For those of you who may or not know about the various tribulations of my car (238,000 miles and counting), one of the more annoying defects is my lack of FM radio.
I can tune into AM radio fine, but I haven’t had my fix of 88.5, Wild 98.7 or 98 Rock in months. So, instead of listening to some rabid conservative fool, I troll around some of the lesser-known AM stations looking for something that might pique my interest.
I found one of my favorites this week at WLCC 760 AM. It typically plays what I call “Mexican polka,†though recently I learned the true name of the wide-ranging genre: conjunto or musica nortena (northern music). Heavy on accordions and a type of 12-string guitar popularized in Mexico (the bajo sexto), conjunto has a more snappy and boisterous feel than traditional German polka, pulsating rhythms accentuated with the occasional whoop and holler. Quite simply, the music makes you want to hop around, throwing your hands up and singing the five Spanish words you learned in high school. It’s great for rush hour.
When I lived in Arizona, conjunto wasn’t regulated to the AM dials, so whether I was stuck on I-17 (you feel me, former Arizonans?) or taking a trip to visit those lovable (and laughable) Minutemen, I could tune to at least eight different stations, turn up my speakers and dance to my favorite conjunto songs.
This week — in honor of the immigration reform rallies and Cinco de Mayo — cujunto is once again heavy on my defective radio dial.
It should be on yours, too.
(Side note: Speaking of immigrant rallies — if you haven’t caught footage of the Los Angeles Police Department’s heavy-handed response to a few unruly anarchists during that city’s rally, catch this video of cops beating down peaceful protesters and journalists. You’d think they would have learned from the last time … er … times.)
This article appears in May 2-8, 2007.
