''Mecano'' is the debut studio album recorded by Spanish

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

band

Mecano Mecano was a Spanish pop band formed in 1981 and active until 1992. Mecano became one of the most successful Spanish pop bands of all time. The band is still the best-selling Spanish band, with over 20 million records worldwide. They were cons ...

, released on April 5, 1982, under the label

Discos CBS Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC (often referred to as Sony Music Latin) is an American record label owned by Sony Music. The label focuses on artists of Latin music. Sony Latin was also a division of the Sony Discos label. History In ...

. The album spawned five singles, " Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar", "Perdido en mi Habitación", "

Me Colé en Una Fiesta "Me Colé en Una Fiesta" (Spanish language, Spanish for "I Snuck Into a Party") is a song written and performed by the Spanish band Mecano. It was released as the third single of their debut studio album ''Mecano (album), Mecano'' by Columbia Record ...

", " Maquillaje" and "No Me Enseñen la Lección", all of them receiving pop culture popularity in

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 ...

. While two of them made it to number one in the Spanish Airplays, those being "Me Colé en Una Fiesta" and "Maquillaje". Both spending a week at the top of the charts, while the first of them spent six weeks atop the Spanish Singles Sales Chart. While "Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar" and "Perdido en mi Habitación" made it into the top 10 of the Spanish charts, peaking at number four and number two, respectively. ''Mecano'' is one of the most commercially successful Spanish albums of all time, selling not much after its release 350,000 pure units and by the end of the year it had already sold over 1,000,000 in

alone, thus elevating Mecano to become the best-selling Spanish group and artist of the moment. With a refreshing style of music, ''Mecano'' crowned the band as the new music sensations in

back in the early 1980s, becoming a commercial and critical success.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

rated the album with four out of five stars, adding, "Mecano is their first record, and one of their most popular, a glamorous effort in which listeners can already appreciate Nacho Cano's brilliant mind for composition. Synths and electronic devices mixed with poppy melodies and Torroja's sweet voice are heard throughout the record, forming a style that became the group's personal trademark from then on". ''Mecano'' is better known in popular slang as ''the clock album'' due to the large clock that appears on the cover (although there is an alternate cover version, mainly marketed in Latin America in the late 1980s due to Mecano's success after changing record companies, in which they are shown standing idly over a backdrop scenery reminiscent of Roman ruins). In the 2005 re-issue a new track, "Quiero Vivir En La Ciudad", was included as a bonus track. With its 2023 pressing vinyl format ''Mecano'' increased in popularity, debuting at number 7 in the PROMUSICAE most popular vinyl list.

Track listing

12-inch version (1982)

Source for bonus track: * Bonus Tracks included on the B-side of some vinyl singles and maxi-singles # "''Quiero vivir en la ciudad''". # "''Viaje espacial''" (single version). # "''Napoleón''". # "''Súper-Ratón''".

Singles

Covers

"Maquillaje" has later been recorded by many singers and bands, among them: *

Yuri Yuri may refer to: People Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. *Yuri (Japanese name), feminine Japanese given names, including a list o ...

(1989) *Amarillo (2005) *

Ana Torroja Ana Torroja Fungairiño, 3rd Marchioness of Torroja (born 28 December 1959) is a Spanish singer. She was the lead singer of the pop trio Mecano, considered one of the most popular pop bands from Spain during the 1980s and 1990s. Mecano split in ...

(2006) *

Tatiana Tatiana (or Tatianna, also romanized as Tatyana, Tatjana, Tatijana, etc.) is a female name of Sabine-Roman origin that became widespread in Eastern Europe. Origin Tatiana is a feminine, diminutive derivative of the Sabine—and later Latin� ...

(2007) * Cherry Ahava (2009) *Jot Dog (2010) *Nacho Cano presenta: Mecandance (2011)

Charts

Album charts

Sales and certifications

Personnel

(vocals) *

Nacho Cano Ignacio „Nacho“ Cano Andrés (b. Madrid, 26 February 1963), better known as Nacho Cano, is a Spanish arranger, composer, and record producer. He and his brother showed an interest in music in their young lives. At 5, he began to play the S ...

(keyboards, background vocals) *

Jose Maria Cano Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. Given name Mishnaic and Talmudic periods *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean *Jose ben Halafta *Jo ...

(guitars, background vocals) * Manolo Aguilar (bass) * Javier de Juan (

Linn LM-1 The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1980. It was the first drum machine to use samples of acoustic drums, and one of the first programmable drum machines. Its designer, the American en ...

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

s on tracks 1-5, 7-11) *

Peter Van Hooke Peter Van Hooke (born 6 April 1950) is an English rock drummer and producer with over 350 credits to his name. He was the drummer for the English band Mike + The Mechanics (from 1985 to 1995) and also drummed for Van Morrison's band, Headston ...

(

and Simmons

electronic drum Electronic drums are a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the Drum synthesiser, synthesized or Sampler ...

s on track 6) *

Luis Cobos Luis Cobos (born October 30, 1948) is a Spanish composer, conductor and musician. He is chairman of the management entity performers (AIE) and the chairman of the board of the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. He was married to the sin ...

(

, sound effects, keyboards, and sax on "Quiero Vivir En La Ciudad") * Carlos García-Vaso (uncredited; guitars on several tracks of the album)

References

{{Authority control 1982 debut albums Mecano albums