“Yo quería hacer un disco que le gustara a mi madre y a mi padre”, said Bunbury in 1999 while discussing Pequeño, his second solo álbum, released later that year. ‘I wanted to make a record that my mum and my dad liked’. Sure enough, the album became a major departure for Bunbury in that…

“Todo el mundo sabe que es difícil encontrar en la vida un lugar…” Thus goes the opening line of Camino Soria by Spanish band Gabinete Caligari, the song we’re discussing in this episode. By the river Duero, the town of Soria (North of Madrid, in Castilla la Mancha) becomes here an almost mystical place where…

We’re on a trip to Disneylandia! Today we learn about the dubbings of Disney films for Spanish and Latin American audiences. We then go on to study Lady and the Tramp’s infamous Siamese Cats Song. Listen to Si and Am singing in a suspicious Thai accent, with a genuine Mexican flavour and a touch of…

So you still don’t know what being in love is like? Stress no more: Spanish crooner Raphael gives you no less than twelve different definitions of such state in Estar enamorado (To be in love), a song from 1981 written by the singer’s habitual partner in crime, Manuel Alejandro. Together, Raphael and Alejandro have formed…

In this episode we learn about Los Nikis, an 80’s band from Madrid, and their song from 1986 Diez años en Sing Sing. The song title and chorus reference a classic prison drama from 1932, 20000 Years in Sing Sing, starring Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis. It was not unusual for Spanish bands of that…

In this episode we explore the song Así no se vive bien by Los Ronaldos, one of the most loved rock bands that came out of Spain in the 80’s. Their vocalist Coque Malla is still going strong today as a solo artist. In 2021 he released Soy un astronauta gigante (I am a giant…

On this episode we explore the opening theme song of David el Gnomo, an animated television series that was hugely popular in Spain during the mid-1980’s. Throughout the episode we learn about David’s domestic life and the wider gnome world. Did you know that gnomes live for several centuries, and that Spaniards – both of…

On this episode we discuss Branquias bajo el agua (Gills underwater), a song by the Spanish group Derribos Arias. Ignacio Gasca, better know as simply Poch, was the leader of this band which helped to define the spirit of the Spanish movida in the early 1980’s. Poch was by all accounts a colourful figure, with…

In this episode we discuss Vámonos, a Mexican ranchera written by José Alfredo Jiménez, one of the greatest and most prolific songwriters of the 20th Century. One of many singers who helped to popularise the song was Chavela Vargas. She was close friends with Jiménez – it is well-known that they shared many a tequila…

In this episode we talk about Tuyo, the opening theme of the television series Narcos, which tells the story of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. The song, commissioned specifically for the show, was written and performed by Rodrigo Amarante, a Brazilian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer and arranger. Amarante was inspired by the type of music that…