Tunes on 2s - Rico Suave - Gerardo (1991)

Listen and please, PLEASE watch here. I promise it is hilarious!

Usted, Senor, why’s your chin on the floor? cierra la boca por favor…

I stuck with the 1990s this time because I am anticipating a visit from my friend Kristy and her daughter this weekend, and I wanted to do a special post for her (plus it was her birthday yesterday). Kristy moved to my hometown as a high school freshman, and we’ve been close friends ever since. In high school we spent a lot of time cruising the loop in her car, and when Kristy liked a song, she would play it over and over until she knew every single word. It was hard not to attach oneself to such a song by association.

What can I say…the girl loved “Rico Suave.” There was something about this Spanglish rap that spoke to her, and it helped that Gerardo, complete with bandana, long hair, and tight jeans, was super hot. It wasn’t long before I caught on (the tight jeans didn’t hurt). We thought we were especially cool because we were taking Spanish at the time, so we were able to comprehend the lyrics and rap with semi-correct accents; like somehow that gave us the appropriate Latino street cred.

When I say the title of the song out loud, I can’t help but growl in a heavily accented Barry White-type voice Riccooo…SuAveee… (try it, I bet you can’t just say it!)

I for one can say, in the privacy of my own home (or maybe even with friends), I replayed this tape many times and mimicked the dance moves in the video, like I was so apt to do at that time in my life. In any case, this song will always remind me of my good friend, and how we were so easily adoptive of the pop standards of the day.

And Gerardo? Well, he may have been a one-hit wonder, but he had a "serious" acting career too. I especially enjoyed him as Ricky in "Can't Buy Me Love."

[I just watched the linked music video and burst out laughing...it is SO BAD! I also find it interesting that the song is entirely about women, and nearly all the women in the video are caucasian. This seems weirder in context of the closing shot of the back of Gerardo's leather jacket..."Latin Til I Die."]

Does Gerardo "speak" to you? Where were you in 1991?