Duncan Dhu is a Spanish group created in

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in 1984. Its original members were

Mikel Erentxun Mikel Erentxun Acosta (born 23 February 1965) is a Spanish rock musician of Basque heritage. Formerly with the group Duncan Dhu, he started his solo career in 1992. He has released 16 albums as a solo artist and has covered The Smiths' song, ...

(former singer in "Aristogatos"), Diego Vasallo and Juan Ramón Viles (former members of "Los Dalton"). Nowadays, it mainly consists of Mikel and Diego.

History

The group's style was based on an acoustic and simple pop-rock with a touch of rockabilly in great contrast with the more radical rock played in the area at the time. After being signed by Grabaciones Accidentales, S.A. they contributed with two songs (''Mi Amor'' and ''Bésame Mucho'') to the new bands compilation ''La única alternativa'' (''The Only Alternative''). In 1985 the group recorded its first album, ''Por Tierras Escocesas'' (''Around Scottish Lands''), and ''Canciones'' (''Songs'') a year later, both produced by Paco Trinidad. The songs were immediately successful and gave the group big popularity. After even more successful ''El Grito del Tiempo'' (''Cry for our Times'', 1987) and ''Grabaciones Olvidadas'' (''Forgotten Recordings'', a compilation of B-Sides, 1989) it became a duo and recorded the double album ''Autobiografía'' (''Autobiography''), with collaborations by

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

and Sam Brown among others. The album was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Latin Performance in 1991. The group later also had several hits such as ''Esos Ojos Negros'' ("Those Black Eyes"). The group finally ceased to exist as a band after the release of "Crepúsculo y Crudités" (''Sunset and

Crudités Crudités (, ) are French appetizers consisting of sliced or whole raw vegetables which are typically dipped in a vinaigrette or other dipping sauce. Examples of crudités include celery sticks, carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, bell pepper strip ...

''), which was more orchestrated and softer than its older music. The group's most-known hit is ''En Algún Lugar'' ("In Some Place" / "Somewhere"). The song was initially featured in ''Canciones'', but it was the remix included on ''El Grito del Tiempo'' that became widely popular. The name Duncan Dhu comes from the book '' Kidnapped'' by

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

, in which there is a character named Duncan Dhu, who is a lover of music. "I need not say if I was pleased to see him; Mrs. Maclaren, our hostess, thought nothing good enough for such a guest; and as Duncan Dhu (which was the name of our host) had a pair of pipes in his house, and was much of a lover of music, this time of my recovery was quite a festival, and we commonly turned night into day."

Members

– lead vocals, guitars * Diego Vasallo – bass guitar * Juan Ramón Viles – drums, percussion

Discography

*''Por Tierras Escocesas'' (1984) *''Canciones'' (1986) *''El Grito del Tiempo'' (1987), Cry for our Times (1987, published on Les Disques du Crépuscule, TWI 876) *''Grabaciones Olvidadas'' (1989) *''Autobiografía'' (1989) *''Supernova'' (1991) *''Piedras'' (1994) *''Teatro Victoria Eugenia'' (1995) *''Colección 1985-1998'' (1998) *''Crepúsculo'' (2001) *''El Duelo'' (2013) *''1'' (2013)

References

Basque music bands Rock en español music groups Sire Records artists Musical groups established in 1984 {{Spain-band-stub