Loco Amor
Posted in Music, Neat Stuff, tagged Alex Borstein, Cuban Rock, Early Painting, Los Diablos Melodicos, Pedrito Martinez, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on March 12, 2021| 4 Comments »
I am on the run this morning. Busy. That painting that I mentioned yesterday is still cooking on the easel and calling out for more. It's a piece that will play a part in my annual June solo show— my 22nd there— at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA. More details to come.
So, I need to get other stuff done as I am in the midst of prepping for that show. Plus I am a little giddy since I get my first dose (or only dose if it turns out to be the Johnson & Johnson shot) later today. It doesn't seem like something like a shot should raise one's spirits but it feels like it marks the coming end of the pandemic, at least in its severest and deadliest phases.
So, I am getting right to work this morning. But I wanted to share a song to go along with the old painting from back in 2001 — that seems a lifetime ago now, so many consequential thing having occurred– that runs alongside this post. I don't paint as many pieces in this tall, skinny format as I once did. Might have to revisit it soon. Anyway, this one feels like it goes with the song.
The song is called Loco Amor and was featured in an episode of the The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the very funny series from Amazon about a burgeoning female stand-up comedian in the late 1950's and early 1960's. If you haven't seen it, it has great comedic writing and a terrific cast including Alex Borstein's hilarious portrayal of Susie Meyerson, Mrs. Maisel's agent.
I didn't know anything about the song when I decided to feature it so I looked up and found out a bit about it and Pedrito Martinez, the Cuban-born musician who does the modern version featured in the show. In doing so I also discovered that the Mrs. Maisel episode used the song in a way that directly mirrored, in a shot by shot way, its use in a a 1964 Spanish language film titled Soy Cuba. That film version was performed by Los Diablos Melodicos, a Cuban rock group of that era.
Cuban rock is not well known here, understandably, but group likes Los Diablos were heavily influenced by American rock and roll of the 1950's that was popular in Cuba before Castro and the revolution took place. Rock music was banned there in the early 1960's, though it survived via performance. The ban was eventually lifted but there was always a close watch on the lyrics and message of the music.
I am sharing both the modern version below from Pedrito Martinez and the original as it was performed in Soy Cuba by Los Diablos Melodicos.
Now, to work I go.