When he was a children's dentist in Mexico, Ricardo Gutiérrez would make his face up like a clown to help his patients be less fearful of the invasive procedures they'd undergo. He named his alter ego Cepillin (pronounced Say-P-yeen) , translated to "tiny brush" in, Spanish. After a TV interview, he became famous enough to be asked to host a kids' educational/comedic television show. His various TV shows aired in over 16 countries. He parlayed that success into a music career, recording over 25 albums that totaled 25,000,000 copies in sales. Though it seems reasonable to me that a clown that would become a multimedia celebrity. But two elements raise Cepillin to Weird Music status. Firstly, the first I saw him without knowing his back story, my first thought was something along the line of "Why's that guy wearing blackface on the bottom half of of his of his mug?!" To that concern , I'll guess Gutiérrez meant no offense and merely wanted to make his face up in a simple manner. Secondly, and more germane to his music, the first I heard his clown voice I thought that if Elmo the Sesame Street Muppet had a human dad, Cepillin could be it. If you've heard both Elmo and Cepillin, do you agree with me that they sharer a strong vocal similarity?

During the latter 1970's and at least into the '00's, Cepillin also made movies, appeared on other people's TV shows, organized a traveling circus and was likely the object of merchandising the likes of which was probably really extensive. Gutiérrez died in 2021 at 75 due to a fall and apparently,, spinal cancer. Ironically for someone trained in a profession concerned with oral health, years of cigarette smoking likely as not contributed to the ill health that took him. Not to think of badly of a man whose character brought many people much fun and happiness, but I can't help but think it would be odd to smell tobacco breath coming from a clown. Agreed?