Chico Time!

While in London I discovered that the music scene there and here is somewhat different. For instance groups like the Kaiser Chiefs and Arctic Monkeys are very popular there and have been for awhile. Here it took episodes of The OC before people really knew who they were. For the most part the taste seemed to be the same though, except for some rare songs where the British just lacked judgment. Once such song is called "Chico Time." When the video first came on I figured the guy had been a host of a kids TV show and now he had made a song. This was an honest mistake since in the video you have Chico, a very energetic although not totally unattractive Latin man, dancing around with about 50 little kids. So of course I figured he had some connection to kids. Well not so. Only later did we find out that he had been a soap opera star before he decided to sing. Which only served to puzzle me more. Well imagine my shock when this song/video shot to number 1 on the British charts. For the record, its not just the confusing presence of kids that made this event surprising, but rather that the song isn't very good and is one of the cheesiest songs I have ever heard. Its supposed to make you want to dance, but instead I feel like I'm watching the intro to a Saturday morning kids show.
Well my one consolation was that at least I would return to the US and never be exposed to Chico again. I had never heard of him before I went to the UK and I had heard nothing of this song entering the American charts so I figured I was safe. Wrong! I was driving along the other day listening to XM radio (I will concede it was UPop which is a European Pop Chart channel) and sure enough, Chico Time came on. It was actually the first time I had ever just heard it and not seen the video since I didn't have a radio in London, so I decided to listen to it and yes, all my previous biases were confirmed. It is a cheesy, tacky, and uninspiring song. The video still freaks me out a little with all those little kids. Only after the fact did it click that not only is Chico the singer's name, but it also means kid. So I guess he is saying its kids time in a way...but still the video is odd. I recommend staying away if at all possible. At least until I can release a song title "It's Brian Time." Or how about "It's Gay Time." Although that last one would be a bit confusing since "gay time" refers to the fact that the watches and clocks of all gay men run 30 minutes late and thus we are always late. Or at least that's my excuse.