NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Miguel Angel Amadeo doesn’t make much money these days selling CDs and records at his Latin music shop in the Bronx. In the age of streaming and Spotify, Amadeo is lucky to make $20 in sales any given day. But he doesn’t mind, because he doesn’t run the music store for a profit anymore.
“This is like a museum right now,” Amadeo told 1010 WINS. “As long as I live, if I'm going to live 1,2,3,4,5, years more, I'm gonna spend it here. Because this is what keeps me going.”
Casa Amadeo, antigua Casa Hernandez, is the longest, continuously occupied Latin music store in New York City. The shop, which sells Latin music CDs, vintage records, salsa music instruments and an array of other cultural staples like dominos and Puerto Rican flag bandanas, first opened its doors in 1941.
Amadeo was not that of the store’s original owner, that was Victoria Hernandez. Hernandez’s brother, Rafael, was a well-known composer at the time, hence the store’s first name: Casa Hernandez. In 1969, Victoria was considering selling the shop at the same time Amadeo was in the midst of looking for his next endeavor after a long stint working at the music label Allegre Records. Victoria was excited by Amadeo’s interest and accepted his offer to buy the shop.
“That's how come, for 53 years, I've been in this corner,” Amadeo said.
Victoria was not going to let just anyone buy her treasured music shop and Amadeo was not just anyone. The son of successful Puerto Rican composer, Alberto 'Titi' Amadeo Rivera, Amadeo first picked up a guitar at 14 and quickly built a career in music from there.
Growing up in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Amadeo was always drawn to music. He never had formal music schooling nor does he know how to read sheet music, but his natural talent was clear since he was young. During his first Christmas after moving to New York City from the island, Amadeo was given a guitar and was able to easily learn to play.
“I was already writing songs and poems, so once I had the guitar, I started singing,” Amadeo explained. “By the time I was 17 or 18 years old, my music was already on the radio.”
Amadeo’s salsa compositions landed in the hands of well-known Puerto Rican singers of the 1950s, stars like Raul Morrero and Julita Ross. Amadeo was putting out so much music for singers, people confused his work for his father’s because of his experience level.
After returning from a tour with the army, Amadeo continued to write and compose music for artists like Celia Cruz and Danny Rivera and worked with icons like Tito Puente. He racked up nearly 300 songs to his name for others and nearly a thousand if you count all of his recordings.
At the center of it all has been Casa Amadeo, the music legend’s little slice of heaven on a South Bronx street corner. At its high point, the store was bringing in thousands of dollars a week, and in the 1970s, that was big money. Amadeo made it a point to constantly give back to his community, frequently donating to charities or writing checks for local little league teams and investing in a neighborhood that was in turmoil.
“When the Bronx was burning in the ‘70s, this whole block was torn down. All the buildings, everything went,” Amadeo said. “But this store was still here. I never left.”
During the 1970s, the South Bronx was frequently engulfed in flames. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced as 80% of homes were intentionally burned to the ground for insurance payouts that topped $10 million. The borough, and the city as a whole, was in the middle of an economic collapse with the South Bronx suffering from discriminatory practices such as redlining and urban renewal amid high poverty rates in the majority Black and Latino area. Casa Amadeo was in danger of being destroyed, but Amadeo bravely guarded his cherished store, enduring a year without heat or lights and recruiting his own security.
“We stayed there the whole night because people started walking in breaking windows,” Amadeo recalled. “And at that time, everybody was scared.”
Though the Bronx is still dealing with the residual effects of the decade of burning, Amadeo no longer has to stand guard outside of his store all night or worry too much about it being purposely burned to the ground. But he’s always reminded of that time with a picture that hangs on the wall of the store as an ode to the detrimental decade alongside dozens of other recognitions and acknowledgements.
In 2001, Casa Amadeo was added to the National Register of Historic Places, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg for Amadeo’s numerous accolades which include recognitions from the like of the New York State Assembly and the National Puerto Rican Day Parade. He even has a street named after him.
Amadeo relishes in the acclaim, feeling deeply honored to be known as a community historian and keeper of so many stories central to Latino history and culture.
At 89-years-old, Amadeo is now a widower. His wife of more than 50 years died five years ago and many of his longtime friends are gone too. Though he’s a father of two grown men and a grandfather to four, he doesn’t think his kin will continue to run his shop after he dies, but he’s okay with that. In fact, he believes it’s important for love and praise to be shown to people while they are alive rather than after their death, so much so he wrote a song about it:
Lo que me vayan a dar//Que me lo den en vida// No vayan a esperar//Despues de mi partida//Yo no quiero que me pase//lo Que paso'//A Daniel al maestro Pedro// Flores y al glorioso Rafael//Por eso//Que me lo den//que me lo den//Que me lo den en vida
“What they are going to give me, Give it to me in life, Do not wait, After my departure. I don't want it to happen to me, what happened, to Daniel, to Maestro Pedro, Flores and the glorious Rafael. That's why Give it to me, Give it to me, Give it to me in life.”
Visita Casa Amadeo en el 786 Prospect Ave, The Bronx, NY
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