Rosendo Mercado Ruiz (born 23 February 1954,
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
, 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 family was from
Bolaños de Calatrava
Bolaños de Calatrava is a city situated in the Ciudad Real province in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is 4 kilometers from Almagro.
History
The first settlement dates back to Roman times. The area became a strate ...
, in the
province of Ciudad Real, but he was raised in
Carabanchel, where he still resides (as of 2005). After dropping out of
ICAI engineering school, he joined the band
Fresa
Fresa may refer to:
* Fresa (slang), slang, socially used in Mexico and some parts of Latin America to describe a cultural stereotype of superficial youngsters
* Armando Fresa, (1893 - 1957), Italian politician and Civil Engineer Officer
See al ...
as a guitarist, in 1972. Fresa usually played covers of hits of the time, and sometimes they also backed other soloists and singers. Following some changes, including singer
José Carlos Molina joining the band, this changed its name to
Ñu. In 1974 Rosendo discovered
Rory Gallagher
William Rory Gallagher ( ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995) was an Irish guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. Due to his virtuosic playing, but relative lack of fame compared to some others, he has been referred to as "the greatest ...
's music, who became one of his main influences, together with other bands such as
Jethro Tull,
Canned Heat
Canned Heat is an American band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. The group is noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists and rock music. It was founded by two blues enthusiasts Alan Wilson and Bob ...
,
Cream
Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
,
Deep Purple and
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
.
Leño period
After being discharged from the compulsory military service in 1975, he took part in the recording of Ñu's first album. Molina and himself were not in very good terms, so Rosendo left the group in 1977. He then formed Leño, where he played the guitar and acted as a vocalist as well.
Chiqui Mariscal (bass player) and
Ramiro Penas (drums) also left Ñu to join him in Leño.
They made their debut in 1978, acting as the support band at an
Asfalto's gig. They had been hired by
Vicente Romero (producer)
Vicente Romero Romero (born 8 February 1987) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a right midfielder.
Football career
Romero was born in Valencia. A product of local Valencia CF's youth academy, he only appeared once for its first team, ...
. Romero was founding
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") at that time, and published the collective disc ''Viva el Rollo, Vol. II. Rock del Manzanares'', which included two Leño's songs: ''Este Madrid'' and ''Aprendiendo a escuchar''.
Later in 1979 they published their first album, entitled Leño. It was 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 ...
, and it characterises for including songs with long instrumental sections. Two songs: ''El tren'' and ''Este Madrid'' are remarkable. Chiqui Mariscal left the band in the middle of the recording sessions, and he was substituted by Tony Urbano; the disc sleeve portrays this fact.
In 1980 they published their second album, Más madera. It evidences Teddy Bautista's influence. The songs are shorter and have a lighter style.
In 1981 Leño recorded live En directo at the ''Carolina'' club in Madrid. Despite its poor sound quality, the disc made it quite well at the shops, granting great success to the band. It 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) played with them.
The last of their official releases is ¡Corre, corre!. This was made with more resources, due to the success of their previous live record. ¡Corre, corre! was recorded in London, and produced by
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!''.
1983 would see their last performances. Among Miguel Rios and Luz Casal, they took part in the tour ''Rock de una noche de verano''. This was a long series of gigs all around Spain, featuring a set of lights and sound assets as they never had been seen before. The tour was 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 w ...
, and few years later it would be marked as a milestone in the Spanish rock history. At the end of the ''Rock the una noche de verano'' tour, in the fall of 1983, and when they were at their best and most successful moment, Leño members decided to split off.
Solo period
Rosendo's first solo disc (Loco por incordiar) was pushed back until 1985, due to problems with his former label,
Zafiro (to which ''Chapa Discos'' belonged). The disc was edited by
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
, and produced by
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 ...
. It marked the moment of greatest commercial success in his career, thanks to songs like ''Agradecido'', ''Pan de higo'' or ''Loco por incordiar''.
However, his next album, Fuera de lugar, edited next year, was negatively criticized. His last disc for RCA, ... a las lombrices, was published in 1987, and was received coldly.
Jo Dworniak
Jo, jo, JO, or J.O. may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Jo'' (film), a 1972 French comedy
* ''Jo'' (TV series), a French TV series
*"Jo", a song by Goldfrapp from ''Tales of Us''
*"Jo", a song by Mr. Oizo from '' Lambs Anger''
* Jo a ficti ...
was the producer, and
Rafael J. Vegas joined as a bass player.
After leaving RCA, Rosendo started recording with
Twins
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...
. The first album with this label was Jugar al gua (1988), which features songs with a different style (e.g., the ''Del pulmón''
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
), but also one of his key songs ''Flojos de pantalón''. The second record for Twins was Directo (1989), a live disc including two songs by Leño.
Later Twins joined
DRO, with whom Rosendo has kept on recording up to present (2005). The first album for DRO, Deja que les diga que no, appeared in 1991. Eugenio Muñoz took part in the production, as he did in later discs. Next year Rosendo published the disc La tortuga, containing a song that became quite popular: ''Majete''.
With Para mal o para bien (1994), he recorded for the first time in the ''El Cortijo del Aire'' studio, in the
Cabo de Gata. Some outstanding songs are ''¿De qué vas?'' and ''Hasta de perfil''. The latter criticizes power and three members of
Celtas Cortos collaborated on the song.
His next album, Listos para la reconversión was published in 1996. After that disc two of his musicians left, namely the keyboard player Gustavo Di Nóbile and the drummer Miguel Ángel Jiménez. Next year he recorded the soundtrack of
Hector Carré's movie Dame algo, and in 1998 he changed the setup of the band to a trio (bass, drums and guitar, giving up the keyboard), and changed his lifelong
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuousl ...
guitar for a
Gibson
Gibson may refer to:
People
* Gibson (surname)
Businesses
* Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment
* Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based
* Gi ...
, allegedly for its looks. The first disc of this stage is A tientas y barrancas (1998), followed in 1999 by Siempre hay una historia... en directo, which he recorded live in the yard of the Carabanchel prison.
In 2001 Canciones para normales y mero dementes was published. This disc features a harder sound, which was also present in Veo, veo... mamoneo (2002). In 2005 Lo malo es... ni darse cuenta was released.
In 2006 he was awarded the
Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas ArtesTogether with Rosendo the king of Spain, Juan Carlos I, also awarded Joaquín Sabina, Enrique Morente, Raphael, and Maruja Torres
/ref>
His latest album, El endémico embustero y el incauto pertinaz, released in 2007, was recorded in the ''PKO'' (Madrid) and ''El Cortijo'' (Almería) studios.
Members
* Rosendo Mercado – Composer, singer, guitar, bass
* Rafa J. Vegas – Bass
* Mariano Montero – drums
* Miguel A. Jiménez – drums
* Gustavo Di Nobile – Keyboard, programmer
Discography
With Leño
* '' Leño'' (1979)
* ''Más madera'' (1980)
* ''En Directo'' (1981) (Live album)
* '' ¡Corre, corre!'' (1982)
* ''Vivo '83'' (2006) (Live album)
As a solo artist
* ''Loco por Incordiar'' – 1985
* ''Fuera de Lugar'' – 1986
* ''... A las Lombrices'' – 1987
* ''Jugar al gua'' – 1988
* ''Directo'' – 1990 (Live album)
* ''Deja que les diga que No!'' – 1991
* ''La Tortuga'' – 1992
* ''Para mal o para bien'' – 1994
* ''Listos para la reconversión'' – 1996
* ''Dame algo B.S.O'' – 1997
* ''A tientas y Barrancas'' – 1998
* ''Siempre Hay una Historia …en Directo'' – 1999 (Live album)
* ''Canciones para Normales y Mero Dementes'' – 2001
* ''Veo, Veo ... Mamoneo!!'' – 2002
* ''Salud y Buenos Alimentos'' – 2004
* ''Lo malo es... ni darse cuenta'' – 2005
* ''El endémico embustero y el incauto pertinaz'' – 2007
* ''Otra noche sin dormir (with Barricada
Barricada (from Spanish: ''Barricade'') were a Navarrese 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 ...
and Aurora Beltrán)'' – 2008 (Live album)
* ''A veces cuesta llegar al estribillo'' – 2010
* ''En el Palau de la Música de Barcelona 07.05.11'' – 2011 (Live album)
* ''Vergüenza torera'' – 2013
* ''Directo en las Ventas 27-9-14'' – 2014 (Live album)
* ''De escalde y trinchera'' – 2017
Notes
External links
Official web page
(Spanish)
Page about Rosendo
(Spanish)
News about Rosendo
(Spanish)
References
* Book: ''"Rosendo"'', Publicaciones y Ediciones SGAE, 1997
* Book: ''"La Sana Intención. Conversaciones con Rosendo."'' Kike Turrón and Kike Babas. Zona de Obras / SGAE, 2003
* Magazine ''"Efe Eme"'', N. 68, May 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercado, Rosendo
1954 births
Living people
Spanish rock singers
Rock en Español musicians
Musicians from Madrid