Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

ME CUESTA TANTO OLVIDARTE: MECANO AND THE MOVIDA REMIXED, REVISITED AND REPACKAGED

2009; Routledge; Volume: 10; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14636200902990695

1469-9818

Santiago Fouz-Hernández,

Comparative Literary Analysis and Criticism

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. The season was curated by one of the movida's key protagonists, Blanca Sánchez Berciano, who also compiled the catalogue. 2. The same title was used later for the “symphonic concert” that took place at Madrid's Teatro Monumental in September 2006 with orchestrated versions of 1980s classics by key bands, marking the beginning of an unexpected and prolonged “come-back” period for some of them. 3. Smith analyses Gallero's pioneering essayistic work on la movida (published in 1991) and Villena's 1999 novel Madrid ha muerto. 4. Radio 3 was established in 1979 as a 4-hour programme devoted to pop music and young people within the then only station of Radio Nacional to then become a station in its own right. 5. Significantly, given the iconic value of Manchester in the influential British music scene of the 1980s and 1990s, Ordovás's exhibition tour included the city's Instituto Cervantes in March 2006. The now retired Ordovás also gave a talk at the 11th Spanish film Festival ¡VIVA!, which also focused on la movida that year. The event was filmed for Ordovás's now defunct television programme Ipop (La2, 2006–07). 6. The BNE programmed an exhibition of the magazine La luna de Madrid and “otras revistas de vanguardia de los años 80” from September to November 2007 and the Universidad de Alicante held a summer course on “Movida(s)/mujeres: música y transgresión en la transición española” in July 2008. I am grateful to Héctor Fouce for keeping me up-to-date with the La Movida season in late 2006. 7. For the purposes of acknowledging authorship of Mecano songs, those written by José María Cano will be cited as J. M. Cano and those authored by Nacho (Ignacio) Cano as I. Cano. 8. As Smith notes, “there is also consensus on the fact that during the movida no-one made any money” (66). 9. My interview with Grupo Drive's Andrés Torres and Carlos Ituiño (two of the original producers of the musical) took place at the Grupo Drive headquarters in Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, on 9 June 2005. I am grateful to Mr Torres and Mr Ituiño for their attention and to Cristina Marinero (former PR at Drive) for organizing the interview and granting permission to reproduce the images that illustrate this article. The unedited digital recording of the interview (approximately 85 minutes long) is available for consultation. All citations to Fouz-Hernández refer to minutes in the interview (rounded up for clarity). 10. Alaska's perspective on this is discussed in Cervera (245–6, 321–2). Mecano's own in Adrados and del Amo (39–40, 60–1, 71–3). Mecano had the last laugh with the 1991 song “Bailando salsa”, a tongue-in-cheek parody of the exclusivist atmosphere that characterized certain sectors of the movida and had made them feel excluded. 11. The Príncipe de Asturias was a self-confessed fan and they were acquainted with the Infanta Cristina (Adrados and del Amo 164). 12. Their last studio album was released in Belgium, France, Germany, Holland and Italy, with some songs released in Spanish and others in French or Italian. The French version of “Mujer contra mujer” (J. M. Cano 1988), re-titled “Une femme avec une femme” (1990), remained at the top of the French charts for 13 weeks (the record number for an international artist in France, Adrados and del Amo [143]). 13. Torroja's album of Mecano hits was announced in the spring of 2006 with the same title as the tour, the also appropriate La fuerza del destino. However, the title was changed just before its release in the summer to Me cuesta tanto olvidarte, a 1986 Mecano song that is not even included in the album. The title of this article was conceived prior to the album's name change. 14. The analysis presented in this article is based on the Spanish version and three shows seen in Madrid in seasons one (10 June 2005 and 1 July 2005 at 6 pm) and four (30 October 2007 at 8.30 pm). Those shows lasted approximately 4 hours and included 26 songs and two long medleys. In November 2007 José Manuel Lorenzo and Nacho Cano, the original creators of the project, abandoned the direction of the musical due to differences with producer Ángel Suárez (see EFE). 15. In our interview Torres explained that the idea of a Mecano musical originated in 2002 when former Mecano member José María Cano had a meeting with Jose María Cámara (now president of Sony BMG Spain) about the possibility of releasing a new solo album. Mr Cámara took Mr Cano to see the Mamma mia musical in Broadway and suggested that, rather than recording a solo album, he should create a similar musical with Mecano hits for the Spanish and Latin American market. J. M. Cano turned down the idea, but Mr Cámara discussed the project with producers Ángel Suárez and José Manuel Lorenzo and they offered it to his younger brother, Nacho, who agreed to direct it. The first script was prepared by David Serrano (writer of the successful musical films El otro lado de la cama [2002] and Los dos lados de la cama [2005], both directed by Martínez Lázaro) in late 2003. This was followed by a shorter and final version also scripted by Serrano in collaboration with Nacho Cano (Fouz-Hernández 1–9). 16. Arguably, this has been the case. Following the success of the Mecano musical, similar (albeit less ambitious) productions have followed, including the equally nostalgic Quisiera Ser that premièred in the Nuevo Apolo theatre in Madrid October 2007. Set in present-day Spain (a journey in the controversial Ave train between Madrid and Barcelona), the musical uses the 1960s hits of the Duo Dinámico as a soundtrack. Nacho Cano also capitalized on the success of the Mecano musical with a second, less successful musical called A that premiered at Madrid's Teatro Calderón in December 2008. Domestic productions of Broadway classics including Beauty and the Beast, Cabaret, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, Mamma Mia and We will Rock You have also been very successful. 17. The negative aspects of the city are highlighted and exaggerated in the song “Madrid” (J. M. Cano, 1983), which is not performed in the musical: “una ciudad de alquitrán: hierro, cemento y cristal” … “y no sobrevivirás si no funcionas a gas” … “alguna gente no lo puede soportar/yo ya sin humo no sé respirar en Madrid”. In this case, living in the city is perceived not as a choice, but as fate: “A unos les toca en Gambia y a otros en Pekín/ y a mi me tocó nacer en Madrid.” 18. In a previous “warning”, Colate's steps to drug-addiction are illustrated with “Barco a Venus” (I. Cano, 1983), a song about the self-deceptive effect of substance-induced “trips”. During the performance of this song in the musical, a video shows the notorious excesses of famous rock stars who died of overdose in the early 1970s, including Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison. 19. On the significance of the Rockola for the movida see Fouce (71–2). 20. Whilst some might remember the Tejero incident as a particularly traumatic event of the 1980s, the movida literature tends to de-dramatize it (Lechado 13). The event is remembered rather differently by members of Mecano. For Nacho it was “un momento muy gris. Miedo, confusión … Estábamos en Madrid … ensayando y [recuerdo] salir a la calle y ver todo como si fuera un estado de Guerra, con los tanques, la gente corriendo hacia sus casas” (like Mecano, the fictional Rulé are also seen rehearsing when they hear about the coup). Ana adds: “hasta comentábamos la posibilidad de otra guerra civil, del recorte de libertades” (both cited in Adrados and del Amo 64). Producer Torres sees it quite pragmatically: “el 23 F en la historia de este país es un acontecimiento dramático y nosotros no queríamos dramatizar” (Fouz-Hernández 22). That also explains why the dreaded “call to duty” letter from the army is addressed with a generous dose of humour and tightly linked to the Tejero incident, becoming a symbolic reminder of the seemingly distant past of compulsory military service. The success of the two-part television series 23-F: El día más difícil del rey (watched by over 7 million people when first broadcast on TVE-1 in February 2009) could suggest that the relevance of the incident for present-day Spanish audiences is much stronger than producers of the musical seemed to think. 21. This song about a man missing his ex-lover after a break-up was written by Jose María Cano and performed by Ana Torroja from a male perspective. Fouce uses the Mecano example as example of the possible “conflict” between lyrics on the one hand and voice and musical performance on the other (115). 22. The screen is also used to project images of the musicians playing live or singers performing “in the cabin”. Such instances are meant to highlight the genuineness of a live show, but they also draw attention away from the story and thus become a further reminder of its constructedness. 23. Strangely, the same song was also added to the “encore” section of I. Cano's second musical, A, suggesting the sustained appeal of Mecano and this song, even completely out of context. 24. The effect must have been heightened for audiences who witnessed the temporary reunion of the three Mecano members on the stage of the musical at the end of the musical's première on 7 April 2005. On 26 September 2007 Torroja and Nacho Cano played some of the musical songs live on stage as part of a charity event to help drug addicts through the Fundación de Ayuda contra la Drogadicción (FAD). Before leaving the direction of the show, Nacho Cano also signed autographs during the intervals of some shows (this was the case on 30 October 2007). 25. Álvarez del Manzano's words are quoted in Fouce (63).