You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Spanish. (August 2012)Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Spanish article. Machine translation, likeDeepL orGoogle Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. Youmust providecopyright attribution in theedit summary accompanying your translation by providing aninterlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary isContent in this edit is translated from the existing Spanish Wikipedia article at [[:es:El choclo]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template{{Translated|es|El choclo}} to thetalk page. For more guidance, seeWikipedia:Translation.

"El Choclo"
Sheet music for "El Choclo"
Song
Language	Spanish
English title	The Corn Cob
Published	1903
Genre	Tango
Songwriter(s)	Ángel Villoldo

"El Choclo" (South American Spanish: meaning "The Corn Cob") is apopular song written byÁngel Villoldo, anArgentine musician. Allegedly written in honour of and taking its title from the nickname of the proprietor of a nightclub, who was known as "El Choclo". It is one of the most populartangos in Argentina. The song became popular in the United States under the name "Kiss of Fire" after English language words written by Lester Allen and Robert Hill were added to the song. The English version of the song was first recorded byLouis Armstrong, and later became a number 1 charting song with over a million record sales for singerGeorgia Gibbs.^[1]

The piece was premiered inBuenos Aires in 1903 – the date appears on a program of the venue – at the elegant restaurant El Americano on Cangallo 966 (today Teniente General Perón 966) by the orchestra led byJosé Luis Roncallo.

"El Choclo" has been recorded (without vocals) by many dance orchestras, especially in Argentina. A number of vocal versions were recorded in the United States in 1952, but the most popular was the one byGeorgia Gibbs, which reached no. 1 on theBillboard chart under the name "Kiss of Fire".^[2][3]Tony Martin's version reached no. 6,Toni Arden's no. 14,Billy Eckstine's no. 16,Louis Armstrong's no. 20, andGuy Lombardo's version reached no. 30. There are Spanish versions of "Kiss of Fire" byConnie Francis andNat King Cole. In 1953Olavi Virta andMetro-Tytöt released a Finnish version, titled "Tulisuudelma", which means "Kiss of Fire". The Finnish words, by "Kullervo" (Tapio Kullervo Lahtinen), closely follow the English. In 2001 the hip-hop group Delinquent Habits made the song known to a new generation when they released "Return of the tres", which relies heavily on samplings from a Mariachi version of the classical tango. The latest edition to this tune is included in the 2013 production by 7 Notas Music Designers of "Red Soul" by Manee Valentine.

The original lyrics by Villoldo specifically sang about the corn cob as food. He later wrote another version titled "Cariño Puro" (meaning "Pure Tenderness"). Another version was written by Marambio Catán, but the most popular remains Enrique Santos Discépolo's (1947), which sings about tango as a way of life. Louis Armstrong sang English lyrics using the title "El Choclo (Kiss of Fire)". This English word variant was translated back into Spanish as "Beso de Fuego", and as such, the song was sung byConnie Francis.

InRussian, "El Choclo" serves as the melody for the well-knownblatnaya pesnya (criminals' song) На Дерибасовской открылася пивная ("a beer bar opened up onDe Ribas Street").^[4]

Argentine actress and singerTita Merello performed El Choclo in the filmLa Historia del Tango (1949).^[5]

• Victor Orchestra (1912)
• International Novelty Orchestra (1928)
• Toni Arden (1952)
• Louis Armstrong (1952)
• Billy Eckstine (1952)
• Hibari Misora
• Georgia Gibbs (1952)
• David Hughes
• Mickey Katz Parody entitled "Kiss of Meyer"
• Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (vocal:Kenny Gardner) (1952)
• Tony Martin (1952)
• Ella Mae Morse as "It's So Exciting"
• Anne Shelton (1952)
• Victor Silvester (1952)
• Jimmy Young (1952)
• Olavi Virta (1915–1972) ofFinland (1953)
• Caterina Valente (1958)
• Billy Vaughn Orchestra (1959)
• Nat King Cole (1959)
• Connie Francis as "Beso de Fuego" (1960)
• Ray Conniff with his orchestra and chorus for the albumRhapsody in Rhythm (1962) as "Kiss Of Fire"
• Allan Sherman Parody entitled "Kiss of Meyer" (not the same as Katz's version) (1964)
• James Last (1979)
• Violetta Villas (1993)
• Brave Combo with vocal by Lauren Agnelli on their albumAllumettes as "Kiss of Fire" (1994)
• Ikue Mori (1995)
• Julio Iglesias (1996)
• Tav Falco's Panther Burns (1996)
• Lam Nhat Tien (1998)
• Lagzi Lajcsi (1999)
• Helmut Lotti (2000)
• Duane Andrews (2004)
• Hugh Laurie featuringGaby Moreno (2013)
• Manee Valentine as "Kiss of Fire", an updated Louis Armstrong cover (2013)
• János Vámosi (2015)
• Parov Stelar as "El Tango Del Fuego" featuringGeorgia Gibbs (2020)

• TodoTango article on the premiere of El Choclo
• TodoTango article on El Choclo
• El Choclo sheet music
• El choclo, sung by Basil Billow, on SoundCloud

• Number-one singles in the United States
• Tangos
• Louis Armstrong songs
• Caterina Valente songs
• 1903 songs

• CS1 Russian-language sources (ru)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from October 2015
• Culture articles needing translation from Spanish Wikipedia
• Articles with hAudio microformats