Ricardo Malerba was born on 24 August 1905. The song 24 de agosto ("August 24th") was composed by Pedro Laurenz with lyrics by Homero Manzi. It was recorded by Laurenz with Alberto Podestá on 16 April 1943. Ricardo Malerba recorded it with Orlando Medina on 6 October 1943 (Malerba and Medina, right; listen to the song below).
Ricardo Malerba's brother Alfredo composed several songs with Homero Manzi, two of which (Mi taza de cafe, Ropa blanca) were recorded by Ricardo. Ricardo himself composed one song with Manzi, a vals entitled Una vez en mi vida, which was recorded by Mario Maurano's orchestra with Libertad Lamarque (wife of Alfredo, sister-in-law of Ricardo) and Osvaldo Fresedo with Ricardo Ruiz.
Considering these direct connections between the two men, it seems virtually certain that Homero Manzi and Ricardo Malerba knew each other, probably quite well. Did Manzi write the lyrics to 24 de agosto in honor of Ricardo Malerba? Does the song describe events in Ricardo's life? Or was it just an idle coincidence? An inside joke? Tango Decoder cannot decode this!
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