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Pop: Hot ticket
By Times staff
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 13, 2002
Chirino is salsa royalty
If royalty ruled Miami's music scene, Cuban salsa singer Willy Chirino would be on the throne. In 1993, the veteran crooner/composer was crowned king of the city's Calle Ocho Festival, which celebrates Hispanic culture. Two years later city officials named a street after him: Willy Chirino Way. UNICEF has recognized his work in rescuing Latin American children from poverty, and his fans renew their hopes for a Cuba free of Castro each time they listen to Nuestro Dia (Ya Viene Llegando), one of Chirino's most popular songs.
Chirino, a native of Pinar del Rio, Cuba, began his career in Miami in 1974. He has recorded 17 albums and written more than 100 songs for Latin artists including Dyango and Celia Cruz. Through his salsa-pop style, Chirino has been credited with helping to create the "Miami Sound," a fusion of traditional Cuban rhythms and American jazz and rock 'n' roll.
His lyrics capture the stories of people navigating within two cultures and transmit the sounds and daily struggles of modern-day Cuba to his Cuban-American fans. On the island, his recordings are sold on the black market.
His latest, Afro-Disiac, was released last summer on Sony. He plays at the West Tampa Convention Center, 3005 W Columbus Drive at 9 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $25-$30. Call (813) 765-5478.
Mind plus melody
Martina McBride got her start in Nashville working the T-shirt booths at Garth Brooks' concerts. By the early 1990s, McBride, 35, was opening for Brooks, singing traditional country tunes. Her sound evolved, songs got peppier, and before you know it, McBride was headlining her own tours and being inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. Yee-haw!
My Baby Loves Me and Wild Angels are feel-good hits and fan favorites. But don't forget about the edgy Independence Day. Its 1995 video, depicting a scenario of domestic violence, nabbed a CMA award, proving you don't have to sing brain-dead songs in Nashville to keep a career.
Much of McBride's later work is as female-empowered, inspiring other women in country -- say, perhaps Dixie Chicks and their Goodbye Earl -- to take on the tough themes.
Martina McBride performs at 8 p.m. Friday at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Tickets are $37.75-$50. (727) 791-7400.
Something to Goo about
Goo Goo Dolls feature handsome Johnny Rzeznik, he of the guitar, voice, and oh-so-wispy bangs. Lots of folks wrote off Rzeznik as a Paul Westerberg (The Replacements) wannabe back in Buffalo in the mid-1980s when the thrashy Goos were first gooing. Now we find the band making thoughtful, bracing power pop, with a broader appeal.
Poor Rzeznik and friends didn't stand a chance in the sweaty underbelly of alternative rock. What self-respecting, Doc Marten-sporting indie music lover would take seriously a band with a front-hunk who would one day write a song, Iris, for that sappy flick City of Angels starring Meg Ryan and Nicolas Cage?
Who has the last laugh here? The Goos are giants of the mainstream now. Iris and a slew of other tunes -- Name, Dizzy -- saw to that. Goo Goo Dolls sell discs in numbers the Replacements never dreamed about. Besides, the Goos have one bit of street cred no one can meddle with: drummer Mike Malinin used to be in Minor Threat. Top that.
Goo Goo Dolls perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa. Tickets are $29.50. (813) 229-7827.
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