At this point in their career, perhaps it’s unfair to call Los Fabulosos Cadillacs strictly a ska act. The band blends the genre with reggae, wider rock, and various Latin rhythms. However, when they started in the mid-’80s, they were certainly a ska band. Good enough for us! On this episode of In Defense of Ska, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs founder and saxophonist Sergio Rotman joins the podcast to chat about the band, politics, and art. Listen now.
Along with Rotman, the crew discusses how the oppressive politics of Argentina at the time of Los Fabulosos Cadillacs’ formation informed their music — and how they ultimately chose to fight back. They chat about the group’s early, very ska-heavy lyrics and explore the lingering effects of Argentina’s economic issues from that period.
Then, they touch on a funny little thing that happened in the ’90s — Los Fabulosos Cadillacs blowing up thanks to their killer song “Matador.” Along the way, they also chat about collaborating with salsa queen Celia Cruz, covering a Clash song, and the major influence of Madness.
If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon!
If you like our theme song, go download the EP Lives by Slow Gherkin. They wrote the opening and closing songs for our podcast. You can get both tunes from their Lives EP. Also, check out Dan P and the Bricks two LPs. They provided the mid-roll ad transition music.
Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024.
Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023.
The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.
Sign up for the Patreon to support the podcast and get access to our extended conversation with Rob Harvilla.
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