TANGO QUIZZZ !
Who is the “Shusheta” of the famous tango ?
Susheta means dandy, playboy, someone very well dressed, in Lunfardo (the argot in Buenos Aires).
Juan Carlos Cobián the compositor of this tango had a very good friend, Martín Alzaga Unzué, who is considered as the last argentinian playboy, a sporty millionaire, seductor, who was also nickamed “Macoco” and fits perfectly to the character described in the song.
“Everyone on Florida street saw him
with his refined stockings, top hat and his cane,
They say he was in his youth
a real Don Juan of the old Buenos Aires
He was embellishing the door of the Jockey Club,
and was always wearing a flower at his jacket …”
In 1943 during the dictatorship Lunfardo was forbidden by the government, and Angel D’Agostino asked Enrique Cadicamo, the author of the lyrics to change them and remove the Lunfardo terms. The tango was then re-titled “El aristócrata”, the aristocrat.
The song by D’Agostino – Vargas
The version of Carlos Di Sarli
See you next week for another quiz !
I read that the original version of this tango was purely instrumental. So the lyrics only came later? Have the original lyrics in Lunfardo ever been played ? Is it possible to find a record of them ?
Hi Steven,
Indeed it was first released as an instrumental tango in 1923 by Juan Carlos Cobian !
It was only later in 1928 that Cobian asked his good friend, the poet Enrique Cadicamo to add the lyrics.
I recommend this very good article on the song : http://www.todotango.com/english/history/chronicle/137/Shusheta-The-lyrics-of-the-tango-piece-Shusheta-and-its-inspiration/