Spanish Disco Artists (from Spain)

[Teddybear]

Clearly Spanish in her accent and style, Antonia Rodriguez sings the Mexican traditional song La Bamba from Veracruz.

(And from Argentina, Bebu Silvetti).

[tomasmilian]

Miguel Bose recorded his late 70s and early 80s albums in Madrid, Los Angeles and Milan. Apart from Super Superman, one of the most uplifting songs ever, despite the silly lyrics, and Omni Padme Um, which I haven't heard, he had other good disco tracks, particularly Shoot Me in the Back from the 1979 Chicas! album and Give Me Your Love, Olympic Games and Morir De Amor from 1980's Miguel. Plus, he was really hot! :))

[wever]

yes! Miguel Bosé was like the spanish d. Bowie hahaha all women went crazy when he appeared....but hahaha as bowie he has just recognized he's homosexual...that's nothing bad of course but now i make a little fun of all the ladies cause i never undertood at all what they found in him.... one of his most famous tracks was "amante bandido" BUT i have to tell you i was reeeeeeally surprised when i got some vinyl compilation of some disco hits and one of the most disco tracks was Shoot me in the back!!!!!!!!! by MIGUEL BOSE!!! i couldn't believe this guy could do such a disco song!!!!!!!!!!! OH!

there's any way i could show you that song? i really wish to share it with you.

[mrkick20000]

Miguel Bose was popular also in Japan in around 1981. The biggest hit at disco here was 'Give Me Your Love'.
Azul Y Negro, as I believe they are from Spain, had a disco hit 'Me Estoy Volviendo Loco' in the early 80s, too.

[wever]

WOW! i didn't know Miguel Bosé was that BIG!
normally spanish artists are femous but just in Spain and sometimes abroad.

Raffaela Carrá was italian but also VERY famous here!!!! we all know her biggest hits and she came many timess to our TV, not only that! she was TV presenter. I can remember her.

[wever]

Originally Posted by JussiK

What do I know about Fundacion Tony Manero? Well, one thing I'm certain of: they are the best party band on this earth, amen. Saw them at the Paloma Ballroom last year and the whole thing blew my mind. First of all the Paloma is of course in a class of it's own, right out of a fever dream. Then the band - moving kicking grooving on and on and on! Got to spin "Looking For la Fiesta" right after typing this.

Blowfly - are we talking about THE Blowfly?! They still exist? I must check them out 12th October that's for sure.

hey Jussik! when arew you comin then? i have to tell you OF COURSE i was in La Paloma too that night, i'm sure you'll recognise me if i tell you i wash the tall girl in the front row.... hehehehe

if you come the 12th of october (next friday!) you can take some vynils with you if you want cause we'll be doin and "old school" after party......

[JussiK]

Originally Posted by wever

hey Jussik! when arew you comin then? i have to tell you OF COURSE i was in La Paloma too that night, i'm sure you'll recognise me if i tell you i wash the tall girl in the front row.... hehehehe

if you come the 12th of october (next friday!) you can take some vynils with you if you want cause we'll be doin and "old school" after party......

I'll be staying at the Casa Camper hotel from Wednesday until Sunday. Leave me a message at the reception or here how to get in touch. Want me to bring some vinyls? Well why not, like old skool floorshakers, gritty funk disco?

[Nano]

hi fellas. This side of Barrabás (for me the best Spanish disco stuff) I remember an Eighties band that had a couple of dance hits very disco-like, it's called Mecano:

"Boda en Londres" (circa 1983)
"Ai Dalai" (circa 1990)

I remember a local radio show that played Fundación Tony Manero stuff some years ago. There was one "live" track that started with the guy explaining they were all in "disco rehab" because they were addicted to the disco sound Nice tribute stuff, I think they did some covers of Philly material.

A Wever le digo hola, pero ¡tendrías que haberte puesto un nick más latino, che! Un abrazo desde Buenos Aires.

[wever]

Mecano??????? mecano was like madonna hahahahaha
mecano, miguel bosé and all those bands you're sayin are very cheesy now!

about fundación tony manero you're talking about the begining of their fisrt album which is a live performance recorded in la sala bikini 1999 (Bikini 17 y 18 Marzo 99) and they began with k-jee. And yes! they are intruduced by a guy telling about discoaddiction refering to people as they were sick. Well! now you can check their website cause now its in english too!!! if you go to the disco-addicts section and then into discoaddiction , you'll read the real story of that band... Fundación Tony Manero

Throughout history, the people of the world have been faced with a plethora of diseases and epidemics. Some have been eradicated but others persist; among them, the condition known as disco-addiction. What drives a person to seek out discotheques every Saturday night? How do they manage to see dance palaces in what are no more than mere back street dives? What is the nature of the disorder that drives its victims to the compulsive purchase of The Gibson Brothers reissues? Disco-addiction lies behind these pathologies. Though officially unrecognized by the WHO, its symptoms can be observed in any one of the world's capital cities.

(...)

jajaja lo sé! mi nombre es Eva! saludos des de el otro lado del charco :)

[JussiK]

Up from the vaults this week: "Acariciame" by Susana Estrada, an apparently and shamefully forgotten yet fabulos performer. The 1978 7-inch on Barcelona-based Belter label has a cover image of the singer holding a white stuffed bird to her naked bosom. The song is a cabaret number with pounding euro beat and heavily breathed lyrics like "...tus besos me matar", your kisses are killing me. The B-side has a version of Pepe Luis Soto's Celi Bee number "Macho", here called "Machos".

I would also promote "Big Bamboo" by ZZongo, the original version of the track reorded by Georgie Dann. The ZZongos do it better, with lots more energy from the girl chorus and sleazier suggestions from the male vocalist.

[Javier]

More adds of disco music in Spain from some that are not considered disco artists:

Paloma San Basilio had some songs produced by Silvetti in her first two albums in 1975 and 1977. Later Silvetti included them as instrumentals in his own albums. These were "Secretos" and "Contigo" ("Love Secrets" and "With You" in the Silvetti albums). In 1975 she did a cover of Gloria's "Never Can Say Goodbye" as "No Puedes Volver A Mi", there is a video of it: YouTube - Paloma San basilio - No puedes volver a mi

Ángela Carrasco had a disco song called "Mama", though she is from Dominican Republic it was a produced by one of our stars, Camilo Sesto, who also was close to disco in some of his work.

Sergio y Estíbaliz had an album produced by Fernando Arbex (lead member of Barrabás), a great one called "Beans", sang in English and Spanish, but it was a big flop.

Also our bigger star Julio Iglesias had disco arrangements in some songs, following the steps of Andy Williams or Johnny Mathis I suppose, like "Quiéreme": YouTube - julio iglesias---quiereme--1979 or "Un Día Tú, Un Día Yo", with the argentinan Las Trillizas de Oro as chorus: YouTube - julio iglesias-un dia tu un dia yo --miami 1979

[wever]

OH NO!!!
nooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!

i don't know if people in this froum can imagine how is it to reconsider this kind of "artists" just because they played disco, if you don't know our context now. It was hard but yeah i got to recognize raffaela carrá did disco tunes which i hear now and i love! i was amazed when i hear "shot me in the back" by Miguel Bosé (oh god! i had to read the back side of the cover several times cause i still can't believe this guy did such a disco song!) ....but OMG! is soooo hard to admit somebody like Julio Iglesias which i definitely can't stand!!!! ..... i have to say it YES! i love those disco arrangements....but only for being disco i won't like him NEVER! i had to reconsider my opinion for bosé and others, but never for him!

[Nano]

Yep, Eva is right!

Of course there were many baladeers that tried a hand at disco in its time, but they are the Latin equivalents of Ethel Merman or other "famous" people trying to use disco for their own careers.

I'm pretty sure that both in Italy and Spain (as it was the case with Argentina) the real disco artists didn't sing in their local language, but in English. The main reason for this: in Italian or Spanish those tracks sounded cheesy and therefore the dance clubs wouldn't play it. In the disco days I never, ever, heard a disco song in Spanish on the dancefloor, not even Raffaella Carrá. More than that: the Spanish versions of English hits like "Celebration" or "Chiquitita" were considered just as cheesy.

That's why Barrabás (who sung in English) was in the gang and those artists were not. Same in Italy. In fact, even the Caribbean bands like the Gibson Brothers sung in English.

The only two exceptions I remember in all my disco years were "Ma quale idea" (Pino D'Angio, sung in Italian) and "La cotorra criolla" (Spanish rap by Perucho Conde, from Venezuela). Maybe there were more, but I'm sure they were that, exceptions to the rule.

Don't forget that ######## disco music wasn't played on the radio, like Miguel Bosé or Julio Iglesias did.

[Javier]

I don't think it was a problem of language the lack of real Disco artists in Spain but of the political and social situation we were living then. Franco died in 1975 and the change from dictatorship to democracy was not easy. We did not had that need of escapism that originated Disco in USA, creativity was directed to folk and social compromised pop. When things got established in the 80s we had that pop explosion that Eva explained.

Susana Estrada that Jussik mentions above was an erotic actress that become a political muse, her photo showing a breast in front of the first democratic mayor of Madrid was a scandal then. Funny she was one of the few that tried Disco.

But radios here played lots of international Disco, I was only fourteen in 1979 and got hooked a little before. In the few discos I went (I had to lend my older brother ID card and it was not always easy...) some songs in Spanish were played, the versions Manilow's "Copacabana" or Massara's "Margarita" (though I have doubts about this, is there actually a Spanish version of it???). I think Barrabás sang in English looking for a bigger market, not because it may sound cheesy. Cheesy was not still invented in the 70s, wasn't it...?

[QUINNY]

Here's the funny thing about Spain in the early to mid '70s. The radio stations played quite a few international Disco hits, probably a great deal more than mainstream radio in the UK at the time. Even back in '74, in Marbella there were radio stations that played upfront import Disco tracks for a couple of hours. I was always pleasantly surprised by both the number and variety of Disco records released. Due to the number of discotheques in Spain, many records were released with the logo "epecial Discoteca" or "Gran excito Discoteca" (sorry if my rusty Spanish and memory aren't quite correct) proudly emblazened across the front cover.

Even when Franco was still alive, there were plenty of people looking for the escapism and hedonism that Disco personified, including many Spanish (especially the guys, who lived life to the absolute max), with many of the waiters and such that I came across, living on a diet of hard work, loose women, drugs and booze. I'd say they were 99% liberated way before Franco died, eager for new experiences and Disco music was part of it. Sure, one did feel a little 'hemmed in' when Franco was alive, as the (secret) Police could be very strict and they had many informers ready to denounce people (especially foreigners), but as long as one didn't go out of one's way to deliberately break the law or be totally, totally stupid, they turned a blind eye to many things.

Personally, I never played any Spanish Disco records in my time DJing there from '74-'77 (apart from the odd Barrabas track in '74) and my punters just didn't want 'em. I remember when Y Viva Espana was at its height of popularity and the utter disdain shown by my regular Spanish punters to an English women who happened to request it. It was as if someone had just let rip the most repugnant, smelly fart imaginable.