Germán Coppini López-Tormos (19 November 1961 – 24 December 2013) was a Spanish singer-songwriter. He is regarded as one of Spain's most influential musicians of the late 20th century as well as one of the country's best lyricists. A leading figure of the

Movida Viguesa The Movida viguesa (or Movida gallega) was an important youth cultural movement that took place in Vigo, Spain during the 1980s, coinciding with the Movida Madrileña (the "Golden Age for Spanish Pop"). By the late seventies, the industrial port ...

, he was a founding member of Galician bands

Siniestro Total Siniestro Total (meaning literally 'total write-off' as in the insurance term for a vehicle that is beyond repair following a motor accident) is a Galician punk rock group from Vigo, Spain. It was founded in 1981 during the cultural movement c ...

and

Golpes Bajos Golpes Bajos was a 1980s pop group in Spain, a part of the so-called ''"Edad de Oro del Pop Español"'', i.e. "The Golden Age of Spanish Pop Music". They were active in 1982–1986, with a final reunion tour in 1997–1998. History ''Golpes Bajo ...

. Coppini started his musical career in

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...

in 1980 as the lead vocalist of the group Coco y los del 1.500, alongside guitarist Miguel Costas and drummer Julián Hernández. In 1981, Costas and Hérnandez changed the name of their other group, Mari Cruz Soriano y los que Afinan su Piano, to

, and added Germán as a vocalist, effectively dissolving their previous band. With Siniestro Total, Coppini released the EP ''Ayudando a los enfermos,'' (1981) their debut album ''¿Cuándo se come aquí?'' (1982) and the

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

"Sexo chungo / Me pica un huevo" (1983). That same year, he formed the

sophisti-pop __NOTOC__ Sophisti-pop is a subgenre of pop music which developed out of the new wave movement in the UK during the mid 1980s. The term has been applied retrospectively to describe acts who blended elements of jazz, soul, and pop with lavish p ...

band

with former school mate Teo Cardalda, he was a member of both bands until that spring, when he left Siniestro Total. With Golpes Bajos he released an homonymous EP, with the songs "Malos tiempos para la lírica" and "No mires a los ojos de la gente," garnering them national attention and acclaim. Their debut album '' A Santa Compaña'' was released in 1984, with their last output, ''Devocionario,'' coming in 1985. In September of that same year the group announced its dissolution. After the band's dissolution Coppini started an uneven solo career, he released three LPs, ''El Ladron de Bagdad'' (1987), the 70's

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

cover's album ''Flechas Negras'' (1989) and

latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

-infused ''Carabás'' (1996). During this period he also collaborated with other artists such as

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 25 million records worldwide. They were consid ...

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

, Alaska y Dinarama and Paco Clavel. In 1997, he reunited again with Cardalda to release another Golpes Bajos record ''Vivo'', but the discreet commercial response made them abandon the project soon after. Coppini continued collaborating with other artists, and formed the band ''Anónimos'' in 2003. Three years later he released the rarities album ''Las Canciones del Limbo'' with unreleased songs recorded from 1999 until 2004. That same year he collaborated with trio Maga, and in 2007, had them as an accompanying band playing mainly Golpes Bajos and Siniestro Total classics. He also formed the project Lemuripop alongside Alex Brujas, releasing an album, ''Todas las pérdidas crean nudos'' (2012). A

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

, ''Huellas de una voz'' was also released that year, including his two first solo records and unreleased material. In 2013, he released his fourth solo album ''America Herida'', and had plans for an album with band Néctar, but on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...

2013 he passed away due to

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

, with the record, ''Semper Audax,'' being released posthumously in 2014.

Early life

Germán Coppini López-Tormos was born on 19 November 1961 in

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

, Cantabria. His mother, Marga López-Tormos, was from Cantabria, His paternal grandparents were Italian immigrants who had settled in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, his paternal grandfather was from

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and practised

naturism Naturism is a lifestyle of practising non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms ar ...

. His father, Juan Coppini, worked for

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...

, and was transferred to the factory in La Penilla, where he met Marga. They had three children, Germán, and his younger siblings, Cristina and Ernesto. Due to his father's job, Coppini moved around Spain, living in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Barcelona, and again Santander. His father fed his musical ambition by gifting him a record player, and bringing home records, which at first included Italian music, but also new wave, punk, and rock. As a kid he was asked to sing during family reunions, but he was shy so he would go to another room and do it where no one could see him. As a teenager he realized his voice had potential, which made him overcome his shyness. Coppini spent his adolescence in

where he attended Nebrija School, with Teo Cardalda. He recalled, that due to the lack of cultural offers: "Living in a place as remote as Vigo in those years was awful", but with the advent of Punk in the 70s the city started changing, and he would use the little money he had saved to buy records.

Career

Early steps in music

As a teenager he formed Coco y los del 1.500, with his friends, the Soaje siblings. The siblings had a holiday home where the band would practise and write songs, "with joints and beers". As soon as they had their first songs they performed for the first time in León, supporting Los Cardiacos. The concert was "horrible" as was the audience response, but Coppini had a fun time nevertheless.

Personal life

Coppini married Elvira Reig, a healthcare worker, and together they had three children: Guillermo, Daniel and Carmen. Even though he was born in Santander, he considered himself an adoptive Galician. Coppini died from

on 24 December 2013, aged 52, in

Politics

Coppini was a registered member of the Communist Party of Spain (marxist-leninist). In the

2011 Spanish general election The 2011 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 20 November 2011, to elect the 10th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 266 seats in the Senate. An elec ...

he ran in third place in the ballot of the party "Republicanos" to the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...

in Madrid.http://elecciones.mir.es/generales2011/Contenido/candidatura_congreso_Madrid.htm#0184

Discography

Solo * ''El ladrón de Bagdad'' (1987) * ''Flechas negras'' (1989) * ''Carabás'' (1996) * ''América herida'' (2013) * ''Semper Audax'' (2014) * ''Quimera'' (2016) Compilation albums * ''Las canciones del limbo'' (2006) * ''Huellas de una voz'' (Volumen 1) (2012) Siniestro Total * ''Ayudando a los enfermos'' (EP, 1981) * ''¿Cuándo se come aquí?'' (1982) Golpes Bajos * ''Golpes Bajos'' (EP, 1983) * '' A Santa Compaña'' (1984) * ''Devocionario'' (EP, 1985) * ''Vivo'' (1997)

References

1961 births 2013 deaths People from Santander, Spain Singers from Cantabria Spanish communists Spanish pop musicians Spanish male singer-songwriters Spanish republicans Spanish singer-songwriters Deaths from liver cancer in Spain 20th-century Spanish musicians 20th-century Spanish male singers 20th-century Spanish singers {{Spain-singer-stub