/ARTS WEEKLY/ MUSIC-CHILE: ‘King of Twist’ Resurfaces with Retro Wave

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo González

SANTIAGO, May 4 2004 (IPS) - Venerated and vilified in equal parts, icon and "old man" of Chile’s New Wave movement of the 1960s, Luis Dimas, the contradictory "King of Twist", is celebrating his 45-year career this month.

Now 60, and after a decade away from the recording studio, Dimas gave a preview of his new album with a concert last week at the municipal theatre of Ñuñoa, an upper middle-class neighbourhood in Santiago. "Cuando seamos viejos" (When we are old) is the name of the new album, inspired by a song by Mexico’s Raúl Vale with a "selection of classics", the singer said on the eve of the concert.

Faithful to his custom of performing pieces penned by others, Dimas included in the Ñuñoa concert a tour of popular music, ranging from Argentina’s tango crooner Carlos Gardel to the band Queen’s Freddie Mercury, and passing through Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, The Beatles and Joe Cocker.

The show also relived some of the songs that marked Chile’s pop music era beginning in 1959: "Penas juveniles" (Youth sorrows), "Muñequita" (Little doll), "Señorita desconocida" (Miss Unknown), "Llévame a la luna" (Take me to the moon) and "Mi secreto" (My secret).

A contradictory figure, this Dimas, his concerts filled auditoriums, and he sparked controversy with his statements; he maintained a loyal following, while other music-lovers considered him a mere imitator.

Also a picturesque figure: his biography is central to the 1991 film "Takilleitor", by then-novice director Daniel de la Vega, unanimously considered by critics one of the worst efforts in the history of Chilean film.

Another anecdotal episode in his life was the 2003 release of "The Unauthorised Biography of Luis Dimas", which he himself signed as author, although he paid someone else to write it. "The Association of Pirate Publishers tried to prevent the publication of the book – crude and in poor taste – but failed," according to a joke that circulated in the entertainment world.

Dimas says he suffers discrimination against his artistic endeavours because of his right-wing beliefs and for supporting the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).

But politics is not his forte. In the 1996 municipal elections he ran for city councillor for the National Renovation Party in Renca, a low- income district in northwest Santiago. He received just 3.4 percent of the vote.

But he has enjoyed success in the artistic world, winning 182 awards over his 45-year career, including eight "golden laurels" from La Cuarta newspaper, four of his albums went platinum (selling more than 75,000 copies in Chile), nine gold (more than 50,000 copies) and two "seagulls" at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival.

Regardless of what detractors might say, the King of Twist holds a place in the history of Chilean popular music.

Dimas was first heard on Chilean radio in the 1960s, singing "Sueña" (Dreaming), a ballad by Jorge Pedreros, beginning a career at just 16.

Then came the New Wave Movement, an array of young singers who recreated in Spanish the hits that were emerging in Italian and English.

Dimas, whose real name is Luis Misle Troncoso, says without hesitation, "in the New Wave, even though they don’t like it, I was the king," although his fame never made it beyond Chile’s borders even though he lived many years in Argentina, Peru, United States and Canada, returning to Chile in 1984.

Since the late 1990s, the "retro wave" has enabled a lively "recycling" of the idols of the 1960s.

Four years ago, on Santiago’s FM radio dial, the Oasis station began programming based exclusively on 1960s pop, and mostly by Chilean artists, though with a sprinkling of Leonardo Favio, Paul Anka and Neil Sedaka.

Through pop nostalgia, Dimas has established a place for himself. "He’s the greatest Chilean showman of all times – a great pioneer," said Mario Rojas in a readers’ forum of Las Ultimas Noticias newspaper.

On the other side of the debate was Claudia Molina, who wrote, "Luis Dimas and the rest of the New Wave have done nothing new, nor have they created songs that could be catalogued as remaining constant over time."