THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,919) Manolo y Ramón — “Lágrimas, sonrisas”/“Tears, Smiles”
From Spain, by way of Swinging London, here is “a colossal pop epic with slightly psychedelic undertones” (Vincente Fabuel (courtesy of Google Translate), https://www.efeeme.com/objeto-de-deseo-manolo-y-ramon/), “one of the best songs of Spanish (and arguably European) psychedelia”. (Bernardo de Andres (courtesy of Google Translate), https://mitocadiscosdual.blogspot.com/2013/09/duo-dinamico-viaje-hacia-abbey-road.html) While “[i]t went largely unnoticed at the time”, now it “is a mod-psych anthem, full of powerful vocals, [and] Hammond organ flourishes”. (Sweet Grooves Records (courtesy of Google Translate), https://sweetgroovesrecords.com/producto/manolo-y-ramon-lagrimas-sonrisas/) ¡Sí, nena!
Sweet Grooves Records explains (courtesy of Google Translate):
In 1970, the famous Spanish duo Manolo and Ramón, known as El Dúo Dinámico [the Dynamic Duo] since the early 1960s, changed their musical direction and name, recording a full album in London in a cool pop-psych style. With a dream team of session musicians (Jimmy Page, Ian Anderson, Billy Preston, and others) and arrangers associated with George Martin, the duo recorded 13 tracks, from which “Lágrimas Sonrisas” and “Adiós, Adiós, Goodbye” were selected for a 45 rpm release.
https://sweetgroovesrecords.com/producto/manolo-y-ramon-lagrimas-sonrisas/
Alas, the LP became “[a] truly ghostly record, with zero popular success at the time . . . barely heard by anyone . . . their most obscure work.” (Vincente Fabuel (courtesy of Google Translate), https://www.efeeme.com/objeto-de-deseo-manolo-y-ramon/) Xesco 3penics explains (courtesy of Google Translate):
After the numerous success of Dinámico during the prodigious decade at the end of the 60s they entered a stage where they began to lose popularity. In 1969 Manolo and Ramón traveled to London to record . . . with the intention of finding a new sound and recorded under the baton of close collaborators of George Martin and most likely (because it seems that Ramón Arcusa has confirmed it in an interview [see https://www.efeeme.com/duo-dinamico-historia-en-movimiento/]) with great British musicians such as Jimmy Page . . . or Ian Anderson . . . . When they arrived in Spain with the recording under their arm, they saw how the small company CPI, with which they had signed as Manolo Y Ramón, closed its doors and was absorbed by Movieplay, which finally released a few copies of the album in 1970 and hardly promoted it. The British misadventures of Duo Dinámico, forgotten at the time . . . are 13 songs of pop melodies with baroque orchestrations, winds with a clear soul influence and fuzz guitars that bring the right dose of psychedelia. Most are melodic ballads but the album also has some super danceable songs full of groove!
https://3penics.blogspot.com/2019/09/manolo-y-ramon-manolo-y-ramon.html
As to Manolo and Ramón, Drago Bonacich tells us:
[They] met while working in an aviation company. After singing together at a Christmas party, these young music lovers decided to pursue a career naming their act Dúo Dinámico. They started with a live performance at a local radio station and recording an EP for the first time in 1959 . . . . Soon, Duo Dinamico was performing along with Luis Mariano, Lucho Gatica, even the Platters, and getting main roles in movies such as Boton De Ancla [Anchor Button] and Buscame A Esa Chica [Find that Girl for Me]. The pair wrote “La, la, la”, the song that won the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest, performed by Massiel, while in 1972, after recording in London with producer George Martin, [they] decided to concentrate themselves in producing new acts, in addition, composing for prominent Latin artists. In 1986 Sony Music signed them up, releasing a self-titled album, followed by En Forma, featuring “Resistiré” [“I Will Endure”], which was chosen by Pedro Almodóvar as a main title for the movie soundtrack of Atame. Dúo Dinámico continued to perform in the years to come and in 2007 Quisiera Ser — a musical featuring 24 of their hits — began a run at the Teatro Nuevo Apolo in Madrid.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/d%C3%BAo-din%C3%A1mico-mn0000153965#biography
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