L.A. OGs WAR (the ORIGINAL band): ‘Cinco de Mayo’ (1981 complete)

warcinco
This 1981 single from WAR was the first time many non-Latinos heard of Cinco de Mayo. This photo shows the original guys at the Sunset Grill (7439 Sunset, next to their offices (Far Out Productions) at 7417 Sunset. The Guitar Center swallowed up 7417 a while back.

L-R: Charles Miller (sax, RIP), Lonnie Jordan (keyboards, the only original member in the new so-called WAR), Howard Scott (guitar, Lowrider Band), Harold Brown (drums, Lowrider Band), BB Dickerson (bass, Lowrider Band), Lee Oskar (harmonica, Lowrider Band). Not pictured, Papa Dee (RIP, percussion).

[DISCLOSURE: I was WAR’s National Director of Album Promotion for a while and ate so often at the Sunset Grill (like in the Eagles song) I could run a tab.]

Mas…L.A. OGs WAR (the ORIGINAL band): ‘Cinco de Mayo’ (1981 complete)

Los Cenzontles cover Dylan’s ‘Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man’ (audio)


Raza roots collective Los Cenzontles strip Bob Dylan’s Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man back to the basics (the lyrics) and then build it back up en estilo Latino. That’s Eugene Rodriguez, vocals, Lucina Rodriguez and Fabiola Trujillo, chorus, Emiliano Rodriguez, bass, Carlos Caro, bongo, shaker, guiro, tambourine, and Silvestre Martinez, cajon, congas.

DID YOU KNOW?

Bruce Langhorne, Bob Dylan’s long-time guitarist, and the inspiration for Mr. Tambourine Man, died recently.

Mas…Los Cenzontles cover Dylan’s ‘Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man’ (audio)

We’ve got your basic 2-hour-long mariachi music video right here


Why, we asked ourselves, would these RelaxMusic people upload scores of allegedly ethnic or national background music videos to YouTube? If people play them as background audio, they will not be looking at — and clicking on — ads, so the uploaders will not make money. Is it a public service? Some kind alternative facts thing? We don’t know. On the other hand, you can enjoy two hours of uncredited, unnamed mariachi (and other Mexican) muzak right here.

Las Cafeteras: ‘If I Was President’ (audio)


East Los musicians Las Cafeteras have long made political progress a signature element of their sound and the band’s new single continues the tradition.

If I Was President — released on Monday, Presidents Day — starts with the son jarocho song Señor Presidente and “then flows into a bilingual hip hop-folk fusion, with lyrics that make you dream, think, come up with alternatives.”

Read more at UNIVISION.

Orange President salutes Black History Month (transcript, audio, toon)


Our historic President knows more about Black History Month than the last President, who was not so historic.

And instead of teaching us in American, the President is going to speak English to you, you know, to class up the history of this carnage-loving people, his African-Americans.

Our speech researchers here at the National Pochismo Institute took Wednesday’s speech transcript and ran it through a text-to-speech thang with a British-accented robo-bloke. And it sounds classy! You’ve never heard classy as bigly as this — all the words — the best words — plus a Ben Carson shoutout — and some bragging, lots of lies, and ignorance in abundance. Not to mention dissing CNN and non sequitors, slang, and muddled thinking. You’re welcome, mate.

Mira el transcript, with notes from POCHO’s Comic Saenz, and audio below:

Mas…Orange President salutes Black History Month (transcript, audio, toon)

Lalo Alcaraz on WGBH/PRI: ‘U.S. is becoming Mexico’ (audio)

POCHO Jefe-in-Chief Lalo Alcaraz stopped by WGBH in Boston today to record an interview (audio and video) for Public Radio International’s The World with Carol Hills.

It sounds like he made some new friends in Boston:

Alcaraz is a strong believer in laughing during hard times. And that’s where satire comes in. Coping with humor is something he learned from his Mexican parents. “It’s kind of the Mexican national pastime. I was just telling my Uber driver that the US has become Mexico. That’s why we all have 10 jobs.”

Here’s the audio:

Mas…Lalo Alcaraz on WGBH/PRI: ‘U.S. is becoming Mexico’ (audio)

LatinoUSA NPR Audio: The 1% and 99% of Mexico meet in NYC

mariachirestaurantastoria

LatinoUSA’s Antonia Cereijido writes the intro:

If you go to a high-end restaurant in New York City, there’s a good chance that you’re dining among some of the wealthiest Mexicans in the world and being served by some of the poorest. This story was produced in collaboration with Round Earth Media. Tyler Kelley is a co-reporter on the piece.

[Mariachi Restaurant in Astoria, Queens, NY, photographed by Aude. Some rights reserved.]

¡Orale! We’re getting $5.2 million for Christmas! (audio)

OMG! We’re getting a $5.2 million ATM Card for Christmas! Here are the deets:

GOOD DAY MY FRIEND.
How are you, and with your family,

All the arragement is done about your ATM CARD,there is no problem again
but i let you know that .

Our ATM DEPARTMENT OFFICE Benin republic here are delivery your ATM MASTER CARD
with very little amount If you are ready to receive it which can cost you $100
dollar only. Now i let you know that all your total Amount of your ATM CARD is
( $5.8 MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLAR ONLY ) so i let you know that to Activation
fee of ATM CARD before is $200 dollar in any country in this world wide. but
the COMMISSIONNER OF POLICE And MR IYA BONI PRESIDENCE of Benin republic
held a meeting with there Cabinet the cocultion is that the activation of
ATM CARD will be $100 dollar only.

Mas…¡Orale! We’re getting $5.2 million for Christmas! (audio)

RIP y QDEP: Ramón ‘Chunky’ Sanchez, pocho hero of San Diego

lalo_chunky_sanchezI was sad to hear that San Diego and Barrio Logan Chicano icon Ramón “Chunky” Sanchez passed away Friday at the age of 65.

Born in 1951 in Blythe, California, Chunky learned to play music from his family, and lived his childhood as a migrant farmworker. He left the farm he worked with his father soon after hearing the owner tell his dad that Chunky would make a great foreman when he was gone.

He decided to go to college, and eventually landed at San Diego State. Chunky and his brother Ricardo’s band Los Alacranes Mojados were a fixture when I was a MEChista at San Diego State; I can’t tell you how many events they played for us and for the entire movimiento.

Mas…RIP y QDEP: Ramón ‘Chunky’ Sanchez, pocho hero of San Diego

Latinos boo Senator ‘Little’ Marco Rubio at Orlando fiesta (audio, video)

rubiobooIf was not a fun fiesta for Senator Marco Rubio (R-FLA) Sunday when Orlando festival goers greeted his appearance with a chorus of yells, jeers and boos.

NPR reports:

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio got booed off a stage in Orlando on Sunday, by a crowd that was overwhelmingly Latino.

It happened at Calle Orange, a street festival in downtown Orlando geared toward the city’s large Puerto Rican community. The icy reception was an indication of the challenges that Rubio, a Republican of Cuban heritage, has faced in locking down support from Latinos in Florida as the state’s Latino electorate has begun to shift to the left….

“I’m going to introduce a man who represents Latinos, no matter where you’re from,” the emcee boomed in Spanish. The boos grew louder still. “Ladies and gentlemen, the senator for the state of Florida, a Latino like you and me … his name is Marco Rubio! Applaud!”

We’ve got video and audio:

Mas…Latinos boo Senator ‘Little’ Marco Rubio at Orlando fiesta (audio, video)

De Nalgas: We are culeros, here to wake you up (NSFW audio, lyrics)


Mexico City punk rockers De Nalgas’ (On Your Butt) new single, Pare de Sufrir Pare de Mamar (Stop Suffering, Stop Fucking Up) from the album Vulgar Dulce Hogar, has some deep feels about celebrity vs ability in the music world. POCHO scored the Mexclusive NSFW lyrics in Spanish and English to spread the word. [Adult language in the Spanish audio, too.]

Mira los lyrics:

No soy un genio, no soy inventor de nada
solamente hago lo que se me da la gana
No me importa si lo que hago te parece una mamada
sigo con mi onda y no me meto con tu banda
No soy perfecto, tampoco le hago al cuento
mientras más hablas más importancia tú me das
tu onda mamalona me emputa y me encabrona
mientras más hablas más poco a poco te hundes más

Mas…De Nalgas: We are culeros, here to wake you up (NSFW audio, lyrics)

Nevada riot grrrl + SoCal pocho = PDX duo Tallwomen (audio)

 

Drummer David Jacobo is a SoCal pocho (Sylmar/Van Nuys/East Los) who works as an educator with special need kids in Portland. Guitarist Cassi Blum. from Reno, Nevada via the East Coast, is a PDX barista.

Together for just six months, the two kick it old school Black Flag style as indie punk band Tallwomen. POCHO’s Punk Rock Artesano Junco Canché gives them “5 liberty spikes out of 5.”

Mas…Nevada riot grrrl + SoCal pocho = PDX duo Tallwomen (audio)

New on Entrepodcast: WePupy – AirBnB for bathroom sharing (audio)

harrygrayIn this week’s Episode #74 of Entrepod, the podcast for wannabe entrepreneurs, host Adam Buckholtz (photo) speaks with Bay Area entrepreneur Genesee Flashpan.

She’s flushed with pride about WePupy — a new app that wipes “the sharing economy” and sanitizes it for your protection.

When you have to go, you have to go, and WePupy makes it easy to leave your cares behind at carefully curated facilities near you.

Mas…New on Entrepodcast: WePupy – AirBnB for bathroom sharing (audio)

Los Supercivicos: Satirical super hero citizens of Mexico City (audio)

Supercivicos-600x380Los Supercivicos, Mexico’s City’s self-appointed superhero vigilantes, wield the wicked sword of satire as they fight for truth, justice and the Mexican Way.

Zakiya Gibbons reports for NPR’s LatinoUSA:

Alex Marin y Kall and Arturo Hernández are redefining crime-fighting in Mexico City with their comedy group, Los Supercívicos. Armed with comedy and a camera, the duo hits the streets to shame wrongdoers into good behavior They draw crowds by dressing up as anything from cowboys to nuns, and they improvise “happenings” to call attention to the offender. People even turn to Los Supercívicos for rescue when the authorities won’t help. While it seems all fun and games, Marin y Kall and Hernández are pursuing the serious goal of promoting civic awareness—in Mexico City and beyond.

Mas…Los Supercivicos: Satirical super hero citizens of Mexico City (audio)