So we’ve enjoyed the singles of René Peraza in the last couple of years. Songs like “The Siren [Aye Aye] ” and “Nothing New [Under The Sun]” had a lot of sticking power with me. And when I first wrote about “The Siren [Aye Aye]” I noted that René had roots in the California New Wave scene with his early band Bolero. Now I’ve got a copy of that 12″ single from 1989, and as he’s also released a new single to streaming I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast across a 36 year gulf. A lot can happen in that span of time. So let’s set the Flashback Machine for 1989 and a trip to the late 80s where shoulder pads still held sway and a lead singer could still rock a skinny tie even though New Wave was barely hanging on as an influence and Grunge was just over the horizon.

THEN: BOLERO – GYPSY [CATCH MY SOUL] 12″ 1989

Bolero: Gypsy – US – 12″ [1989]

1. Gypsy [Catch My Soul] [Sir Arthur Mix] 6:58
2. Better Than The Real Thing 4:06
3. Gypsy [Catch My Soul] 4:40

Congas and the 8-bit orchestra hit on the sampler built an immediately mid-80s vibe to get pulled into. Prominent bass from Jay Goudeau [2nd left on cover] added the next element that got us thinking that the band and producer were trying for that much-coveted ZTT sound on presumably less than a king’s budget. The DX7 under the fingers of Diego Cisternas [think ‘Nick in Arcadia’ – at right on cover] shimmered and by now I was thinking that a definite Frankie Goes To Hollywood groove was cooking as my mind drifted back to “Welcome To The Pleasuredome.”

After a minute of buildup, then René [middle on cover] made his entrance. Wow! What a difference half a lifetime makes. His delivery was so radically different here from how I’ve heard him in the last year or two, that unless I didn’t know better, I might have not made the connection that it was the same singer at all. He was leaning hard into the song here with a brusque fortissimo miles away from the assured croon I know as the signature sound of René Peraza.

His phrasing here was closer to an R+B vibe and if I had to make comparisons, well, Tom Jones, came to the front of the queue. He was hitting on the staccato side of the vocal divide in the verses with plenty of stresses giving his delivery no shortage of impact. For the refrain he eased back into legato form for the first glimpse of the singer I thought I knew. But his range here was impressive as he vaulted the scales in the song like a gazelle. Effortlessly ascending into falsetto on the climax of the chorus.

The bridge got extended for the 12″ mix here with guitarist Doug Shuster [leftmost on cover] dancing among the drum machine and orchestra hits with some acoustic Flamenco licks. All while Goudeau’s bass pulled downward and the congas of drummer/percussionist Dave Lovvorn [2nd from right on cover] had plenty of bars to work on that groove.

Then came verse three with Peraza singing in Spanish for a bilingual, Rock En Espanol® approach. If I thought he was fiery before…! He took it into the red here for certain. His vamping in the climax managed to shift the needle even further before shooting upward to end the song on a vaulting falsetto note of choirboy purity.

Deft Spanish guitar from Mr. Shuster vied with Spanish language spoken words from Peraza on the B-side, “Better Then The Real Thing” before the song coalesced into a vibe closer to R+B than the A-side. Then the catchy chorus kicked in as if to say “Rick Astley, move over!” But I doubt that Rick Astley would have had the panache to syncopate his scatting like Peraza did in the climax here.

NOW: RENE PERAZA – THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER 2025

Last weekend I was off grid in rural Appalachia when René dropped his latest single. But the timing was critical on his end as the song and video were a gift to his daughter, who has just graduated from high school. So we’ll catch up here. The vibe between the two eras couldn’t be more pronounced. If the “Gypsy [Catch My Soul]” 12″ was his stab at “Welcome To The Pleasuredome” then “The World Is Your Oyster” [yet more FGTH allusions!] would be his “Power Of Love!”

The relaxed vibe here leaned into tenderness here via the Fender Rhodes electric piano of Eric Rennaker. Now long time readers may recall my displeasure with electric piano but the intention of the artist makes a difference here. I may decry “The Power Of Love” as the cynical attempt of Trevor Horn and FGTH to have a third number one, to dominate the Christmas 1984 UK charts, but there’s nothing cynical at all about this song. Even this hard-hearted Monk can turn over a new leaf on the Fender Rhodes…this time.

The chorus here upped the ante to keep it all from being soporific, while allowing it to attain a gentleness which was apt and appropriate. Admit it, wouldn’t it have been cool if your father had written this song for you at 17 as life was beginning to really change? Assuming that your dad could sing…and edit video, of course! Meanwhile René gave us an intimate glimpse into his family’s almost entire life together in the video he directed and his wife shot. Like Sly Stone [R.I.P.] said…it’s a family affair.

I’m guessing that his daughter didn’t roll her eyes and cringe when mom and dad sprung this on her on Graduation Day. Like any of Mr. Peraza’s singles, it’s out there streaming in all of those platforms we don’t have accounts on. We await his next musical move following this outrageously personal effort.

-30-