José Alberto Iglesias Correa

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José Alberto Iglesias Correa (born September 16, 1945 in San Martín , † May 19, 1972 in Buenos Aires ), known under the pseudonym Tanguito , was an Argentine singer and songwriter .

Although he had little commercial success during his lifetime, he is considered to be an important representative of the early years of Argentine rock music as the composer of the hit La Balsa by Los Gatos . Contemporaries described him as the driving force behind the transition of the artists of the time from English-language cover versions to self-composed songs in Spanish.

life and career

Coming from a very poor background (his father was a street vendor, his mother a housemaid), Iglesias began his career at the age of 17 as the cover singer of American rock 'n' roll hits. In 1963 he published his debut single Decí por qué no querés with his then band Los Dukes , a cover version of the pop singer Palito Ortega , on the B-side of which there was an original composition called Mi Pancha . This and the successor single Carnaval, Carnaval flopped economically, but the band was able to finance their living with their live performances.

From 1966 Iglesias appeared as a soloist in the rock and jazz bar La Cueva in Buenos Aires . During this time he made friends with numerous other rock musicians of the epoch, among which the Litto Nebbia from the band Los Gatos stands out. In collaboration with Nebbia he composed the song La Balsa , which ultimately meant the breakthrough for Los Gatos and was the most successful rock single in Argentina in the 1960s with 250,000 record sales. Even without his own publications, Iglesias was able to live on the royalties for this song until about 1970. His own debut single as a soloist La Princesa Dorada , however, was not a success in 1968.

In the late 1960s, Iglesias became more and more addicted to amphetamines and alcohol , which negatively impacted his career and led to numerous arrests and forced therapy attempts by the police. In 1970 he made his last recordings, but initially only one song ( Natural ) was released on a compilation. In May 1972 he was admitted to a mental institution, from which he escaped on the 19th of the month. His early death remains unclear to this day: he fell from a train that same day and was run over, although it was not clear whether it was a suicide, a murder by a police officer or an accident.

In 1973 a record company released Iglesias' recordings from 1970 in an album called Tango , which was initially unsuccessful, as was a re-release of the album in 1982. In 1993, his life in Tango feroz: La leyenda de Tanguito was filmed by Marcelo Piñeyro and the album was made into a CD released, this time with commercial success.

Discography

Singles

With Los Dukes :

  • Decí por qué no querés / Mi Pancha , 1963
  • Carnaval, carnaval / Maquillada , 1964

As a soloist:

  • La princesa dorada / El hombre restante , 1968

album

  • Tango , 1973 (posthumous)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ABC Rock argentino ( Memento from November 19, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) - Artistas - T

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Iglesias Correa, José Alberto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tanguito (stage name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Argentine rock singer and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH September 16, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH San Martín
DATE OF DEATH May 19, 1972
Place of death Buenos Aires