Johnny Canales, the groundbreaking television presenter who introduced Tejano and cumbia bands to an international audience, would have been 82 today.
His death on June 12 prompted many across the Lone Star State to reminisce about their time growing up watching “The Johnny Canales Show,” especially those of us from South Texas, where he would broadcast.
Those memories often took the form of Sunday mornings, making breakfast and dancing along to the bands that would grace his stage – La Sombra, Grupo Mazz and, of course, Selena Quintanilla among them.
Small-town memories
Canales was born on Aug. 23, 1942, in General Treviño, Nuevo León, Mexico. His family moved to Texas when he was a child, settling in Robstown, a small community right outside of Corpus Christi.
Robstown resident Theresa Alonzo, grandmother of Texas Standard digital producer Raul Alonzo, remembers the young Canales shared his love of music with residents from an early age.
“His father, I remember seeing him in the stores outside and playing the violin. And Johnny was on the side of him,” Theresa Alonzo said. “And that’s where he got the idea of the music, you know. I remember that real good.”
Theresa Alonzo says Johnny would often be dancing or singing along with his father’s playing. And sure enough, Canales followed that passion for music into the entertainment scene of the small town.
Ramon Alejandro has run Ray’s Footwear in downtown Robstown for 54 years. While today the area is quiet and numerous buildings lay shuttered, Alejandro says in its heyday it wasn’t unusual to see crowds all about the streets, visiting the numerous businesses, bars and dancehalls.
It was at one such dancehall that the young Alejandro first saw Canales performing.
“I was about 14 or 15 years old, and I didn’t go into the dance, but me and other kids were looking through the window, and he was there singing,” Alejandro said. “And I told the guys, ‘hey, come here, look at this little boy singing.’
He must have been maybe not a little, maybe 16, 17 years old, I don’t know. But he looked like a little boy, you know? It was something that you didn’t see everywhere.”
Eventually, Canales would form his own bands – delving into orquesta music or playing with other genres like rock n’ roll, and even funk. He covered popular Spanish songs and even English hits like Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.”
But while he excelled as a performer, Canales soon found success on another side of the stage.
Career beginnings
Canales eventually made it on to the radio airwaves in the 1970s – not as a musician, but as a DJ. This was where his ear for talent really began to shine.
He played conjunto star Ruben Naranjo’s record “La Estrella” so much that it became a hit. He also gave Naranjo his famous nickname: “El Clark Gable” of the Chicano music wave.
While successful on the radio, Canales soon was drawn to the allure of the small screen. In 1983, he stepped onto the television stage with “The Johnny Canales Show,” delighting audiences with his presence and catchphrases: “You got it! Take it away! Eso!”
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The show aired across the U.S. and Northern Mexico, launching the careers of bands by bringing them into thousands of homes across the two countries. He’s credited with helping artists like La Sombra, La Mafia and Grupo Mazz find success.
But perhaps the most famous artist to ever grace his stage early in her career was Selena Quintanilla.
Not every band or singer who came onto “The Johnny Canales Show” ended up making it big, but the stage nonetheless immortalized many regional artists who otherwise may have been lost to history.
Midland resident Eliasar Mendoza grew up in Chihuahua, Mexico, and remembers watching the show when he was young. One particular memory he has was when a relative’s band, Los Palmeros de San Carlos, made it onto the show.
“I don’t know if they remember,” Mendoza said. “It was a long time ago.”
But though years passed, the performance is still one of many that can be found on places like YouTube.
The power of nostalgia
Charlie Vela, an artist and sound engineer based in the Rio Grande Valley, met Johnny Canales a couple of years ago.
“I mean, his cultural significance, especially among people my generation and older, is huge,” Vela said.
Vela’s Fronterawave project features clips of “The Johnny Canales Show” in between mixes of lo-fi conjunto recordings with synths and ’90s hip-hop. But while the music is a reimagining, it rests on the power of nostalgia, which Vela says Canales represents for a lot of South Texas.
“I think, as a child, you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s like old people music’ or whatever,” Vela said. “But the fact that it was there and just kind of imprinting itself in the background of your subconscious … You’re able to access that as an adult and be like, ‘you know what, it actually was special.’”
That nostalgia is something many South Texans are reflecting on in the months since Canales died.
For some, it’s the sense of connection felt in seeing someone who was familiar to people they grew up with. For others, it’s remembering that growing up in South Texas can sometimes feel small, but folks like Johnny Canales nonetheless showcased and became emblematic of the unique culture that shaped us.
But whatever the sentiment, one thing feels certain – his passing was the end of an era.
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