Listening Room: Music & Literature
It's Celia Cruz!
[Music]
Rita Gonzales
We had some great memories. Do you remember, Eduardo? Ok, because we were only on once a month. Okay? So if we had someone as our guest and if they were a no show, we had to come up with something because we have to fill the air. And do you remember? We did. I think I pretended I was Celia Cruz. [LAUGHING]
Eduardo Archuleta
I forgot about that, but yes. [LAUGHS]
Rita Gonzales
Oh, I'm Celia Cruz, and here she comes.
And then [as Celia Cruz] I will sing for you now. And then we would play a song.
[1988 Archived Recording]
[KNOCKING]
Rita Gonzales
Wait! Someone's at yonder window. Why it's–
Rita Gonzales & Eduardo Archuleta
–it’s Celia Cruz!
Eduardo Archuleta"
Celia, ¿cómo has estado?
Rita Gonzales
[Impersonating Celia Cruz] Bien, chica bien. Y tú, ¿cómo están?
Eduardo Archuleta
Bien, aquí nomas esperandote. Cántame una canción.
Rita Gonzales
Ok.
Eduardo Archuleta
Canta “Qué Bella Es Cuba.”
Rita Gonzales
[As Celia Cruz]: Bueno. 1, 2, 3.
[“QUÉ BELLA ES CUBA”BY CELIA CRUZ]
Eduardo Archuleta
Thank you, Celia, for being with us. I know you have to leave now.
Rita Gonzales
[As Celia Cruz] Gracias, Eduardo y Rita. Ciao
[Original GLLU Jingle]
Louis Jacinto
When I was a kid, I used to dance Mexican folklórico. So there was one album that I knew as a kid, and I still had it as an adult where it was an Indigenous song. It's just like a flute playing, you know, din di da din, you know, just a- a little melody. I played it to the group and I said, you know, I like the way this sounds. And, you know, I came up with- with these words to it. And all it was is that in Spanish we spelled out G-L-L-U. Radio GLLU. “So it was the music. [Jingle plays]
Louis Jacinto
Then we would come in and sing the little jingle, and then the music would end it. So it was, you know, very short.” And they said, "Oh, yeah, that's a good idea. We'll do it."
Eduardo Archuleta
I don't think I was a part of it because. Yeah, I really can't sing.
Rita Gonzales
Oscar was kicked out of the jingle, so I-- [laughter] Louis just pointed to him and then pointed out, like get out, you know? “You can't sing? You're out.” And it's not- we were just going "G, L-L-U Radio GLLU" that was the jingle.
[1986 Archived Recording]
Eduardo Archuleta
Two of Mexico's finest artists, singer composer Juan Gabriel and singer actress Lucha Villa, collaborated on one of the best records of 1985. Simply titled "Lucha Villa Interpreta a Juan Gabriel", we are treated to ten new Juan Gabriel compositions and Lucha Villa once again proving she is the finest mariachi singer, takes these fine crafted tunes to a new point in the continuous evolution of Mexican mariachi music. While the Latin American airwaves are filled with a host of bland pop singers, it was a real treat to have this record show us what real singing and writing are about. And now Lucha Villa and Juan Gabriel.
[“AMOR DE UN RATA” BY LUCHA VILLA]
[1992 Archived Recording]
Mercedes Marquez
My name is Mercedes Marquez. I'm a member of GLLU. I'm also a civil rights attorney. I've been singing since I was about nine years old, and playing the guitar for just about the same amount of time. These songs are taken from the farmworker movement.The first song, “Corrido Dolores Huerta” is actually paying homage to Dolores. She and Cesar founded the union together. But in many ways, Dolores serves as the backbone of the union. That is evident in this song because when they speak about who goes to negotiate and who goes to actually work out the entire contract, Dolores was the major negotiator for the grape contracts in the seventies. So she's really something else and has certainly served as a role model for many Chicanas in the United States and certainly for me.
[“CORRIDO DE DOLORES HUERTA” PLAYS]
[1988 Archived Recording]
Eduardo Archuleta
We were able to showcase different poets and writers of the time. I was always enthralled and mesmerized by people that could actually write these poems and these stories and share them. That was kind of like what one of my unfulfilled dreams is to be that type of person, because I enjoyed hearing people speak and and read their works.
Eduardo Archuleta
So what I would like to share right now, Rita, is some work by Luis Cernuda. He was born in Sevilla in 1902. And then he moved to Mexico in 1952. These works are from the last ten years of his life.
[“CONTIGO” BY LUIS CERNUDA WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
“¿Mi tierra?
Mi tierra eres tú.
¿Mi gente?
Mi gente eres tú.
El destierro y la muerte
para mi están adonde
no estés tú.
¿Y mi vida?
Dime, mi vida,
¿qué es, si no eres tú?”
[“SALVADOR” BY LUIS CERNUDA]
This next one is “Salvador.”
Save him
Or damn him
Because now his
Destiny is in your hands
Abolished
If you are a savior, save him
From you and from himself
Calm the violence of his
Not being one with you
Or if you are not
Then damn him
So that by his desire
Torment will follow torment
Save him then, or damn him
But do not allow him to go on living
And to lose you”
[“DIVINIDAD CELOSA” BY LUIS CERNUDA]
The next one is “Divinidad Celosa.”
Los cuatro elementos primarios
Dan forma a mi existir:
Un cuerpo sometido al tiempo,
Siempre ansioso de ti.
Porque el tiempo de amor nos vale
Toda una eternidad
Donde ya el hombre no va solo.
Y Dios celoso está.
Déjame amarte ahora. Un día,
Temprano o tarde, Dios
Dispone que el amante deba
Renunciar a su amor.
[Music]
[1992 Archived Recording]
Teresa Mendoza
My name is Teresa Mendoza. The works that I've written are a series of pieces of poems, actually, different pieces of my poems that I started writing when I first started coming out not as a lesbian, but as a lesbian who is Latina. So that's where all this, all these allusions to Mexico and Tulum come from.
[INSTRUMENTAL BY IRENE MARTÍNEZ]
My dream paints a picture of Mayan women seated around the table existing for that hierophany of time belongs to us. Our energy gives birth to acceptance, un orgullo de ser lo que somos.
[INSTRUMENTAL]
Lesbianas unidas del corazón y amor del nuestro ser. My native tongue revives through this native mystic ritual. We are women who love women, mujer a mujer amándonos. Nowhere else have I felt this thing, de mi comunidad, like now.
[INSTRUMENTAL]
You are my sister. You are the hawk that flies beside me in meditation. You're the coyote that howls in the night for passion. You're the bear whose strength and power transcends in you. You're my goddess. And the ocean that drowns me in ecstasy. You are the Maya. The smoke of the magic mushroom provides the trance. And you provide my fantasy that shapes itself into reality.
[INSTRUMENTAL]
Follow me to the shores of Tulum, where you and I in ancient lives will evoke the spirit of the mother. Our brown faces and eyes will nullify our existence that we share. I, the epicure for your thighs, for your two lips, and for the V of your love. We will bathe in the warm waters of the sacred spiral. We will wear the mask of our foremother. And like the ocean, the sun will ripple to the beat of our native drum.
[INSTRUMENTAL]
Our bodies will fuse and the cave in our hearts transparent, centered on silence, chaos before us. Your hair will entangle me like the weeds before us in an orgy of emotion. Your nails will dig for the succulence of my figure. Like the bear claws trees for honey. Your tongue will search for rivulets of desire. Teach us, teach us the song of the wind and the dance of the trees. We will learn. We will learn.
[INSTRUMENTAL]
The sands cling for life to the soles of our feet as we wash ashore hand in hand. Ready for the final whistle of the cave we left in our heart. Our paradise before us, with no apple. We will to go on and leave a trail of jungles embraced in the chant of the oceans and ancient ruins. Our homes, nuestro hogar.
[INSTRUMENTAL]
The wall of darkness with a door for entry by us, las mujeres. We encounter the lives we leave behind in our sacred homes and pillars of existence. We will learn if you teach us, we will learn.
[INSTRUMENTAL]
Soy. La Gringa wondered today. I'd rather dress in ancient Mayan robes. Conscious choice of acceptance of my past, past being present. I walk along my sister and mother with my mask of rebirth in hand. Apprentice to the shaman within me. And La Gringa wondered today why she didn't wonder this before.
[Music]
[1991-2 Archived Recording]
Eduardo Archuleta
I'd like to play a song right now. I was turned on to this person actually within the last month, and, um, I really, really like his stuff. He's from Mexico. He's quite young, and his name is Luis Miguel. He just released this, um, disc called Luis Miguel. And it's, what it is is it's a lot of traditional romantic Mexican songs. And I just want to play one for you right now. Hope you like it. It's called “Cuando Vuelve a tu Lado.”
[“CUANDO VUELVE A TU LADO” BY LUIS MIGUEL]
[1992 Archived Recording]
Terri De La Peña
This is an excerpt from Chapter four of Margins. And it's one of the family scenes that, and a lot of them are around the dinner table, so this is one of them. Now, let me just set up. The main character is Veronica Melendez. Her father's name is Joe Melendez. Her mother is Sara Melendez and her nephew is Bill and her older brother, Frank. So this is all in here. Okay.
Joe Melendez cleared his throat and surrounded his wife, “Sometimes it's really hard to talk about.” Pausing, Veronica toyed with the food on her plate, dividing it into neat morsels. Isabel and Joanna were so close, especially because she was the only daughter. Her eyes welled, “Maybe it's better for you not to see Isabelle for a while, Ronnie.” Her father's voice was a trifle gruff. “You probably remind her of everything.”
She made herself look at him, “I know I do, but I really care for her, Dad. I shouldn't snub her. Especially now.” “You wouldn't be snubbing her.” He dug a fork into a chicken thigh. Sara heaved a sigh. “Hija, it's up to you. The poor woman is still in mourning there. But for the grace of God. Go, I. You almost died too. It must hurt her to see you when her own daughter's gone.”
She winced at her mother's words, “That's why I've backed off. I feel so responsible.” “You weren't, Ronnie.” Her father said with conviction. “Mira, querida. Don't start that again. The highway patrol. Everybody said it wasn't your fault.” She took a deep breath trying to ward off those memories. “It's just so hard, Dad. Isabel always asks me tons of questions. She wants to know every detail of Joanna's life. And that hurts me, too. Joanna was my best friend.” She whispered. “Sara, why did you bring this up?” Joe handed Veronica a napkin. “Let the poor girl eat in peace.” “I'm sorry, mijita.”
Sara began to gently stroke her daughter's bowed head. At her touch, Veronica dissolved into choking sobs. Sara attempted to hug her close, but her daughter edged away. Joe Melendez tossed his greasy napkin on the table, noisily pushed back his chair and stalked out. “He would always be there, hijita. The muchachita.”
After the accident, her parents' protective attitudes had intensified. They could not forget they had almost lost her. Over the months, she had grown accustomed to having Frank and Phill as buffers. Without them, she felt too vulnerable in her parents' company. Stifled in their presence. Overwhelmed by memories of Joanna, she sought solace and solitude. Aimlessly, she drove. She found herself on San Vicente Boulevard and followed it westward to the ocean. Its familiar curves, its tree lined median strip, it's luxurious neighborhoods calmed her. In her mood, she preferred its upper class elegance to the traffic choked boulevards across the city. Though her roots clung to the southern edge of Santa Monica, not on San Vicente, where few, if any, Chicanos lived. She had grown up near the community college on the margins of the local barrio. Close enough to witness its violence.
Her hard working parents had tried to shelter their children from the barrio’s harsh realities. Veronica and her siblings had attended parochial rather than public schools. Yet even there, she had known classmates seduced by drugs, crime and sex. She was aware that her studious nature and high grade point average had offered her an escape route. Those classmates lacked. But not even those advantages had prevented her from experiencing the loneliness and isolation of being a lesbian in a close knit, sometimes suffocating, Chicano family. In the twilight, Veronica parked at the Palisades and slowly walked to the bluff edge. The sea breeze nipped her bare arms and she crossed them in front of her, warding off the evening chill.
[Music]
[1992 Archived Recording]
Rita Gonzales
Hey. See that lady protesting against injustice? That's mi Mama. That girl in the Brown Beret, the one teaching the children. She's my hermana. Over there, fasting with the migrants. That's mi tia. These are the women who worry, pray, iron and cook chile y tortillas. The lady with the forgiving eyes and the gentle smile. Listen to her shout. She knows what hardship is all about. The establishment calls her a radical militant. The newspapers read she is a dangerous subversive. They label her name to condemn her. By the FBI, she's called a big problem. In Aztlán, we call her La Nueva Chicana.
Rita Gonzales
Radio GLLU is a production of the Communication Committee of Gay and Lesbian Latinos Unidos.
Eduardo Archuleta
On behalf of Radio GLLU, we'd like to thank you for being with us this evening and being supportive throughout the whole year.
Rita Gonzales
From all of us, from Radio GLLU.
Rita Gonzales & Eduardo Archuleta
Gracias y Buenas Noches
[GLLU Jingle]
Credits:
“Radio Gay and Lesbian Unidos GLLU #1 1986 April 27,” open reel audiotape (7 inch reel). IMRU Radio Sound Recordings and Administrative Records, 1970-2011. ONE Archives at the USC Libraries.
“Radio Gay and Lesbian Latinos Unidos (GLLU) 1988 April 24,” open reel audiotape (7 inch reel). IMRU Radio Sound Recordings and Administrative Records, 1970-2011. ONE Archives at the USC Libraries.
“Radio Gay and Lesbian Unidos (GLLU) Terri De la Peña 1991-1992 September 27,” open reel audiotape (7 inch reel). IMRU Radio Sound Recordings and Administrative Records, 1970-2011. ONE Archives at the USC Libraries.
“Radio Gay and Lesbian Unidos (GLLU) Beta Ariazo, Meet My Beat; Mario Perez Cebellos; 1991-1992 July” open reel audiotape (7 inch reel). IMRU Radio Sound Recordings and Administrative Records, 1970-2011. ONE Archives at the USC Libraries.
“Radio Gay and Lesbian Latinos Unidos (GLLU) Lesbian/Gay Day 1992 July 02,” open reel audiotape (7 inch reel). IMRU Radio Sound Recordings and Administrative Records, 1970-2011. ONE Archives at the USC Libraries.