My aunt owned a satellite dish in Tampico. It had a decoder and you could “acquire” a code to open up many channels at a local market called “macalito”. The name “macalito” was a deformation of the word “pequeño McAllen” (small McAllen), which was one of the closest US cities to Tampico, the other being Brownsville.

If you wanted imported goods, like clothes, perfumes, food, and toys, macalito was the place. I wasn’t allowed to go when I was a kid, only until I was 15 could I go and roam around the place, near the lagoon and the canals. My nerdy mind usually was focused on looking for GI Joes, which were already in decline both in sales and design.

I never went near the music stalls, as the satellite dish had a channel that was fully dedicated to music videos and selling CDs, tapes, and collectors boxes, like The Buddha Box. The channel, with a name that still escapes me, had a healthy amount of Country music played, but other genres played too.

One song in particular always intrigued me. The video was in a classy bar. A smartly dressed gentleman. A fiery red saxophonist. A cool rhythm. “That’s the guy from Eurythmics” said my cousin. I only knew Sweet Dreams (are made of this) so this jazzier side of Dave Stewart was unknown.

Candy Dulfer rose to fame in rock circles thanks to her participation with Pink Floyd’s Knebworth gig, a fact I found later in life when I was going through a Pink Floyd phase (we all do have it).

Lily was here is a call and response track that displays the talents of both Stewart and Dulfer. It was also part of the soundtrack of a Dutch film called The Cashier, which didn’t get a release in Mexico and it’s a bit hard to track on this side of the Atlantic. The whole soundtrack is by Dave Stewart, with a couple of guest star moments, including the marvelous Here comes the rain by Eurythmics. Maybe one day I’ll catch the flick and let you all about it.

-Sam J. Valdés López