Keep ‘Em Laughing

Even for a border crossing, it was miserable.

The 21-year-old paraplegic from El Salvador hobbled toward the U.S.-Mexico border on crutches for weeks--the last four days without food or water. When California was in sight, he dropped to the dirt and crawled, elbow by bloody elbow, across a four-lane freeway.

And then the Boogeyman struck.

“El Cucuy”--Spanish for “the boogeyman”--rules the airwaves from 5 to 11 six mornings a week on KSCA-FM (101.9). When El Cucuy (ku-KOO-ee) got a call from the young man’s relative, he lit into countless jokes and christened the man “Tarzan.”

El Cucuy, who was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, 46 years ago as Renan Almendarez Coello, has been the talent and voice of the No. 1 radio show in Southern California for more than two years and thanks to syndication in eight cities, his is also the most popular Spanish radio show in the nation.

“The people call me crying, and they end up laughing,” he said, noting that he even got Tarzan to laugh at his own tenacity. It was all in good fun, apparently, because generous listeners who heard about the unbelievable border crossing donated money and assistance.

While Almendarez admits his program runs on stupid, crass jokes, he says he’s not vindictive.

“The best friend of the people is El Cucuy,” he said.

Ratings show he may be right.

According to Arbitron’s summer ratings, “El Cucuy de la Manana” draws nearly 10% of the Southland’s morning drive-time listeners--229,100 people. That’s an enormous audience, considering that more than half the potential listeners don’t speak Spanish. Based on the numbers, he’s twice as popular in the L.A. area as Howard Stern, whose syndicated New York show airs on KLSX-FM (97.1) at about the same time, pulling 4.6% of the audience--108,000 listeners.

Over the last two years, KSCA’s owner, Hispanic Broadcasting Corp., spun El Cucuy into syndication in San Francisco; Las Vegas; Dallas; Houston; San Antonio; McAllen, Texas; El Paso and Chicago.

“We’re looking to syndicate him all over the country,” said Gary Stone, KSCA’s general manager. “He’s already doing well in all the other markets. Spanish radio is alive and well.”

About two months ago, record distributor BMG U.S. Latin released a compact disc of Almendarez’s jokes, and in two weeks “El Disco de ‘El Cucuy’ ” was the No. 3 bestseller in Ritmo Latino record stores, the largest Latin music franchise in the country.

Almendarez’s wild appeal underscores the parallel but distinct worlds of Spanish and English media. Most Anglos have never heard of him, and yet he may be Spanish-language radio’s most recognizable on-air personality.

Almendarez operates in a Spanish-only world. He doesn’t speak English and says he is an excellent role model for hard-working individuals who can achieve success regardless of their language skills.

His promotions director, Ricardo Castillo, said the show’s earthiness resonates with everyday Latinos.

“Anglos are very shocked at our success. They fail to understand how we’re drawing these listeners. We’re beating Stern!” he said. “We do a lot of research about our listeners. What they want is plain Spanish, everyday Spanish that people who might not have gone to college speak.”

Almendarez refuses to adopt the baritone voice of traditional broadcasters, and he insists that no matter how despondent a caller may be, El Cucuy will find a solution and throw in some humor, too.

From Monday through Saturday callers fret about everything from immigration issues to infidelity, and he makes light of it all. Interspersed among jokes, he plays one song an hour and hosts famous Latin guests like singer Enrique Iglesias. Things can’t get too serious, because he’s trigger-happy with 2,000 electric sound effects within reach (flushing toilets, stadium cheers, slamming doors, animal squawks).

Almendarez had his first radio show at age 15 in Tegucigalpa. Soon, he said, he was pushing the envelope at a larger, government-owned station. He describes himself as a devout Catholic, who’s nevertheless been married four times and has as many children as he has fingers and toes. He came to the U.S. 19 years ago determined to be famous.

“Now,” he said smiling broadly, “I have no competition.”

So Long, Rhythm & Blues: At midnight on Monday, KACE-FM (103.9), one of the best-known R&B; stations in the Southland, will cease broadcasting.

The change--prompted by a shift in ownership--will leave Los Angeles with only one weak-signaled, black-oriented music station.

Meanwhile, program decisions for KACE’s Spanish-language successor are being solidified by the new owner, Hispanic Broadcast Corp., which paid $75 million for the station last year. HBC is the largest Spanish-language broadcaster in the country, and it already owns L.A.’s No. 1 morning station, KSCA-FM (101.9).

With KACE silent, Stevie Wonder’s KLJH-FM (102.3) will remain the only black-oriented, adult station on L.A.’s dial. What’s more, 18 staffers at KACE are out of work and glumly looking for other jobs, according to Kevin Fleming, the station’s program director.

For more than five years, KACE has been known for its R&B; music. But the station, which was then owned by Cox, was also admired for its social responsibility during the 1992 L.A. riots when deejays broke from format to call for peace and reason in the streets.

Replacing an R&B; station with a Spanish-language show is a reflection of a major demographic shift in the L.A. area, where Latinos now represent 44% of the population and blacks comprise less than 10%.