Radio Espantoso is a Spanish-language radio station that appears in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, and plays Latin jazz, mambo, son, salsa and Latin funk among other genres.
In 1984, when GTA Vice City Stories takes place, the DJ is Hector Hernandez and, according to him, the station is sponsored by Jeremy Robard. In 1986, the setting of GTA Vice City, Pepe is the DJ.
In Vice City, Radio Espantoso is one of two radio stations to feature original material written and recorded especially for the game; the other is V-Rock.
Description
The word "espantoso" directly translates to as "horrible" or "awful" in Spanish.
Its GTA Vice City DJ, Pepe, who is of Spanish descent has a jolly and cheerful attitude towards life, reflecting the style of music he plays and Latin's generally more laid back attitude. He frequently makes humorous remarks like shouting "¡chicharrones musicales!" (musical pork skins). However, at the start of the playlist he says that although he likes the songs, he is becoming tired of playing them over and over again, a reference to the looping audio files of radios stations in GTA Vice City.
Radio Espantoso is also the preferred radio stations of the Cubans/Los Cabrones.
Tracklist
- For the original songs the year of release is that of GTA Vice City: 2002.
- Authors of the original songs, at the side, in superscript.
- Translations for the titles, at the side, in superscript.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
| Song: | Preview: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|
| "A Gozar Con Mi Combo" (Let's Rejoice With My Combo) by Cachao (1994) | ||
| "The Bull is Wrong" (Stuart Ross) by Alpha Banditos | ||
| "Yo Te Miré" (I Saw You) (Craig Conner) by Tres Apenas Como Eso | ||
| "Latin Flute" by Deodato (1973) | ||
| "Mama Papa Tú" (Mom, Dad, You) by Mongo Santamaría (1969) | ||
| "Me and You Baby (Picao y Tostao)" (Chopped and Toasted) by Mongo Santamaría (1969) | ||
| "Mambo Mucho Mambo" (Mambo Lots of Mambo) by Machito and his Afro-Cuban Orchestra (1952) | ||
| "La Vida Es Una Lenteja" (Life Is A Lentil) (Craig Conner) by Unaesta | ||
| "Expansions" by Lonnie Liston Smith (1975) | ||
| "Añunga Ñunga" by Irakere (1980) | Incorrectly credited in the manual as "Aguanile". Removed from the Mobile Version, Rockstar Games Launcher and The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition. | |
| "Super Strut" by Deodato (1973) | ||
| "Jamay" (Nahuatl word, means "adobe crafting place") by Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra (1955) | ||
| "Maracaibo Oriental" (Eastern Maracaibo) by Benny Moré (1958) | ||
| "Mambo Gozón" (Enjoyable Mambo) by Tito Puente (1958) |
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
| Song: | Preview: |
|---|---|
| "Acid" by Ray Barretto (1968) | |
| "I Like It Like That" by Pete Rodríguez' band (1967) | |
| "Oye Cómo Va" ("Listen How It Goes") by Tito Puente (1963) | |
| "Mi Ritmo Es Bueno" ("My Rhythm Is Good") by Bobby Valentín (1974) | |
| "Químbara" by Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco (1974) | |
| "Mi Gente" ("My People") by Héctor Lavoe (1975) | |
| "Revolt/La Libertad, Lógico" ("The Freedom, Logical") by Eddie Palmieri & Ismael Quintana (1974) | |
| "El Malo" by Willie Colón & Héctor Lavoe (1967) |
Translation of Spanish dialogue
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
(At the start of Cachao - "A Gozar Con Mi Combo")
"Listen my brother! What a terrific song that was! But I'm getting tired of playing it over and over for you. When we get back, I'll take your "live" requests, I tell you, but what I'm telling you is... a lie! Just a few of you understand my words, you are my brothers!!! It's one big musical family, here, on Radio Espantoso!"
(Just before Alpha Banditos - "The Bull is Wrong")
"Ho ho ho. Okie dokie, my people, are ya having a good time? Watching soccer and football, or stealing cars or stealing roosters, huh? Or just enjoying the music? Ha ha ha."
(At the song's latter part)
"Hellooooooo! Viiiiice Cityyyyy! How are you feeling? Huh? I personally want to kill myself! My wife is tremendously fat and never makes love to me. I'm sleeping with the secretary and I never pay my taxes! But, who cares? Here we have the music you want to hear, in Vice City's number 1 station, Rrrrradio Espantoso."
(After Tres Apenas Como Eso - "Yo Te Miré")
"And now a commercial break, but don't go away, we'll be back with more great music, in the very same moment it is commercially possible."
(Before Deodato - "Latin Flute")
"Wooo! The other night me and my friends were drinking Giggle Cream, that surely has to be the funniest dessert in the entire world, waaa! I didn't know so much happiness could come out of a cow's tits, oh boy. He he. I have to calm down, because I'm getting excited again."
(At the song's latter part)
"Rrrrrrrraadioooo Espantosoooo.The Hispanic voice of Vice City. Radio, more radio for the girls and the boys. America! The musical market with cheese. The best radio station of the world for the people with the best ears of the world, so much music it'll makes your head explode! I love men! Huh? What am I saying? I love mankind! Rrrrradio Espantoso! Pepe, Pepe, Pepe, music, music, music."
(After Mongo Santamaría - "Mama Papa Tú")
"Oooh.! Unfortunately that song has finished. I'm gonna have to take a brief break, mmm, I have to calm down, because brother, I'm a bit excited and I think I have just done a huge mess! Ha ha ha, but it doesn't matter! That's the beauty of the radio, my people. I'll be back in a few minutes my friends, yes."
(Just before Mongo Santamaría - "Me and You Baby (Picao y Tostao)")
"Radio Espantoso, here in Vice City, The house of jazz and also my house, the house of Pepe, your best friend! Damn! I have to stop drinking so much coffee."
(At the start of Unaesta - "La Vida Es Una Lenteja")
"Radio, music, hens and chickens. Want another song? Because I do need it, listen everyone, stay with me, people."
(After the song)
"Hello, hello. You are listening to the radio station that makes the city dance and sweat. Shake your clothes. This song is ready for the ladies Radio Espantoso."
(At the start of Lonnie Liston Smith - "Expansions")
"This egg wants salt!! Ayayay!!!"
(Over the end of Lonnie Liston Smith - "Expansions" and the first second of Irakere - "Añunga Ñunga")
"Radio Espantoso. I love it man, I love it! Dance in the streets and sing the songs of love. Don't leave the meat out the refrigerator for a long time, it's hot in the streets! It's like that with this music."
(At the latter part of Irakere - "Añunga Ñunga")
"Mega music for the people who like to work the whole day and to vomit alot later! Uy! Drink a lot of liquids, he. Rrrradio, more rrrrrradio, more, more, more radio, let the radio tell you what to do. I'm Pepe! here on Radio Espantoso. With more jazz."
(After Deodato - "Super Strut")
"¡Ajajajajay! Musical pork skins. Vice City, get ready because I have the music which makes you crazy. I hate this work and all people. I'm a poor trained bear. Radio Espantoso. Don't go away, don't go away, please. Don't go away."
At the start of Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra - "Jamay"
"Radio Espantoso, dammit! It's good."
(After the song)
"In fact, the other day, a shit-eating, greasy Italian man tried to steal my car when I was driving, what's up with that, people? Sure that guy didn't know who he was messing with, eh? Here we go, more music!"
(After Benny Moré - "Maracaibo Oriental")
"Dammit! Radio Espantoso, people! Lots of music after the commercials."
Gallery
Trivia
- The only anachronistic song in the radios of GTA Vice City is Cachao's "A Gozar Con Mi Combo" (1994, from the album "Master Sessions Vol. 1").
- Mongo Santamaría's "Me and You Baby (Picao y Tostao)" is the first song that plays when one starts GTA Vice City and tunes into Espantoso.
- Tres Apenas Como Eso's "Yo Te Miré" and Unaesta's "La Vida Es Una Lenteja" play inside the Ocean View Hotel.
- The station plays on the first floor of the Mendez Mansion during Domo Arigato Domestoboto.
- After playing Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra's "Jamay" in GTA Vice City, Pepe says "In fact, the other day, a shit-eating, greasy Italian man tried to steal my car when I was driving, what's up with that, people? Sure that guy didn't know who he was messing with, eh? Here we go, more music!" (translated from the Spanish: "De hecho, el otro día un comemierda Italiano grasoso me trató de robar el carro cuando estaba manejando; ¿qué es eso, gente? Seguro que ese tipo no sabía con quién él estaba jugando, ¿ah? Here we go, more music!"). This implies that it was the game's protagonist, Tommy Vercetti, that tried (unsucessfully, as Pepe's dialogue shows) to carjack him.
- It would also mean that Pepe is one of the pedestrians going around the city.
- Although Irakere's "Añunga Ñunga" is incorrectly credited in the manual of GTA Vice City as "Aguanile", there's another song from the band called "Aguanile Bonkó".
- The translation of the station's name is addressed by Pepe in the first track of the Radio Espantoso CD from the 7-CD Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Official Soundtrack Box Set, where he makes an exclusive dialogue not included in the game. There, he states the name is intended to be ironic in nature. As he explains in this introductory track: "In Vice City we live in a «culo-tural» desert, a dirty stinking mess of a place where all of the music is made up by machines and people think you can tell how good a musician is by how much make-up he wears, eh? It is the way of the United States, that is why we call our station Radio Espantoso! Hehe... it is a little joke, OK?... all of the other radios is «espantoso», apart from ours!"
See Also
- San Juan Sounds - A radio station in GTA IV and Episodes from Liberty City which also plays Puerto Rican and Dominican music.
- International Funk 99 - A radio station in GTA IV which plays another song by Lonnie Liston Smith.
- East Los FM - A radio station in GTA V which also plays Latin American music.
- MOTOMAMI Los Santos - A radio station in GTA Online which plays another song by Willie Colón & Héctor Lavoe.