Spain and Portugal for Visitors

Posted by : John Ross on Oct 08, 2008 - 11:54 AM Music

If you are interested in Spain and its gastronomy, it's very likely that you already know about the PBS show Spain On the Road Again, the follow-up to the Spain Road Trip, if only because of its larger-than-life host Mario Batali and co-host celebrity actress Gwyneth Paltrow. What you may not have realised is that it is musically fun as well, beginning with its theme tune, "On the Road Again," performed by Willy Nelson and Antonio Carmona in a sweet kind of flamenco skiffle style. All round, the soundtrack is, as I say, fun and of generally high quality, but it is definitely NOT SPANISH. Read on for more about the Spain - On the Road Again music.

This is the rest of the soundtrack listed on the Spain - On the Road Again website:

"Me La Robo" and "Pobre Diablo" by Monte*Rosa

"MueveTe" by Barrio Latino

"Loco en la Cabeza" by Kregg Barentine

"Losing My Religion" by R.E.M.

"Mambolita" by Nick Kepics

"Baile" by Swingtips

"You Hold My Soul" by Craig Riley

I have found and enjoyed many of these tracks, but what on earth have they got to do with Spain? The R.E.M. hit aside, most of these are Latin American in style - salsa, mamba and related genres - or novelty or jazz tunes (good ones - I was particularly delighted to discover Nick Kepics while researching this story). And I realize that a soundtrack doesn't have to and shouldn't be limited to the subject matter of whatever it is supporting - "Titanic" with exclusively period music would have been even more unbearable that it actually was, and probably ridiculous. But I am afraid the Spain Roadtrip soundtrack is a gaffe, the kind Holywood used to make when they would have Spanish gypsies dancing around the campfire to something that sounded like a mariachi band. I'm not being a purist about this, but it's just wrong.