Chapolin Polka’s mystery (1985-ongoing)
Jul 28, 2023 21:07:21 GMT
nostalgiaguy and Balaclava like this
Post by nemocha on Jul 28, 2023 21:07:21 GMT
Hey y'all.
The Brazilian Chespirito fan community has been desperately looking for this theme for about a decade:
What is this song?
This song is used in the Brazilian-made opening of the Chapulin Colorado comedy series since 1993, and it's also featured in promos of the show.
What is the Chapulin series?
Chapulin was created by Chespirito, the famous Mexican comedian, writer, author, and actor. He created his most famous characters, 'El Chavo del Ocho' and 'Chapulin Colorado,' in the early 1970s. His shows were exported to Spanish-speaking countries and Brazil. The Simpsons' character Bumblebee Man was inspired by Chapulin Colorado.
The original series from the 1970s is notable for its high number of lost episodes.
In Brazil, the series debuted in 1984 as 'Chapolin,' became very popular, and was broadcast until the 2020s.
Does this song belong to the series?
No, the practice on Brazilian networks at the time was to replace international series openings with their own creations. In 1993, the original Chapolin broadcaster, SBT network, used an already existing song for Chapolin. The song does not appear in the original Mexican audio nor the Brazilian dub (which itself introduced mysterious tracks into the series).
What is known about this song?
Besides its usage, nothing. The authorship, origin, and year of release are currently not known.
Is this a Brazilian song?
The origin is unknown, but it's highly improbable that it's a Brazilian creation due to its very unusual style and instrumentation. Also, the usage of international tracks was more prevalent on Brazilian TV soundscape.
Was this song used elsewhere?
Yes and no. Before being associated with the Chespirito series the song was used in other occasions inside SBT network programming:
As a slide for a cartoon block (probably 1985, recording discovered in 2023)
Used as BGM in a sketch comedy show (1988, discovered in 2022)
It unveiled some extra seconds of the track never heard before. Unfortunately, it's drowned out by noise and crudely edited in a loop.
After 1989 is permanently associated with Chespirito’s shows:
In 1993 is made into Chapolin’s theme
There are unconfirmed accounts of being featured in a 1983 comedy show and other cartoon blocks.
But here is the catch: the song was never heard outside the SBT network. Chapolin’s exhibitions outside SBT never featured the theme.
Did you contact SBT?
Yes! In 2022 a SBT employee responsible for the audio of some programs came to Instagram and talked about how annoying are the constant requests of fans of the show to identify the track. He played the tune in official SBT audio equipment. Unfortunately the track is mislabeled as ‘Chapolin Chamada’ and only 30 seconds are available to them. SBT not only lost the longer version of the track but its real name.
An in-house composer was contacted but he denied knowledge about the track’s origin.
Why the interest in such an obscure song?
Internationally, it's fairly obscure, but in Brazil, it is very well-known. The Chapolin show was broadcast nationwide for ~150 million people daily, almost uninterrupted for 20 years. It is probably the most played and recognizable unidentified song in the world.
Who is looking for this song and why?
The Chespirito fan community is huge in Latin America and collectively works to find information on lost episodes and identify the cues used in the original and Brazilian dubs of the show.
In this case, Brazilian fans have their own set of tracks related to the series, with some yet to be identified. Being the famous opening theme, it's a sought-after item in the Brazilian Chespirito fandom.
Numerous fan recreations of the theme and montages are being posted on Youtube all the time. Look for ‘Abertura Chapolin’, ‘Trilha Chapolin’ and observe how obsessive fans are.
What are the findings and fan theories about the song?
There are no copyright claims on the song. Fans dug into ECAD (Brazilian music rights society) listings and SBT never registered the usage of the tune.
As stated before, the song's origin is not Brazilian due to its highly unusual instrumentation and style.
SBT commissioned some tracks to an in-house composer but he denied knowledge about the track’s origin and the styles don't match.
In a sample of 100 tracks from 1985 to 1992, 80% of the tracks featured in openings and promos of SBT network were international songs with commercial releases in Brazil.
There is a probability that the tune came from a library music label, but a lot of research was already done on this domain with no results. SBT themselves used tracks from library music labels sparsely in the 1980s.
The lead instrument may not be a synthesizer (moog or VCS). There is a small controversy in determining if it’s an analog synthesizer or a heavily processed brass instrument. The best advice is to focus on the clarinet drum and machine combination.
SBT probably never knew the true name of the track in the first place. It clipped it from another unknown source like a videotape or audio product. There are other wild theories but they are not helpful for the search.
It’s not Jean-Jacques Perrey or Pat Prilly stop asking.
Conclusion, TL;DR
A bunch of Brazilians are in a 10 year quest looking for a weird song featured on a kids show watched by millions for more than 20 years and are asking help of the international lost media community.
The Brazilian Chespirito fan community has been desperately looking for this theme for about a decade:
What is this song?
This song is used in the Brazilian-made opening of the Chapulin Colorado comedy series since 1993, and it's also featured in promos of the show.
What is the Chapulin series?
Chapulin was created by Chespirito, the famous Mexican comedian, writer, author, and actor. He created his most famous characters, 'El Chavo del Ocho' and 'Chapulin Colorado,' in the early 1970s. His shows were exported to Spanish-speaking countries and Brazil. The Simpsons' character Bumblebee Man was inspired by Chapulin Colorado.
The original series from the 1970s is notable for its high number of lost episodes.
In Brazil, the series debuted in 1984 as 'Chapolin,' became very popular, and was broadcast until the 2020s.
Does this song belong to the series?
No, the practice on Brazilian networks at the time was to replace international series openings with their own creations. In 1993, the original Chapolin broadcaster, SBT network, used an already existing song for Chapolin. The song does not appear in the original Mexican audio nor the Brazilian dub (which itself introduced mysterious tracks into the series).
What is known about this song?
Besides its usage, nothing. The authorship, origin, and year of release are currently not known.
Is this a Brazilian song?
The origin is unknown, but it's highly improbable that it's a Brazilian creation due to its very unusual style and instrumentation. Also, the usage of international tracks was more prevalent on Brazilian TV soundscape.
Was this song used elsewhere?
Yes and no. Before being associated with the Chespirito series the song was used in other occasions inside SBT network programming:
As a slide for a cartoon block (probably 1985, recording discovered in 2023)
Used as BGM in a sketch comedy show (1988, discovered in 2022)
It unveiled some extra seconds of the track never heard before. Unfortunately, it's drowned out by noise and crudely edited in a loop.
After 1989 is permanently associated with Chespirito’s shows:
In 1993 is made into Chapolin’s theme
There are unconfirmed accounts of being featured in a 1983 comedy show and other cartoon blocks.
But here is the catch: the song was never heard outside the SBT network. Chapolin’s exhibitions outside SBT never featured the theme.
Did you contact SBT?
Yes! In 2022 a SBT employee responsible for the audio of some programs came to Instagram and talked about how annoying are the constant requests of fans of the show to identify the track. He played the tune in official SBT audio equipment. Unfortunately the track is mislabeled as ‘Chapolin Chamada’ and only 30 seconds are available to them. SBT not only lost the longer version of the track but its real name.
An in-house composer was contacted but he denied knowledge about the track’s origin.
Why the interest in such an obscure song?
Internationally, it's fairly obscure, but in Brazil, it is very well-known. The Chapolin show was broadcast nationwide for ~150 million people daily, almost uninterrupted for 20 years. It is probably the most played and recognizable unidentified song in the world.
Who is looking for this song and why?
The Chespirito fan community is huge in Latin America and collectively works to find information on lost episodes and identify the cues used in the original and Brazilian dubs of the show.
In this case, Brazilian fans have their own set of tracks related to the series, with some yet to be identified. Being the famous opening theme, it's a sought-after item in the Brazilian Chespirito fandom.
Numerous fan recreations of the theme and montages are being posted on Youtube all the time. Look for ‘Abertura Chapolin’, ‘Trilha Chapolin’ and observe how obsessive fans are.
What are the findings and fan theories about the song?
There are no copyright claims on the song. Fans dug into ECAD (Brazilian music rights society) listings and SBT never registered the usage of the tune.
As stated before, the song's origin is not Brazilian due to its highly unusual instrumentation and style.
SBT commissioned some tracks to an in-house composer but he denied knowledge about the track’s origin and the styles don't match.
In a sample of 100 tracks from 1985 to 1992, 80% of the tracks featured in openings and promos of SBT network were international songs with commercial releases in Brazil.
There is a probability that the tune came from a library music label, but a lot of research was already done on this domain with no results. SBT themselves used tracks from library music labels sparsely in the 1980s.
The lead instrument may not be a synthesizer (moog or VCS). There is a small controversy in determining if it’s an analog synthesizer or a heavily processed brass instrument. The best advice is to focus on the clarinet drum and machine combination.
SBT probably never knew the true name of the track in the first place. It clipped it from another unknown source like a videotape or audio product. There are other wild theories but they are not helpful for the search.
It’s not Jean-Jacques Perrey or Pat Prilly stop asking.
Conclusion, TL;DR
A bunch of Brazilians are in a 10 year quest looking for a weird song featured on a kids show watched by millions for more than 20 years and are asking help of the international lost media community.
