1980s Fun Band of the Week - Alaska y Dinarama
What is there not to love about Alaska? She's made a comeback of sorts this year thanks to a duet with Miguel Bosé . She was in Almodovar's first film in 1980. And in this video for "Ni tú ni nadie" she and the boys look like the house band at the coolest gay bar in the world circa 1985. This tune has it all -- punk and goth attitude, a gorgeous string interlude midway (sounding like a Trevor Horn production circa 1982's The Lexicon of Love by ABC), Abbey Road era horns, an oohing and ahhing chorus, and Ms. Alaska doing her best Theda Bara at the heart of it. It's the perfect wake up and seize the day anthem in my book.
And who can top Alaska for all around coolness? A girl that longed to be a gay man, her father fled Spain to escape Fascism, her mother fled Cuba to escape Communism. Out of the romance of two exiles came genius.
Theda
Labels: 1980s, Castro, Cuba, Mexico, Music, silent film stars, Spain
posted by Ladrón de Basura (a.k.a. Junk Thief) @ 9:15 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
I had no idea, and I thought I knew my Spanish-speaking artists well. I like this song lots. I will look more into this. From the 80s, I totally dig MECANO though.
Gracias por educarme.
Yes, Mecano is cool too. Leave it to a gringo/Jew to introduce this group. Alaska totally transcends language in my opinion. She looks a bit like the Dead or Alive dude, but her music is much better. And, yes, she's really a girl. The remake of Amante Bandido with Miguel Bose is pretty good too.
Indifferent to pop music later than the 1930s, I could learn to love Rock and Roll if none of it were in English or U.S.A.-produced (as I could go back to the Church if they returned to a Latin mass--well, no, not that.)
Well, then you might like the Spanish version of ABBA's "Dancing Queen" (vast improvement over English) or Toni Basil's español take of "Mickey", a near religious experience.
Holy shit! When I lived in Spain my b/f Fernando was astonished to discover that I knew who Alaska was. How could I forget "Murciana Marrana" from "Pepi, Luci, Bom y Otras Chcas de Monton"?
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