Background

This is the Argentine All Time Bestseller Records (1962). The Top 66 list figures are cumulative to 1962.

Source: http://jens-ingo.all2all.org/archives/3113#comment-89077

Original source: Cash Box Magazine 11 August 1962

D'Arienzo recorded La Cumparsita no less than eight separate times and sold more than 14 million copies of it. It was recorded in 1928, 1929, 1937, 1943, 1951, 1963, and 1971. The 1951 version is considered the best. I do not know if the listing is cumulative of sales of all of the five recordings up to 1962.

But look down the list of the cumulative list of Argentine favourites by way of sales. That is hard cash rather than radio plays. It is instructive to see what Argentine record buyers actually liked and played at home.

The first impression is that they did not much like Tango music. So where are the big Tango names after D'Arienzo.

And that's it. Apart for Varela. And very few Tango DJs currently play any Varela at all.

Here is a list of the Twenty Tango Orchestras. Source: Getting To Know: Twenty Tango Orchestras Paperback – 1 Oct 2016 by David Thomas (Author)

Simple: Canaro, Lomuto, Donato, OTV, Firpo;

Rhythmic: D'Arienzo, Biagi, Tanturi, Rodriguez, Malerba;

Lyrical: Fresedo, Di Sarli, Calo, Demare, D'Agostino, De Angelis;

Complex: De Caro, Laurenz, Pugliese & Troilo.

Other than Juan D'Arienzo once at #1 with La Cumparsita (1951), Enrique Rodriguez with a Corrido once at #56 with Que Puntada (1940) and Osvaldo Pugliese also just once at #58 with Adiós Corazón (1958) not one of the other 17 Tango Orchestras in the list was popular enough with Argentines cumulatively up to 1962 to feature in the "All-Time Top 66 list".

Héctor Varela was evidently much of an Argentine favourite. Clearly Argentina's favourite Tango orchestra. There are no less than six Varela songs in the list.

I will be delivering a 100% Época de Seda [Silken Age] set on Saturday 18th November 2017 at Mi Refugio in London's Bayswater at Latvian House.

Mi Refugio - Silk Edition

I plan on delivering a "Buena Onda" - a carefully curated sinusoidal undulating wave after wave over the pista of Época de Seda tango alternating smooth luscious lyrical songs with rumbustious rhythmical ones flowing from simple to complex tunes. There will be a gentle tsunami after tsunami of danceable tangos.

Here is the playlist.

A spare handkerchief maybe needed to mop up two sets of tears of joy.

Welcome to the Época de Seda - The Silken Age of Tango.

Warren Edwardes

17 November 2017