Playlist: Tango's Golden Boy

In 1917, Carlos Gardel released ‘Mi noche triste’. Though there were many precursors, the song is often cited as the birth of tango canción or ‘tango song.’ What had hitherto been a backing track for dancing at salons and social clubs now became a lyrical form, exploring the joys and pains, loves and lives of Buenos Aires’ burgeoning population. Between 1917 and 1935, Gardel released more than 750 tangos. He toured Europe and the US, made 11 tango-themed feature films, became a radio superstar and gained a following far beyond Argentina. When he died tragically in an aeroplane accident in Medellin, Colombia, aged just 44, Latin America was distraught – who would replace him? No one ever did.