Wasted days and wasted nights
Baldemar Huerta decolonized music fans’ ears for six decades. As El Bebop Kid he was one of the first Latino rock stars in the 1950s, as Freddy Fender he was the first person to top the American pop and country charts bilingually, and as a member of the Texas Tornados and Los Super Seven he was one of the chefs of a stew of rock, folk, country and Mexican rancheras and boleros that could only be summarized as “American music.”
He’s the quintessential American success story: The son of migrant farm workers, kicked out of the Marines, jailed in Angola State Prison for three years for possession of two marijuana joints, yet somehow he ended up with his name and likeness on his home town’s water tower. This week Global A Go-Go celebrates what would have been Freddy Fender’s 86th birthday with music from the full breadth of his career.
Also this week (Sunday June 4, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): New sounds from southern Africa, Alogte Oho and Max Weissenfeldt’s Frafra gospel, feminist Afrobeat, what’s new in reggae, and north African rock ‘n’ roll.
Podcast: radio4all.net/program/115616
All the podcasts: radio4all.net/series/Global%20A%20Go-Go
Show archive
Playlist
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Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, “Global a Go-Go”
from Global A Go-Go
BMG Rights Management (US) LLC - 2001
England UK
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WITCH, “Avalanche Of Love (feat. Sampa the Great)”
from Zango
Desert Daze Sound - 2023
Zambia-Netherlands-Germany-Bulgaria
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Alogte Oho & His Sounds of Joy, “La Ka Ba'A”
from O Yinne!
Philophon - 2023
Ghana-Germany-Finland-Italy
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Somi, “Lady Revisited (feat. Angelique Kidjo)”
OKEH - 2014
USA-Benin-France
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Bantu, “Na Me Own My Body (feat Akua Naru)”
from Na Me Own My Body - Single
Soledad Production - 2023
Nigeria-USA
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Texas Tornados, “If That's What You're Thinking”
from Texas Tornados
Warner Records/Nashville - 1990
USA
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Freddy Fender, “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights”
from 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Freddy Fender
MCA Nashville - 2001
USA, 1959
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Easy Star All-Stars, “Starman (feat Maxi Priest)”
from Ziggy Stardub
Easy Star Records - 2023
USA-England UK
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Hamdi Benani, Mehdi Haddab & Speed Caravan, “Jani Ma Jani”
from Nuba Nova
Buda musique - 2020
Algeria-France