Mark Pentleton

Yesterday’s song seemed to go down well so I was in the mood for another Agustín Lara bolero today. This is Noche de ronda, which has been performed by many artists. I first heard it on a Trío Los Panchos album, and like yesterday’s song it was recently performed by Luís Miguel on his album [...]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Today’s song is a lovely bolero written by Mexican Agustín Lara. It’s been covered by many artists, including most recently by Luís Miguel – YouTube version here. There is also a popular English version translated as You belong to my heart which was recorded by Bing Crosby accompanied by the Xavier Cugat orchestra.
Podcast: Download (Duration: [...]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Today’s song was originally written in Spanish in 1931 by Gonzalo Roig and Agustin Rodriguez. I first heard the Spanish version of the song on Linda Ronstadt’s Frenesi album, and as a traditional bolero it has been performed by many Spanish-language singers from Trio Los Panchos to Julio Iglesias. An English version of the song, [...]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

This song was originally composed in 1953 as ¿Quién será? (Who will it be?) by the Mexican composer and bandleader Pablo Beltrán Ruiz. An English-language version was released in 1954 by Dean Martin and since then it’s been covered by hundreds of artists, perhaps most famously by Michael Bublé in 2003. I hope you enjoy [...]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Today’s song is the Mexican classic Perfidia, written in 1939 by Alberto Domínguez and was a hit for Xavier Cugat in 1940. It’s been recorded by many artists and I first heard it on the Nat King Cole Spanish album Mis Mejores Canciones. One of my favourite recordings is Linda Ronstadt’s version from the Mambo [...]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Wales yesterday and Mexico today… Bésame mucho was written in 1940 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez. For those of you who like singing along to my performances, here are the lyrics with a translation below. It somehow sounds so much better in Spanish, especially with that imperfect subjunctive in the second line!
Bésame, bésame mucho,
Como si [...]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.