Skip to main content

Al compas del mundo - programa #97 - Latin punk, reggae and ska

 

It took till program #97 before I finally gave in and played some punk music. I’ve given it thought on numerous occasions but always figured my Mexican audience would be quick to change the radio dial. I shouldn’t underestimate them though. Mexico has had a significant punk culture and thirteen of those former nihilists probably work as stock brokers within 50 miles of the RadioactivaTX antenna – 89.9fm if you’re in the neighborhood (or maybe stream it, no?) And I even picked groups that actually, mostly, know how to play their instruments! By the way: Manic Hispanic rules. You can’t argue with “to be a cholo is my fate” because life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get…no, wait, that’s not even close to the truth. You grow up in South Central LA as a brown-skin man and you’re pretty much set on the path to cholo-ism. Simón! Oh, and also this: “El Rey” leading off the set is one of the all-time greatest and dearest macho Mexican tunes ever conceived (many a time I have witnessed serious feminists getting weepy and singing this tune with gusto). It’s almost a sacrilege to interpret it without mariachi backing, but Chingon (“Bad Mo’fo” in Mexican slang) bludgeons it in a very masculine way, so it works. And then there’s Jamaica in the house. I tried to mix up a keen selection of old hits (cuz I’m an old DJ) and I think it should satisfy. You don’t like it? It’s not for you? Liff up, mon! Come gwope! JH

Runlist for "Latin punk, reggae and ska" - First broadcast 10-12-2023

01 Chingon - El Rey (Mexico)

02 Manic Hispanic - I Want to Be a Cholo (Chicano)

03 Los Plugz - La Bamba (Mexico-USA)

04 Los Skarnales - Si Me Viste (Mexico-USA)

05 Voodoo Glow Skulls - El Mas Chingon (Mexico-USA)

06 Sindrome - Punk Suicida (Chile)

07 Banda Jachís - La Razón de Amarte (Spain)

08 Los Plugz - El Clavo Y La Cruz (Mexico-USA)

09 Bullwackie's All Stars -Take Time (Jamaica)

10 Prince Buster - Al Capone, Blue Beat Ska (Jamaica)

11 The Itals - Ina Dis Ya Time (Jamaica)

12 Jackie Mittoo the Skatalites - El Bang Bang (Jamaica)

13 Jah Batta – Unite (Jamaica)

14 Singing Melody - Stop Di Looting (Jamaica)

15 Elephant Man & Mister Steve - Way Dem Ago Do Now (Jamaica)

16 Alton Ellis - Dance Crasher (Jamaica)

17 Grupo Super T - West Bound D Train (Jamaica)

18 Pinchers - Taking You Home (Jamaica)

19 Andy and Joey - You're Wondering Now (Jamaica)

 

Manic Hispanic

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Al compas del mundo, programa #92 - Japan

The Japanese historically have been a most creative people, excelling in aesthetic conventions like architecture, painting, culinary arts, theatre, music, and more. A craftsman’s care and an artist’s flair have come to define everyday household objects such as articles of clothing and kitchen ware, designed with a sensibility that imbues them with import and elevated status. After WWII in the United States however, an item inscribed “made in Japan” usually indicated a tchotchke of mediocre quality. A perfect example is the large number of Northwest Coast Native American-style bone totem poles made for the tourist shops in the Northwest. There is a distinctive difference in these “artifacts” from the real, home-made variety that illustrates someone from another culture tackling aesthetics they don’t fully comprehend. And that leads us to some of this week’s musical choices. Imitating Western pop, rock and jazz, Japanese artists have recorded many forgettable efforts – not unlike those o...

British blues of the 60s y 70s

  This has to be one of my favorite programs. The British blues scene gave us a healthy dose of reverential and, admittedly, imitative music that awakened a youthful audience suffering from pop fatigue on both sides of the ocean. Of course, the blues, as interpreted by young white musicians who couldn’t have been much further from the Mississippi Delta or the South side of Chicago, can be considered as cultural appropriation. At the same time, those involved in the scene have reminisced that playing the blues was largely a visceral reaction to a compelling combination of rhythm, lyrics and energy that was distinct from the British music scene up to that point. I don’t believe anyone at the time felt guilty playing the songs of their Southern US heroes. Does it make a difference that a number of these groups went on to earn far more money than the originators ever dreamed of? Probably, though many of the greats – Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson and others – profi...

Nuyorican boogaloo cha-cha-cha

 I’m labelling this week’s playlist as “Nuyorican” music, the lion’s share of the players from Puerto Rico or of Puerto Rican ancestry.  Two notable exceptions are Joe Bataan, a Filipino-African American, and Mongo Santamaria born in Cuba. What they all have in common, however, was centered around the music scene of New York City where African American and Latino musicians forged a common ground in creating “boogaloo” dance music, mixing elements of R&B, Soul, and Latin dance rhythms. The boogaloo genre was fairly short-lived, enjoying popularity during the 1960’s before giving way to salsa, in what was largely an East Coast and Caribbean impulse. “Watermelon Man” and ”El Watusi” were early and major boogaloo hits, but truly, most of the titles included in the program were popular recordings in their day, whether cha-cha-chas like Tito Puente’s “Oye Como Va”, or GFyEN’s guajira. I’ve gathered them here for an hour’s worth of revelation for those too young to have heard thi...