Leño was a Spanish

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band created in 1978 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 ...

. The band members were

Rosendo Mercado Rosendo Mercado Ruiz (born 23 February 1954, Madrid, Spain) is a Spanish rock singer and songwriter. He was a member of bands Ñu and Leño, and is a prominent exponent of the so-called urban rock in Spain. Biography First steps His fami ...

as guitarist and vocalist, Chiqui Mariscal as bassist and Ramiro Penas on drums. When they started to record their first album ''Leño'', Chiqui Mariscal left the band and Tony Urbano entered as the new bassist in order to complete the recording. This line up would continue until their break-up in 1983 at their peak of popularity. In 2012 the band was ranked number 13 on

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

's "50 Greatest Spanish rock bands".

History

After finishing the compulsory military service in 1975, Rosendo took part recording the first album for the band Ñu. Molina and he were not on very good terms, so Rosendo left the group in 1977, and formed Leño, playing the guitar and singing. Chiqui Mariscal (bass player) and Ramiro Penas (drums) also left Ñu to join him in Leño. They made their debut in 1978, as supporting band in a concert of Asfalto. They had been hired by Vicente Romero, who was setting up

Chapa Discos Chapa may refer to: * Čhápa, a mythological rodent * Chapa (given name), a feminine given name * Chapa (surname), a surname * Chapa dynasty The Chavda (IAST:Chávaḍá), also spelled Chawda or Chavada was a dynasty which ruled the regio ...

("Chapa Records"), and published the collective disc ''Viva el Rollo, Vol. II. Rock del Manzanares'', including two songs: ''Este Madrid'' and ''Aprendiendo a escuchar''. In 1979 they published their first album, titled Leño. The album, produced by

Teddy Bautista Teddy is an English language given name, usually a hypocorism of Edward or Theodore. It may refer to: People Nickname * Teddy Atlas (born 1956), boxing trainer and fight commentator * Teddy Bourne (born 1948), British Olympic epee fencer * Teddy ...

, contains songs with long instrumental sections, among which ''El tren'' and ''Este Madrid'' are remarkable. During the recording Mariscal left the group, and was substituted by Tony Urbano, as portrayed in the disc cover. Later it would be ranked as the 106th best

Rock en Español Rock en español () is a term used widely in the English-speaking world to refer to any kind of rock music featuring Spanish vocals. Compared to English-speaking bands, very few acts reached worldwide success or between Spanish-speaking countri ...

album according to American magazine '' Al Borde''. In 1980 they published their second album, Más madera. Teddy Bautista's influence can be seen in that the songs are shorter and have a lighter style. In 1981 they recorded in the ''Carolina'' club the En directo live disc. The disc sold very well, even though the recording quality was not very good. This disc includes one of Rosendo's best-known songs, ''Maneras de vivir''.

Luz Casal María Luz Casal Paz (; born 11 November 1958) is a Spanish pop singer. She grew up in the municipality of Boimorto, took singing, piano and ballet classes, and moved to Madrid to pursue a career as a musician. She became famous in the early ...

(chorus) and Teddy Bautista (keyboards) play with them. The last official disc of Leño, ¡Corre, corre!, was made with more resources, thanks to the success of their previous one. It was recorded at

Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is a British singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...

's recording studio located in London, with the production of

Carlos Narea Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewher ...

. Notable songs include ''Sorprendente'' and ''¡Qué desilusión!''. The intention was to achieve prestige both inside and outside Spain but when the critics of

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

evaluated the album, the result was awful. Some of them claimed that was impossible to rate the album because of the language. Later, in 2012 the album would be ranked number 19 on

's "50 Greatest Spanish rock albums". In 1983 they took part in ''Rock de una noche de verano'', a tour organized by

Miguel Ríos Miguel Ríos Campaña (born 7 June 1944) is a Spanish singer, composer, actor. He is one of the pioneers of rock and roll in Spain. Biography Ríos was born in La Cartuja, a neighborhood of Granada. The youngest of seven children, he went to wo ...

that would become a milestone in the Spanish rock history, by organizing a long series of concerts all around Spain, with big sound and light resources. In the 1983 fall, in their best success moment, they decided to break up. Chiqui Mariscal died in 2008. In 2010, the band reunited for the release of their album tribute ''Bajo la corteza: 26 canciones de Leño'' to perform a short concert.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Leño'' – 1979 * '' Más madera'' – 1980 * '' ¡Corre, corre!'' – 1982

Live albums

* '' En Directo'' – 1981 * '' Vivo '83'' – 2006

Singles

* ''Este Madrid / Aprendiendo a escuchar''(non-album single) – 1978 * ''El tren'' – 1980 * ''El oportunista'' – 1980 * ''La noche de que te hablé / Sin solución" '' – 1980 * ''Maneras de vivir'' (Studio version)'' / Todo es más sencillo*''(non-album single) – 1981 * ''Corre, corre / Sorprendente'' – 1982 * ''Que tire la toalla! / Sorprendente'' – 1982 * ''Maneras de vivir'' (CD single, BMG) – 1997

Compilation albums

* ''Maneras de vivir'' – 1997 * ''Indirecto'' – 1992 * ''Nos va la marcha (Soundtrack)'' – 1978 * ''Bajo la corteza: 26 canciones de Leño'' (Tribute) – 2010

Box Sets

* ''Leño 1978-1983'' – 2013

Notes

References

* BABAS, Kike, y TURRÓN, Kike: ''La Sana Intención. Conversaciones con Rosendo''. Zona de Obras / SGAE. Madrid, 2003 * FERNÁNDEZ, Iñaki: ''Rosendo. Historia del rock urbano''. Editorial La máscara. Valencia, 1997. . * VV.AA.: ''Rosendo''. Publicaciones y Ediciones SGAE. Madrid, 1997.

External links

Rosendo's Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leno Musical groups from Madrid Spanish hard rock musical groups Rock en Español music groups