It's been a while — the last time was 1988 — since we've seen a singer from Spain, or heard that distinctive Castilian accent (listen for the "th" sound). Whether this is pure chance or whether the Latin Pop chart is becoming more distinctively American as it moves lumberingly towards the present, there's definitely a way in which this sounds like winds that haven't blown through these songs in some time, not so much a breath of fresh air as a reminder of Old World sumptuousness which the more mongrel, anxious, and vibrant cultures of the New cannot usually afford.
Camilo Sesto was apparently a regular hitmaker in the 70s and 80s, though you couldn't prove it by this blog — and you most likely won't have another chance. This is more or less a swan song, at least as far as the up-and-down travails of pop, rather than the steady renumeration of the nostalgia circuit, goes. It's a classic Latin Pop song, with a big, sweeping melody and a big, sweeping performance to match. Love is again a cruel mistress ("My love, what have you done to me?" goes the chorus), and if Sesto is as ready to complain of her cruelties as anyone else, at least his mellifluous voice and the accompaniment of an equally mellifluous saxophone aren't bad company on the way.
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