The New York Times - Louder: The Brilliance of Charo

April 1, 2022

By Caryn Ganz

Pop Music Editor

Amanda Hess’s remarkable profile of Charo on the cover of Arts & Leisure this week accomplishes something I’ve long wanted to do: Take her seriously. “The real punchline to Charo’s career is that, no matter how hard people try to peg her as ‘a stupid cuchi-cuchi,’ as she put it, she is a virtuosic flamenco and classical guitarist with a singular talent,” she writes. That talent extends beyond the stage to the musician, actress and comedian’s whole package: “her mixing of high and low culture; her virtuosic re-enactment of stereotype that nevertheless upends expectation; her over-the-top, star-spangled sensibility that manages to feel utterly genuine; the unserious gloss that disguises a very serious performer.”

For a long time, my friend Jeanne Fury, the co-writer of a recent autobiography about the Lunachicks, has been talking to me about Charo, how she’s been so cruelly underrated (particularly as a guitarist). Charo is well aware of it: She told Amanda she has felt underestimated “all the time, all the time.”

“But it never gave me a complex,” she added. “I have fun. As long as people enjoy it, I don’t care. Because once I have that, I have the power of the stage.” (See exhibit A.)

Seeing Charo live was a highlight of the past few weeks. Ditto for Wet Leg, the droll indie-rock band Rob Tannenbaum profiled this week, who blew up off the power of “Chaise Longue” a track that has “the feel of an epochal one-off, something unrepeatable, like ‘Louie Louie’ or ‘Because I Got High,’” Rob writes. (The band’s debut album, out next week, has more “smart, frisky neo-new wave songs about the challenges of being a middle-class woman in her late 20s.”)

Also this week: Isabelia Herrera assessed the reggaeton pioneer Daddy Yankee’s career as he releases a retirement album, and Tony Scherman profiled the bluegrass (and more) artist Molly Tuttle, whose lifelong journey living with alopecia areata inspired her new LP.

Last Friday feels a million years ago now: I went to see “32 Sounds,” a live documentary about sound that Lindsay Zoladz writes about here, and then got the terrible news that Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters had died. I’m glad we got a chance to talk to him one last time as the band celebrated its 25th anniversary last year.

Before I sign off: The Grammys are Sunday night, and there will be an additional Louder between now and then!

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The Brilliance of Charo

The guitarist, singer, actress and comedian has long wrapped her prodigious talents in a glossy, over-the-top persona. Decades later, she’s still going strong, and it’s time to take her seriously.

By Amanda Hess

Critic’s Notebook

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By Alexis Soloski

THE CRITICS & POPCAST

Greg Doherty/Getty Images

Critic’s Notebook

Daddy Yankee, Reggaeton’s First Global Star, Steps Aside

For “Legendaddy,” an album billed as his last, the reggaeton forefather surveys the shifting styles that shaped his career.

By Isabelia Herrera

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The Playlist

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Hear tracks by Angel Olsen, Koffee, Barrie and others.

By Jon Pareles, Giovanni Russonello and Lindsay Zoladz

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The singer and songwriter’s career has inspired dance parties, as well as spirited conversations about her ambitions and aesthetic innovations.

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Review

‘32 Sounds,’ a Film Performed Live, Probes the Power of Listening

Sam Green’s documentary about the physics and emotions attached to sound comes to BAM with a live score performed by JD Samson and Michael O’Neill.

By Lindsay Zoladz

Continue reading the main story

Wet Leg, the Indie-Rock Duo, Blew Up Fast. They Know It’s Weird.

The group’s droll single “Chaise Longue” racked up playlist spots and star endorsements. Its debut album has more springy bass lines, jabbing guitars and sharp, observational lyrics.

By Rob Tannenbaum

Molly Tuttle Is a Top Bluegrass Guitarist. She’s Also a Lot More.

After two albums of roots pop, the musician returns to her own roots for “Crooked Tree,” an album that takes inspiration from her lifelong journey living with alopecia areata.

By Tony Scherman

OBITUARY

Nina Westervelt for The New York Times

Taylor Hawkins, Foo Fighters’ Drummer, Dies at 50

Hard-hitting and charismatic, he was direct about his hopes for the group’s future, even after two decades. “I want to be the biggest band in the world,” he said.

By Caryn Ganz and Joe Coscarelli

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Storyboard P: Where Is the Place for a Genius of Street Dance?

The gap between his category-defying artistry and his career options seems to expose a missing lane in American culture.

By Brian Seibert

A Filmmaker’s Journey to the Center of Celine Dion

In her kooky, rambunctious biopic “Aline,” the French comedian Valérie Lemercier drew from her own life to play the Quebecois pop star at every stage of hers.

By Elisabeth Vincentelli