For the monthly number-one songs of the decade, see List of number-one songs from the 1950s (Mexico).
This is a list of the 10 most popular songs in Mexico for each year between 1950 and 1960, as published in the book "El Sound Track de la vida cotidiana", by Fernando Mejía Barquera.[1]
Overview
Ranchera singer and movie star Pedro Infante was the most successful performer of the 50s in Mexico; he recorded at least twenty-six of the songs that appear on the Mexican year-end charts throughout the decade until his death in 1957.Ranchera songwriter José Alfredo Jiménez was the most successful composer of the 50s, as nine of his songs appear on the year-end charts throughout the decade.Cuban bandleader Dámaso Pérez Prado was the greatest exponent of the mambo craze that swept Mexico in the 50s.One of the most emblematic female ranchera singers of the 50s, Lola Beltrán recorded at least five of the songs that appear on the year-end charts throughout the decade.
In addition to the continued prominence of bolero music (typically performed by tríos) which had been popular since the previous decade, Mexican music in the 50s was dominated by domestic ranchera music and Cuban dance genres, such as mambo and danzón.
Ranchera music, generally associated with rural Mexico but popular in urban areas as well, got a considerable boost from the massive popularity of Pedro Infante (an actor and ranchera singer who was present on the Mexican music charts from the beginning of the decade until his death in 1957) and the emergence of songwriter José Alfredo Jiménez (who, after writing many hit songs for other ranchera singers, eventually began to record his own songs).
The successful 1950 recording "Qué rico mambo", by Dámaso Pérez Prado and his orchestra, is considered as having initiated the boom of mambo music in Mexico.[2][3] This genre became so popular with Mexican audiences that many Cuban performers (such as the aforementioned Pérez Prado and Beny Moré) moved to Mexico and appeared in Mexican movies, and it also paved the way for other Cuban musicians (such as the Sonora Matancera) who played genres other than mambo to find success in Mexico. The mambo craze of the 50s in Mexico, specially in urban areas where it became linked to the pachuco subculture,[4] has been compared to the rock and roll craze that would sweep the United States in the same decade.[5]
The year 1960 marked the beginning of a new era, with the appearance of the first nationwide rock and roll hits: "La hiedra venenosa" (a cover of The Coasters' "Poison Ivy") by Los Rebeldes del Rock, and "La plaga" (a cover of Little Richard's "Good Golly, Miss Molly") by Los Teen Tops, paving the way for rock and roll music (usually through Spanish-language covers of American and British songs) to become the dominant genre in the Mexican charts of the 60s.
Year-end charts
The following year-end charts were elaborated by Mejía Barquera, based on weekly charts that were published on the magazine Selecciones musicales as compiled on Roberto Ayala's 1962 book "Musicosas: manual del comentarista de radio y televisión"; those charts were, according to Ayala, based on record sales, jukebox plays, radio and television airplay, and sheet music sales[a].[6] Mejía Barquera then took one chart from the second week of every month of a calendar year, so as to have twelve charts per year, and asigned "points" to the songs on those charts based on their ranking (from 10 points for a first place to 1 point for a tenth place), adding up the points to make his year-end charts.[7]
The charts published by Selecciones Musicales and compiled in the Musicosas book only include the song titles and the names of the composers; the performers credited in this article are included for reference and where many performers are listed for the same song, the performers appear in alphabetical order, which may not reflect whose version was the most popular[b].
The lyrics of "Bonito y sabroso", performed by Cuban singer Beny Moré (pictured), talk about Mexicans' appreciation of mambo music at the time, and describes Mexico City and Havana as being "sister cities".[8]
^(Translated from Spanish) "Record agencies all over the country, jukebox operators, music publishers, recording houses and correspondents for Selecciones Musicales send local reports every week. In the headquarters, each one of those reports is assessed and by means of a scoreboard each song is rated so as to determine the position that it is to occupy on the "Hit Parade".
^While many times, like in other countries, a song would be popularized by one particular performer and it became identified with them, in the 1940s and 50s it was common practice in Mexico for a song to be recorded by various singers from different record labels around the same time; therefore, this article may not include all of the performers who recorded the songs around that period.
^Also titled "No me platiques ya" or "No me platiques" in some releases
^According to the composer Vicente Garrido, Los Tres Ases were the first to make the song a success, leading Gatica and Infante to record their own versions shortly after.[9]
^The original title in Italian is "Ricordate Marcellino". Versions with Spanish lyrics were recorded by many artists at the time.
^The song is based on a Cuban instrumental danzón titled "Angoa", composed by Félix Reina. The Mexican musician Carlos Lico later wrote lyrics to it and recorded it with his group, Los Pao, with the new title "La boa", which became a nationwide hit when Sonora Santanera covered it.
^Mejía Barquera includes eleven songs for his 1960 year-end chart, instead of the ten songs that had been listed for other years.
References
^Mejía Barquera, Fernando (June 2006). El Sound Track de la vida cotidiana: Radio y música popular en México D.F. Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales UNAM. pp. 198–207.
^Pérez-Firmat, Gustavo. "Mambo". Oxford Bibliographies. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
^Pérez Firmat, Gustavo (2012). Life on the hyphen: the Cuban-American way (2nd ed.). University of Texas Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-292-73706-8.
^CA, Maria Jose. "PACHUCOS, LOS VERDADEROS MAESTROS DEL DANZÓN, MAMBO Y RUMBA". MxCity. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
^Díaz, Carlos A. (9 September 2020). "México: el reino del mambo". BiCentenario. El ayer y hoy de México (in Spanish) (49). Retrieved 28 January 2023.
^Ayala, Roberto (1962). Musicosas: manual del comentarista de radio y televisión. p. 298.
^Mejía Barquera, Fernando (June 2006). El Sound Track de la vida cotidiana: Radio y música popular en México D.F. Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales UNAM. p. 193.
^"Lyrics of "Bonito y sabroso" with English translation". Retrieved 28 January 2023.
^""VICENTE GARRIDO" Su Musica Y Sus Interpretes (minute 22:25)". YouTube (in Spanish). MAMBISITOW. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
