Translation: Carlos Colmenares Gil
Photography: Hilda Pellerano
Who decides that music should go from being just bare music to becoming popular music, crossing an immense socio-cultural threshold? Musicians? The public? The industry? The Grammys? The media? Word of mouth? Well, it is not my intention nor my toil to give an answer to these kinds of questions. However, what we do know is that popular music is cool for the sheer fact that it is accessible, available almost everywhere, and most of it all because it remains resonating in so many minds, bodies, and hearts. Another interesting idea would be to examine the multiplicity of genres, rhythms, traditions, transgressions, instruments, eras, movements, artists or performers of our continent…but we didn’t come to do this either, did we?
El Marchante—a collective for music lovers led by Osmar Romero—gave me the task of crafting a list of popular Latin American songs and pieces that, in one way or another, had experimental features or expressed sonic fusion; not necessarily in their timbre or aesthetics regarding arrangement and recording, but also in regard to their proposal since their conception. Some of the songs left their trace in jukeboxes—music boxes, for generations—with others perhaps being left behind by time and by the mystery of our peoples history, but that are remembered with stubbornness by the good old aficionados as fundamental testimonies that allow us to understand our musical (and cultural) evolution.
I confess that the candidates to the repertoire I present here have been hard to find and define, since there is already an immense variety of artistic expressions which coincide with the premise of this task; even since the beginning of the first sound recordings in Latin America and the Caribbean. Therefore, two playlists have to be made—playlists, in English as almost everyone calls them—: the first one on YouTube, with most of the songs that are less likely to be found in digital platforms, many of them emigrating from the vinyl format (33 and 45 r.p.m) or from out of print CDs; and the second one for Spotify, which despite the amount of music it stores and the massive enthusiasm it represents today, is limited in relations to recordings of artists or their heirs who have not wanted or been able to give distribution rights to such a platform. Only a few hours of joy are needed to listen to both selections, that, given the magnitude of the compilations (23 countries, 123 songs, and more than six hours…) will also be presented in two parts each.
If we had to describe this vibrant collection of Latin American music, we could imagine a street fair of sounds of a very stimulant cultural variety. There is a little bit of everything: progressive revolutionary Mexican corridos (and all its possible vice versas), moving to contemporary marimba ensembles, groups with informal instruments, Andean techno, Garifuna electric guitars, synth cumbia, precursors of rap in Spanish, covers or delirious adaptations of Beatles’ songs, anti-traditionalist instrumental manifestos, erotic ballads with religious undertones…and so on.
It is crucial to highlight that all this material comes from different corners of the internet, undisputable statement of the fact that the modern access to so much information—for good or worse—helps inflate the concept of “the popular”; this has implications for the music in question, of course. Anyway, the selections also serve as an homage to musical diversity, menaced in the present by the proliferation of numerous extremely generic artistic projects. I am sending you greetings and my gratitude for reading us and for receiving these restless sonic titles, first encouraging the reader not to abandon the interest for their individual musical inquiry, which always goes beyond (or before) taste, ideology, apparatuses, or technologies.
The following YouTube channels and/or blogs deserve acknowledgement and gratitude: Discodelic Discos Viajantes; Frenéticos Perú–Rocanroles y ritmos tropicales; Viaje al espacio visceral; Paulo vinyl México; Mr.HitchHiker; Big Five Records; Honduras Recopilación Musical 1967-1990; Risleydale; Tito’s Red Hot Rips; Arasob4i; Pérolas do Rock’n’Roll; Vinyl 4 Everybody; John Masalle; Vzla Vinil; Musicoteca Ecuador; Carlos René; Grito Colérico; Esteban Bogado; Ernesto Jorysz; Bubbling Minds; and Rapid Eye Movement. They have shared their vinyl records—many of them true Latin American cultural treasures—with us and with the rest of the world. We also infinitely honor and thank all the artists and musical performers present in this inspiring list, and El Marchante, of course, for this great challenge.
I wish you all the best, and above all, good health.
Augusto Bracho
Mexico City, December 2020
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P A R T 1
MEXICO
–YouTube Selection:
«Camino de La Chontalpa» – Chico Che y La Crisis (1973)
«Cipriano Hernández Martínez» – León Chávez Teixeiro (1979)
«Pásele, pásele» – Coro Acardenchado (2017)
–Spotify Selection:
«El aparato» – Café Tacvba (1994)
«Anna (El Negro Zumbón)» – Juan García Esquivel y su orquesta (1961)
«Voy a rifar mi corazón» – Immelda Miller (1973)
GUATEMALA
–YouTube Selection:
«Resonar de dos mundos» – Marimba Contemporánea de Guatemala (2018)
«Sabor latino» – Sangre Latina (1973)
–Spotify Selection:
«El Enfrascade» – José Alejandro de León (1980)
«Livingston Buzz» – Radio Zumbido (2002)
BELIZE
–YouTube Selection:
«Guma Garugu Water (vercion [sic])» – Lord Rhaburn Combo (S/F, finales de los años 70)
«Hamala (Let Him Fly)» – The Garifuna Collective (2019)
–Spotify Selection:
«Bolero Brukdown» – Mr. Peters’ Boom & Chime Band (1989)
«Nana Gumbei» – Titiman Flores (1996)
HONDURAS
–YouTube Selection:
«Sañanaru» – Aurelio Martínez (2014)
«Copán Galel» – Los Robbins (S/F, finales de los años 60)
«Té de canela» – Los Kobdas (1969)
–Spotify Selection:
«Andromeda» – Gustavo Erazo y su Banda Electrónica (1979)
«Mondonguero» – El Grupo Maíz de San Pedro Sula (1980)
«Agua de coco» – Guayo Cedeño (2017)
EL SALVADOR
–YouTube Selection:
«Quiero saber de ti» – Los Juniors de Santa Tecla (S/F, principios de años 70)
«Incomprensión» – Los Kiriaps (1969)
–Spotify Selection:
«Rumba rumbero» – Hielo Ardiente (1973)
«Pellejo» – Fiebre Amarilla (1972)
NICARAGUA
–YouTube Selection:
«Pesadilla» – Cerebro (1972) «Ia-Ta Yoo» – Poder del alma (1974)
–Spotify Selection:
«Terremoto» – Alfonso Noel Lovo (1972)
«Balada campestre» – Luis Enríque María Godoy y Grupo Macontal (1981)
COSTA RICA
–YouTube Selection:
«Cahuita» – Bocaraca (1974)
«Cumbia de la Selva» – Conjunto del Hogar de Rehabilitación Santa Ana (1972)
–Spotify Selection:
«Alamo» – Combo Guarajeo (1973)
«Canción del cerro» – Editus (1998)
PANAMA
–YouTube Selection:
«El ritmo de los Kiwis» – Los Kiwis (S/F, mediados de los años 60)
«Yo que nada tengo» – Los Exciters (1969)
«Pepa pepa» – Dinastía Latina (S/F, principios de los años 80)
–Spotify Selection:
«GDBD» – Rubén Blades y Seis del Solar (1984)
«Tamborito Swing» – Los Silvertones (1969)
«Hindu» – Lord Cobra con The Beachers (1976)
CUBA
–YouTube Selection:
«Y qué bien» – Juan Pablo Torres y Grupo Algo Nuevo (1977)
«Pero tú vendrás» – Maggie Carlés, Luis Nodal y Los Magnéticos (S/F, mediados de años 70)
«Sondeando» – Grupo de Experimentación Sonora del ICAIC (1975)
–Spotify Selection:
«Hermosa Habana» – Los Zafiros (1964)
«El Fino» – Los Yoyi (1977)
«Qué palo es ese» – Los Van Van (1983)
HAITI
–YouTube Selection:
«Samba Pachas No. 2» – Les Pachas du Canape Vert (S/F, mediados de los años 70)
«747 Biguine» – Les Loups Noirs (1974)
–Spotify Selection:
«Haiti Cumbia» – Nemours Jean-Baptiste & Son Ensemble (1967)
«Min Diable La» – Les Gypsies de Petión Ville (1973)
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
–YouTube Selection:
«La hora de volvé» – Rita Indiana y sus Misterios (2010)
«Palo mayor» – Luis ‘Terror’ Días (2001)
«Vámonos pa’arriba» – Antony Santos (1993)
–Spotify Selection:
«El Farolito» – Juan Luis Guerra 4.40 (1994)
«Mambodega» – Yasser Tejeda y Palotré (2019)
«A levantar el alma» – Xiomara Fortuna (2018)
PUERTO RICO
–YouTube Selection:
«Ternura» – Bandolero (1970)
«Tema Sonset ‘67» – The Sonset (1967)
«Funky Jibaro» – Yomo Toro (1988)
–Spotify Selection:
«Mis amores» – Papá Candito (S/F, mediados de los años 60)
«El tema de Juan (Johny’s theme)» – Frank Ferrer (1974)
«La verdad» – Rafael Cortijo & his time machine (1973)
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
–YouTube Selection:
«Seasoning» – Batti Mamzelle (1974)
«Future music so» – Embryo (1978)
–Spotify Selection:
«Katumba» – Lord Kitchener (1983)
«’ow yuh movin’ so» – Richard ‘Nappy’ Mayers (1984)
P A R T 2
VENEZUELA
–YouTube Selection:
«Chévere mongüolo» – Paul Desenne, Alonso Toro y Pedro Vásquez (Alzheimer) (2001)
«Son de tambor y San Juan» (versión completa) – Un, Dos, Tres Y Fuera (1978)
«Comunícate» – Grupo Pan (1972)
–Spotify Selection:
«Acere bongó» – Guaco (1997)
«El Comegente» – Bacalao Men (2005)
«Bocón» – Raúl Monsalve y Los Forajidos (2020)
COLOMBIA
–YouTube Selection:
Popurrí: «Missefy / Los esqueletos» – Cumbia Siglo XX (1976)
«Tamba» – Grupo Folklórico (S/F, mediados de los años 70)
«Cumbia de sal» – Cumbias en Moog (1979)
–Spotify Selection:
«Caliventura» – Afrosound (1973)
«Ay, dónde andará» – Bloque (1998)
«La Culebra (vibración)» – Alfredo Puello ‘El Halcón’ (S/F, mediados de los años 90)
ECUADOR
–YouTube Selection:
«Perro sin dueño» – Olmedo Torres y Polibio Mayorga (1977)
«Sufrirás» – Tirso Gómez (1973)
«Variaciones de Amauta» – Amauta (1980)
–Spotify Selection:
«Carnaval de Guaranda» – Olmedo Torres y Rodrigo Saltos ‘El Gato’ (S/F, finales de los 80)
«Pañuelito de amor» – Hermanas Mendoza Núñez y Polibio Mayorga (S/F, finales de los 70)
«El hombre sin cabeza» – Boddega (1973)
PERU
–YouTube Selection:
«La herida oscura» – Chabuca Granda, Caitro Soto, Félix Casaverde y Ricardo Miralles (1978)
«El Chacarero» – Los Diablos Rojos (1971)
«Pongo de Manseriche» – Tony Marín y Los Tierra Roja (1976)
–Spotify Selection:
«Chuncho» – Yma Sumac (1953)
«Pachacámac» – Cimarrones (2012)
«Jud Ross» – Conjunto Siglo 21 (1974)
CHILE
–YouTube Selection:
«Africa Go Go» – Los Primos (1966)
«La quebrá del ají» – Los Jaivas (1972)
«Anticueca Nº 1» – Violeta Parra (1957)
–Spotify Selection:
«El músico errante» – Aparcoa (1970)
«Somos sólo ruido» – Los Prisioneros (1987)
«Alma llanera» – Panal (1973)
BOLIVIA
–Selección para YouTube:
«Danza ritual de la coca» – Sol Simiente Sur (1978)
«Llorando se fue» (versión Tecno Kjarkas) – Los Kjarkas (1991)
–Spotify Selection:
«Imillita» – Wara (1976)
«Tu partida» – Los Grillos (1968)
PARAGUAY
–Selección para YouTube:
«Ñane mitaro guare» – Los Electrónicos Disonantes (S/F, finales de los 70)
«Hechicera» – Los Blue Caps (1972)
–Spotify Selection:
«Che trigueña mi (mi trigueñita)» – Oscar Pérez y La Alegre Fórmula Nueva (1973)
«Polca hermética» – Nestor Ló y Los Caminantes (2018)
ARGENTINA
–YouTube Selection:
«Zum» – Astor Piazzola y su conjunto 9 (1971)
Popurrí: «Quinteto de vientos (3er movimiento) /
Miss Lilly Higgins sings Shimmy in Mississippi´s spring»
– Les Luthiers (1980 y 1973 Resp.)
«J.M. ‘Pepe’–El Cóndor» – Jorge López Ruiz (1975)
–Spotify Selection:
«Tango en segunda» – Sui Generis (1974)
«Vidala de la copla» – Domingo Cura (1977)
«El Milenario» – Martín Bruhn (2011)
URUGUAY
–YouTube Selection:
«Montevideo» – Opa (1977)
«Amor profundo» – Jaime Ross con Freddy ‘Zurdo’ Bessio y grupo Los Mareados (2000)
«Un canto para mamá» – Eduardo Mateo y Jorge Trasante (1976)
–Spotify Selection:
«Don Pascual» – El Kinto (1968)
«Montevideo, 22 de diciembre de 2017» – Juan Wauters (2020)
«Más allá del Sahara» – La Logia Sarabanda (1972)
BRAZIL
–YouTube Selection:
Popurrí: «Desengano da vista / Ritual negro» – Pedro Santos (1968)
«Marinheiro só» – Caetano Veloso (1969)
«Bebê» – Hermeto Pascoal (1973)
–Spotify Selection:
«Estúpido rapaz» – Tom Zé (2005)
«Recanto escuro» – Gal Costa (2011)
«Pé da roseira» – Gilberto Gil (1968)