A mis niños de treinta años

According to the information I've found online, Gaby, Fofó and Miliki ("Los Payasos de la Tele") were a trio of clowns from Spain. They were on several television shows throughout Latin America, and then moved back to Spain in 1972 and became hugely popular there.

I may be in the minority, but I knew none of this before I found this CD. All I knew was that my kids and I were stuck in a serious rut here at home. We were listening to the same music over and over, and all of them--even the ones I liked--seemed to include the same songs, Mambrú, Arroz con leche, Pim Pon. Which was all well and good, and these are the songs of my childhood, after all, but one day I went online determined to find a CD of children's music in Spanish that did not contain a single song I'd ever heard of.

I don't remember how, but this CD by Miliki was what I found, and it definitely got us out of our rut. Miliki revisits the songs of the television show (online reviewers who grew up with the show absolutely love this album), and the result, well, it got us out of our rut. Most of the songs are just lighthearted and fun. Miliki is often joined by a chorus of children, and there's a lot of singing/chanting back and forth, and I always find myself participating, like in "Hola, don Pepito," which is very catchy and keeps getting faster and faster:

Hola don Pepito.
¡Hola don José!
¿Pasó usted ya por casa?
¡Por su casa ya pasé!
¿Vio usted a mi abuela?
¡A su abuela yo la vi!
Adiós, don Pepito.
¡Adiós, don José!

My favorites are "La gallina Turuleca," "Mi familia" and "Mi barba tiene tres pelos." There's a sweet ballad called "El barquito de cáscara de nuez," which is a duet with Miguel Bosé. But the jewel on this album is a rendition of "Feliz en tu día," a duet with none other than Celia Cruz. It is amazing, and always makes me want to sing and dance along.

Also, it gave me an excuse to teach my sons to shout "¡Azúcar!" sporadically.