José Alberto Iglesias (September 16, 1944 – May 19, 1972), better known as Tango or its
diminutive
A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...
Tanguito or
Ramses VII
Usermaatre Setepenre Meryamun Ramesses VII (also written Ramses and Rameses) was the sixth pharaoh of the 20th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He reigned from about 1136 to 1129 BC and was the son of Ramesses VI. Other dates for his reign are 113 ...
, was an
Argentine
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...
rock singer-songwriter. Born into a working-class family from western
Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires ( es, Gran Buenos Aires, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area ( es, Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the adjac ...
, he began his career in the early 1960s as the lead singer of the '' nueva ola'' group Los Dukes, which recorded two singles released on label Music Hall. In the late 1960s, he became a leading figure in the
countercultural
A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...
underground
Underground most commonly refers to:
* Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth
Underground may also refer to:
Places
* The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston
* The Underground ...
of
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, a scene that gave birth to
Argentine rock
Argentine rock (known locally as ''rock nacional'' , "national rock" in the sense of "local", "not international") is rock music composed or performed by Argentine bands or artists mostly in Spanish.
Argentine rock began by recycling hits of Eng ...
(known locally as ''rock nacional'', Spanish for "national rock"), the earliest incarnation of
Spanish-language rock
Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in the Am ...
. Tanguito is celebrated for co-writing
Los Gatos
Los Gatos (, ; ) is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located in the San Franci ...
' hit " La balsa", that catapulted the burgeoning ''rock nacional'' into massive popularity in the summer of 1967–68. This success led to a contract with
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...
which soon ended after the little impact of the 1968 single "El hombre restante". Tanguito later worked for Mandioca, Argentine rock's first
independent record label
An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...
founded by producers Jorge Álvarez and Pedro Pujó in 1968.
In the early 1970s, his
amphetamine addiction
Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used a ...
worsened and deeply damaged his career and personal life. He was arrested on several occasions and later hospitalized at the
Hospital Borda
The Hospital Interdisciplinario Psicoasistencial José Tiburcio Borda (alternate: Municipal Hospital of José Tiburcio Borda; nickname: El Borda) is the largest and most notable psychiatric hospital in Argentina. Situated on , El Borda is located ...
, where he was subjected to
electroshock therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive th ...
. In May 1972, he was declared legally insane and transferred to a prison for psychopaths. That same month, Tanguito escaped and lost his life under the San Martín train. His only studio album, ''
Tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
'', was posthumously released in 1973 and compiled his recordings for Mandioca between 1969 and 1970. The album turned Tanguito into a
cult
In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
figure among suburban rock fans and installed the persistent myth that he had been the original author of "La balsa" and
Litto Nebbia
Félix Francisco "Litto" Nebbia Corbacho (born 21 July 1948) is an Argentine singer-songwriter, musician and producer prominent in the development of Argentine rock.
Life and work
Félix Francisco Nebbia Corbacho was born in Rosario, Santa Fe t ...
had taken advantage of his fragile state of mind. The musician later became a
cultural icon
A cultural icon is a person or an artifact that is identified by members of a culture as representative of that culture. The process of identification is subjective, and "icons" are judged by the extent to which they can be seen as an authentic ...
as the subject of the 1993 film '' Tango Feroz'', becoming the archetype of the tragic rock hero. In 2009, the archival album ''Yo soy Ramsés'' was released, which compiled unedited 1967 recordings for RCA Victor. In 2007, the Argentine edition of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' ranked ''Tango'' fifty-sixth on its list of the "100 Best Albums of Argentine Rock".
Biography
Early days
José Alberto Iglesias was born September 16, 1944, in the industrial town of
San Martín
San Martín or San Martin may refer to:
People Saints
* Saint Martin (disambiguation)#People, name of various saints in Spanish
Political leaders
*Vicente San Martin (1839 -1901), Military, National hero of Mexico.
*Basilio San Martin (1849 ...
, Buenos Aires Province. His family lived in a modest house in the town of
Caseros Caseros might refer to:
* Caseros, Buenos Aires, Argentina
* Caseros (Entre Ríos), Argentina
* Caseros Department, a provincial political subdivision in Santa Fe Province, Argentina
* Caseros Prison, Argentina
* Battle of Caseros, Argentina
* Caser ...
, close to the city of
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
.
Iglesias showed no interest in school, and after flunking out at age 13 he tried different apprenticeships, including gardening school, but did not persevere. The only issue that held his interest was rock and roll. At age 17, José was a fixture of social ballrooms in the
Mataderos
Mataderos (Spanish for "slaughterhouses") is a ''barrio'' (neighbourhood) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is one of the three ''barrios'' that make up the Comuna 9, alongside Liniers and Parque Avellaneda. Located in the south-west end of the city, ...
and
Flores
Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and th ...
neighborhoods, singing mostly rock and roll covers. He also gained local fame as a rock and roll dancer, while most people in the suburbs were
tango dance
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
rs. To highlight this contrast, his friends started calling him "Tango" or "Tanguito" (the diminutive of "tango").
With his first band, Los Duques, he recorded a few covers and one original song in 1963.
La Cueva
In 1965, Tanguito and his friend Horacio Martínez became regulars of a night club named ''La Cueva'' ("The Cave") in the Recoleta district. The club was to become the cradle of Argentine rock, with celebrities-to-be such as Moris,
Sandro
Sandro is an Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swiss, Georgian and Croatian given name, often a diminutive of Alessandro (disambiguation), Alessandro or Alexander. It is also a surname.
Sandro may refer to:
Given name or nickname
Sports
*Sandro (f ...
, and
Litto Nebbia
Félix Francisco "Litto" Nebbia Corbacho (born 21 July 1948) is an Argentine singer-songwriter, musician and producer prominent in the development of Argentine rock.
Life and work
Félix Francisco Nebbia Corbacho was born in Rosario, Santa Fe t ...
performing regularly, and other figures such as Pipo Lernoud, Miguel Grinberg and
Miguel Abuelo
Miguel Angel Peralta, (March 21, 1946 – March 26, 1988) known by his artistic name Miguel Abuelo, was an Argentine rock musician and singer.
Early days
A native of Munro, in the Greater Buenos Aires industrial belt, Miguel Peralta was one of ...
sharing the limelight. Many of them were struggling with writing rock lyrics in Spanish, and Tanguito was initially perceived as a novelty act, who could sing energetic
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
covers in broken English.
The musicians would end the night by walking up Pueyrredón avenue together to have late supper or breakfast in café ''La Perla del Once'' in the
Balvanera
Balvanera is a barrio or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Origin of name and alternative names
The official name, Balvanera, is the name of the ''parroquia'' (parish) centered around the church of ''Nuestra Señora de Balvanera'', erected ...
district. When Tanguito once ranted in the café's washroom about being alone and sad in the world, Nebbia encouraged him to write a song based on his refrain. Tanguito obliged, and Nebbia added a choir with a vaguely
bossa nova
Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...
air. That song would become the first mega-hit of Spanish language rock and roll: " La balsa" ("The raft"). Nebbia's band,
Los Gatos
Los Gatos (, ; ) is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located in the San Franci ...
, recorded it on June 19, 1967, and got a significant amount of radio play that helped the single sell over 250,000 copies. Both the name and the lyrics of the song may refer to
José Feliciano
José Montserrate Feliciano García (born September 10, 1945) () is a Puerto Rican musician, singer and composer. He recorded many international hits, including his rendition of the Doors' "Light My Fire" and his self-penned Christmas song " ...
's ''La Barca'', and many of Tanguito's friends acknowledge that Tanguito had Feliciano's song on his mind.
Tanguito's own rendition was not immediately recorded, but was broadcast on national television a few months later, in a segment about the Buenos Aires version of the
hippie
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...
phenomenon. The success of "Los Gatos" and Tanguito's status as co-composer of "La Balsa" hinted that a career break was around the corner, yet his first single, recorded January 18, 1968, was not marketed effectively by
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
and sales floundered.
During 1968, several songs by Tanguito, notably ''Amor de Primavera'' ("Spring Love"), were being covered or borrowed by emerging artists in the Argentine rock and roll scene. Tanguito would also take credit for other people's songs, including the ribald song "Errol Flynn" which was popular in the summer of 1968.
All of Tanguito songs are credited to "Ramsés VII", one of his many pseudonyms, after the Egyptian
Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
seventh chord
A seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a seventh above the chord's root. When not otherwise specified, a "seventh chord" usually means a dominant seventh chord: a major triad together with a minor ...
s. Other pseudonyms he used from time to time include Susano Valdez and ''Drago'' (after a then-popular seltzer machine).
When Tanguito broke with RCA he found a new home in Mandioca, a label dedicated exclusively to rock, which immediately arranged for studio time. But he had trouble motivating himself to complete an album. Typically, Tanguito would record one or two song sketches alone with his guitar, or jam with available musicians, and disappear for days. By that time he had switched from
alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
and casual
marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
use to hard drugs, and was injecting
amphetamine
Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used ...
s whenever he could afford them.
In those years, Argentine's police used hard-line tactics against drug addicts and had very little education about how to deal with them effectively. Tanguito would get arrested repeatedly for
vagrancy
Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...
or
inebriation
Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of Alcohol (drug), alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of etha ...
and be left unattended in a detention cell. One such episode in late 1970 was so damaging to his mental health that Tanguito became unable to recognize his friends, and was taken home by his mother for recovery.
Later days
In February 1971, Tanguito was arraigned and charged with heading a
drug gang
A drug cartel is any criminal organization with the intention of supplying drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when th ...
insulin shock therapy
Insulin shock therapy or insulin coma therapy was a form of psychiatric treatment in which patients were repeatedly injected with large doses of insulin in order to produce daily comas over several weeks.Neustatter WL (1948) ''Modern psychiatry ...
and other treatments designed to wane him off the amphetamines. Instead of recovering, his mental health deteriorated and in 1972 he was committed to the hospital's long-term care facility.
Tanguito escaped from the hospital on the dawn of May 19, 1972. He managed to reach the Pacífico train station, where he apparently hoped to board a train to his parents' home in Caseros; at 10:50 am, he fell on the tracks and was fatally hit by an oncoming train.
Influence and legacy
Argentine rock was to become a seminal influence in
rock en español
Rock en español () is a term used widely in the English-speaking world to refer to any kind of rock music featuring Spanish vocals. Compared to English-speaking bands, very few acts reached worldwide success or between Spanish-speaking countri ...
; Tanguito provided the first real hit of that movement as well as many sketches that were freely used by others. His brief but brilliant trajectory is recalled by many elder statesmen of Argentine rock as a main force in the early days, and as a sad remainder of the damage that drugs can wreak. Argentine author Miguel Grinberg, who was involved in that scene, has sai that Tanguito influenced the transition of Argentine rock from English to Spanish more than anybody else.
In 1973, Tanguito's Mandioca recordings were published in an LP album named ''
Tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
''. This album was released again in 1982 and 1993. The album's rendition of ''La Balsa'' has a spoken word introduction by
Manal
Manal was an Argentine rock group. Together with Almendra and Los Gatos, they are considered founders of Argentine rock.Javier Martínez in which he repeats: "you composed ''La Balsa'' in the washroom of La Perla del Once". Martínez was in the studio for the recording but did not participate, and uttered the words for dramatic effect. The emphasis created friction with Nebbia, who felt that Mandioca was claiming Tanguito was the song's sole author. The rift subsided over time, but Nebbia remained a jealous custodian of his own rights.
Luis Alberto Spinetta
Luis Alberto Spinetta (23 January 1950 – 8 February 2012), nicknamed "El Flaco" (Spanish for "skinny"), was an Argentine singer, guitarist, composer and poet. One of the most influential Rock music, rock musicians of Argentina, he is regarded ...
covered Tanguito's ''Amor de Primavera'' and made that song a highlight of his concerts during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
In 1989, a television show named "Tanguito" starring Emilio Bardi was aired in the "Especiales de ATC" program on ( Canal 7).
Director
Marcelo Piñeyro
Marcelo Piñeyro (born March 5, 1953) is an Argentine award-winning film director, screenwriter, and film producer.
Biography
Born in Buenos Aires, Piñeyro studied cinematography at the University of La Plata's School of Fine Arts. In 1980 ...
directed his first feature film '' Tango Feroz'' ("Fierce Tango") in 1993, which became the top-grossing movie of the year in Argentina. The movie dramatized the life of a rock singer, obviously based on Tanguito, referring to the political and social climate of Argentina in the 1960s and early 1970s. Piñeyro did not obtain permission to use Tanguito's songs in the soundtrack, and was unable to get Nebbia to help researching Tanguito's life. He took artistic license in the plot of the movie, since the real-life Tanguito was not active politically and did not comment on the events that shook Argentina such as the 1969 ''
Cordobazo
The Cordobazo was a civil uprising in the city of Córdoba, Argentina, at the end of May 1969, during the military dictatorship of General Juan Carlos Onganía, which occurred a few days after the '' Rosariazo'', and a year after the global protes ...
'', even though his "hippie" image might have influenced his ordeals with the police. His turbulent personal life and drug-related issues were also sanitized in the screenplay.
Spanish singer-songwriter pays tribute to Tanguito with his song of the same name "Tanguito", released originally on his 1999 album "Pensión Triana". One of the lines reads "''Toma del escenario la madera necesaria, subíme de la mano y naufraguemos en tu balsa"'' which is Ruibal's gesture to Tanguito's song La balsa''.''