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The Latino/Morrissey Phenomenon
Posted at 1:01 PM on March 16, 2009
by Steve Seel
(1 Comments)
This morning, our Program Director Jim McGuinn joined me to talk about our CD of the Week, Morrissey's Years of Refusal. In the course of the discussion, Jim brought up the incredible following Morrissey has in the Latino community - East L.A. was Jim's specific example - which I was not at all aware of (after talking about it, Michael B. e-mailed to point out that Chuck Klosterman has written about this at length, apparently). Jim even mentioned the Morrissey tribute band, The Sweet and Tender Hooligans, who are huge in the East L.A. scene. Again, I had no idea of this.
Well, even if you don't speak a word of Spanish, one look at this video will make it abundantly clear how real this phenomenon is.
As always, support The Current online and this week we'll send you a copy of Morrissey's Years of Refusal.
Comments (1)
As a former instructor of Chicano Studies ... sorry, I can't help but jump in on this! My students and I actually devoted a class to this one!
After industrialization hit North America, there was a real longing for pre-industrial society. In Mexico, and part of the U.S. inhabited by Mexican-Americans, this longing for the pastoral was expressed in music. It was called ranchera--and was, as the name implied--about life on the ranch: simpler times, nature, etc. (Lydia Mendoza and Lola Beltran are great examples of this music.)
Now, I'm not sure about the why or how of this, but ranchera was super-emotive--lots of howling and crooning. Maybe it was to express that longing for times lost. And it's the basis for a lot of what you hear in traditional Mexican music, like mariachi and conjunto. A lot of these kids who are into Morrissey probably grew up hearing their parents' music--ranchero and conjunto. And just like some Anglo kids gravitate to indie rock instead of Britney Spears, some of these Latino kids gravitated to Morrissey instead of Shakira. They may have heard something in Morrissey's emotive vocals that resonated with their history, or that felt familiar/nostalgic. I'd also bet that there's something about Morrissey that is a direct challenge to machismo--he gives young Latino males the permission to be who they want to be outside of cultural expectations.
I was happy to hear this brought up this morning, though, because I find it a really fascinating example of pop-cultural syncretism, if that's the right word.
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