La Guardia is a
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
pop-rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
band. They were most famous in the late 1980s and early 1990s during the
Movida Madrileña, though they are still active today following a hiatus. They have sold more than 2 million records.
History
The group was founded in
Granada
Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...
in 1983 by Manuel España (voice), Enrique "Conejo" Moreno (bass guitar) and Carlos Gilabert (keyboard), initially called "La guardia del Cardenal Richelieu" ("
Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...
's Guard"). Having formed the band as teenagers, they adopted this name because they used to rehearse in the afternoons after they watched ''
Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds
''Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds'' is a children's animated television series that adapts the classic 1844 Alexandre Dumas story of d'Artagnan and ''The Three Musketeers'', produced by Spanish studio BRB Internacional with animation by Ja ...
'' on TV.
Under this name they released a first single with techno and mod sounds. After this, Gilabert left the band, and Joaquín Almendros (guitar) and Emilio Muñoz (drums) joined it, forming the band's most famous line-up. They moved to
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, where the Movida was still ebullient, looking for broader success, and in 1985, they recorded an EP, now as La Guardia, after winning the Villablanca pop-rock festival in the town of
Fuengirola
Fuengirola () is a city on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is located on the central coast of the province and integrated into the region of the Costa del Sol and the Com ...
.
In 1986 they travelled to
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
to record their first full album ''Noches como esta''; but it's in 1988, with the album ''Vámonos'', that they achieved major success, thanks mostly to the single "Mil calles llevan hacia ti", which reached #1 on the Spanish
40 Principales chart in 1989, and which became the band's signature song. Manuel España said he had written the song while walking through the streets of the
Albayzín in Granada to his grandmother's house. ''Vámonos'' went on to become a
multi-platinum album, selling over 250,000 copies, and the band performed on a tour with more than 100 dates.
In 1990 came their second album, ''Cuando Brille El Sol'', with its successful single of the same name.
''Al Otro Lado'' (1991), ''Contra reloj'' (1993), and ''Acento del sur'' (1994) were their next works, all three produced by
Dusty Wakeman
Donald "Dusty" Wakeman is an American rock music, rock/country music producer and engineer based in Burbank, California. Wakeman is also credited as a bass player on many recordings. Dusty has worked with Dwight Yoakam, Lucinda Williams, Jim Laud ...
. The latter was recorded in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
at Mad Dog Studios. Shortly after this experience, Enrique Moreno died from a coronary disease, which ultimately caused the group to disband in 1997.
Later, after he had been working for a few years on another band called Chamaco, España tried to revive La Guardia without the involvement of Almendros, which caused the latter to file two lawsuits.
España won the rights to use the name for his new project and in 2003 he released ''Ahora!'', an acoustic record produced by Carlos Goñi, from the band .
In 2007, with a new record company (
Vale Music
Vale Music was a Spanish record company founded and directed by Ricardo Campoy. Alongside him were José María Castells, Gabriel Blanco, Toni Peret, Quique Tejada, Andreu Ugas, and Narcís Rebollo, who came from Campoy's previous record label, ...
), La Guardia recorded ''Sobre ruedas'', an album of
country rock
Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...
sounds, which sold just over 20,000 copies.
In 2008 the band celebrated their 25th anniversary with the album ''25 años no es nada'', in which Manuel España performed the band's hits with the collaboration of other artists such as La Mari (of
Chambao
Chambao is a flamenco- electronic band originally from Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, active in its first period from 2002 to 2018 and with a return announced for 2023. Their music fuses flamenco sounds and musical forms with electronic music. The n ...
),
Álvaro Urquijo
Álvaro Urquijo (born 22 June 1962) is a Spanish guitarist and singer-songwriter who is known as one of the founding members of the pop rock group, Los Secretos.
He founded Los Secretos with his brothers Javier and Enrique Urquijo in 1980.
D ...
,
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, ...
,
Ariel Rot
Ariel Eduardo Rotenberg Gutkin (born 19 April 1960), better known as Ariel Rot, is an Argentine musician. He moved to Spain when he was young and became a member of the group Tequila. Later, he began his solo musical career, after which he jo ...
and Raimundo Amador.
Discography
Albums
* 1986: ''Noches como ésta''
* 1988: ''Vámonos''
* 1990: ''Cuando brille el Sol''
* 1991: ''Al otro lado''
* 1993: ''Contra reloj''
* 1994: ''Acento del sur''
* 1998: ''Canciones en el equipaje''
* 2004: ''Ahora (disco en directo)''
* 2005: ''Mil calles llevan hacia ti (1983-2005)'' (compilation album)
* 2007: ''Sobre ruedas''
* 2008: ''25 años no es nada''
* 2010: ''Tumbado al borde de la luna''
* 2011: ''Buena gente''
* 2017: ''Por la cara''
Singles
*1985: "La esfinge"
*1986: "Haber perdido mi tiempo"
*1987: "Noches como esta"
*1988: "Mil calles llevan hacia ti"
*1988: "El mundo tras el cristal"
*1989: "No habrá más tardes"
*1989: "Blues de la Nacional II"
*1990: "Cuando brille el sol"
*1990: "Donde nace el río"
*1990: "Mañana"
*1990: "La carretera"
*1991: "No sé dónde estoy"
*1991: "Al otro lado"
*1992: "Vives en un barco"
*1992: "El lobo solitario"
*1993: "El color de tu piel"
*1993: "El túnel del adiós"
References
External links
Official page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guardia (Band), La
Spanish pop music groups