The Christian Science Monitor 
November 7, 1985

Latin music with a new message 

By Amy Duncan, Special to The Christian Science
Monitor 

   RUBEN Blades is a Latin recording artist with a
different kind of message. His lyrics are a far cry
from the ''!Vamos a bailar!'' (''Let's dance!'') or
the ''Mi amor, mi alma, mi corazon'' (''My love, my
soul, my heart'') of much popular Latin music. 

In his current album, ''Buscando America,'' Blades
sings (in Spanish) about the dark and funny sides of
life in Latin America - the agony of searching for a
missing relative (''Desapariciones'' -
''Disappearances''); ordinary, exasperating, and
humorous events in the life of a policeman getting
ready for the day's work (''GBDB''); and the moving
tale of a murder in cold blood by an unidentified
killer (''Father Antonio and the Altar Boy, Andres'').

To get his messages across to English-speaking
listeners, the Panamanian-born
singer-guitarist-composer-actor, who has a master's
degree in international law from Harvard University,
insists on having translations of his lyrics printed
on the sleeves of his records. 

Why sing about such subjects? 

A lot of his fellow Latin Americans, says Blades,
''had things to say, but they didn't have the
opportunity of saying what they thought, because of
censorship in Latin American countries. In a
dictatorship the government can interpret what you are
saying as subversive, or whatever. 

''Another problem,'' he tells the Monitor, ''is that
sometimes people just do not know how to articulate
their feelings. I felt I would try to establish a
music that would serve as a way of unifying different
Latin American countries by the presentation of city
experiences that are common to all of us. 

''I've always thought in terms of heart. What I've
suspected was that there was a need to utilize music
not just to escape, but to confront, issues as well.''

So far, acceptance of his work has been gratifying to
him. The album has sold well in America's larger
cities. 

''I receive a lot of mail . . . ,'' says Blades. ''If
I receive 500 letters, maybe three are letters that
say, 'Why don't you do music to dance to instead of
this?' . . . All the other 497 say, 'Thank you for
doing this, it really moved me,' or 'Thanks for saying
things that had to be said.' '' 

Blades (pronounced BLAH-des) became highly visible on
the North American music scene with ''Buscando
America,'' but he actually came to the US 21 years
ago, and has been playing and recording extensively,
both on his own and with bandleader Willie Colon.
Thanks to his association with Colon, he was finally
able to persuade the recording companies that
specialize in Latin bands to accept his music, even
though it took 15 years. 

After recording for the Latin label Fania, Blades was
ultimately offered a recording contract by Elektra,
which released the current album. It was a chance to
reach a larger audience outside the Latin community. 

Blades is also currently starring in a major feature
film, ''Crossover Dreams.'' The movie, produced by
Cuban-American director Leon Ichaso and
producer-writer Manuel Arce, concerns a young Latino,
Rudy Veloz, who tries to move into the high-paying,
high-living world of rock, and, after a short-lived
flurry of success, fails dismally. He finds himself an
outsider in both worlds for a while and in the end
returns to his Latin roots. To a degree, the movie
seems to depict the American rock scene as the villain
and applauds the hero's return to the fold, where he
''belongs.'' But Blades doesn't hold this view: ''The
point of the film is that to go to another culture,
you don't have to renounce your own.'' 

And he adds, ''I think the most important thing is
that we did the film. We did it ourselves - it was a
Latin production, with Latin input, and it wasn't a
'Scarface'-type movie. One learns by one's own
mistakes . . . .'' 

Right now Blades is touring the world with his band,
Seis del Solar (Six From the Tenement). He plans to
form another band, probably next year, and he will
call it the Gamboa Road Gang. Its music will be
directed toward English-speaking audiences. 

''The important thing, again,'' Blades says, ''is that
we'll be able to address certain issues and address
the public in English, directly. Not necessarily
always in English, but I do feel a need to create an
alter ego so people won't get confused and think that
what I'm doing is like what everybody else does -
abandon the base and go look for the other side of the
grass, you know?'' 

Blades made his Carnegie Hall debut with Seis del
Solar Oct. 26. Its new album, ''Escenas,'' is just
out. And Elektra plans to release the sound track for
''Crossover Dreams'' later this year.