Osvaldo Pugliese · Tango By Year

1939

CapítuloA De Caro without the lawyer's recommendation
Without this man there's no Pugliese, no Troilo, no Laurenz.

1941

CapítuloRecuerdo came back in 1941
Pugliese did not bring Recuerdo back. Lomuto and Troilo did.

1943

Farol
Roberto Chanel
Lavocah uses its electric-light lyric to talk about how the new technology changed Buenos Aires.
Mala junta
Played right after Farol.
Fuimos
Roberto Chanel
Lavocah squeezes it in as a Chanel number, though it is not typical of Pugliese at all.

1944

El silbido del boyero
Roberto Chanel
Translated by Dag as 'whistling of the herder'; Pugliese's own whistling effect also appears on his 1943 Malandraca.
Solo en el episodio
El Arranque
An instrumental, originally a De Caro composition, which Michael's book calls Pugliese transforming Caro into something richer.
Recién
Roberto Chanel
Played to imagine what Pugliese's 'Recién' would have sounded like in 1944, even though recording quotas stopped him cutting it that year; he had asked Lucio Demare, on the same label, for permission to record it himself.
CapítuloThe song Pugliese wasn't allowed to record
Osvaldo Pugliese wrote one of his best tangos in 1944 and still couldn't put it on record.
El remate
An underplayed, still-transitional Pugliese instrumental, picked as one of the less intense tracks before the finish.
Tierra querida
An older De Caro-era tango getting the heavier 1944 Pugliese treatment, with a near double-bass solo.
Amurado
A tango usually associated with Laurenz, who wrote it, played here in Pugliese's version.
Mala pinta
The closing, most intense Pugliese track of the night, built around a long held bandoneón note from Osvaldo Ruggiero.
El Arranque
An instrumental favourite from Pugliese's second year recording, chosen for its freedom of piano phrasing and liquid double-bass playing.

1945

CapítuloThe 5,000 peso singer
Pugliese wanted this voice and could not afford him.
CapítuloThree years, six years, nine years
Pugliese's three classics each took years to record.
El sueño del pibe
Roberto Chanel
A football tango about a lad dreaming of scoring the winning cup-final goal, sung by Chanel's 'street voice with class'.
Derecho viejo
An instrumental played for its pairing of aggression and beauty in the violins.
CapítuloViolence and beauty
Pugliese doesn't suggest. He demands.
La cachila
An exceptionally complex instrumental, better recorded than the 1951-52 version; Lavocah says Canaro never attempted it because it was too complex for his conception.
Hoy al recordarla
Alberto Morán
Morán at full dynamic range, which a chat listener compared to a weapon of mass destruction.
Raza criolla
Afterparty: not complex but very joyful, the lightest of the three Pugliese instrumentals Lavocah orders by intensity.
Las marionetas
Afterparty: light and joyful but structurally complex, which Lavocah gives as the reason it is rarely played at milongas.
Pasional
Alberto Morán
Afterparty: confirmed by the lyrics ('esta noche tengo ganas de olvidarla'); Lavocah had said Morán could not have sung it before because it was not yet written.
Solo en el episodio

1946

CapítuloPugliese waited three years to record this
La Yumba almost didn't happen in 1946 either.
La Yumba
The defining recording of the year; Michael reads from his own book to describe its historic significance.
Tiempo
Roberto Chanel
Chanel's nasal street voice described as having class; one of his songs with Pugliese before he later quit the orchestra.
CapítuloBanned from the stage: why Pugliese's singer quit
The government tried to erase an entire orchestra.
Demasiado Tarde
Alberto Morán
Noted for its 'drop' — a quiet opening before the piano's left hand kicks the whole arrangement into gear.
Una Vez
Alberto Morán
A more lyrical Pugliese-Morán composition, paired with Demasiado Tarde as two important songs of the year.
Príncipe
Alberto Morán
Unusual for having Morán sing from the very first few seconds, with an unusually delicate opening for him.
unidentified Morán/Chanel duet
Alberto Morán & Roberto Chanel
A rare duet described only as being about watching the rain; no title was stated before playback.
Solo en el episodio
Fuimos
Roberto Chanel
Chosen by Michael as the most lyrical Pugliese piece of 1946, the deliberate opposite of La Yumba.

1947

El Mareo
Roberto Chanel, Alberto Morán
A rare duet between Chanel and Morán, chosen because there are only about three such Pugliese recordings.
N.N.
Called Dag's 'number four monument' alongside La Yumba, Negracha and Malandraca; chosen for its two-note main motif and Camerano's violin solo.
unclear title, heard as "Anda... Lola"
Roberto Chanel
One of very few Pugliese milongas; picked to show how the band keeps its milongas simple even while complicating its tangos.
Solo en el episodio
Bolero
Roberto Chanel
A suitor realises mid-courtship his girl plays only boleros, never a tango — a joke about Latin dance music's postwar inroads into tango's turf.
Yo te bendigo
Roberto Chanel
Directly compared with the Troilo-Rivero version of the same 1947 song, played in the original April 2020 show; Pugliese can be heard stamping his foot to count the band back in before the Chan Chan.
Jueves
An old Guardia Vieja tango reharmonised so thoroughly that Lavocah says Pugliese 'hears things in the original that the composer himself did not hear'.
CapítuloThe Composer Who Didn't Recognise His Own Song
Pugliese played a tango so differently that its own composer couldn't follow what he'd done to it.
Desilusión
Alberto Morán
Chosen over another 1947 Morán/Pugliese track, Café, as Morán's single feature of the night.

1948

CapítuloBanned in the whole country
In 1948 a policeman showed Pugliese a telegram: banned everywhere.
Patético
'One of the best tangos ever', composed by the second bandoneonist Jorge Caldara, with a rising opening motif and a dead stop in the band.
Un disco aún sin identificar
Alberto Morán
Introduced as 'Leave me in peace' (a tango with a surprising full stop in the break); Whisper lyrics 'déjame en paz, quiero vivir'.
Solo en el episodio
CapítuloToo modern for 1948
Pugliese recorded a tango so advanced he dropped it after a year.
Negracha
An exercise in polyrhythm, introduced by a special gloss; Pugliese dropped it after about a year because it was too modern for his audience.
Adiós para siempre
Alberto Morán
'The second most important waltz of 1948', with a Tanturi version too; Stenvoll prefers Pugliese-Morán.
Solo en el episodio

1949

Malandraca
Third of the three works that define Pugliese's style, and to Lavocah the first written, the most joyful, 'violent joy' despite the pressure on the orchestra.
Title unclear (long double-bass solo)
Lavocah tells the story of the double-bass solo that began as improvisation while the band rested in the cafes.
Solo en el episodio
Frente a una copa
Alberto Morán
Morán on fire in 1949; Stenvoll gets goosebumps.
Pinta brava
A 1915 Canaro number that Pugliese transforms beyond its composer's intention, as he does with La mariposa.
Chuzas
An Agustín Bardi tango; Lavocah narrowly prefers Pugliese's version to Gobbi's and finds it joyful.
Bien compadre
By Emilio Balcarce, who joined Pugliese in 1948; listen for the bomba and a strange scratchy violin effect.
Descorazonado
Alberto Morán
Morán using his soft mezzo voice; Lavocah says it raises the hairs on his arms.
CapítuloThe singer who slept on a snooker table
Pugliese found his new singer asleep in a cafe.
Puente Alsina
Jorge Vidal
One of the greatest tangos of the 40s, recorded in Vidal's second session with Pugliese.
Malandraca
The third piece of Pugliese's 'triptych' to be recorded, though the first written, held back roughly six years until Pugliese judged it finished.

1950

CapítuloA compliment from Pugliese
Pugliese hugged a rival and said: you captured something of my soul.
Ventanita de arrabal
Jorge Vidal
The first of the 'double Vidal'; Vidal's deep baritone is described as like an earthquake.
Vieja recova
Jorge Vidal
A lyric about a man who gives a coin to a beggar and recognises a former cabaret hostess from the old marketplace; Lavocah explains 'se le dio vuelta la taba'.
De floreo
One of only three compositions by violinist Julio Carrasco, with wild orchestral aggression and one of the most beautiful violin solos in tango.
Llevátelo todo
Alberto Morán
A late-1920s tango whose lyric is a man telling his own brother to take everything but not his woman; Lavocah calls it one of Morán's best.
Pastoral
First of the Pugliese fest: an advanced instrumental that Lavocah says is Beethoven.
Mientras todavía
Alberto Morán
Lavocah calls it '200 proof' Morán, in a tandita of Morán sides.
Solo en el episodio
Quiero verte una vez más
Alberto Morán
A Mario Canaro piece (main version by Francisco Canaro) that Pugliese turns into drama and tension, as he did with Pinta brava in 1949.
El tobiano
A very little known instrumental; Lavocah thought the title meant horsefly, but the chat suggested it means a horse.
Don Aniceto
An instrumental very few people know, a killer with no respite from intensity.
Un baile a beneficio
Jorge Vidal
A long-lyric milonga about a benefit dance for a man out of jail that gets out of hand.
Barra querida
Jorge Vidal
Dag explains barra as a gang of friends, an Argentine Spanish word with no English equivalent.
Por qué canto el tango
Jorge Vidal
The final song of the night, the last of the remaining Vidal numbers.

1951

Bien Milonga
An early-50s Pugliese instrumental from a dense, tense period of his style (before the brighter, spacious late-50s sound); considered underplayed at milongas.
Pasional
Alberto Morán
The first of two recordings of Pasional (the second from 1952); part of Pugliese's push into vocal numbers that test the edge of danceability.
Don Atilio
Opens unusually softly and gently for Pugliese before turning dramatic later on.
Olivero
An old tango (1910s-20s) by Jose Martinez, a major Guardia Vieja composer; possibly the only recording of it that exists.
Barro
Alberto Moran
Marks the first time Pugliese lets the singer push against the tightly integrated 1940s 'tango song' formula; lyric uses both 'barro' and 'fango' (mud) to describe a ruined life.
El Refran
A second rendition played to compare with Lucho Demare's earlier version; features a roughly two-minute dialogue between violinist Enrique Camerano and bandoneonist Ruggiero.
Pasional
Alberto Morán
The 1951 of two recordings of this song, preferred by the hosts over the better-known 1952 version for its subtler, more relaxed vocal.

1952

Cualquier cosa
Alberto Morán
Pugliese's sole 1952 vocalist after losing baritone Jorge Vidal; several orchestras (including Troilo) recorded this song that year.
La noche que me esperes
Alberto Morán
A rare Pugliese vals, picked despite Michael saying it is nearly impossible to build a coherent set from his handful of waltzes.
Solo en el episodio
Entrador
Paired with Parados to show Pugliese's trademark contrast of power and beauty.
Parados
Built around a violin solo by Alcides Camerano, answered quietly by the rest of the section before the whole violin line unites.
Solo en el episodio
La Tupungatina
Closing the night: originally a zamba Pugliese and his first wife listened to while courting, later arranged for orchestra at his request by newly joined bandoneonist Roberto Pepe, which Michael says gives it a countryside rather than city feeling.
Solo en el episodio

1953

CapítuloPugliese's joke
Pugliese handed out a wild arrangement. Then took it back.
Desvelo (title uncertain)
Alberto Morán
Morán in a tango Troilo also recorded (which Dag heard in 47 or 48); the double title comes from the Uruguayan composer's old lyric and the Argentine one, kept after a copyright tussle between Sadaic and Montevideo.
Solo en el episodio
Chiqué
Lavocah's note on it: 'From darkness to light'. Pugliese adds far more than the 1930 composition holds; Camarano's violin and Ruggiero's bandoneón.
La última copa
Alberto Morán
An extreme interpretation: Morán sings both verses, violins at white heat, a long near-empty passage and a Biagi-style fake ending.
Seguime si podés
The B side of the October disc, an instrumental; start time approximate (lost in a long Whisper gap).

1954

CapítuloThe gloss before Pugliese
At the milonga, the orchestra was announced with a poem.
Un disco aún sin identificar
Played directly after Jesús Mela's recitation of his father's gloss, with no explanation, as at the milonga. Lyrics are a confession to a police officer ('Comisario, arrésteme, sargento') from a man who killed his unfaithful partner and friend.
Solo en el episodio
Un disco aún sin identificar
Second Pugliese number after the gloss: an old man in La Boca, sole mio, mamma mia, drinking and crying for the past.
Solo en el episodio
CapítuloWhy Morán left Pugliese
Thousands of fans, and he still left bitter.
La mentirosa
Alberto Morán
Morán's last recording with Pugliese, in March 1954; picked for the singer who left the band that year.
Te aconsejo que me olvides
Juan Carlos Cobos
A darker, slower rendition of a song owned by Troilo and Fiorentino; arranged by Julio Carrasco, and a performance that escapes comparison.
Mi lamento
An instrumental that is the only recording of this tango; Camerano's violin solo is called stunning.
Nueve de Julio
The only Pugliese recording of D'Arienzo's 1935 breakthrough hit, and a signpost on the way to Pugliese's mature, open sound.
Solo en el episodio
Mi Lamento
Called a personal favourite by both hosts, an instrumental built around melting violin work from Camerano, rarely heard at milongas.

1955

Cascabelito
Roberto Maciel
A Gardel-era song from the mid-1920s, also famous from Di Sarli/Rufino, re-recorded to showcase Maciel as the refined heir to Morán's high-octane role.
Mi Serenata
Roberto Maciel and Miguel Montero
A happy-go-lucky Donato number from 1940, transformed into a rare Pugliese vocal duet.
Emancipación
Pugliese's first recording after six months in jail, an 1910s tango whose title literally means 'emancipation,' played with the original on-air glosa that named him.
CapítuloThe tango that waited eighteen years to be played right
Alfredo Gobbi wrote a tango so advanced in 1955 that Pugliese didn't dare record his own version for eighteen years.
Un disco aún sin identificar
Miguel Montero
A song that, per Stenvoll, sold 35,000 copies and saved Montero's place in the orchestra after a shaky start; its title was not stated on air.
Solo en el episodio
El Poncho del Amor
Miguel Montero
A second Montero number played straight after the first, with Montero's street-edged, bass-baritone delivery.

1958

CapítuloThe song Pugliese turned down twice
He rejected a tune, watched it become a hit for someone else, then asked for it back.
Agua Fuerte
Miguel Montero
An old (1931-ish) tango with a sharp social-protest lyric, written in Milan after Argentine touring musicians witnessed real inequality in a cabaret there.
Solo en el episodio
Adiós Corazón
Jorge Maciel
Called the song of the year: every 1958 version, Pugliese's included, is considered excellent.
La Bordona
Pugliese's own version of a tune he originally turned down when violinist Emilio/Elvino Balcarce offered it to him; he asked for a version once he saw how big Troilo's recording had become.
Dicha Pasada
Miguel Montero
An old 1926 Gardel number reworked by Montero, who changes the lyric so the singer ends up looking for 'a good soul' rather than just another lover.

1959

Capítulo40,000 people in a football stadium for tango
Pugliese played a stadium in Georgia.

1960

Title unclear (opens with piano solo)
Danceable Pugliese from the 60s with a beautiful piano opening motif by Pugliese himself; the tempo is completely plastic.
Solo en el episodio

1961

Dos amores
Jorge Maciel
A dramatic late Pugliese vocal on Polygram, about being torn between two loves; Lavocah notes the lyric dates back to 1932.
Don Agustín Bardi
Lavocah's 'wild joy': the tempo goes mad through discords, played by Pugliese himself.

1966

Locura tanguera
The elements of a tango appear in the wrong order: stretchy violin first, then an ostinato bass, no melody; still very danceable.

1992

Reencuentro de amor
Adrián Guida
A live performance by an 87-year-old Pugliese, of a tango he wrote in the late 1940s for Morán, who rejected it; he waited decades for Guida.
Solo en el episodio

Año desconocido

CapítuloWaiting 40 years for a singer
Pugliese kept a tango in a drawer for four decades.