28 November 1981
Julio Iglesias’s Pepé Le Pew-like persona was something of a pop culture punchline in the ’80s. ‘Begin The Beguine’, with Julio’s breathy croon wrapped in reverb, captures that moment perfectly.
What surprises me on hearing this for the first time since ’80s daytime radio, and what I suspect propelled it to number one in Britain and Ireland, is its fantastic orchestral disco-lite production. “Make it sound like starlight“, I imagine Julio purring to the studio team before slinking off to push himself onto a black tabby cat who had an accidental strip of white paint down its back.
Of course, sumptuous production and orchestration can only do so much before you pass out from the fumes of cheap aftershave and whatever it was in that drink; a whole record of Julio is ghastly. But oh, mi querida, the starlight!
