Hola amigos! I’ve sung these word since I was a teenager muchos años ago and they still hold true with me to this day.

Music is to Mexico like hot sauce is to enchiladas. You’ve just got to have it in order to get the real flavor to the place. I always make sure any car I drive in Mexico has an AM radio. This is muy importante. It will get you into the spirit and grosove of the drive. FM is cool, but with AM you get a closer to the common man’s roots.

On the second-class buses, the drivers usually blast out their favorite tapes during the trip, like mobile DJ’s. For me, there’s nothing more refreshing than waking up to a blaring wild tropical cumbia while winding through the mountains.

On the AM dial right now you are more likely to hear a slow tropical cumbia groove or Northern conjunto music. The cumbia originated in Columbia but has worked its way up to Mexico in a muy grande way. The beat reminds me of a slow galloping horse in a cartoon. Conjunto music is the accordion-style music you may have heard creeping out of your AM radio late at night in the southwestern U.S. It is mostly polkas that sound like they were fueled by tequila, cervieza and other magical ingredients. Both of these styles cater more to the working class. Also on AM you hear a LOT more extreme echo and reverb with the announcers.

FM lately has gotten really great with rock groups like Los Caifanes, Mana, Maldita Vencidad and los Jaguares leading the way. Their styles combine Mexican with rock and reggae.

I personally find it more interesting than anything going on in the U.S. Mana seems to have the same vibe as the Beatles did when they first came out. Mana’s melodies carry over in any language. I get off on the FM Mexican rock and the AM conjunto equally. It’s probably because I’m having such a good time wherever I am.

I don’t believe one has to understand the language to like the music. The spirit of it transcends all language. I mean, how many people understand the lyrics to Louie Louie?

When you travel around Mexico there is always that one hit song that you keep hearing everywhere you go – over and over and over again. Later, in life when you think of this song, you’ll be reminded of that particular trip and all that went with it.

Each area of Mexico has its own regional style. The polkas are more popular in the dry norther desert areas while the tropical cumbias are heard in jungle and beach climates. The closer you get to Guatemala, the more marimba music you hear. When I hear the marimbas, it reminds me of skeletons dancing, but that’s just me! It just seems to make me really happy. This particular music gives me a mystical feeling because Mexico is such a magical, mystical place.

When I was a teenager hanging out in Mexico all the kids I met who were playing music played it because they loved it and not because they could make a lot of dinero. That feeling comes out in the music. The cool thing that sets Mexico apart from most countries is that you hear music blasting out in the streets, houses, restaurants, stores – just about everywhere you go. !Vamos a bailar!

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