Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
Why does Morrissey have such a large Mexican following?
Ceci Bastida, whose band Mexrrissey puts a spin on Morrissey's music, chalks it up to the melodrama.
"We are a country that loves drama," she said. "We love songs about sadness. We love ranchera music that is a lot about heartbreak or feeling lonely."
Bastida first heard his music on the radio as a teenager in Tijuana. She said that it was her way to connect with others when she felt like an outsider.
This week, her band Mexrissey released its debut album called "No Manchester." It's Morrissey reimagined with arrangement changes and classic songs and slang words from Mexico.
"It takes [people] a few seconds to figure out which songs they are," said Bastida. "We just kind of took them and pulled them apart and put them back together."
For more about Bastida's love of all things Mexico and Morrissey and lyrical gender switching, listen to her conversation with Alex Cohen. And check out a couple of their tracks below.