Chico Ramos releases new CD

Things are going pretty well these days for music sensation Chico Ramos. He’s got a new CD, has settled an old dispute with Banda Blanca of Honduras and is looking forward to a US tour in July. Ramos stopped by News Five today to give us a sample of his 6th production in nine years and to talk about “Conch Soup”.

Chico Ramos, Artist

“Well, this CD is a combination of everything. We have some songs from the early 80’s, from the first time I’ve been writing songs and we have some new songs. The title track is, “Thank I Neibu,” giving thanks and praises to God. We have Ramos Cough which is the big hit on the CD and Babylon Salira which I did in 1981. So I’d say it’s a nice CD for me because you know, I bring up the music from then to today, today’s static you know.”

Q: “You’ve reached an agreement concerning a song that created some controversy a while back. What happened with that?”

Chico Ramos

“Yeah, that song is, “Sopa de Caracol,” or “Conch Soup.” We have some problems with the song because I did the song in the early 80’s, 1981 – somewhere around there. I didn’t know anything about copyright at that time.

We went to court for about five years but now we settle out of court because now everybody knows. And I would like to say thanks to people who wrote and believed that it was my song. So we reached an agreement out of court. I don’t want to talk about the figures.”

Q: “Are you happy about it?”

Chico Ramos

“I’m happy about it. I have the copyright back now in my name and I signed up with Ascap with this. So everything has been good. It’s been a good ending.”

And Chico Ramos feels good about his upcoming U.S. tour with the young performers who make up Garifuna Legacy. The eight-city tour begins in Harlem on the 3rd of July and includes a performance at the Park Fest on July 17th. Although the itinerary is still being finalized, he promises that he will give shows in those cities with a large concentration of Belizeans. Ramos intends to come home in time for the September celebrations and bring Garifuna Legacy with him.