A drag queen once told me that Yma Sumac was the Peruvian equivalent of Carmen Miranda. If that makes any sense to you, you probably already know about Carmen Miranda and Yma Sumac, who died recently. According to the New York Times, which I take for my bible in all things camp, her name was really Imma Sumack (not Amy Camus, as the rumor had it), and she was born in Peru (not Brooklyn). And she really was an Incan princess, according to the Peruvian government.
I'd listen to Yma Sumac, along with Eartha Kitt and Barbra Streisand, while I was working one of my late-night data entry jobs after I first moved to New York. I remember vividly how I'd code data for an evil corporate law firm that was working on an asbestos case. Yma, Eartha, and Barbra hinted that there was a world beyond all this.
I'm bad at describing music, so I hope you'll seek out Yma Sumac for yourself. She was known for her high notes, but as you can see here, she could also growl. Unfortunately, some of her best songs—"Mambo" and "Xtabay" in particular—only show up as tributes on YouTube.
I think of Yma Sumac as one of Julie Taymor's birds, with a 1950s nightclub act. You'll either love her or you'll hate her. It's camp all the way.
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