Published June 22, 2010

Hello, hot and spicy Hubbub fans, Andrew Phelps here. Intern Talia Ralph has become enamored of our own José Massó, a fixture of WBUR’s airwaves for 35 years as of this month. We’ll be talking with him on Radio Boston in less than an hour from now. I know Jose as the million-watt man who treats everyone like family. Ask him, How are you? And he replies: Better than yesterday but not as good as tomorrow. Here’s Talia.

WBUR's Jose Masso, host of "Con Salsa," in June 2005. (Angela Rowlings/WBUR)

As Radio Boston prepares to discuss the 35-year legacy of WBUR’s José Massó and Con Salsa, I’ve been researching the man behind the (hot, spicy) music, mostly out of my own fascination with his life. José, who has been presided over our airwaves on Saturday nights since June 22, 1975, is a renaissance man and rock star of sorts. As one observer wrote in Hispanic Issues in Higher Education:

José’s resume reads like the cast of a Hollywood movie. The political liaison on the presidential campaign trail. The investigative TV journalist. The innovative high school teacher who makes learning fun. The late-night disc jockey. The high-powered sports agent.

Despite the many hats he wears, José is perhaps best-known for the connection he established with the Latino community of Greater Boston through Con Salsa.

Back in the mid-70s, it was one of the only shows that broadcast Latin music in New England, and for many, it was a welcome connection to home, family, friends and the culture of salsa and merengue.

And for more about his amazing run both off- and on-air, don’t miss the king of salsa himself on Radio Boston on Tuesday.

And as José would say in his sign-off back in the 70s: Wherever you go, whatever you do, whoever you’re with, make sure you do everything ¡con salsa!