Banda Machos – La Novia Coja (Dj Hessler Dance Remix)

In 1990, 12 young men from Villa Corona came together to form a musical group. At the time, their lead singer was Raúl Ortega, who after 1995 attempted a solo career with this own band known as Banda Arre. Raul had little success with his solo adventdeure, so he decided to return to the band for A Prueba De Balas. His return was short-lived, and soon after he left for good.

Their success came early on in the Quebradita wave, a style popularized in Los Angeles’ Latin circuit in the early ’90s. In particular, their third album, Con Sangre de Indio (With the Blood of an Indian), which had their hit “Al gato y al raton” made them radio staples during the early 1990s.

Musical Contributions

Along with Banda el Recodo, among other bands, they were responsible for constructing a more danceable style of traditional Banda music. This was the Quebradita style which essentially combined cumbia with banda.^[1]

1990s and Beyond

The band became known early on as “La Reina de las Bandas” (The Queen of the Bands), both because of their unique costumes and their early contributions to the Quebradita genre.^[2]

In 1993, Banda Machos was awarded by Univisión’s Lo Nuestro for Revelation of the Year in the Mexican/Regional category, achieving a Furia Musical award for Best Mexican Band in 1995. Banda Machos’ “Zapa Mambo” was featured in the movie My Family, produced by Francis Ford Coppola in 1995.

While Raul Ortega was absent from the band, starting in 1995 with Mi Chica Ideal, the lead singer was José (Pepe) Elpidio Morfin. After 2000’s Mi Guitarra Y Yo, Morfin opted to leave the band to form Banda BM3. Currently, the lead vocalists are Alejandro Díaz and Julio César Guerrero. The back up singers are Rubén de Landa Serrano and Agustín Mariscal Carrillo.

Their songs are often satirical, filled with sexual innuendos and of double entendres. Among these we could include, for example “Las Nachas, Me Llamo Raquel, El Profesor, and La Manguera.”

Social Impact

One of the songs recorded by the band was “La Culebra” (The Snake), a cover of a Cuban song. This song was played during the campaign stop, in which the PRI candidate to the Mexican Presidency in 1994, Luis Donaldo Colosio, was murdered. It is said that “La Culebra” was supposed to act as the signal to go ahead with the murder. The key stanza was where the song says “Ay, si me muerde los pies!, Yo la quiero acurruñar si me muerde los pies, Yo la tengo que matar“. (If it bites my feet, I have to grab it, If it bites my feet, I have to kill it).

In the only video recording of the event, one can hear the song in the background as the gun approaches the candidate’s temple.