10/31/2022 0 Comments Fotos de jose alfredo jimenez![]() ![]() For an hour and a half, Fernández regaled listeners with stories of his early days opening for Jiménez at the Million Dollar Theater in downtown Los Angeles and took calls. Miranda had interviewed Fernández a few times before the show’s debut, when Chente showed up to La Ranchera’s studios to offer a blessing. And people just put him on a pedestal like none other.” “He’s urban and country, regal and down-to-earth like no one else. “Other artists are popular, but they just don’t have that cachet,” added Miranda. And younger people remember when they were children and their parents played his music.” But when we play Chente, the older people remember life back in Mexico. ”įernández’s stateside popularity is easy to understand, said Morales. “In Mexico, he was a mythical personality but his music wasn’t really played. in 1998 and “being surprised” at this seeming anomaly. “He’s bigger here than in Mexico,” said Pepe Garza, a longtime kingmaker in Southern California’s Mexican regional music scene who’s a creative executive for Estrella Media, the parent company of La Ranchera. Two years later, he was tasked with heading “El Rancho de Vicente” after the station’s bosses realized how popular Fernández was in the United States. He moved to the United States in 1986 to work at Radio KALI, one of the earliest Spanish-language radio stations in Southern California, before helping to launch La Ranchera in 1998 as a host and programmer. Chente was basically born an idol - God gave him a little kick of luck.” “I remember walking through the city that year,” Miranda said. The Chihuahua native went on to became a television host in Guadalajara in 1972, when the forlorn “Volver, Volver” became Fernández’s first smash. Miranda started in radio as a teenager in 1967, the year that Fernández recorded his first album. “If the people are already worried,” he added quietly, “it’s going to be one huge blow when he finally dies.” “He’s the charro who puts on his boots on real tight,” he said with a smile.īut then he tried to imagine a world without Chente. Slight, skinny and silver-haired, Miranda is naturally chipper and feels that Fernández - who has survived other health scares in recent years such as prostate cancer, pulmonary thrombosis and a urinary tract infection - will pull through. It seems like such an old school technology for the younger generation, but it’s still a powerful medium.” “They create a community, an oral public space. ![]() The success of “El Rancho de Vicente” is about more than just the music, said Adrian Félix, a UC Riverside ethnic studies professor who’s a fan of the show and other similar programs. He sets the playlist every day, but lets Miranda tinker with it as needed “because he’s a maestro at this. “We Mexicans, when we fall in love with something, we don’t let it go,” said La Ranchera programming director Ernesto Morales, 48. Other stations mimicked the format to do their own programs dedicated to other Mexican musical legends like Chalino Sanchez, Los Bukis and Antonio Aguilar. “We’ll play your song soon, little buddy.”Ĭopycat shows have sprung up across the United States. “Let’s hope he gets better fast,” Miranda calmly quickly told Ruben, as he cued up the caller’s request, “Mujeres Divinas” (“Divine Women”) on La Ranchera’s computerized playlist. Let the faithful fret, and pray alongside with them. So as the world awaited news of Fernández’s health, Miranda knew he had to play his part: It’s splayed across Southern California billboards, bus benches, and posters. The show is so important to the station that Fernández is part of their logo, a Mount Rushmore of ranchera that also includes matinee idol Pedro Infante and singer-songwriter José Alfredo Jiménez. His taglines - “Rubén Miranda, donde usted manda” (“Rubén Miranda, where you command”) and “Mami, me voy a casa” (“Mommy, I’m going home”) are classics of Los Angeles Spanish-language radio lingo.īut his bosses also task Miranda to host the one-hour “El Rancho de Vicente,” a noontime show that’s La Ranchera’s most popular program and is wholly dedicated to the songs of Fernández, which have served as part of the soundtrack of Mexican American life for nearly 50 years. Miranda usually spends his time taking requests from listeners, with whom he playfully banters in Mexican slang from all regions of the country. ![]()
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