HISTORY OF ARGENTINE ROCK: Recent Episodes
RAE Argentina al Mundo
Born into a family of classical musicians, he began to forge his own musical tastes as a teenager. Together with his cousin Susana, guitars in hand, they ventured into different fields as a folkloric duo.
He was part of bands “Patada de Mosca”, the “Dúo Nagüal” before starting his own groups like “Fontova y la Foca”, “Fontova y sus Sobrinos”, “Fontova y los Tíos”, “Fontovarios”, up to the “Fontova Trio”.
His first album was released in 1982, and from the beginning he showed a wide range of genres ranging from blues, rock and roll, folklore, salsa, to telluric music, without ever losing his humor.
In 1987, together with the Uruguayan musician Rubén Rada, they made a series of concerts in the Odeón Theatre called “Oscura Pareja”. In 1988 he presents his sixth album “Fontova Presidente” with the band Fontova and his nephews at the Estadio Obras.
In the ’90s he made another incursion into acting, standing out his participation in the humorous program “Peor es Nada”, together with Jorge Guinzburg, where he composed the unforgettable “Fontova Presidente”.
Sonia Braguetti”, which meant that she was awarded a Martín Fierro Prize for her work. In 1995 he replaced Daniel Rabinovich, a member of Les Luthiers, on the “Great Milestones” tour of Spain.
He also performed in the plays “Porteños”, “Orquesta de Señoritas”, “Malos hábitos”. In 2004 he unified his taste for theatre, lyrical music, singing and humour, starring in the zarzuela “La Corte de Faraón” playing the character of “el Casto José”, a performance that earned him a nomination for the ACE Awards.
In the cinema he starred in “El regreso de Peter Cascada” and was part of the cast of “La Peste”, “Adiós querida luna” and “De quién es el portaligas? In 2002 he presented “Fontovarios”, a musical and humorous show at the Ateneo Theatre with Liliana Herrero and Daniel Melingo as guest musicians.
The group was formed in 1985 when Fernando Blanco, bass and vocals, meets Person, drums and vocals, and they decide to do something together. Blanco called Oscar Granieri, guitarist, his old schoolmate, and they began rehearsing in the garage of their home in Mar del Plata, while finishing their last year of high school.
From the beginning, Blanco and Person wrote their songs and mixed them with songs from the Beatles and old rock and roll’s from the 1950s. In 1987, they arrived for the first time in Buenos Aires to play in a tribute to Elvis. With an increasingly clear Beach Boys influence, they travel to Bariloche and Córdoba.
In 1990, they signed with an independent company and recorded their first album, “Rock de la playa”, which quickly became a hit with songs such as “¿Puede tu mono bailar a-go-go?” or “Toda la noche así” and the covers of “Bárbara Anne” and “Papa oh mow mow”.
In ’91, after an intense tour around the country they present in Obras the new album “Segundo tiempo”, which continues with the success of the previous one. After an exhausting `92, the group takes a vacation in the United States and decides to return the following year to record their third album, “Aire para respirar” (Air for Breathing).
This album, with a more rockabilly style, counted with the participation of thr original drummer of Elvis Presley and with recording session at Sun Records studios in the city of Memphis. In ’95, they recorded “Reciclable”, with an interesting variety of styles, and they released the tracks “Con cariño, yo”, with great radio success, and the cover of Bob Dylan’s classic song “Mis páginas del pasado”.
In 1996, it is the turn of “Zapping club”, in which they propose a sonorous change approaching more to the current thing but conserving its melodies and classic harmonies. The first cut is “Me muero por vos” and the second cut “Karma sin quemar”, which has a clip directed by Person, the drummer. In 1997, the group signs with the company EMI and begins to work on the “demos” of their next album.
As a sign of the permanent evolution of the band and the need to reproduce a more complete sound on stage, in September 1999 Agustín Insausti joined as a permanent guest musician on keyboards, who has his first participation in the filming of the video “Granja media argentina”.
After gaining a foothold in the local rock scene, they began recording their latest production, “Mancha registrada”, produced by Juanchi Baleirón and with guests such as ska-rock group La Mosca, or Jorge Maronna of the Les Luthiers music-comedy group and Los Pericos reggae band.
The first single of this album, “Como estamos hoy”, became the most listened song of the year 2000 and 2001, achieving a Top 5 in all the radios of the country. The year 2001 was the one of international consecration, obtaining a nomination to the Latin Grammy awards for best vocal interpretation in Rock Group, that is added to those received in the Gardel Awards for Music in “Best Pop Group” and “Best Song”.
During 2002, “Mancha Registered” was published in Spain, Puerto Rico, USA and Colombia, making the group successful tours in each of those countries. In July 2003 they released the album “Urgente”, which is also released in Spain, the United States, Puerto Rico, all of Latin America and some European countries.
In April 2005, the band celebrates 20 years at the Teatro Auditorium in Mar del Plata with a full house. In 2006, they share a festival with Oasis in Buenos Aires on the Campo de Polo and prepare the songs that will form part of the new studio album. That same year, they set up for Spain, a tour that adds an invitation to participate in a festival parallel to the World Cup in Germany.
With great success, the group makes a few presentations before the matches, along with other groups from around the world. The repercussion obtained in Germany makes them return a month later to play in cities like Cologne and Dusseldorf. In addition, they manage to carry out some shows in Belgium and Holland, also with a great success of public.
Band originated in La Plata in 1976, specialized in Rock and Roll and a very peculiar poetics. In 1978 they arrived in Buenos Aires and began to work in the “Pub’s” circuit. After recording a demo in 1982, broadcast by FM Buenos Aires, they released their first album independently.
Carmen Castro, alias “La negra Poly”, is manager and “spiritual guide” of the band led by the now mythical Indio Solari. Their debut album is completely sold out and the band begins to attract large numbers of followers. The massive success would come with the release of their second album in 1986, presented live on 18 and 25 October of the same year at Paladium.
In December 1989 they filled the hockey court of the Obras Sanitarias Club with 26,000 people. In April 1991, during the course of a recital, a young man named Walter Bulacio is arrested by the police. He is then beaten and after spending 5 days in a coma, he dies.
Their last show at River Plate Stadium (April 15 and 16, 2000) brings together 140,000 people, but the party was not total as there are riots inside and outside the stadium that left one dead and several injured. After this show the band separates and goes into a prolonged recess.