There's probably nothing in the world that makes me happier than to tune in to Art Laboe on a Sunday night and hear a thick ass Chicana accent, giving a shout out to the homies/baby daddy/familia out there in La pinta, or just kickin it at home. The exhange between Art Laboe's 90 year old ass and the devoted cholos and cholas every week remind me of the desert days when me and my three best friends would sit around, eat hot cheetos, drink Jarritos sodas, and try to get through the phone line to request "Girls It Ain't Easy". For some reason, we felt that at the age of 11, we knew that the world had to be tough place. Hearing the stories of the vatos locked up and the rucas that were waiting for them, made us all think that life in LA had to be pretty rough and that the airbrushed happy/sad dichotomy that taught us to 'smile now, cry later' had to have some truth to it. Although none of us grew up in Los Angeles or around the 'cholo' lifestyle, we still felt like we were badass enough to wear belts with the metal buckles with our initials and that it was our duty to try and get through the phone lines. It was almost as if getting through the phone lines and dedicating such hits as "Only the Strong Survive", and "Angel Baby", somehow connected us to this whole Southern California culture of love, crime, olides, family, and 'homies'.
To hear the Art Laboe radio show now, not only makes my heart happy, but it also makes it break a little. I miss the days of being a nappy headed kid, without a clue. The world even though it seemed as if we were headed for a heap of shit, wasn't so compicated. I miss being fascinated by the voices I heard on the airwaves and wondering what "Mousey and Flaco" looked like. Chances were, Mousey had a bad peroxide dye job, with big saggy boobs with her vatos name badly tattood across it, and Flaco was probably an overweight 40-something year old doing time for a crime he's going to prove he's innocent of. And by the power of Mousey's dedication of "I Only Have Eyes For You", and Art's over dramatic sloppy 'Kiss', we knew that everthing was going to be alright.
PS..the spell check on this blog was ridiculous... guess google isn't down with the Cali slang!
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