Regional Mexican Songs

Who’s On the Mexican Radio? 6/26/15

This week’s Mexican radio roundup looks far different than it did last time, for two reasons: it’s been a month and I’m using a different chart. Inspired by the discovery that audience impressions matter more than total radio spins, NorteñoBlog has begun following the audience impression chart at radioNOTAS. So we say adios to a whopping 10 songs — half the chart — including winners from Leandro Ríos and Zacatecan dancing machine Marco A. Flores, losers from Banda Los Sebastianes and songwriter-to-the-stars Espinoza Paz, and startlingly hot motorcycle enthusiast Jovanko Ibarra.

That said, this week’s Pick to Click is cheating, in more ways than one. The new single by Chicago’s startlingly hot chicas malas Los Horóscopos de Durango, “Estoy Con Otro En La Cama,” is dramatic banda camp about cheating, and it comes from the “spins” chart, not the “audience impressions” chart. This study of hi infidelity uses “cuernos” imagery worthy of Shakespearean cuckoos, and it’s a welcome bit of smut from aforementioned songwriter Espinoza Paz, seen performing it here. (Los Horóscopos don’t have a video yet; that link above will get you to a stream that might disappear at any moment.) Paz’s stripped down version might be even better; his audience keeps laughing at key lines and it has the transgressive feel of a Toby Keith “bus song.”

Also noteworthy: Continue reading “Who’s On the Mexican Radio? 6/26/15” →

June 29, 2015 3

Archivos de 1994 (now with Submarine Tracking Technology)

One week in November of 1994, Billboard changed its method of charting the biggest Latin hits in the U.S. They’d been using “National Latin Radio Airplay Reports,” completed and submitted by radio programmers and presumably subject to unwelcome human error. For their November 12 issue, Billboard switched to a computerized service called Broadcast Data Systems, or BDS, which used supercool SUBMARINE TRACKING TECHNOLOGY to determine which songs got the most radio play:

The BDS system looks for an audio fingerprint — a characteristic that differentiates a song from all of the other ones that it tracks — using the same technology that was once used to track submarines.

BDS then weighs the songs differently, depending on how many people they reach:

Thus, a song that plays at 4:00 a.m. does not count as much as one played at 4:00 p.m., and a station with a large audience will influence the chart more than either a station in a smaller market or one with a specialized format that attracts less audience.

Just as when SoundScan began electronically tracking album sales, this new system of tracking led to eye-opening changes in what was hitting the charts. In Billboard‘s November 5 issue, only four songs on the Hot Latin top 10 would have been considered “regional Mexican” — on the list below, they’re the songs from Selena, Ana Gabriel, Industria Del Amor, and Banda Z. On November 12, the new improved Hot Latin chart contained 7 regional Mexican songs, and it would maintain this proportion for weeks to come. Of the regional bands propelled by BDS into the Top 10, four were nowhere to be found in the previous week’s issue: Tejano acts Los Rehenes, Sparx, and La Mafia, and norteño act Banda Machos. For whatever reason — a different balance of stations reporting, or maybe just human error — regional Mexican music had gone under-reported before BDS. The primary beneficiaries of the new submarine tracking technology were Tejano bands, but that may just be because Tejano music, led by Selena, had recently entered its boom period as the popular face of regional Mexican music.

In addition, Billboard starting running three breakout charts, based on the airplay of radio stations devoted to one particular style of Latin music: Pop, Tropical/Salsa, and Regional Mexican. Below is the (first?) Regional Mexican Top 10, from the November 12 issue of Billboard. I’ll be liberally quoting Jonathan Bogart, whose blog Bilbo’s Laptop tracks every Hot Latin #1 and explains several of these songs better than I’ve managed here.

Also, if anyone can tell me what a puchoncito is, I’d appreciate it. Continue reading “Archivos de 1994 (now with Submarine Tracking Technology)” →

June 25, 2015 6

Desfile De Éxitos 6/27/15

Four new tunes from the NorteñoBlog milieu join this week’s charts. At the top of the heap, cracking the top 20 on the Hot Latin chart, is the latest mind numbing ballad from Banda MS, “A Lo Mejor.” You’re forgiven if you’ve forgotten “A Lo Mejor” since we last encountered it, because IT NUMBED YOUR MIND. But the video is entertaining twist-ending novela fare; you can tell it cost a lot, and that nobody shooting the video could remember the song they were supposedly depicting, either.

The other three new songs, all near the bottom of the Regional Mexican airplay chart, sound better to varying degrees. Arrolladora’s “Confesion” is faster and more minor-keyed than much of their recent output. Faint praise, but then, it’s been a while since these guys left an impression. Los Tucanes’ corrido “Suena La Banda” stomps along with guest stars Código FN. Several several members of Código are confined to standing around singing in their sparkly jackets without their instruments, but their tubist gets in some good licks, and both bands’ drummers find a way to coexist. Even better is the magic changes title track from Vete Acostumbrando, the latest album by psychedelic corridista and family man Larry Hernández. Lots of crammed-in words and snarling, which beats Larry attempting to croon.

It’d be this week’s Pick to Click if NorteñoBlog wasn’t a total sucker for Tito “El Bambino” and his attempts to sound like a more romantic Pet Shop Boys. Like the aforementioned Banda MS song, “Como Antes” enters the Hot Latin top 20. Unlike Banda MS, Tito plays majestic reggaeton synth pop with pounding drums and low voices comically interjecting things like “MAMACITA” every so often. Great vocal harmonies, too. The acerbic voice of Zion &/or Lennox appears midway through to scrape the plaque from your heart.

Continue reading “Desfile De Éxitos 6/27/15” →

June 19, 2015 0

Desfile de Éxitos 6/13/15

When Pitbull someday releases a career-spanning greatest hits album, it’ll be a monster. He’s got one hits album already: 2012’s Original Hits compiled his early stuff from TVT records and it looks good (I confess I haven’t heard all the songs), but since he released it in the midst of the Planet Pit/Voli Vodka world takeover, most of the world outside the 305 area code overlooked it. NorteñoBlog doesn’t often cover Pitbull because he has about as much to do with regional Mexican music as Rita Moreno does. (I confess I have even LESS of a connection to the format, but here we are.) But since he is possibly the most charming man on the planet — he needs to be loved slightly more than everybody else does — I will share my theory of Pitbull hits:

There are two tiers of Pitbull hits. The top tier includes such monster EDM smashes as “Timber,” “Give Me Everything,” and “Time of Our Lives,” and these songs are pretty good, just as the Planet Pit album was pretty good. That’s disc one of our hypothetical career spanning compilation. But the second tier, our hypothetical disc two of smaller hits… THAT’S where Pitbull hides his gold. I’m talking stuff like last year’s #23 hit “Fireball,” his astounding Ying Yang Twins feature “Shake” (included on Original Hits), 2010’s phenomenal, bilingual, featuring-Lil-Jon-and-everybody “Watagatapitusberry,” and the Pick to Click that climbs this week to #25 on Hot Latin, “El Taxi” featuring Sensato & Cuban oral sex freedom fighter Osmani Garcia. (“Chupi Chupi” was the too sexy song in question.) It’s really Garcia’s song — he originally received top billing and it’s more than a year old at this point, with 111 million Youtube views, but I assume it’ll appear on Pit’s forthcoming Spanish album Dale. “El Taxi” is lowdown and slinky. It features car horns beeping. I mean, come on.

Continue reading “Desfile de Éxitos 6/13/15” →

June 5, 2015 1

Who’s On the Mexican Radio? 5/29/15

Say what you will about the new Calibre 50 ballad — and no, I cannot prove that some nefarious Disa executive forced them to play the song while submerged in gelatin, although the first time I watched the video I thought the music had been screwed and chopped — but at least it knocked their previous ballad “Contigo” off the chart. (Don’t worry, “Contigo” is still huge in El Norte.) In fact all the new Mexican radio hits this fortnight are ballads, which makes Picking to Click a more difficult proposition than usual. But NorteñoBlog is not completely devoid of romance! NorteñoBlog knows the desires that wrack the heart! And you know who else knows how to rip out his heart for all to see? German Montero, that’s who! So give a listen to “Me Seguirás Buscando,” where Montero promises to keep searching… and searching… to provide you with complete satisfaction. Judging by his overwrought performance, the search might entail self-strangulation and vocal nodes, but if that´s what it takes…

In El Norte chart news, El Komander goes top 10 Hot Latin for the third time with “Malditas Ganas.” Billboard also reports that his ballad “El Papel Cambio,” which we encountered on the Mexican charts earlier this year, is lurking down in the U.S. 40s. The U.S. seems to lag a few months behind Mexico in our love for El Komander songs. NorteñoBlog has no ready explanation for this, since it´s certainly not true of every artist — see both countries´ immediate embrace of Recodo´s “Mi Vicio Mas Grande.” Komander does seem to do better with streaming than he does with radio play, so maybe his more ramshackle sound is a tougher sell for U.S. radio programmers?
Continue reading “Who’s On the Mexican Radio? 5/29/15” →

June 1, 2015 1

Los Cuates de Sinaloa: Una Cartilla

Inspired by one of top commenter Manuel’s karaoke jams, here’s a short history of Breaking Bad‘s favorite corridistas, the band Allmusic calls “as gritty and dramatic as one of their songs”: LOS CUATES DE SINALOA. But first, the karaoke jam in question, 2010´s “El Alamo,” a jaunty and repetitive take on a little three-note motive.

The song features accordion, not always a given with Los Cuates, who started out with just two guitarists and a bassist. Well, technically they started with just two guitarists…

1998: Two 14-year-old guitar-playing cousins from Sinaloa, Nano y Gabriel Berrelleza, cross the border from Mexico into Arizona. After living homeless and busking for a couple months, one day they show up at a Phoenix nightclub owned by musician José Juan Segura. Segura tells Billboard,

Continue reading “Los Cuates de Sinaloa: Una Cartilla” →

May 28, 2015 7

¡Nuevo! (starring Banda Cuisillos, Los Huracanes, y más)

With a career nearly as long as Los Tigres’ and a catalog just as intimidating, San Jose’s own Los Huracanes del Norte have been playing their corridos and love songs for more years than I’ve been alive. Longevity is part of their story. So naturally, their new album on GarMex/Universal is titled #. The cover, you see, is festooned with a bunch of Twitter hashtags you can use to spread your love of Los Huracanes, and most of them seem legit, although tweeter beware: when I looked up #queseoigaesebajosextomipancho, I didn’t get any results. You can be the first, I guess. All those hashtags make for an attractive album cover, and my keen-eyed friend Anthony likes the font they used. Los Huracanes have already hit the U.S. radio top 20 with “Como Tu No Hay Dos,” a sad country waltz played amid a surreal video landscape of inverted toilet plungers. Their reach also extends to #Manástylepopballadswithsopranosaxleads, as evidenced on last year’s #1 “Cero a la Izquierda.”
Continue reading “¡Nuevo! (starring Banda Cuisillos, Los Huracanes, y más)” →

May 26, 2015 1

Desfile de Éxitos 5/30/15

On Tuesday the celebrated prog-corridista Gerardo Ortiz released his fifth album, Hoy Más Fuerte. Yes, prog: Ortiz insists he plays “corridos progresivos” and this new album goes on way too long. Unfortunately, Fuerte is NOT an instrumental concept album devoted to cartel bosses, along the lines of Rick Wakeman’s The Six Wives of Henry VIII. (“We are honored to release a recording of this magnitude,” said A&M’s 1973 ad in The Village Voice; I bet Del and Sony feel the same way about Gerardo.)

The album’s first single, though, is an ode to “El Cholo,” the work handle of incarcerated Sinaloa Cartel honcho Orso Gastélum Ivan Cruz, captured in March for the second time after escaping prison back in 2008. Ortiz already released the first verse of this song as a teaser back in January, when El Cholo was still at large, but it’s fun to imagine the guy bragging from inside his new prison suite — “Aquí van a respetar!” Canny timing and, since it’s the only new norteño song on the lifeless charts, this week’s Pick to Click! Despite my misgivings about the album, “El Cholo” is a pretty good song, with drums set to churn and an accordion that can’t quit spitting out licks. They make it all sound so easy.

In other news, probable best singer on the continent Julión Álvarez scores his fifth Regional Mexican Airplay #1 with a middling romantic ballad, and “Propuesta Indecente” notches its 95th week on the Hot Latin chart. I’m pretty sure that makes “Propuesta Indecente” older than my orange cat, now a fully grown terror who picks on my other 14-year-old gray cat. (Orange cat has always been at war with gray cat.) Go sing the song to someone you love, and maybe it’ll go away. If not, someone you love will.

These are the top 25 Hot Latin Songs and top 20 Regional Mexican Songs, courtesy Billboard, as published May 30.

1. “El Perdón” – Nicky Jam & Enrique Iglesias
2. “Ay Vamos” – J Balvin
3. “Propuesta Indecente” – Romeo Santos (95 WEEKS OLD)
4. “Fanatica Sensual” – Plan B
5. “Hilito” – Romeo Santos
6. “Hablame de Ti” – Banda MS (#3 RegMex) (snoooooozzzzzz)
7. “El Amor De Su Vida” – Julión Álvarez y Su Norteño Banda (#1 RegMex)
8. “Travesuras” – Nicky Jam
9. “Sigueme y Te Sigo” – Daddy Yankee
10. “Contigo” – Calibre 50 (#2 RegMex)

11. “Mi Verdad” – Maná ft. Shakira
12. “Me Sobrabas Tu” – Banda Los Recoditos (#5 RegMex)
13. “Nota de Amor” – Wisin + Carlos Vives ft. Daddy Yankee
14. “Pierdo la Cabeza” – Zion & Lennox
15. “Malditas Ganas” – El Komander (#4 RegMex)
16. “Te Metiste” – Ariel Camacho y Los Plebes del Rancho (#17 RegMex)
17. “Perdido En Tus Ojos” – Don Omar ft. Natti Natasha
18. “Solita” – Prince Royce
19. “La Gozadera” – Gente de Zona ft. Marc Anthony
20. “Lejos De Aqui” – Farruko

21. “Bonito Y Bello” – La Septima Banda (#8 RegMex)
22. “Mi Vicio Mas Grande” – Banda Los Recoditos (#10 RegMex)
23. “Un Zombie A La Intemperie” – Alejandro Sanz
24. “El Cholo” – Gerardo Ortiz (#12 RegMex)
25. “Calla y Me Besas” – Enigma Norteña (#6 RegMex)

¡Adios!
“Inocente” – Romeo Santos
—————–

7. “El Que Se Enamora Pierde” – Banda Carnaval
9. “Levantando Polvadera” – Voz De Mando

11. “Soltero Disponible” – Regulo Caro
13. “Que Aun Te Amo” – Pesado
14. “Si Te Vuelvo a Ver” – La Maquinaria Norteña
15. “Como Tu No Hay Dos” – Los Huracanes del Norte
16. “Cuando La Miro” – Luis Coronel
18. “Mayor De Edad” – La Original Banda El Limón
19. “Que Tal Si Eres Tu” – Los Tigres Del Norte
20. “Debajo Del Sombrero” – Leandro Rios ft. Pancho Uresti

¡Adios!
“El Quesito” – Omar Ruiz”
“Dime” – Julión Álvarez y Su Norteño Banda

May 22, 2015 0

Who’s On the Mexican Radio? 5/15/15

Not one but three feisty banda tunes enter the Mexican radio chart this week. NorteñoBlog has already mentioned Recodo’s “Mi Vicio Mas Grande,” which jumps from 9 to 4 and is also charting in El Norte — it bears more than a passing resemblance to Recoditos’ “Mi Último Deseo,” though the writers are different. (“Mi Vicio” boasts the unlikely fingerprints of Luciano Luna, the Diane Warren of the Sierra, apparently feeling his oats.) Chuy Lizarraga’s “Tu Mami” sounds similar, a minor-key raver.

That leaves the third, a major-key raver by former La Voz Mexico contestant and stubbly denim vision Jovanko Ibarra. His “No Le Hagamos Al Cuento” is today’s Pick to Click because it’s a decent song, sung reedily, and if you watch the video you get to look at Jovanko Ibarra. On a motorcycle!

Also new from two weeks ago are El Komander’s uninteresting “Me Interesa” and, in the top 10, La Original’s “Sal De Mi Vida.”

These are the Top 20 “Popular” songs in Mexico, as measured by monitorLATINO. Don’t confuse “Popular” with the “General” list, which contains many of the same songs but also “Uptown Funk!”, “Sugar,” “Love Me Like You Do,” and an Aleks Syntek ballad about getting So Close. Syntek gets closer than Hall & Oates did, at least.

1. “Después de Ti ¿Quién?” – La Adictiva Banda San Jose
2. “Contigo” – Calibre 50
3. “El Amor de Su Vida” – Julión Álvarez
4. “Mi Vicio Mas Grande” – Banda El Recodo
5. “Confesion” – La Arrolladora Banda El Limón
6. “A Lo Mejor” – Banda MS
7. “Me Toco Perder” – Banda Los Recoditos
8. “Tranquilito” – El Chapo de Sinaloa
9. “Perdi La Pose” – Espinoza Paz
10. “Sal De Mi Vida” – La Original Banda El Limón

11. “Tu Mami” – Chuy Lizarraga
12. “Me Interesa” – Alfredo Ríos El Komander
13. “Y Esa Soy Yo” – Luz Maria
14. “No Fue Necesario” – El Bebeto
15. “Indeleble” – Banda Los Sebastianes
16. “Dudo” – Marco A. Flores y No.1 Banda Jerez
17. “Padre Ejemplar” – Los Titanes de Durango ft. Jaziel Avilez
18. “No Le Hagamos Al Cuento” – Jovanko Ibarra
19. “La Reina” – La Iniciativa
20. “Que te Quede Claro” – Saul El Jaguar