A Musical Trail
I took a stream of consciousness-like journey through a few different pieces of music today, and it was pretty enjoyable so I figured I’d post it here.
It began with me asking this question on facebook:
What is this spanish song with few words, men singing in close harmony, slow guitar and bongo that is ubiquitous in coffee shops?
One of my musically inclined friends identified it as “Chan Chan” by Buena Vista Social Club. Cue YouTube
For some reason, watching thes old Cuban guys sing reminded me of how the Macarena was performed by these middle aged Spanish guys. According to Wikipedia, the Macarena actually predates the Buena Vista Social Club album.
Don’t watch it if you’re still scarred by the 90s
Now, remember how just post Macarena, people were wondering what the next Macarena would be? Well I do, and I remember them saying it was going to be Mambo Number 5.
So now we’re back to Cuban influences. Here’s the funny thing though: Even though I thought “Lou Bega” was a plausible Cuban name, it’s just his stage name, a play on his Ugandan last name “Lubega,” which I think is pretty cool.
Apparently Mambo No. 5 was a sampling/remix of a Cuban bandleader’s song from the 50s:
And here’s the strangest association yet, but the fact that Lou Bega sampled an old song, and some of the old timey themes in the music video reminded me of this song by an Italian rap group, Articulo 31. See for youself:
So that was about the last half hour of my life.
