Viva La Trevi!

One of my favorite musical styles has to be the genre of Mexi-Pop that was huge in Latin America throughout the late 80's and the early 90's, typified by such acts as Flans, Timbiriche and others, but no one pushed the envelope of pop audacity quite like Mexican Superstar Gloria Trevi. More of a rockera than a pop singer, she and her music were a huge inspiration to me when I was in a band called Cholita!, with Vaginal Davis.


Gloria Trevi
At the height of her popularity, she was known as the "Mexican Madonna" but she was always more real, more political, more "in your face" than her gringa counterpart. She boldly and unapologetically sang about teen pregnancy and suicide, drugs and abortion, but always from a perspective that real teens could relate to. She criticized the Catholic Church and the Mexican Government. She often said in interviews that her goal was not merely to entertain, but to destroy what she saw as a rigidly conservative and hypocritical social system.

Gloria's live shows were spectacles of raw female sexual energy and rebellion. I once saw a show where she pulled some hapless guy out of the audience and stripped him down to his chones, made him lick her boots and then kicked him offstage, all to the adoring shrieks of a sold out crowd, comprised mostly of adolescent girls and their mothers. She was defiant, whip-smart, funny and sexy. She scandalized and titillated Mexican society while selling millions of records and setting a "bad example" for millions of young girls. One of my favorite records by her is called "Mas Turbada Que Nunca," which can be translated as "more confused than ever"... or if you run the words together, "masturbating like never before."



You won't hear any of the vocal masturbation which is so popular these days. Gloria wouldn't last a day on American Idol. Her vocal style is raw and punky. She reaches for notes she knows she can't hit and she doesn't give a damn! Here's Gloria singing "La Boca Con Jabon" from the album "Mas Turbada Que Nunca."
La Boca Con Jabon MP3

Gloria's career was seriously derailed when her manager was accused of kidnapping, statutory rape and corruption of minors and Gloria was implicated as an accomplice. After fleeing Mexico and living on the run, Trevi was captured and held in prison for four years, awaiting a trial that would never come. She was formally acquitted of all charges last year and wasted no time in releasing a new CD, "Como Nace El Universo," and hitting the road, this time on a world tour she is calling "Trevolucion."

I'm looking forward to screaming my guts out at her show in Los Angeles in April. QUE VIVA LA TREVOLUCION!