Los Abuelos de la Nada
Encyclopedia
Los Abuelos de la Nada were an Argentine
rock band
that underwent several incarnations, all of them led by singer and songwriter Miguel Abuelo
.
, Buenos Aires
named La Cueva was the focal point for rock and roll
. Some of the acts were in English
, but others were experimenting Spanish language
lyrics, notably Tanguito
. The regulars of La Cueva also included poetry
buffs and young people willing to escape the routines of urban life; some would form the core of the Buenos Aires hippie
scene of the late 1960s.
Miguel Peralta was living in the Norte hostel at that time, and was lured into the scene by fellow poetry buff Pipo Lernoud. When a record label
, Mandioca, was created specifically to record Spanish language rock, Peralta arranged for an interview with recording executive Ben Molar where he claimed, untruthfully, that he had a band called Los Abuelos de la Nada (the Grandparents of Nothingness) which was ready to enter the studio. The name was taken from a passage in Severo Arcángelo, a book by Leopoldo Marechal
. Since Molar acquiesced, Peralta went on and assembled a band, featuring friends Claudio Gabis on guitar, Alberto Lara on bass, Héctor "Pomo" Lorenzo on drums, and Eduardo "Mayoneso" on keyboards. Their first single, Diana Divaga (Diana wanders), featured psychedelic
influences. About this time, Miguel started using Abuelo as his artistic surname.
After Gabis left (he was attending college and was reluctant to commit to the band), Abuelo drafted Norberto Napolitano (Pappo
). After some more psychedelic-oriented fare, Pappo started nudging the band in the direction of blues
, causing Abuelo to leave. Over time, Pappo's project mutated into Pappo's Blues.
Abuelo tried to create new bands, and for a short time was singer of El Huevo (the Egg), which would later become the core of Pescado Rabioso
. Abuelo took off to Barcelona
in 1971 to try and re-create his career. Abuelo spent ten years in Europe, until bass
player Cachorro López
, who was a popular session musician with reggae
and funk
bands, convinced him to return to Argentina for a second incarnation of the Abuelos.
on vocals and keyboards
, Gustavo Bazterrica on guitar
, Daniel Melingo
on sax
, and Polo Corbella on the drums
.
The 1982 Falklands War
was a catalyst for Argentine rock
, as songs with English-language
lyrics were not broadcast for several months. The band's materials were favored by radio DJs, including No te enamores nunca de aquel marinero bengalí (Never fall in love with that Bengali sailor) which grew out of improvisation during rehearsals, and Sin gamulán (Without a coat), written by Calamaro.
Charly García
took the band under his wing after dissolving Seru Giran
, and the Abuelos played in García's 1982 Christmas concert. García also drafted López, Melingo and Calamaro for his band, in parallel with their work for the Abuelos.
The 1983 debut album included many compositions by Abuelo-López, and a reggae hit by Calamaro's former partner Gringui Herrera, Tristezas de la ciudad (City blues).
For their 1983 album, Vasos y Besos (Glasses and Kisses), Melingo wrote his own reggae hit: Chala-man, Bazterrica contributed No se desesperen (Don't despair), and Calamaro chimed in with Mil horas (A thousand hours).
The band became popular with rockers and more pop-oriented audiences. Especially, Calamaro was favored by teenage girls looking for an "edgier" idol than balladeer Alejandro Lerner
. The album sold a solid 160,000 records, and was presented in a six-month country-wide tour.
Record executives arranged to send the band to Ibiza for the recording of their 1984 album, Himno de mi Corazón (Hymn of my heart). The album became a sales hit as expected. Later that year, Melingo, who was also working with García and another band (Los Twist), called it quits and was replaced by Alfredo Desiata.
By early 1985, the band's spirits were damaged due to Bazterrica's cocaine
addiction, which eventually had him fired from the band, and the rivalry between Abuelo and Calamaro for top billing.
About that time, Calamaro wrote what would be his last mega-hit with the band: Costumbres argentinas (Argentine habits). Sensing that the band was on the verge of dissolution, the band recorded a live album in the Opera theater in Buenos Aires on May 1985. For the occasion, Gringui Herrera replaced Bazterrica, Juan del Barrio reinforced Calamaro in keyboards, and Melingo played some songs as a guest musician.
The band played one last gig on October 1985, in the Vélez Sársfield stadium
, to fulfill their contractual obligation to the "Rock and Pop" festival which featured INXS
. The crowd reacted badly to the band's evident lack of motivation (the pouring rain and the badly mixed sound did not help), and Abuelo was hit in the face by a bottle hurled from the field. The band played the remainder of their set with Abuelo visibly bleeding.
In late 1987, following gallbladder
surgery, Miguel Abuelo was diagnosed with AIDS
; terminally ill, he died from cardiac arrest
a few days after his 42nd birthday. That was the end of the Abuelos as a band; the remaining members reunited several times, with different formations. Notably, Miguel's son Gato played with Calamaro, Bazterrica and Corbella in a 1997 re-union.
The rights to the Abuelos de la Nada name were offered by Abuelo's widow Krisha Bogdan to Kubero Díaz, who refused out of respect. At some point during 2001, it was reported http://www.deepcamboya.com.ar/abuelosbio.htm that Bogdan and Gato were fighting in court over the rights to the name and to Miguel Abuelo's unpublished recordings.
.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
rock band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
that underwent several incarnations, all of them led by singer and songwriter Miguel Abuelo
Miguel Abuelo
Miguel Angel Peralta, known by his artistic name Miguel Abuelo, was an Argentine rock musician and singer.-Early days:...
.
First Era
In the mid-1960s, a club in Barrio NorteBarrio Norte, Buenos Aires
Barrio Norte is the informal name given to a part of Buenos Aires centering around Santa Fe Avenue and the Recoleta district.Recoleta, Belgrano and Palermo, are within a region with a per capita immediately comparable with that of many European cities-Overview:An unofficial neighborhood, Barrio...
, Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
named La Cueva was the focal point for rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
. Some of the acts were in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, but others were experimenting Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
lyrics, notably Tanguito
Tanguito
José Alberto Iglesias , better known as Tango or Tanguito, was an Argentine rock composer and singer...
. The regulars of La Cueva also included poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
buffs and young people willing to escape the routines of urban life; some would form the core of the Buenos Aires hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
scene of the late 1960s.
Miguel Peralta was living in the Norte hostel at that time, and was lured into the scene by fellow poetry buff Pipo Lernoud. When a record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, Mandioca, was created specifically to record Spanish language rock, Peralta arranged for an interview with recording executive Ben Molar where he claimed, untruthfully, that he had a band called Los Abuelos de la Nada (the Grandparents of Nothingness) which was ready to enter the studio. The name was taken from a passage in Severo Arcángelo, a book by Leopoldo Marechal
Leopoldo Marechal
Leopoldo Marechal was one of the most important Argentine writers of the twentieth century.- Biographical notes :...
. Since Molar acquiesced, Peralta went on and assembled a band, featuring friends Claudio Gabis on guitar, Alberto Lara on bass, Héctor "Pomo" Lorenzo on drums, and Eduardo "Mayoneso" on keyboards. Their first single, Diana Divaga (Diana wanders), featured psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
influences. About this time, Miguel started using Abuelo as his artistic surname.
After Gabis left (he was attending college and was reluctant to commit to the band), Abuelo drafted Norberto Napolitano (Pappo
Pappo
-, 1968:-, 1969:# # # # # # # # # -Rock de la mujer perdida, 1970:...
). After some more psychedelic-oriented fare, Pappo started nudging the band in the direction of blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, causing Abuelo to leave. Over time, Pappo's project mutated into Pappo's Blues.
Abuelo tried to create new bands, and for a short time was singer of El Huevo (the Egg), which would later become the core of Pescado Rabioso
Pescado Rabioso
Pescado Rabioso was a band or musical enterprise of Argentine musician Luis Alberto Spinetta from 1971 to 1973. In spite of its short life, it is still considered an important piece of Argentine rock history.-Discography:...
. Abuelo took off to Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona 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...
in 1971 to try and re-create his career. Abuelo spent ten years in Europe, until bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
player Cachorro López
Cachorro López
Gerardo López , known professionally as Cachorro López, is an Argentine record producer, musician and songwriter. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he enrolled in various musical ensembles, including Zas and Los Abuelos de la Nada...
, who was a popular session musician with reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
and funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
bands, convinced him to return to Argentina for a second incarnation of the Abuelos.
Second Era
The new band had Abuelo as lead singer, Cachorro López himself on bass, Andrés CalamaroAndrés Calamaro
Andrés Calamaro , is an Argentine musician, composer and Latin Grammy winner. His former band Los Rodríguez was a major success in Spain in the 1990s. He became one of the main icons of the Argentine rock in the last two decades and has sold over 1.3 million copies.-Abuelos de la Nada:Calamaro was...
on vocals and keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, Gustavo Bazterrica on guitar
Guitar
The 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...
, Daniel Melingo
Daniel Melingo
Daniel Melingo is an Argentine musician, with a background in rock . He is now a tango artist and tours with his band Los Ramones del tango.-Biography:...
on sax
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, and Polo Corbella on the drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
.
The 1982 Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
was a catalyst for Argentine rock
Argentine rock
Argentine rock , is composed or made by Argentine bands or artists, in the Spanish language. For nearly half a century it has been a major popular genre, and it is considered part of the popular music tradition of Argentina alongside Argentine Tango, and Argentine folk music.The moment when...
, as songs with English-language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
lyrics were not broadcast for several months. The band's materials were favored by radio DJs, including No te enamores nunca de aquel marinero bengalí (Never fall in love with that Bengali sailor) which grew out of improvisation during rehearsals, and Sin gamulán (Without a coat), written by Calamaro.
Charly García
Charly García
Charly García is a singer-songwriter, pianist and keyboardist from Argentina with a long career in rock music, forming successful groups such as Sui Generis and Serú Girán, cult status groups like La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, and as a solo musician.-Early years:Charly García was the eldest son in...
took the band under his wing after dissolving Seru Giran
Seru Giran
Serú Girán was an Argentinian rock supergroup. From 1978 the group consisted of Charly García , David Lebón , Pedro Aznar , and Oscar Moro . It is considered one of the best in the history of Argentine rock, both musically, and conceptually and staging...
, and the Abuelos played in García's 1982 Christmas concert. García also drafted López, Melingo and Calamaro for his band, in parallel with their work for the Abuelos.
The 1983 debut album included many compositions by Abuelo-López, and a reggae hit by Calamaro's former partner Gringui Herrera, Tristezas de la ciudad (City blues).
For their 1983 album, Vasos y Besos (Glasses and Kisses), Melingo wrote his own reggae hit: Chala-man, Bazterrica contributed No se desesperen (Don't despair), and Calamaro chimed in with Mil horas (A thousand hours).
The band became popular with rockers and more pop-oriented audiences. Especially, Calamaro was favored by teenage girls looking for an "edgier" idol than balladeer Alejandro Lerner
Alejandro Lerner
Alejandro Federico Lerner is an Argentine musician and singer-songwriter. He has written and sang countless songs including several hits, and his fame and recognition spread all over South America....
. The album sold a solid 160,000 records, and was presented in a six-month country-wide tour.
Record executives arranged to send the band to Ibiza for the recording of their 1984 album, Himno de mi Corazón (Hymn of my heart). The album became a sales hit as expected. Later that year, Melingo, who was also working with García and another band (Los Twist), called it quits and was replaced by Alfredo Desiata.
By early 1985, the band's spirits were damaged due to Bazterrica's cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
addiction, which eventually had him fired from the band, and the rivalry between Abuelo and Calamaro for top billing.
About that time, Calamaro wrote what would be his last mega-hit with the band: Costumbres argentinas (Argentine habits). Sensing that the band was on the verge of dissolution, the band recorded a live album in the Opera theater in Buenos Aires on May 1985. For the occasion, Gringui Herrera replaced Bazterrica, Juan del Barrio reinforced Calamaro in keyboards, and Melingo played some songs as a guest musician.
The band played one last gig on October 1985, in the Vélez Sársfield stadium
Estadio José Amalfitani
The Estadio José Amalfitani is a stadium located in the Liniers neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The venue is mainly used for football matches and is the home of the Argentine Primera División club Vélez Sársfield. The stadium is nicknamed El Fortín or El Fortín de Liniers...
, to fulfill their contractual obligation to the "Rock and Pop" festival which featured INXS
INXS
INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...
. The crowd reacted badly to the band's evident lack of motivation (the pouring rain and the badly mixed sound did not help), and Abuelo was hit in the face by a bottle hurled from the field. The band played the remainder of their set with Abuelo visibly bleeding.
Third Era
With the band dissolved, Abuelo started playing small venues, harking back to his roots of poetry-influenced songwriting. Late in 1986, he drafted Polo Corbella, Kubero Díaz, and sax player Willy Crook to form a new Abuelos band, which recorded Cosas mías in 1987 with relative success.In late 1987, following gallbladder
Gallbladder
In vertebrates the gallbladder is a small organ that aids mainly in fat digestion and concentrates bile produced by the liver. In humans the loss of the gallbladder is usually easily tolerated....
surgery, Miguel Abuelo was diagnosed with AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
; terminally ill, he died from cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
a few days after his 42nd birthday. That was the end of the Abuelos as a band; the remaining members reunited several times, with different formations. Notably, Miguel's son Gato played with Calamaro, Bazterrica and Corbella in a 1997 re-union.
The rights to the Abuelos de la Nada name were offered by Abuelo's widow Krisha Bogdan to Kubero Díaz, who refused out of respect. At some point during 2001, it was reported http://www.deepcamboya.com.ar/abuelosbio.htm that Bogdan and Gato were fighting in court over the rights to the name and to Miguel Abuelo's unpublished recordings.
Legacy
Several compilations mastered by López were issued after the band's demise. The band eventually sold more records after its dissolution than during its successes of the 1980s. Many former Abuelos are still in the limelight, notably Calamaro, who has had a successful career in both Argentina and SpainSpain
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...
.