and Evil4:35Apple Music ↗
11. 11Lie to Me3:37Apple Music ↗
12. 12Office Cowboy3:40Apple Music ↗
13. 13Woman vs. Man4:05Apple Music ↗
14. 14Carnival Eyes4:04Apple Music ↗
15. 15I Know Sometimes a Man Is Wrong3:14Apple Music ↗

30-second previews via Apple Music. Listen to the whole album on Apple Music ↗