El Canto del Loco: История испанской поп-рок группы

Spanish pop rock band

El Canto del Loco (The Singing of the Madman in English) was a Spanish pop rock band, although its members recognize that some of their songs are more in the style of power pop. The name of the band comes from the song "El Canto del Gallo" by Radio Futura. The group sometimes known through the abbreviation ECDL was created in 1994 by Dani Martín and Ivan Ganchegui (who left the group in 2002) although the final line up would not come together until years later. Influenced mainly by other Spanish groups from the 1980s and with five studio albums, El Canto del Loco has gone on to sell more than a million albums, making them one of the most successful bands on the Spanish music scene in recent years. The group announced their separation in 2010 as the members of the group wanted to pursue solo careers. ECDL received three nominations for the MTV Europe Music Awards in the category of "Best Spanish Artist", which they won on two occasions, and they were awarded two Premio Ondas as "Best Live Act" (2004) and "Best Spanish Artist or Group" (2005).

El Canto del Loco began in 1994 when Dani Martín was studying at the Cristina Rota School of Dramatic Arts. There, he met Iván Ganchegui, a guitarist, and their shared musical tastes resulted in the formation of the band. Both were fans of Radio Futura and in particular of their song El canto del gallo (The Song of the Rooster), which led them to name the group El Canto del Loco. At this time the group also included a female drummer, a bassist and another guitarist. However, the latter soon left the group because of other commitments, In the same year El Canto del Loco also received a nomination at the MTV Europe Music Awards for "Best Spanish Artist", although the group Amaral actually won the award.

Following the voluntary exit of Iván Ganchegui from the band, the rest of the group decided to take a break. However, a few days later David and Dani had both written several songs on their own and it was decided to record them using the four remaining members of the band. After a delay due to the busy work schedule of Nigel Walker, who was working on the new album by La Oreja de Van Gogh, the group recorded their third studio album which they called Estados de ánimo (States of Mind) and which went on sale on 26 May 2003. In August of the same year their song Pasión (Passion), from the El canto del loco album, was included on the soundtrack of the film La fiesta (The Party), directed by Carlos Villaverde and Manu Sanabria, which is famous for being one of the cheapest Spanish films ever made (on a budget of 6,000 euros). In October, the group collaborated in the recording of the album Tony Aguilar y amigos (Tony Aguilar and friends), organized by the Los 40 principales disc jockey Tony Aguilar. In collaboration with a number of other singers, El Canto del Loco played on the song Latido urbano (Urban Beat), which was the single taken from the album and which went on sale in November of that year. The profits from the record went to children's oncology hospitals run by the Asociación Española contra el Cáncer Spanish Cancer Association. They also recorded another of the songs on the album along with Aguilar himself, called Casi un Universo (Almost a Universe). At the end of the year the group won the "Best Spanish Artist" award at the MTV Europe Music Awards beating artists such as Alejandro Sanz and La Oreja de Van Gogh. In January 2004, they were commissioned to record a new version of the theme tune for the television series 7 vidas (7 lives), which had previously been interpreted by the singer Raimundo Amador. In the summer of that year they participated in a tribute album for Radio Futura, called Arde la calle (Burn the Street!) on which they interpreted the song Escuela de calor (School of Heat).

David Otero visited the island of Phi Phi (Thailand) in March 2005, where he saw the damage caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Along with other artists he decided to found an organisation called Kuarkx with the objective of collecting money for those affected by the disaster. Otero, with the help of his cousin Dani, wrote the song Despiértame (Wake me up!) and made it available over the Internet where it could be downloaded for 1.15 euros. Their new album, which was called Zapatillas (Sneakers), was released on 21 June. The group released their first album outside Spain in September of the same year. It was aimed at the United States and Latin America and was called 12 estados de ánimo (12 States of Mind), it is a compilation album containing the best songs from the three albums they had so far released in Spain. That same month the group was nominated for the third time in the MTV Europe Music Awards category for "Best Spanish Artist". The group gained second prize in the event celebrated in November in Lisbon. After finishing the Zapatillas tour and before Dani Martín started filming Yo soy la Juani (I am the Juani) directed by Bigas Luna rumours started to circulate regarding the possible break up of the group. The group denied these rumours and simply stated that after a long break they would return with new songs. The group also participated in the recording of a compilation album in aid of a Telethon held by TV3. The album, which went on sale on 10 December 2006, was sold for 9 euros with the proceeds going to charities working with people suffering from chronic pain. It sold in conjunction with a number of Catalan newspapers (Avui, El Punt, La Vanguardia and El Periódico de Catalunya). The song chosen by the group was "Puede ser" (It Can Be), from their second studio album A Contracorriente, but with the difference that it was sung in Catalan under the title Pot ser. The song was later included on the compilation album Arriba el telón (Raise the curtain). In 2007, Dani and David, along with the manager of El Canto del Loco, Carlos Vázquez, created the record label El Manicomio (Madhouse) Records, which was supported by the multinational Sony BMG and which released the debut album of the group Sin Rumbo (Without Direction).

The recording of the group's next album started in October 2007 and lasted until February 2008. The album went on sale on 1 April under the name Personas (People). On release of the album El Canto del Loco also announced a tour to start at the end of 2009, where they would be supported by the group Sin Rumbo and the singer Lucas Masciano. On 12 June 2008 Jandro announced that he would leave the group citing personal reasons. Despite this the group confirmed that the tour would not be affected and would take place with a new drummer, Carlos Gamón, who had previously played with the group Amaral and the singer Najwa Nimri. The group played in the Rock in Rio festival on 28 June that year. This was the first time that the festival had been held in Spain. They received poor critical reviews although the performance was popular with their fans. and Hombres G, who they are also good friends with. They have also been influenced to a lesser degree by groups such as Alejo Stivel (a member of this band was their first producer), Nacha Pop, Nachote Popeye and Duncan Dhu. The members of the group also recognize that some of the songs on their album Estados de ánimo were also influenced by more recent bands such as Estopa (Tow), La Cabra Mecánica (The Mechanical Goat), M Clan.