Lydia Mendoza, R.I.P.

I am getting sick and tired of writing obituaries of great people. Stockhausen, Oscar Peterson, and now Lydia Mendoza, La Alondra de la Frontera, the great Tejana singer. She was in her early nineties and had a stroke some years ago, so it is not entirely surprising (in fact, just a couple of weeks ago I was listening to her and wondered whether or not she was still alive).

Of the three musicians who died in the past month who I have written about in this space, my closest connection was with Lydia Mendoza, as she was one of the stars in the Arhoolie Records stable, where I was the Marketing Director a few years ago. In fact, if you are wondering about Lydia Mendoza, you should go over to Arhoolie Records and pick out one of her records. I am not sure which one to recommend right off the bat, but there aren't any stinkers, so just get one. Her voice was stunning: powerful, direct, versatile, and emotive. She toured around Latin America to wild aclaim and was beloved in the Texas-Mexican border communities.

And, yes, the man who puts the Party in The Falangist Party is home blogging about dead musicians on New Years Eve.

What can I say? We had some friends over for dinner last night, and Melanie and I are singing at mass tomorrow. I might pop open a bottle of bubbly, and we might toast the New Year with champagne and cigars, or we might just wait for all that tomorrow. I actually have a prime rib and a fantastic cabernet, but we decided to just have leftovers tonight and have a good dinner tomorrow night.

Bah humbug? No. I love New Year's Eve. We're just having a low-key one this year.

Anyway, Happy New Years!