Archive for the ‘ Male ’ Category

1940, February 15 – ROBERTO RUFFINO RECORDS “ALMA MIA”

The lovelorn boy in “Alma Mia” says, “dear heart who are you dreaming of…I have come to disrupt your peace…but oh, don’t blame me, for you see I am a bard…whose only wish is to weave into your sweet dream, a porteno lyric inebriated with love” …this was a major hit for singer Roberto Ruffino; he was 18 years old and earning sums of money he had never dreamt of…in the late 50s, with the tango fashion now waining, he would begin a second simultaneous career as a pop singer under the alias “Bobby Terré” on Radio El Mundo and when he sang before its live audiences he would wear a mask and be billed as the “Masked Bobby Terre”…he was born January 6, 1922 in the mythical neighborhood of El Abasto, Buenos Aires…he began singing in the Cafe O’Rondeman, the same one that launched Carlos Gardel.

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His major break came in 1938 when Carlos Garay, the agent for Carlos Di Sarli, happened to hear Ruffino singing and liked what he heard; he recommended him to Di Sarli..his first recording with Di Sarli, “Corazon” with lyrics by Hector Marcò which he recorded on December 11, 1939 was a hit…he would record 46 tangos with Di Sarli…In 1944 he launched a solo career debuting on Radio Belgrano where he was backed by his own orchestra directed by the respected Atilo Bruni…he had brief stints with the  Francini-Pontier, Miguel Calo and Anibal Troilo orchestras…he was also an accomplished composer and lyricist of popular tangos like “Sonemos“ which was recorded by Hugo Duval with the Rodolfo Biagi orchestra and “El Bazar de Los Jugetes” which was recorded by Alberto Podestà with the Miguel Calò orchestra.

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2012
02/15
CATEGORY
Abasto
Capricorn
Composers
Male
Orchestras
Recordings
Singers
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1891, February 13 – BIRTH OF IGNACIO CORSINI

Singer, Composer, Poet (Aquarius) – Soccorro Salamone was desperate, for not only was she poor but the blemish of being an unwed mother meant that her young son Ignacio did not have much of a future; his father, a certain “Corsini” had disappeared as soon as he found out that she was pregnant…….these were tough time in the ancient greek town of Troina, Sicily whose historical relics date back to the 7th Millenium BC…40 years later, Troina would be the seat of a famous World War II battle between Nazi and Allied forces commanded by General George S. Patton…..one day, mustering tremendous courage, young Soccorro with little Ignacio in tow, mounted a horse carriage and descended Troina to begin the long journey to Naples where she boarded a ship to Buenos Aires…she settled in the neighborhood of Almagro and began working long hours as a washer woman…when Ignacio was ten years old they moved to the country where the boy began working as a herdsman and ox driver…many years later, reflecting on those long solitary hours in the countryside, Ignacio Corsini, now a famous and successful singer would say, “birds taught me the spontaneity of their singing, in the great scenery of nature…to sing like them, naturally with no effort”…

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Around the age of 17 he met a circus clown Jose Pacheco who introduced him to the theater and by the age of 21 he had already achieved a certain amount of fame and prestige…from Pacheco he obtained one other thing, his daughter Victoria whom he would marry in 1911…in his autobiography he would write that it was, above all, her encouragement during difficult times that was responsible for his success; he would remain loyal to her for his whole life…On May 12, 1922, in the one-act play “El Bailarin del Cabaret”, he premiered “Patotero Sentimental” which was his first major hit…his only composition to become successful was “Tristeza Criolla” which in the 40s was a major hit for singer Angel Vargas…Above all, it was his renditions of the creations of the team of Enrique Maciel as composer and Hector Blomberg as  lyricist which would make his name legendary…the loss of his wife from a debilitating disease left him sad and embittered; she was his whole life…dedicating his performance to her, he sang for the last time on May 28, 1949 on the show “Argentinidad” on Radio Belgrano

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2012
02/13
CATEGORY
Almagro
Aquarius
Composers
Guitarist
Male
Recordings
Singers
2 comments

1943, February 11 – Beron Records “ME LLAMAN EL ZORRO”

Performing with the Lucio Demare Orchestra, this was another great hit for singer Raul Beron who in the eyes of some cognoscenti, was the greatest orchestra singer of all time…the lyrics are the boasting of a young man, born in La Boca, who is a dashing and debonair rogue who thrives on adversity and loves his life of adventure...”I am a tanguero from the old school and I carry tango in my soul…they call me Zorro”, he says…lyricist Roberto Lambertucci was inspired by the legend of Zorro which was created by New York pulp writer Johnston McCulley in 1919 and which has inspired books, films and other media…it in turn may have been inspired by the real life character Joaquim Carillo Murrieta who was a legendary figure in California during the gold rush who became a robin hood type hero to Mexicans battling racism and discrimination…a reward was offered by the California legislature to capture and kill Murrieta…when he was finally apprehended and executed without due process, his head was severed and placed in a jar of  alcohol as proof of his death to collect the reward

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The severed head in a jar toured California and could be seen for the price of one dollar…among Zorro’s many manifestations is the 1925 film “Don Q Son of Zorro” starring Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Astor in which Zorro dances a Valentino style tango..in the 1998 film “The Mark of Zorro” starring Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, there is a scene in which Catherine Zeta-Jones dances a passionate dance which is a hodge podge of tango and passo doble…Raul Beron, born March 30, 1920 (Aries) in the town of Zarate, Argentina, began performing in duet with his brother Jose in the local cafes and bars for spare change…it was during one of his non remunerated performances on radio, that orchestra leader Miguel Calò heard him and invited him for an audition; he hire him immediately…his first recording with Calo on April 29, 1942, “Al Compas Del Corazon”, became an instant  great hit and launched Raul on the road to legendary status.

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  • CLICK HERE- http://www.youtube.com/
  • watch?v=rckflM7IV6k to hear Raul Beron sing his hit “Me Llaman El Zorro” with the Lucio Demare orchestra…music is by Mario Perini and lyrics by Roberto Lambertucci
2012
02/11
CATEGORY
Aries
Films
Male
Orchestras
Recordings
Singers
Tango In Film
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1905, February 10 – BIRTH OF CARMENCITA CALDERON

Dancer (Aquarius) – in 2005, at the age 100, she did her last public performance at the famous milonga La Baldosa with dance partner Jorge Dispari…her fans, many in tears, were ecstatic; just two months later she would pass away feeling fulfilled and content in her life…poet Jose Gabello was to say of her, “you are a girl without age…you are eternal like the tango that drives you”...Carmencita Calderon was born into a poor italian immigrant family in the neighborhood of Villa Urquiza in Buenos Aires…her mother would sing tango and dance by herself as she was doing the laundry and she began passing on this passion to her daughter when Carmencita when was thirteen years old …a tragedy soon befell the family when her mother died leaving behind young children; it fell upon Carmencita to fill the role of the caring and the upbringing of her younger siblings and although she loved to dance, girls in her station did not dare to dream…one day her two younger sisters expressed the wish to attend a neighborhood dance at the  club “Sin Rumbo” and so she went along as a chaperone…

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Renown dancer “Tarila”, happened to be present and someone suggested that Carmencita dance with him; she was terrified but finally accepted his invitation…the following day Tarila took her to meet the legendary El Cachafaz at the Bar Corrientes where he assiduously met a close group of friends including Carlos Gardel…El Cachafaz was so impressed with Carmencita’s dancing that from that day on, he made her his exclusive dance partner; they made their debut with the Pedro Maffia orchestra at the Teatro San Fernando to enthusiastic applause …their ten years long collaboration would take them many places…but in 1942 disaster struck;  at a performance at Mar De Plata, at the club “El Rancho Grande”, after having danced to the milonga “Don Juan“, El Cachafaz died suddenly of a massive heart attack…she would never forget the shock of suddenly seeing her dance partner’s body lying lifeless on the floor…with tremendous personal resolve, she continued….she would in time perform with the best dancers of the time El Tarila, El Cachafaz and El Negro Alfredo and Juan Carlos Copes…reflecting on her success she was to comment “I adorned the tango when I danced it; this was my secret”

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2012
02/10
CATEGORY
Aquarius
Dancers
Female Dancers
Male
Orchestras
Singers
Villa Urquiza
1 comment

1926, January 29 – BIRTH OF ROBERTO GOYENECHE

Singer (Aquarius) – crushed by the death of his devoted mother in 1949, he vows to never sing again and to devote himself exclusively to his bus driving activity and the care of his two young sons; neverthless he loves to sing as he drives….one fateful day an agent for Horacio Salgan happens to board the bus and is amazed by the driver’s voice; he tells Horacio about him who promptly summons him for an audition and hires him on the spot…this would lead later to his association with Anibal Troilo, who would become a dear friend, and with whom his prodigious talent would begin to blossom…much later, after a life time of often heartbreaking disappointments,  basking in the fruits of stardom, he will be called “a living legend” …in his career his name would be associated with 2,500 songs and 101 LPs… among his greatest hits were “La Ultima Curda”, “Malena”, “Garua”, “Naranjo en Flor” and in the eyes of some, his greatest hit of all, “Balada Para Un Loco”…Roberto Goyeneche was born in the neighborhood of Saavedra, in Buenos Aires, a place whose streets were brimming with tango music…as a child he was called “canary” because of his blond hair and blue eyes.

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His father owned an upholstery shop and in the evening he would relax by playing the piano and listening to his prized collection of Carlos Gardel recordings…when Roberto was five years old, his father unexpectedly died and the family was devasted; his mother  began working long and tiresome hours as a washer woman to support him and his brother Jorge…Roberto quit school early to work to help support the family; among the jobs he held were being a typist and runner for a law firm, taxi driver and bus driver…at the age of 18 he won a singing contest held at the Club Federal Argentino; a comedian and friend of orchestra, leader Raul Kaplan told him about the thin, blond singer….Roberto soon found himself singing with Kaplun on Radio Belgrano…during the day he would drive his bus and in the evenings he would sing with Kaplun as well as care for his family to whom he was deeply devoted…in 1990 he mentored a wavering Adriana Varela who would go on to become one of the best selling woman tango singer in history…he stared in the films “El Canto Cuenta Su Estoria” in 1976, “El Derecho A La Felicita” in 1968, and ” Sur” in 1988.

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2012
01/29
CATEGORY
Aquarius
Argentinean
Composers
Films
Male
Orchestras
Recordings
Saavedra
Singers
1 comment

1933, January 23 – Gardel Records “LA CANCION DE BUENOS AIRES”

Who knows that if Carlos Gardel had not recorded “La Cancion de Buenos Aires” it might have been just another of the thousands of tangos with momentary flashes to then be relegated to the dust bin of oblivion…instead this piece, which was written by Orestes Cufaro and Azucena Maizani, is one of the most successful tangos in history…it would be hard to find a tango performer of renown who has not recorded it…twice it was made into a film; in 1945 directed by Julio Irigoyen and in 1980 directed by Fernando Siro…it was a minor hit for singer Alberto Castillo when he sang it in Manuel Romero’s 1948 film El Tango Vuelve a Paris…Orestes Cufaro was born in the city of Rosario, Argentina where his father was a pianist and an orchestra director…his father was his first teacher and it soon became evident that young Orestes was a child prodigy…he made his performance debut at the age of eleven at the Belgrano Cinema as the pianist for the Abel Bedruna Orchestra; he was so impressive that he soon found himself playing in the best cafes, cinemas and theaters in Rosario…

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At age 18 he made the big move to Buenos Aires where he debuted at Radio Prieto; along the way he met singer Azucena Maizani  who would record his first tango “Usted Sabe Senor Juez” ….within these circles he came to know playwrite and future icon of the Argentinean film industry Manuel Romero who asked him to write a theme song for his play “La Cancion de Buenos Aires”; for this he sought the collaboration of Azucena Maizani …Carlos Gardel was very fond of Azucena; he seemed to take an almost fatherly concern for her, frequently inquiring of Orestes about her well being…it was out of friendship for Azucena that Gardel agreed to record “La Cancion de Buenos Aires”….Orestes would compose a number of other hits including “Vencido” and “Una y Mil Noches”…Manuel Romero was one of the most successful lyricists in history; Carlos Gardel himself recorded 19 of his tangos…Romero would write 180 plays and direct 53 films in his career all them with similar characteristics; simple and heart-moving scripts where the typical characters were the poor young lover, the young rich girl in love with him and the cavalier son of a tycoon who vies for her hand

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2012
01/24
CATEGORY
Argentinean
Composers
Female
Films
Male
Orchestras
Recordings
Singers
1 comment

1924, January 19 – BIRTH OF JORGE DURAN

Singer (Capricorn) – Singing was so much in his soul that in his final days, laying on a hospital bed in the painful advanced stages of emphysema, the result of a life time of chain-smoking, he continued to serenade the nurses…he had lived a bohemian life, a lover of women and fine champagne; he was oddly content right up to the end…in one of those inexplicable mysterys of fate however, he would never attain the recognition commensurate with the precision and elegance of his voice; the same voice that delivered his great hit “Porteno Y Bailerin” backed by the Carlos Di Sarli orchestra…he would join Di Sarli twice in his career, the first one, in 1945, lasting two years, the best period of his career and the second in 1956 during which he made 19 recordings…indeed a young Jorge Duran had come to the attention of Maestro Di Sarli who had personally gone to hear him at a cafe; he hired him immediately…the very next day he debuted with Di Sarli on Radio El Mundo

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Jorge was born in the town of San Juan to Andalusian immigrant parents who had a small fruit growing business and winery…during the periods of rest the family and the workers would engage in gay sing-alongs and it is there that  little Jorge discovered his love for singing…at age 18 he began singing in the cafes and tea rooms in Buenos Aires…one evening the bandoneonist Jorge Argentino happened to hear him and was immediately struck by  his voice and asked him to join his orchestra; he  debuted on Radio Mitre where the response from the public was enthusiastic…the next break came when Buenaventura Luna heard him and invited him to join his famous Tropilla de Huancho Pampa show…it is with them that he records his first record “Zamba del Gaucho” on March 13, 1944…for his entire career he was known as “El Cajon (the coffin)…standing at the end of a long corridor, wearing a grey, wide lapel suit against a back light, a fellow musician had remarked that he looked like a “cajon”…somehow the moniker stuck and would remain with him for the rest of his life …two other great hits of his which have remained in constant play to our very days were “Una Tarde y Nada Mas” and “Whiskey”

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2012
01/19
CATEGORY
Capricorn
Composers
Male
Orchestras
Recordings
Singers
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1948, January 16 – PREMIERE, “THE TANGO RETURNS TO PARIS”

Director Manuel Romero was not a nice person, he had a terrible temper and was difficult to work for….he tended to work frenetically, writing as he went along and finishing a film as soon as possible; perhaps he had in mind his considerable gambling debts…he was immensely prodigious in his career; he was to make 53 films…he started as a playwrite, his first one being “Teatro Breve”; 149 others were to follow including some very successful ones..he worked as a journalist for the respected “Fray Mocho” magazine and even wrote the lyrics to numerous tangos including the two hits “Tomo Y Oblio”  (which was Carlos Gardel’s Last Tango) and “Tiempos Viejos”…his films followed the same formula, simple, heart-wrenching scripts complete with the poor boy in love with a rich girl who is being pursued by the cavalier son of the local tycoon all of it contrasted by a good dose of comedy and lots of tangos; the critics hated it, the people loved it

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“The Tango  Returns to Paris”(El Tango Vuelve a Paris) was another showcase for singer Alberto Castillo who was a board certified gynecologist by day and a crooner by night….his practise was so invaded by young girls that he reluctantly had to quit his medical practise and devote himself to singing…in the film, Alberto plays “Alberto” who is also a medical doctor whose passion is tango and who, along with a group of friends decides to try to reignite tango passions in Paris…there is, of course, a love story and humourous situations which present ample opportunity to sing several tangos including “Ninguna”, “Griseta”, and “Muñeca brava”…the film stars a boyish Anibal Troilo and his orchestra and is the only one where Anibal actually has a speaking part…the film also features legendary Mexican singer Elvira Rios who had that dark, mysterious quality in her style which one critic likened to Zara Leander…she had considerable success in the United States as well as Latin America and was one of the first Latinos to break into  Hollywood

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  • CLICK HERE - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VwAsWC3_so to see a clip from the film “The Tango Returns to Paris” in which Alberto Castillo sings“Muneca Brava” composed in 1929 by Luis Visca with lyrics by Enrique Cadicamo
2012
01/18
CATEGORY
Argentinean
Composers
Debuts
Films
Male
Orchestras
Singers
1 comment

1916 January 14 – BIRTH OF ENRIQUE FRANCINI

Composer, Leader, Violinist (Capricorn) – it was the evening of August 27, 1978 and Enrique Francini, on the stage of the legendary Cano 14, was basking in glory; the reward of a life time of hard work and his unflinching devotion to his violin…he was playing “Nostalgias, one of his favorite tango when suddenly he dropped his violin, grabbed his chest and fell over, he was dead at the age of 62…the little boy from the town of  Zarate had come a long way from the humble surroundings where very early on he knew he wanted to become a violinist…his father, with considerable sacrifice, enrolled in the mythical Juan Ehlert School of Music where he was to meet another young student, Armando Pontier; their careers and their lives would be intertwined for the next 40 years…Enrique was immensely dedicated to the violin and his hard work earned him an invitation from the maestro, along with Pontier, to travel to Buenos Aires to play on Radio Prieto ….

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The audience response was ecstatic and the two wide-eyed boys then found themselves playing at the famous Juan Manuel’s Matinee.…in 1939 both Francini and Pontier joined a recently formed Miguel Calò orchestra where for six years they matured as musicians and as friends….six years later they would both break away from Calò to form their own orchestra…they debuted on September 1, 1945 at the opening of “Tango Bar”…two young and aspiring singers, who would themselves one day be greats, would join the group, Alberto Podestà and Raul Beron…Radio El Mundo soon hired them…Through whose broadcasts, they developed a legion of young fans who packed places like “El Piccadily” and the “Ebro Bar” and later the renown “Tibidabo Cabaeret”….Enrique and Armando would later make two tours of Japan together…Perhaps Enrique’s best known compositions are the milonga Azabache and two beloved waltzes “Bajo un Cielo de Estrellas“ and “Pedacito de Cielo”

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2012
01/14
CATEGORY
Capricorn
Composers
Male
Orchestras
Recordings
Singers
Violinist
3 comments

1941, January 8 – ALBERTO CASTILLO RECORDS “RECUERDO”

This tango waltz was the first hit for  Dr. Alberto De Luca, gynecologist who in the evening was the idolized singer Alberto Castillo…two years earlier he had decided to quit singing altogether to devote himself to his medical studies….he was seduced to come back by an invitation from Ricardo Tanturi to join his important orchestra….”Recuerdo” was also the first major hit for the Tanturi orchestra; Tanturi, interestingly was himself a dentist…Castillo was to remain with Tanturi for five years producing some notable hits during that period…a year after the release of “Recuerdo”, Alberto graduates from medical school and becomes a board certified gynecologist…he tried to practise medicine but in the mornings he would find his studio full of young ladies waiting to see him and he finally and reluctantly had to give up medicine and devote himself exclusively to singing…there was one famous incident in 1944 whereby, for a concert at the Teatro Alvear, the swarm of people waiting to get in was so huge, that the police had to call in extra forces to control traffic…..

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Alberto was also a naturally gifted actor; he made 12 films starting with “Adios Pampa Mia” in 1946…Alberto Castillo was born in the neighborhood of Floresta, Buenos Aires, the fifth child of immigrants from Teggiano, Italy…very early on he demonstrated great musical ability; he took violin lesson and had the habit of singing no matter where he was or what he was doing…when he was 15 years old he was singing with a group of friends on a street corner when the guitarist Armando Neira happened by and was immediately struck by the voice of the young boy; he invited him to sing with his group….And thus began his career at the age of 15 using the alias Alberto Dual to protect him from his severe father who wanted him to seek a career in medicine

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2012
01/08
CATEGORY
Argentinean
Composers
Films
Floresta
Male
Orchestras
Recordings
Singers
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