"Rescued from Oblivion" The Spanish Tinge

Here is a part of a Tom Waits interview in which he describes the Spanish Tinge in the new album Bad as Me. (note to self: Write a song with Spanish Tinge.)

Pitchfork: There's a song on the album that I like very much called "Back in the Crowd", and it's almost disarming in its simplicity.

Tom Waits: Well, that song was an attempt at some of the-- you know what they call it-- Spanish Tinge. It's actually a musical category, like "Under the Boardwalk" is Spanish Tinge. "It's Over" by Roy Orbison, Spanish Tinge. It was done in the 60s. You can still hear it, but most people don't even know that expression. [Los Lobos' David Hidalgo] put castanets and claves on it-- My wife had this melody on a tape recorder, just something she sang in the car or wherever, all by herself-- [sings a melody]. Like that. And I just rescued it from oblivion. Sometimes words are just music themselves. Like "Chicago" is a very musical sounding name.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/features/interviews/8691-tom-waits/