The Cheetah

Overview

Broadway discotheque (1966–c.1972) that evolved from a go-go-era nightclub into a major salsa venue, where the Fania All-Stars' August 1971 concert became the founding myth of the salsa movement.

The Cheetah opened in the spring of 1966 at 1686 Broadway near 53rd Street in a large-format space that had previously served as a ballroom; its backers were Olivier Coquelin, a Frenchman who had earlier opened Le Club on East 55th Street in 1960 (widely cited as New York's first modern discotheque), and Borden Stevenson, son of presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson II. The exact opening date is given as April 27 or May 28 in different period accounts. The room was launched in the go-go/psychedelic discotheque wave of the mid-1960s and initially presented itself as a rock and pop dance club with occasional live acts; Jimi Hendrix is among the artists cited in early period coverage. The Cheetah's pivot to Latin music was gradual but decisive, beginning around 1968–69 as boogaloo, pachanga, and what would be branded 'salsa' became the dominant idiom for New York's Puerto Rican and Cuban communities. The term 'salsa,' applied to the elastic pan-Latino synthesis of jazz, son, mambo, and R&B being developed in the city's barrios, was circulating in Latin music circles but had not yet crystallized as an industry category. By 1970–71, the Cheetah had become the primary booking venue for Fania Records' roster: Jerry Masucci and Johnny Pacheco, the label's co-founders, regularly routed their artists through the room for a primarily Nuyorican and working-class Latino audience. On the night of August 26, 1971, the Fania All-Stars, a rotating supergroup assembled from the full Fania roster, headlined the Cheetah in a concert that Leon Gast filmed and that produced both a documentary ('Our Latin Thing' / 'Nuestra Cosa,' released 1972) and two live albums ('Live at the Cheetah Vol. 1 & 2'). The concert is widely cited as salsa's commercial breakthrough: the film circulated in Latin American markets and across the United States diaspora, making the Cheetah and the Fania brand synonymous with the genre. Popular histories of the music often point to the Cheetah as the room where 'salsa' took hold as a commercial genre name. Performers documented at the August 26, 1971 concert include Johnny Pacheco, Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoe, Larry Harlow, Bobby Valentín, and Cheo Feliciano; Celia Cruz's participation in that performance is not confirmed in any source reviewed here, and her documented work with the Fania All-Stars begins later in the 1970s. The Cheetah closed circa 1972 as the Latin music circuit fragmented: the Corso in Yorkville became the primary successor venue for on-2 Latin dancing, while smaller Bronx and Queens venues absorbed the audience the Cheetah had aggregated. The building at 1686 Broadway was subsequently repurposed; no source reviewed here documents its later use.