CH's version of "Charanguéate" begins with a montuno which sounds more like their early work than anything else on "Tremendo Delirio", and as you might expect, it's in 3:2 clave. [audio example]. Pay careful attention to the coro:

coro 1: charanguéate
llénate de charanga
anda
charanguéate, mami

After about 30 seconds, the following section begins:

qué te pasa?
te veo triste
te veo sola
estás delgada
yo te receto charanga

Lozada: charanga tiene
todo lo que necesitas tú
para que te de la luz
y borres esa tristeza inmensa
porque ésa no eres tú
charanga tiene
sobredosis de cariño y fuerza
te rebosa de alegría intensa
y aunque no lo creas tú

juntos: charanga [audio example]

During this section we find none of the classic indicators of clave. The only pattern which is long enough to be different on each side of what would be the clave is in the campana bell:

00x0|0xxx|xoxo|xxxx

Since it comes out of, and leads into, sections of 3:2, and since it has open tones on the first two notes of 3:2 clave, we'll call this 3:2.

At 1:03, the clear-cut 3:2 opening returns, followed by a repeat of the first part of the above section, but then, at 1:18, we arrive at the set-in-stone 2:3 rumba groove that Charanga Habanera always uses for their cuerpos. Since there's no preparation, this is a "2:2 New York Style clave change". When you hear "yo te receto Charanga", note that "re" and "to" of "receto" coincide with the 2-side, but that 2-side is followed by another 2-side, as clearly marked by the jamblock. [audio example] Try clapping 3:2 from the beginning of the example, such that the first clap of the 3-side lines up with "pa" of "que te pasa", and continue until you play the 2-side with "receto". Then just play another 2-side. Got it? Now just don't forget that your new clave license will not be honored if you're pulled over by New York City's clave police!

The remainder of the track is clearly in 2:3 clave. To understand what makes this track so "convoluted" you have to listen carefully to the vocals. At 1:27, Dany Lozada sings exactly what he sang earlier:

Lozada: charanga tiene
todo lo que necesitas tú
para que te de la luz
y borres esa tristeza inmensa (etcétera) [audio example]

...only now he's singing it against a clear-cut 2:3 groove. At this point, one has to rethink and consider that the first appearance of this section might also have been in 2:3, which would add a couple more NY style changes to the opening section which we had decided was in a somewhat half-hearted 3:2.

But the real shock comes at 1:51 when we return to the very first coro of the song:

coro 1: charanguéate
llénate de charanga
anda
charanguéate mami [audio example]

There was no question whatsoever that the rhythm section was playing strong 3:2 clave when the coristas sang this at the top of the chart, [audio example], and likewise there is no question that they're playing 2:3 clave here! [audio example] Leaving aside the whole "New York" argument, this is the only example in any kind of Latin music that I've found (except a tiny portion of the intro of "Qué quieres de mí?" later in this same album) where the identical coro is played against one strongly stated clave and then the other in the same arrangement! If "Charanguéate" weren't one of the great charts in all of Timba, we could just say "well now, there's an arranging faux pas...jajajaja". But when "theory" tries to take precedence over that upon which it bases its very existence, it becomes a travesty and "Charanguéate", as any Timbero with a pulse will tell you, is a classic, and damned if that coro doesn't swing in either clave!

Let's look at the rhythm of the coro itself:

xxxx|xxxx|xxxx|xx00
000x|xxxx|0000|x00x
0xxx|xxx0|x0xx|xx00
0x00|x0xx|xxxx|xxxx
xxxx|xxxx|xxxx|xx00

It looks more 2:3-ish, but not overwhelmingly so. So we have a song that's primarily in 2:3, with the first couple of minutes being in 3:2. BUT -- all of the vocal material from that first couple of minutes is repeated verbatim later in the 2:3 section! So why in the name of Beny Moré didn't Charanga Habanera just play the opening in 2:3?

Why?

My answer is that this is Timba, and in Timba, the piano part emerged as a creative force. The pianist could no longer take a stock rhythm pattern and apply it to the chord progression at hand. In Timba, the piano tumbao has to be a hook. But don't just take my word for it -- ask yourself -- when you think of the song "Charanguéate" what comes to mind first? For the great majority, the answer is this -- [audio example]. The piano tumbao itself is in 3:2 and is, all by itself, so strong and crucial to the identity of the song that it justifies breaking all the "rules" of clave, including some that had never been broken before, even by Juan Formell himself!