Tango 1936
Dag Stenvoll and Michael Lavocah · 22 Jul 2020 · 3:27:16
1936 sits in the shadow of Carlos Gardel's death the previous year: his body only reached Argentina in February and his last film opened in April, so his loss is still being processed as the new dance-orchestra sound keeps building toward Juan D'Arienzo's breakthrough the following year. D'Arienzo himself has an overlooked, joyful year: 24 sides, all with Rodolfo Biagi on piano, almost half of them waltzes, and one recording, Don Esteban, for which two completely different takes survive. Canaro is turning out around 50 titles a year, including novelty 'tangón' numbers, Fresedo is building a smaller, jazz-influenced band around harp and vibraphone, and Julio De Caro is experimenting with a thirty-piece 'international' orchestra and the all-star studio quintet Los Virtuosos. The emotional centre of the episode is Nostalgias: nearly cut from a 1935 Gardel tribute show for being too hard to sing, it only became a hit after Charlo heard it performed in a Buenos Aires nightclub and took it to the radio.
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Tango 1930Episode 15 · 5 Aug 2020 · 3:47:59What this episode gave Tangopedia
Facts said in the episode, each now cited to the minute it is said.
1936 is the bridge year between 1935, when Gardel's death opened the door to the new tango dance movement, and 1937, when D'Arienzo makes it mega big.
Cabral is a fine but overly refined voice for D'Arienzo, a long way from what the band gets the following year with singer Alberto Echagüe.
Carlos Gardel's body, who died in a plane crash in mid-1935, did not reach Argentina until February 1936, and his final film only opened in April, so his death still cast a long shadow over the year.
D'Arienzo recorded 24 sides in 1936, all with Rodolfo Biagi on piano and only four with a vocalist; almost half were waltzes, and across his 1935-36 two-sided discs there isn't one with a tango on both sides, because as a dance band he knows a waltz fills the floor.
Most dance bands recorded mostly instrumentally in the early-to-mid 1930s, with Canaro and Lomuto as exceptions; even Troilo's first 1938 disc was instrumental on both sides, and he only switched to vocals in the second half of that year.
Chapter · 7:40
The violinist who tuned himself like a cello
One of D'Arienzo's violinists made his instrument sound like something else entirely.
D'Arienzo's first record of 1936, chosen for the bubbling, understated backbeat Biagi plays on piano.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 0:03 · The lyrics, on the song's page
The one milonga D'Arienzo recorded this year, paired on the B-side with La Guitarrita.
Watch it danced · 37
One of D'Arienzo's fastest tangos of the period, with strong syncopation.
Only in the episode
A less-often-played D'Arienzo waltz, chosen deliberately instead of the usual top half-dozen; unusual for stressing the second beat of the bar.
Watch it danced · 5
D'Arienzo's final record of the year; an exciting, dust-kicking number with wild violin slides.
Watch it danced · 11
The B-side of D'Arienzo's last 1936 disc, quite fast though not his fastest.
Watch it danced · 26
A tango chosen to show Donato's lighter, more playful sound next to D'Arienzo's harder edge.
Only in the episode
One of Stenvoll's favourite waltzes of all time, chosen for its joyful but bittersweet lyric and its audible piano accordion.
Only in the episode
A tango about waking up from illusions, its mood turning dark at the chorus.
A follow-up to Canaro's novelty 'tangón' rhythm, tried out at his theatre shows before being recorded; less exciting than the original.
Only in the episode
Watch it danced · 3
Chapter · 47:06
The song almost no one wanted
This tango was nearly cut from the show before it was even recorded.
Charlo's version, backed by guitars, is the one that made the song a hit after he picked it up from a nightclub performance.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 0:01 ·
Played as a non-tango cortina: a flamenco with a guitar backing.
Only in the episode
Chosen to showcase Firpo's thick, wind-rich orchestral sound.
Only in the episode
A Firpo waltz prized for its groovy, deep-vibrato violins.
Watch it danced · 7
Opens with bells; from Caló's still-complex, De Caro-influenced 1936 sound, before he simplified his style in the early 40s.
Watch it danced · 3
A rarely-heard version by Simone herself rather than the better-known Lomuto recording, chosen for her darker, captivating voice.
Only in the episode
One of only four Fresedo sides this year, a quiet period for the band despite Ray already being its singer for several years.
Watch it danced · 3
A solo recording by the actor-singer, whose phrasing reminded the hosts of Enrique Campos.
♪ Music · 2:46 · The lyrics, on the song's page
Watch it danced · 34
De Caro's own experimental 'Orquesta Melódica Internacional' version of a tango better known from D'Arienzo and Pugliese, with drums, trumpet and modulation.
Only in the episode
A surprisingly danceable De Caro waltz from this experimental period.
A creative, twice-modulating De Caro milonga, hard to find in good sound quality; the title references the folk-song dueling tradition, not counterpoint.
Only in the episode
Chapter · 1:46:24
The dream quintet nobody actually voted for
Fans picked tango's five best musicians. Two of them said no.
Julio De Caro's own composition, played fast by the all-star studio quintet; later famous in Pugliese's 1944 recording.
Only in the episode
Chosen to showcase Ciriaco Ortiz's intimate, introverted bandoneón tone in his usual trio setting.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 2:46 ·
A very sad, sentimental number chosen to close the night on that mood.
One of only two 1936 recordings of La Cumparsita (the other Japanese); a slow-burning version with a dense bandoneón variation.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 5:37 · The lyrics, on the song's page
Chapter · 2:06:24
A sun that burns if you get too close
A Polish tango became the secret theme of a Soviet film about Stalin.
A huge Polish tango hit of 1936; its Russian-language version, 'Weary Sun', later became the theme of the Stalin-era film Burnt by the Sun.
Only in the episode
Chosen to showcase Aston, a hugely prolific Polish singer, during the Polish-tango segment of the show.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 3:13 ·
One of Stenvoll's all-time favourite Fresedo tracks, with cascading falling melodies and real emotion from Ray, despite poor surviving sound.
Played as a listener quiz: a German foxtrot by a European band, known in Argentina under the localised title Amor en Budapest.
Only in the episode
A quartet the Victor label put together to play in the old quartet style, since everyone else was doing it too.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 5:16 ·
One of two nice 1936 Caló waltzes, chosen over a Shirley-Temple-dedicated one.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 1:56 ·
A Canaro waltz with an unusually long introduction, often shortened on later CD transfers; listeners heard an echo of Waldteufel's European waltz style in it.
Only in the episode
A favourite Firpo track the host couldn't let the year pass without playing; its 1936 date was double-checked live against discography sources.
Chapter · 2:38:47
Two takes, one mistake
For decades, the world knew the wrong version of this D'Arienzo record.
A famous D'Arienzo track used in the film The Tango Lesson; its 1936 date was confirmed live against discography sources after a listener question.
The lyrics, on the song's page
Watch it danced · 330
Chapter · 2:50:00
Why most of old tango's master discs are gone
In the 1960s, the record companies destroyed their own tango history.
The conventional, tamer take, the one most collectors outside Argentina knew for decades.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 3:22 ·
The looser, jazzier first take, actually the one issued on the original 78 but rarely heard outside Argentina until recently.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 3:23 ·
Praised by DJ Félix Picherna as a 1936 D'Arienzo track worth playing more often.
Only in the episode
The last tango before the closing waltz set, teased only as 'something irresistible'.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 2:22 ·
Played as a non-tango closing bonus, a reminder that 1936 was a strong year for popular song generally.
Only in the episode
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Tango By Year is Dag Stenvoll and Michael Lavocah's, published here with their permission. The audio plays from SoundCloud.