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Carlos Vives’ Colombian conquest (and Teló’s too)

by Bernard O'Shea

Here’s something unusual –  a terrific song with a mix of Spanish and Portuguese verses by two giants of South American music, Colombian Carlos Vives and Brazilian Michel Teló. As a bonus you get some splendid Colombian coastal scenery (the island of San Andrés in the Caribbean, actually) and a top local model, Laura Archbold, cavorting about as models do in music videos. Como Le Gusta a Tu Cuerpo spent 13 weeks at number one in Colombia in early 2013.

The title means How Much Your Body Likes It – but when you watch the video you would think it actually meant How I Love Your Brain, oops, I mean How I Love Your Body. Vives sings in Spanish and Teló (the younger, blonder guy) sings in Portuguese. Archbold sings in her bikini.

A translation of the lyrics of that song can be found here.

The year 2013 was a phenomenal one for him – he was top of the charts for 34 weeks with four songs in total, taken from the album Corazón Profundo (Deep Heart), his first studio album in four years. When you listen to his music, you can understand the popularity – the choruses are very catchy and you can imagine patrons in the Colombian bars and people at parties singing and dancing to them with gusto as they are played over the sound system.

The first single from the album, Volví a Nacer, (I Was Born Again) spent 16 weeks at number, from October 2012 to mid-January 2013. Here is the videoclip – there is 1 minute and 18 seconds of ‘art’ before the song begins.

It was then followed in the top spot by the more exuberant Vives/Teló effort, giving Vives 29 successive weeks on the top of the pops. But he wasn’t away for long: Lui-G 21 Plus had four weeks at number one with Un Beso (A Kiss), then Vives’ third single, Bailar Contigo (To Dance With You) spent seven weeks at number one, was knocked off the top spot for two weeks by J Balvin’s Solo, only to regain it for three weeks after that.   

Finally, the fourth single from the album, La Foto De Los Dos (The Photo of Both), spent 10 weeks in the top spot, from mid-October right up to the end of the year, replacing Marc Anthony’s lively Vivir Mi Vida (To Live My Life). His songs have done well in Venezuela, Mexico and to a lesser extent, the US too.

You can see from all these videos, I think, why Colombia has become a hot tourist destination. Parts of it look very appealing.

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2 comments

trishwhytock 15/02/2014 - 11:23 pm

it does kinda grow on you but still finding it difficult to equate the heavy metal lover with this township style music….

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Bernard O'Shea 18/02/2014 - 6:56 pm

When I find some great heavy metal Colombian bands I will let you know!

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