Like other Mexican immigrants who spent time in Santa Clara County, California in the early 1970s, I became increasingly familiarized with a new, locally-based norteño group called Los Tigres del Norte.
The Spanish-language radio stations we tuned into played their songs constantly, including "Contrabando y Traición", the song about love, betrayal and drug trafficking that catapulted them to fame, and "La Cochicuina", a humorous tune that appealed to kids like us. Their origin in rural Sinaloa appealed to other immigrants from rural Mexico who labored in the fields of a region that at that time was undergoing a dramatic transformation - shedding its image as the Valley of Heart's Delight to incrasingly become known as the Silicon Valley, the most important center of high technology research and development in the world. In the Mexican immigrant musical scene, this change was manifested in the enormous popularity of California-based immigrant groups, like Los Humildes, that produced new musical creations combining elements of Mexican ranchera music and modern, rock-influenced, electronic instruments. Los Tigres del Norte too, soon shed their acoustic instruments and adopted electronic versions to develop a style that is distinct from the Tejano and Monterrey-based norteño tradition.
In their early years, Los Tigres played in dance halls, bars, family festivites, and in any other gig they could get, including promotions hosted by San Jose furniture stores. On one such occasion, my parents decided to drive to downtrown San Jose to see them. Unfortunately for us, as we arrived at the store in the downtown area, the musicians were already packing their instruments and speakers into an ancient, beat up station wagon, ready to go home and then prepare for whatever other gig came their way. I am pretty sure that at that time we also saw them at a place called Parque Paseo de las Flores, which was nothing more than a large back-yard of a property located near Kelley Park in San Jose, and that serve as a gathering place for immigrant families who wanted some popular entertainment but could not afford to pay much more than a few dollars.
Much has happened since then. Today, Los Tigres are recognized as an unprecedented musical phenomenon that has had unparalleled success over a period of time encompassing nearly four decades. Their dances in the US, Mexico, and other countries, draw tens of thousands of people. They have sold tens of millions of records, appeared in numerous movies, and are top attractions in television programs. Other musical groups (and trends) come and go but Los Tigres retain their superstar status.
Los Tigres deserve much credit for being able to remain appealing to their core audience, Mexican immigrants in the US, and to also expand that appeal to other social sectors and nations (particularly Central America). In fact, their continuing success across borders reflects their ability to recognize that they had something to offer (their musical production, then their movies) to Mexicans on both sides of the border. Los Tigres were and are part of both national communities and, somewhere along, they discovered that their binationalism (or transnationalism), as manifested in the songs, was coveted precisely because it was rooted in the immigrant experience. No better example of this exists than to see that like the migrants, the musical group spends part of the year in the US and the other part in Mexico.
While the musical production of Los Tigres has undergone an undeniable evolution, my particular preference lies in the songs recorded during the 1980s and early 1990s, when their principal composed was Enrique Franco, also a sinaloense who resided in San Jose at the time. Franco composed many of their all-time best and most influential songs, served as producer of the records, and accompanied them as an actor in the films of that time (inevitably based on the songs). What I find particularly significant is Franco's skill in transmitting social issues (immigration, social identity, conflict in Central America, political violence in Mexico, etc.) into eloquent songs with catchy, danceable rhythms that can appeal to the common person. Moreover, Los Tigres and Franco could recover a traditional song and re-launch it, transforming it into a modernized norteño hit. It is no surprise that their most influential record of this time, and perhaps their career, is
Gracias ... América Sin Fronteras, a testament to immigrant dignity, a challenge to injustice, a reaffirmation of identity, an example of transformation and growth, and a masterpiece of popular culture.
Lo Tigres no longer rely on old, beat up station wagons to get around, but their development into a transnational musical, commercial and cultural phenomenon presents an example of what we, as immigrants, have to offer to the two nations to which we are linked.
