Los Bravos
Encyclopedia
Los Bravos were a Spanish
beat group, formed in 1965, and based in Madrid
. Their single "Black Is Black
" reached #2 in the United Kingdom
in July 1966, and #4 in the United States
(the first Spanish group to do so) selling over a million records
.
groups
, Los Sonor and The Runaways. Los Bravos' lead singer, Mike Kogel
, was from Germany
. His vocal
styling was sometimes likened to Gene Pitney
's. Their single
"Black Is Black
" reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart
in July 1966
and #4 in the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100
chart
, the first Spanish group to achieve this. The song
sold over one million copies worldwide. The track was written
by Tony Hayes and Steve Wadey, in their recording studio
for cutting demo
discs
in Hoo St Werburgh
, near Rochester, Kent
, England
. The song was later covered
by Johnny Hallyday
and the French
-based outfit Belle Epoque
, and in 1977 their disco
version of the song coincidentally also reached #2 in the UK
.
Los Bravos' follow-up single, "I Don't Care", reached #16 in the UK
in October 1966. In 1967 the band participated in the Sanremo Music Festival, failing to qualify for the final with the song "Uno come noi" in Italian. The band were the subjects of two Spanish
comedic movies
: in 1967 Los chicos con las chicas (The Boys With the Girls), directed
by Javier Aguirre
and in 1968, ¡Dame un poco de amooor...! (Give Me a Little Looove!), directed by José María Forqué
and Francisco Macián. Their song "Going Nowhere" from the soundtrack
to Los chicos con las chicas was re-issued as a part of the Rhino Records series, Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969.
One of Los Bravos' founding members Manuel Fernandez committed suicide on 20 May 1967, at the age of 23, after the death of his bride Lottie Rey in an auto accident.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
beat group, formed in 1965, and based in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. Their single "Black Is Black
Black Is Black
"Black Is Black" is a song by rock band Los Bravos, released in 1966 as the group's debut single for Decca Records. Produced by Ivor Raymonde, the song reached number two in the UK,number four in the U.S.,and number one in Canada....
" reached #2 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in July 1966, and #4 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(the first Spanish group to do so) selling over a million records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
.
Biography
The band were an amalgamation of two popPop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
groups
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
, Los Sonor and The Runaways. Los Bravos' lead singer, Mike Kogel
Mike Kogel
Mike Kogel was born Michael Volker Kogel, in Berlin on 25 April 1945. He was raised in West Berlin and moved to Spain in 1960.He was the lead singer of the Spanish pop rock group Los Bravos, who released the top five hit "Black Is Black" in 1966...
, was from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. His vocal
Human voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
styling was sometimes likened to Gene Pitney
Gene Pitney
Eugene Francis Alan Pitney, known as Gene Pitney , was an American singer-songwriter, musician and sound engineer. Through the mid-1960s, he enjoyed success as a recording artist on both sides of the Atlantic and was among the group of early 1960s American acts who continued to enjoy hits after the...
's. Their single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Black Is Black
Black Is Black
"Black Is Black" is a song by rock band Los Bravos, released in 1966 as the group's debut single for Decca Records. Produced by Ivor Raymonde, the song reached number two in the UK,number four in the U.S.,and number one in Canada....
" reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in July 1966
1966 in music
-Events:*January 3 – Hullabaloo shows promotional videos of The Beatles songs "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work it Out".*January 8 – Shindig! airs for the last time on ABC, with musical guests the Kinks and the Who...
and #4 in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
, the first Spanish group to achieve this. The song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
sold over one million copies worldwide. The track was written
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
by Tony Hayes and Steve Wadey, in their recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
for cutting demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
discs
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
in Hoo St Werburgh
Hoo St Werburgh
Hoo St Werburgh is one of several villages on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent, England, to bear the name Hoo. It constitutes a civil parish in the borough of Medway, with a population of 7,356 at the 2001 census.- History :...
, near Rochester, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The song was later covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday is a French singer and actor. An icon in the French-speaking world since the beginning of his career, he was considered by some to have been the French Elvis Presley. He was married for 15 years to one of the most popular French female singers: Sylvie Vartan...
and the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-based outfit Belle Epoque
Belle Epoque (band)
Belle Epoque was the name of a female vocal trio, based in Paris, France. The group first rose to popularity during the mid to late 1970s with a disco remake of the song, "Black Is Black", originally a hit in 1966 for the Spanish group Los Bravos.-History:Belle Epoque consisted of lead singer...
, and in 1977 their disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
version of the song coincidentally also reached #2 in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Los Bravos' follow-up single, "I Don't Care", reached #16 in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in October 1966. In 1967 the band participated in the Sanremo Music Festival, failing to qualify for the final with the song "Uno come noi" in Italian. The band were the subjects of two Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
comedic movies
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
: in 1967 Los chicos con las chicas (The Boys With the Girls), directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Javier Aguirre
Javier Aguirre
Javier Aguirre Onaindía , popularly nicknamed El Vasco , is a Mexican football manager and former midfielder. He was also a member of the Mexico national team and later became manager in two different occasions, but resigned after the 2010 FIFA World Cup...
and in 1968, ¡Dame un poco de amooor...! (Give Me a Little Looove!), directed by José María Forqué
José María Forqué
José María Forqué was a Spanish screenwriter and film director.-Filmography:* 1947 : Juventudes de España, bajo una Patria hermosa* 1951 : María Morena* 1951 : Niebla y sol...
and Francisco Macián. Their song "Going Nowhere" from the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to Los chicos con las chicas was re-issued as a part of the Rhino Records series, Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969.
One of Los Bravos' founding members Manuel Fernandez committed suicide on 20 May 1967, at the age of 23, after the death of his bride Lottie Rey in an auto accident.
Band members
- Michael Volker 'Mike' Kogel (born 25 April 1945, BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
) — vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Antonio Martinez (born 3 October 1945, MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
) — guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
. Martinez died in a motorcycle accident en route to his office in 1990. - Manuel Fernandez (29 September 1943, SevilleSevilleSeville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, Andalucia — 20 May 1967) — electric organElectric organIn biology, the electric organ is an organ common to all electric fish used for the purposes of creating an electric field. The electric organ is derived from modified nerve or muscle tissue... - Miguel Vicens Danus (born 21 June 1944, Ferrol, Galicia) — bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Pablo Gomez (born 5 November 1943, BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, CataloniaCataloniaCatalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
) — drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s
Singles
The following singles reached the Billboard Hot 100 or UK Top 40:- "Black Is BlackBlack Is Black"Black Is Black" is a song by rock band Los Bravos, released in 1966 as the group's debut single for Decca Records. Produced by Ivor Raymonde, the song reached number two in the UK,number four in the U.S.,and number one in Canada....
" (1966) — UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#2 U.S.Billboard Hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
#4 - "I Don't Care" (1966) — UK #16
- "Going Nowhere" (1966) — U.S. #91
- "Bring a Little Lovin'Bring a Little Lovin'"Bring a Little Lovin" is a single from Los Bravos's album of the same name, released in 1968.The song reached number fifty-one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.-Formats and track listings:7" single#"Bring a Little Lovin'" – 2:21...
" (1968) — U.S. #51
Albums
Original studio albums:- Black is BlackBlack Is Black (album)Black is Black is the debut album by Spanish beat music group Los Bravos. The album features its title track, an international hit. The album was originally released in 1966, but was reissued in 2003 with 13 bonus tracks.-Original Album:# "Black is Black"...
(1966) — Press Records — U.S.Billboard 200The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
#93 - Bring a Little Lovin' (1968) — ParrotParrot RecordsParrot Records was a division of London Records in the United States which started in 1964. Notable artists whose records were released by Parrot included: The Zombies, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Them featuring Van Morrison, Jonathan King, Hedgehoppers Anonymous, Lulu, Bobby "Boris"...
- All the Best (1993) — compilation albumCompilation albumA compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
— DeccaDecca RecordsDecca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
See also
- RPM number-one hits of 1966RPM number-one hits of 1966This is a list of the Canadian RPM magazine number one singles of 1966.-Notes:† On 21 March 1966, the chart became the RPM 100, as expanded to the top 100 songs. Also, RPM began the practice of keeping former #1 singles on the chart, dropping down their position from top rather than deleting the...
- List of artists under the Decca Records label
- List of 1960s one-hit wonders in the United States
- List of songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks
- Music of SpainMusic of SpainThe Music of Spain has a long history and has played an important part in the development of western music. It has had a particularly strong influence upon Latin American music. The music of Spain is often associated abroad with traditions like flamenco and the classical guitar but Spanish music...
External links
- [ Los Bravos biography] at Allmusic websiteWebsiteA website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
- Video for "Black is Black"
- Video for "Going Nowhere"