High Fidel-ity (MP3s)
Back in February, when Fidel Castro resigned the presidency of Cuba, the New York Times ran a nice piece on WFMU after Dave the Spazz feted the event by spinning Jay Chevalier's "Castro Rock" on his radio show. (Click to hear it, below.) Being that today is el Comandante's 82nd birthday, please join me, won't you, in belting out a rousing rendition of "¡Feliz Cumpleaños!" Hey, he may actually still be alive!
When you're done singing, please take time to enjoy these topical tunes:
Jay Chevalier & the Moon Men: Castro Rock (MP3)
The Skatalites: Fidel Castro (MP3)
Charlie Stewart & the Gem Tones: Hey! Castro (MP3)
Jackie McLean: Fidel (MP3)
Conjunto Bernal: Fidel Castro Polka (MP3)
Gene Freeman: Fidel Castro
Jacques Coursil: Fidel (MP3)
My favorite calypsonian Lord Invader also has a song dedicated to old hat-n-beard, but I can't find a live link for it anymore and my library was recently wiped out...
Posted by: Xavier Chynoweth | August 13, 2008 at 01:34 PM
Can we get an honorable mention for Nick Lowe's "Nutted By Reality?"
Well, I heard they castrated Castro, I heard they cut off everything he had. What a dirty, lowdown thing to do to mess him up like that.
MP3 here.
Posted by: Jonny | August 13, 2008 at 03:26 PM
I second the notion for Nick Lowe. In that same vein, we might consider Billy Bragg's "Waiting for the Great Leap Forward," which boasts the lyric:
"Fidel Castro's brother spies a rich lady who's crying
Over luxury's disappointment
So he walks over and he's trying
To sympathise with her, but he thinks that he should warn her
That the Third World is just around the corner"
Posted by: Texas Prairie Chicken | August 14, 2008 at 11:14 PM