Exicinco (Exitos 5)

More of the Exitos series of picks. This pick is volume five and perfect for Cinco De Mayo. Some of my favorites mixed together. Different genres within the Latino "label" and all with my weird naming convention. Pardon me if you actually speak or write fluent Spanish. I had four years, but I obviously learned more in the restaurants I worked at and the soccer teams I played on. I even coached youth soccer and had to be able to speak my own broken Spanish to the parents (the kids had no problems with English). Having visited Central and Southern America and lived in areas of town where I was the only non-Latino on the block, I got exposed to some great music from all over, especially once everyone knew I was the "white" DJ who actually liked their favorite songs and played them at the block parties. These can be played at any mixed event and keep people happy. And have a great Cinco De Mayo!

Exicinco (Exitos 5)

01 Los Lobos featuring Antonio Banderas - Cancion Del Mariachi (Morena De Mi Corazon)

02 Vicente Fernández - El Rey

03 Ramon Ayala - Tragos Amargos

04 Dr. Loco's Rockin' Jalapeño Band - Chile Pie

05 Caballo Dorado - No Rompas Mi Corazón (Achy Breaky Heart)

06 Mana - Oye Mi Amor

07 La Sonora Dinamita - Mi Cucu

08 Don Omar Featuring Lucenzo - Danza Kuduro

09 Alicia Villarreal - Ladrón

10 Margarita La Diosa De La Cumbia - Mi Bombon

11 Pedro Fernandez - Yo No Fum

12 El Coyote Y Su Banda - Y Que Paso

13 Ozuna - Del Mar

14 Romeo Santos - Propuesta Indecente

15 Banda El Recodo - Te Presumo

16 Enrique Iglesias featuring Descemer Bueno & Gente de Zona - Bailando

17 Azul Azul - La Bomba (Diaz Bros. Remix)

18 The Guadaloops - Nunca Es Tarde

19 Celia Cruz - La Vida Es Un Carnaval

20 Marc Anthony - Vivir Mi Vida

21 Deorro With Elvis Crespo - Bailar

Exidos (Exitos 2)

This is where I will get a lot of gruff. Probably well deserved. I love puns even if they don't make sense to anyone but me. Exitos (as I said yesterday) means hits. Dos, means two. So I called this Exidos (Hits Two) in my world, but no one elses. So that is how I started the naming convention of this series of hispanic Picks. I would not do it now, but I put salsa on these. I figured I would DJ from one CD to the next and I could mix salsa in to a gig for a salsa set. Not really a Mexican thing, although it is okay in some situations. Better to have some banda instead of all this Mariachi. And Selena and Simon and Garfunkel and Los Lobos should all be on another play list, but here they are. Remember this was made some time ago. Wait for tomorrow.

Exidos (Exitos 2)

01 Selena - Where Ever You Are Dondequiera Que Estes

02 Mariachi Vargas De Tecalitlan - Jarabe Tapatio

03 Mariachi Sol De Mexico - Mexico

04 Sandpipers - Guantanamera

05 Simon & Garfunkel - Cecilia

06 Los Lobos - Serenata Nortena

07 Los Flamers - La Guera Salome

08 Grupo Gale - Buscando Olvidarte

09 Oscar D'Leon - Detalles

10 Hildemaro y Su Orquesta - La Carta

11 Eddie Santiago - Lluvia

12 Chuch Nuncira - El Meneito

13 Tony Vega - Lo Mio Es Amor

14 Willy Chirino - Lo Que Esta Pa Ti

15 Malavoi - Ti Djo'

16 Orquesta Del Sol - Campanero

17 Jerusalem Salsa Band - Oye Me Israel

18 Salsamania - Rampa Rumba

19 Selena - Bidi Bidi Bom Bom

Exitos

I know it is already past Hispanic Heritage month. Too bad. I will probably piss off a bunch of people with my next few posts. Sorry about that. Frankly, if I was going to remake these, I would probably do it differently. But here's the story. I DJ'ed in San Jose, California. I did many what you would call mixed weddings. Fused, merged, blended. It doesn't matter. A couple from two or more different cultures. I liked doing them. I like a wide variety of music. So this was my first pick to play some music popular in my area. Now, I didn't get it right. Should I have included salsa's and mariachi's in the same place? Probably not, although it worked for this time. Later I would add more variety in future volumes. I would not do that now. That being said. I love all these songs. Not appropriate in every case, but still good music. Turns out, for me, I like the Rancheras a lot. But also Cumbias and Nortenos and Banda, well a lot more too. Exitos, btw, means "Hits" when you talk about songs (successes when you aren't.) That will come into play over the next several volumes.

Exitos

01 Mariachi Vargas De Tecalitlan - Las Mananitas

02 Linda Ronstadt - Los Laureles

03 Linda Ronstadt - Palomita De Ojos

04 Vicente Fernandez - Volver, Volver

05 Ramon Ayala - Tristes Recuerdos

06 Ramon Ayala - Un Puno De Tierra

07 Little Joe y La Familia - Las Nubes

08 Little Joe y La Familia - Chapparito De Oro

09 Los Humildes - Ambicion

10 Los Tigres Del Norte - Contrabando y Traicion

11 Los Aquario De Mexico - La Hielera

12 Flaco Jimenez - Ay Te Dejo En San Antonio

13 Texas Tornados - Guacamole

14 Texas Tornados - (Hey Baby) Que Paso

15 Gipsy Kings - Summer Medley 94

16 Sonora Dinamita - A Mover La Colita

17 Salsamania - Kleptomania

18 Orquesta De La Luz - Sin Fronteras

19 Miyuki Utsumi - Moliendo Cafe

20 Grupo Niche - Mexico, Mexico

21 Selena y David Byrne - God's Child (Baila Con Migo)

Exitres (Exitos 3)

Ok, I added more variety to this volume, but barely. No more Mariachi. Sorry, but the fusion events I went to would more often than not just hire a mariachi band during cocktail hour, so I didn't get to play much. I did have a call for some quiet rock such as Santana (and one of my favorites by him), El Chicano and Barrio Boyz were good for that. I did have more Selena and more cumbia and more Norteno. I have always like Sonora Dinamita, so more of them on this pick. Brave Combo is so fusion it's not funny. And then some hits at the time from J-Lo and Elvis Crespo, all which turn out to be classics and could easily be played at any gig. And rounded off with more Salsa. Every blended family has some salsa dancers. I took ballroom dance and salsa is always on the menu. The Japanese band Orquesta De La Luz is very good. Give them a chance. And I put in the Tito Puente because it's timeless. Side note. Elvis Crespo playing his big hit is where I am pretty sure my wife and I decided we were compatible and hooked up soon after. Also, notice this compilation is called Exitres (Hits Three in my punny world).

Exitres (Exitos 3)

01 Santana - Flor D'Luna (Moonflower)

02 Barrio Boyz - Cerca De Ti

03 El Chicano - Sabor A Mi

04 Los Copacabana - Besame Mucho

05 Antonio Maciel - La Malaguena

06 Miguel Aceves Mejia - Por Un Amor

07 Ramon Ayala y Los Bravos Del Norte - Gaviota

08 Sonora Dinamita - Capullo y Sorullo

09 Selena - Baila Esta Cumbia

10 Los Tucanes De Tijuana - Espejeando

11 Brave Combo - Cielito Lindo

12 Enrique Iglesias - Bailamos

13 Jennifer Lopez - No Me Ames (Tropical Remix)

14 Carlinhos Brown - A Namorada

15 Elvis Crespo - Pintame

16 Elvis Crespo - Suavemente

17 Fatal Mambo - Rumbagitation

18 Orquesta De La Luz - Arroz Con Salsa

19 Tito Puente Jr & the Latin Rhythm - Oye Como Va

ExiCumbias 1

This Cinco de Mayo pick is fun, but not necessarily having to do with Mexico. Not that Cinco De Mayo really has much to do with Mexico either. It's become a holiday for all latinos in the US. Which makes this a little more appropriate. Cumbias were actually a Colombian thing, but appropriated by many Latin countries including Mexico. There are bands all over that play cumbias. These are some of my favorites. I do have a few on my Exitos series of comps that aren't on here. Maybe I will peel them off and add them to volume two. Exitos just means hits and I made one bad pun to start naming these and I stuck to it although it makes no grammatical sense in Spanish. Lo Siento. I'm sorry. That's just the way it is. Happy Cinco de Mayo anyway.

ExiCumbias 1

01 Los Angeles Azules - Cómo Te Voy A Olvidar

02 Run The Jewels featuring Santa Fe Klan - Ooh La La (Mexican Institute Of Sound Versión)

03 Natalia Lafourcade - Tú Sí Sabes Quererme

04 Caifanes - La Negra Tomasa (Bilongo)

05 Selena - Techno Cumbia

06 Ruben Blades - Eres Mi Canción

07 Celso Piña with Control Machete, Blanquito Man - Cumbia Sobre El Río

08 Mexican Institute Of Sound - Cumbia

09 Los Fabulosos Cadillacs - Padre Nuestro

10 Bomba Estereo - Fuego

11 Rodolfo y su Típica RA7 - La Cologiala

12 La Sonora Dinamita - Que Nadie Sepa Mi Sufrir

13 Celso Piña with El Gran Silencio - Cumbia Poder

14 Bersuit Vergarabat - Yo Tomo

15 El Gran Silencio - Chuntaros Style

16 Mon Laferte - Te Juro Que Volveré

17 Los Lobos - Kiko And The Lavender Moon

18 Los Bukis - Encadenada A Mi

19 Lido Pimienta - Nada

Exiquatros (Exitos 4)

More of the dumb naming convention that only I understand. I made a few mistakes on this one, but I will not point them out. I did have the smarts to include the first few tracks for dinner music on this pick. I really like Jorge Santana's album. Brother of Carlos. And also Malo. Both tracks are timeless. I finally included Santana doing his version, but try to play Tito Puente whenever I can first. It's a good enough song that you will get asked to play it again. Los Lobos did a great version of what I consider Vicente Fernandez' classic. I added more salsa and more cumbia and more banda and more norteno. The track I need to talk about was the track that was my dad's favorite version of what is often played as a mariachi song, by Los Fabulosos 3 Paragauyos. That song is a great one to request if a mariachi band ever comes to play at your table. Looking for that version led me to many other versions by many other bands and I will post that compilation some time in the future (tomorrow). Sorry, but this is the last of this series for now. More will come, I'm sure.

Exiquatros (Exitos 4)

01 Jorge Santana - Love The Way

02 Malo - Suavecito

03 Santana - Oye Como Va

04 Rene Y Rene - Lo Mucho Que Te Quiero

05 Los Lobos - Volver, Volver (Live)

06 José Alfredo Jiménez - Caminos De Guanajuato

07 Los Fabulosos 3 Paragauyos - Malaguena

08 Banda Blanca - Sopa De Caracol

09 Fito Olivares - Juana La Cubana

10 Bronco - Sergio El Bailador

11 La Sombra - El Sapo

12 The Blazers - Cumbia Del Sol

13 Ramon Ayala y Sus Bravos Del Norte - Dos Hojas Sin Rumbo

14 Los Caminantes - Caminos de Guanajuato

15 La Sonora Dinamita - El Viejo Del Sombreron

16 Lou Bega - Mambo No. 5

17 Brave Combo - No, No, No, Cha, Cha, Cha

18 Orquesta De La Luz - Salsa Caliente Del Japon

19 Hot Banditoz - La Cucaracha Dance (Party Remix)

Ése

I have been listening to quite a bit of the band War and was thinking of other songs that fit with them and came up with this "Mixtape" pick. You could put this into a Cinco De Mayo party or mix it with any of my Exitos compilations. But I decided it should just be in the mixtape category. I sort of viewed it like Wah? or WTF?! or Hit The Spot or even Feel Like It. It has two War related tracks that fit in, but also some lesser known bands mixed in with the Santana, Mandrill, Tower Of Power and Malo. One of the ones that I really think fits in is Southern California's Mestizo Beat. But try finding their recordings. Impossible. But they are cool and some label should put their stuff out. I lived in Canoga for awhile so that hits me close. By the way, for those of you who don't know the title (Ése) is sort of slang for "Dude" so that struck me as a great title for this.

Ése

01 Lee Oskar - BLT

02 Harlem River Drive - Idle Hands

03 Mandrill - Fencewalk

04 Pride - Come On, Get Dancing

05 Jungle Fire - Comencemos

06 War - War Is Coming! War Is Coming!

07 Tower Of Power - Walkin' Up Hip Street

08 Senor Soul - Don't Lay Your Funky Trip On Me

09 Funkool Orchestra - Latin Freak

10 Mestizo Beat - Canoga Madness

11 Azteca - Mamita Linda

12 Carl 'Sherlock' Holmes - Modesa

13 Malo - Nena

14 Santana - Dance Sister Dance (Baila Mi Hermana)

15 Chango - Mira Pa 'Ca

16 Bobby Rodriguez - Recuerdos De Arcano

17 Ray Barretto - Acid