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From Geechy to Cuchi and Beyond |
by Bill Greenberg
Charo is preparing for her 21st Telethon appearance. |
It's after midnight in Hawaii and Charo has just returned home from doing her show. And before she goes to bed, she still needs to practice her guitar. ("You need a minimum of two to three hours a day to practice. Otherwise your brain says to the fingers 'move,' and the fingers say 'no way, Jose.'")
But right now she's on the phone with a morning radio show back in the mainland, promoting her upcoming appearance on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. As always, the interviewers ask her about her record number of appearances on "The Love Boat" and the origin of her trademark "cuchi-cuchi." She answers patiently, allowing herself to be drawn into the usual radio banter before skillfully directing the conversation toward the Telethon.
"I started doing the Telethon when my cuchi-cuchi was only a geechy-geechy," says the multitalented entertainer, who holds the record for appearances on the MDA broadcast (this year will be her 21st).
"She's amazing," Telethon star and longtime friend Jerry Lewis says. "Just when your energy's lagging, when you think you can't stand up there for another hour, Charo comes out and gets the whole audience jumping. She revitalizes everybody."
But Charo's involvement with MDA goes beyond her annual Telethon appearance. She also serves as an MDA national vice president, doing promotions and appearances year-round. In fact, a closer look at Charo's remarkable career reveals that - along with her work with MDA - there's much more than meets the eye.
A Versatile Entertainer
She's the mamacita of the macarena, the queen of salsa disco and the undisputed matriarch of cuchi-cuchi. Her career credits boast everything from movies and television to hit records and legendary live performances. And while the 1999 Grammy Awards were abuzz with talk of the meteoric rise in the popularity of Latin music, it's important to note that her first U.S. album - "Cuchi-Cuchi, from Charo and the Salsoul Orchestra" - went platinum more than 20 years ago.
But like all great entertainers, Charo is best experienced live and in person.
First you get the cuchi-cuchi, as Charo and her dancers perform a rollicking set of the sensual Latin dance music called salsa that earned her early fame. Dressed to thrill, Charo flirts playfully with the audience between songs, offering a unique combination of humor and sex appeal. This first set ends with a conspiratorial wink, as Charo promises to "slip into something more comfortable" for the second set.
She emerges from the intermission in a sequined tuxedo, guitar in hand. This isn't cuchi-cuchi any more. This is serious business, as the audience settles back in their seats and prepares to be mesmerized by the winner of Guitar Player magazine's Readers Poll as Best Flamenco Guitarist.
"It's a formula that works when I perform because the audience comes to see me expecting a totally different entertainer," she says. "When I change into a tuxedo and we start the concert they get very, very impressed and give me a standing ovation. On the way out, I know that this audience is going to be fans of mine for many years to come."
She adds, "I don't mind at all that they think that I am a little cuchi-cuchi person because when they see me in person they say, 'That woman can play.' That gives me a lot of pleasure."
From Murcia to Manhattan
Charo was born in Murcia in southeastern Spain, near the Mediterranean coast. Christened Maria Rosario Pilar Martinez Molina Baeza, she was nicknamed Charo as a child.
"In Spain, when you are born they give you a lot of names because it's kind of a tradition," she explains. "Charo is short for Rosario, like Margie is short for Margaret. In Spain, you say Charo and 200 women turn around and say, 'What do you want?'"
Her father was a lawyer who was exiled to Casablanca during the Franco dictatorship, returning home only when Franco died. Charo points to her mother as her earliest role model. "She came from a time when girls just had children and cooked," she says proudly. "But she educated herself."
At age 9, Charo discovered what was to become her greatest passion - the guitar. One of her early teachers was Andres Segovia, the world-renowned father of modern classical guitar music.
"We were a bunch of kids, and he gave us general lessons," she recalls fondly. "You would watch this incredible man with such big fingers play, telling you what to do. It was beautiful to me."
As a teen-ager, Charo traveled to Madrid to begin her recording career, also starring in the Spanish classic film "Don Juan Tenorio." But it was her work on a Spanish children's TV show that caught the eye of famed Big Band leader Xavier Cugat. By the time she arrived in the United States, Charo was already an accomplished musician and actress.
'Cuchi-Cuchi' is Born
"Actually, I am a musician/composer, but I have a great sense of humor and I love comedy," she explains. "So when I come to this country, the people of the 'Tonight Show' went to see me and when they hear me talking, even though my English was miserable, they thought it would be funny to invite me to the 'Tonight Show.'
"So when I saw people talking and laughing, I decided to make them laugh and have fun with them. Then that image took over the music, and all other parts of my life and my career."
But the question everyone asks to this day is: What is the true origin of cuchi-cuchi?
"I was 3 years old and I had a dog called Cuchillo, and when Cuchillo was happy he wiggled. When I was very young I copied him and I used to say 'como Cuchi, como Cuchi' - like Cuchi, like Cuchi. Everybody thought that it was very cute when I wiggled and say cuchi-cuchi, and they give me cookies and candy.
"Now, every time I say cuchi-cuchi, people give me money."
The Real Charo
Her enduring success as a musician, composer and entertainer is a direct result of the love for her audience that comes across in her music. To listen to her music is the best way to truly understand what Charo is all about. There you'll find the passion that drives every aspect of her life, from her love of music to her devotion to husband Kjell Rasten and their son, Shel.
To hear the intricate fingerings of her flamenco guitar is to realize that beyond the fractured English is a woman who also speaks Spanish, French, Italian and Japanese. ("You know what? I speak five languages, but it makes no difference. Nobody knows what I'm talking about in any of those languages.")
It's this same depth and passion that drives her commitment to MDA. "It is a very important and serious and honest-to-goodness organization," she says proudly.
"I met a little girl - she was maybe 3 years old. She wanted to be a dancer, and she had the beginning of muscular dystrophy. This little girl - the most beautiful face you ever saw - never gave up and believed so strongly that she would be all right. She was not jealous to see other kids dancing, she was happy for them. She's doing very good, thanks to Jerry Lewis and the MDA Telethon.
"And you know, when you are healthy and able to donate something - believe me, I don't try to be too religious but if you make good, then one day you'll receive it twice."
So Charo will make yet another appearance on yet another Telethon, because she's determined to beat neuromuscular disease. Her commitment to this end is total, because 100 percent is the only way she knows how to give.
And "quit" is not a word that Charo ever uses - in any of her five languages. 
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