Los Bravos were a Spanish beat group, formed in 1965, and based in Madrid. Their single "Black Is Black" reached #2 in the United Kingdom in July 1966, and #4 in the United States (the first Spanish group to do so) selling over a million records.

Biography [edit]

The band were an amalgamation of two pop groups, Los Sonor and The Runaways. Los Bravos' lead singer, Mike Kogel a/k/a Mike Kennedy was from Germany. His vocal styling was sometimes likened to Gene Pitney's. Their single "Black Is Black" reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1966 ^[1] and #4 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, the first Spanish group to achieve this.^[2] The song sold over one million copies worldwide. The track was written by Tony Hayes and Steve Wadey, in their recording studio for cutting demo discs in Hoo St Werburgh, near Rochester, Kent, England.^[2] The song was later covered by Johnny Hallyday and the French-based outfit Belle Epoque, and in 1977 their disco version of the song coincidentally also reached #2 in the UK.

Los Bravos' follow-up single, "I Don't Care", reached #16 in the UK in October 1966. In 1967 the band participated in the Sanremo Music Festival, failing to qualify for the final with the song "Uno come noi" in Italian.^[3] The band were the subjects of two Spanish comedic movies: in 1967 Los chicos con las chicas (The Boys With the Girls), directed by Javier Aguirre and in 1968, ¡Dame un poco de amooor...! (Give Me a Little Looove!), directed by José María Forqué and Francisco Macián...the title song was composed/originally recorded by Vanda/Young--The Easybeats. Their song "Going Nowhere" from the soundtrack to Los chicos con las chicas was re-issued as a part of the Rhino Records series, Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969.

One of Los Bravos' founding members Manuel Fernandez committed suicide on 20 May 1967, at the age of 23,^[4][5] after the death of his bride Lottie Rey in an auto accident.

Band members [edit]

• Michael Volker 'Mike' Kogel (born 25 April 1944, Berlin) — vocals
• Antonio Martinez (born 3 October 1945, Madrid) — guitar. Martinez died in a motorcycle accident en route to his office in 1990.^[6]
• Manuel Fernandez (29 September 1943, Seville, Andalucia — 20 May 1967) — electric organ
• Miguel Vicens Danus (born 21 June 1944, Ferrol, Galicia) — bass guitar
• Pablo Gomez (born 5 November 1943, Barcelona, Catalonia) — drums

Discography [edit]

Singles [edit]

The following singles reached the Billboard Hot 100 or UK Top 40:^[7]

• "Black Is Black" (1966) — UK #2 U.S. #4
• "I Don't Care" (1966) — UK #16
• "Going Nowhere" (1966) — U.S. #91
• "Bring a Little Lovin'" (1968) — U.S. #51

Albums [edit]

Original studio albums:^[7]

• Black is Black (1966) — Press Records — U.S. #93
• Bring a Little Lovin' (1968) — Parrot
• All the Best (1993) — compilation album — Decca

See also [edit]

• RPM number-one hits of 1966
• List of artists under the Decca Records label
• List of 1960s one-hit wonders in the United States
• List of songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks
• Music of Spain

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Los Bravos biography at Allmusic website
• Video for "Black is Black"
• Video for "Going Nowhere"