During the 1970's and 1980's Leonardo Paniagua was one of Bachata's best selling artists. With his beautiful voice, distinctive phrasing and romantic songs he had hit upon hit such as "Mi Secreto," "Amada Amante," and the mega hit "Chiquitita." He is still recording and performing today and I had the honor to interview him in his New Jersey home a couple of months ago. Check out portions of the interview here on youtube. In the interview Paniagua treats us to bits of songs such as "Chiquitita," "Amada Amante," and more.
Leornardo Paniagua is an incredibly important figure for the music of bachata. Not only was he one of the best selling bachateros in th 1970's and 1980's he was pivotal in internationalizing bachata and blazing new trails for where bachata could be played and heard within the Dominican Republic. He began his career a decade after the first bachata was recorded by Jose Manuel Calderon but should be considered one of the primary trailblazers of the genre. If you have never had the pleasure of hearing Leonardo Paniagua sing bachata you are missing out and need to seek it out. The emotive quality of his voice, range, and musical phrasing give Paniagua that unique ability to tell a story through song.
He is most well know for his song "Chiquitita,"(later made an international mega hit by the group ABBA) which he recorded in 1979. Still today wherever he goes he's obligued to play this song to please his fans, "Or there will be trouble." "They ask for it still as if it were yesterday" he says. He has drawn much of his influence and song repertoire from ballads, and singers like Danny Rivera, Felipe Rodriguez "The Voice of Puerto Rico," and many others. His songs are romantic to the core and although he often records other artists songs he has a distinctive style and phrasing which allows him to make compostions his own.
When he first recorded in 1973 Paniagua had no musical training and no experience singing in public. "Not even in the bathroom" he told me. However, one evening he was inspired to sing the song "Amada Amante" made popular by Danny Rivera. A friend of his, singer Danilo Rodriguez, heard him and was impressed with his voice. Danilo was recording some songs at La Guarachita with producer Radhames Aracena and invited Paniagua to go with him there the next day. After Danilo had finished recording his 2 songs at 11 pm at night he asked Aracena if he would allow Paniagua to get up and sing. This was the second favor he was asking of Aracena that day because just to be allowed in the studio was a favor. Aracena allowed Paniagua to get up and sing, and left the recorder running. When Paniagua had finished the song Aracena made sure everyone kept quite so the recording was not damaged. He knew he had something special. "Amada Amante" was recorded and Leonardo Paniagua as an artist was born. He continued to record singles every 3 months and became Aracenas best selling artist.
Although very popular as an artist the road was not without thorns. There was very little economic benefit for Paniagua during those early years and he also had to deal with the intense discrimination that bachata musicians were living with during those years. Today he is thankful that the younger musicians recognize him and treat him with respect and affection for his role in shaping the genre.
When musicians are given credit for spreading bachata at an international level we ofter hear the names Juan Luis Guerra, Monchy y Alexandra and Aventura. Granted these figures are very important but we should not forget Leonardo Paniagua as well who was resposible for its spread well before the others.
He has continued to record and perform in recent years and is currently promoting a song called "Sigue de Frente." I first met him while he was on the Bachata Roja tour with iASO records. iASO Records has a wonderful compilation of early bachata and includes Paniaguas song "Mi Secreto" on it. I also highly recommend this article by David Wayne on Paniagua.
Leonardo Paniaguas music can also be found on itunes, youtube, amazon. Look for songs like:
Chiquitita, Amada Amante, Mi Secreto, El Necio, Ella Se Llemababa Marta, Acuerdate, Amor impossible.
**Paniagua Youtube video
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