Manu Chao is a French-born Spanish musician. He sings in French, Spanish, English, Italian, Arabic, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Greek, and occasionally in other languages. Chao began his musical career in Paris, busking and playing with groups such as Hot Pants and Los Carayos, which combined a variety of languages and musical styles. With friends and his brother Antoine Chao, he founded the band Mano Negra in 1987, achieving considerable success, particularly in Europe. He became a solo artist after its breakup in 1995 and since then has toured regularly with his live band, Radio Bemba Sound System.
Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK, Australia, Canada, and the U.S. including "Stray Cat Strut", "(She's) Sexy + 17", "Look at That Cadillac", "I Won't Stand in Your Way", "Bring It Back Again", and "Rock This Town", which the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has listed as one of the songs that shaped rock and roll.
The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek, Benjamin Orr, Elliot Easton, Greg Hawkes (keyboards), and David Robinson (drums). Ocasek and Orr shared lead vocals, and Ocasek was the band's principal songwriter and leader.
Eskorbuto was a Spanish punk rock band from Santurtzi, Greater Bilbao, Basque Autonomous Community, that formed in 1980. They have been one of the most influential bands for Spanish and Latin American punk rock. They are known for their strong attitude and crude lyrics. They were one of the first bands to perform punk with lyrics in Spanish. Eskorbuto is a modified word taken from escorbuto . Along with the band La Polla Records, Eskorbuto has been very influential in the Spanish rock and punk scene.
Mano Negra was a French music group active from 1987 to 1994 and fronted by Manu Chao. The group was founded in Paris by Chao, his brother Antoine and their cousin Santiago, all born of Galician and Basque parents with partly Cuban roots. Their songs were mostly in Spanish, English and French, often switching from one language to the other in the same song or in the middle of a sentence or title. They also had a hit song in Arabic. They are considered pioneers of world fusion.
Los Carayos was a French band which released four albums between 1986 and 1994. They were active mostly in Paris in the mid-1980s, but side interests of the musicians, notably of Manu Chao, did not allow the band to take off.
Platinum Blonde, known briefly as The Blondes, is a Canadian rock band that formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1979. Vocalist Mark Holmes has been the only consistent member of the band since its inception.
Radio Bemba Sound System is a live album by Manu Chao that was released in 2002. It is the accompanying CD to the performer's live DVD Babylonia en Guagua, filmed over two nights in 2001 during the tour for Proxima Estacion: Esperanza. Many of the songs found on Radio Bemba Sound System, such as "Machine Gun", "Peligro","Mala Vida","King Kong Five" and "The Monkey", are songs originally recorded by Manu Chao's previous band, Mano Negra. However the arrangements performed with Radio Bemba Sound System are more reggae-, ska-, and rock-oriented. The album is sequenced and edited in such a way that there is very little audience noise and cheering between the tracks, thus giving the impression of an all-night happy party - which calms down in the penultimate track only to explode again in the last one ("Promiscuity"); the cheering at the end of "Promiscuity" is cut short by a very early fade.
Amparanoia is the stage name of Spanish singer/guitarist Amparo Sánchez which combines her first name with the word 'paranoia'. It was also the name of the band she fronted from 1996 to 2006. Her debut album, El Poder de Machín, has been described as "bright, exuberant... with a heavy Latin influence", whereas the 2002-released Somos Viento has been called "a more acoustic blend of Cuban and reggae forms".
The Shillelagh Sisters were a British female group composed of Jacquie O'Sullivan (vocals), Lynder Halpin, Patricia "Trisha" O'Flynn (saxophone) and Maria "Mitzi" Ryan (drums). Their music style was a mixture of rockabilly and punk rock, influenced by Halpin and O'Sullivan's boyfriends, who were, respectively, Boz Boorer (guitarist) and Phil Bloomberg (bassist), both of the rockabilly group The Polecats.
Balkan Beat Box (BBB) is an Israeli musical group. Founded by Tamir Muskat and Ori Kaplan in 2003, BBB was later joined by Tomer Yosef who became a core member. The group plays Mediterranean-influenced music that incorporates Jewish, Southeastern Europe and Middle Eastern traditions, Gypsy punk, reggae and electronica. As a musical unit they often collaborate with a host of other musicians both in the studio as well as live.
Robert Gordon was an American rockabilly singer.
The Nils are a Montreal punk rock band formed in 1978 by Alex Soria. The Nils first gained local notoriety upon the 1982 release of a five-song demo entitled Now. Their self-titled debut album was released to critical acclaim in 1987, and earned praise from Rolling Stone and contemporary punk rock bands, including Hüsker Dü. The Nils disbanded and reformed on various occasions in the 1990s and early 2000s, until the death of Alex Soria in 2004. In 2010 Carlos Soria reformed the band, and in 2015 The Nils released Shadows and Ghosts, their first album of new material in over 25 years.
La Radiolina is the fourth studio album by Manu Chao. It was released on 4 September 2007. Italy saw an advance release of the album on 30 August.
Tijuana No! is a Mexican ska, rock and punk band from Tijuana, Baja California, México. The band is considered a punk rock, ska band in Mexico and influenced by The Clash, Dead Kennedys, Sex Pistols and Black Flag. In the beginning their name was Radio Chantaje(Blackmail Radio), and later they became No, but upon the knowledge of another band called the same, they changed their name to No de Tijuana(Not From Tijuana), and later just shortened it to Tijuana No!. They were characterized by the social criticism in their lyrics, where they also showed their support to the EZLN, and made reference in their songs to racial, cultural, international, and governmental problems, like the immigration policies in the United States. In 1991 they recorded their first album under an independent label, and one year later (1992) they released the same album under Culebra Records (BMG), who gave them international recognition promoting the single Pobre de Ti(Poor You).
Familija was a Serbian rock supergroup from Belgrade, consisting of Vampiri, Košava and U Škripcu members. The band's musical style was a combination of ska, pop, ethnic and rock music.
The Bunny the Bear is an American post-hardcore band from Buffalo, New York. The band is known for its eclectic style of post-hardcore, influenced by a variety of rock and electronic subgenres, including synthpop, metalcore, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronica.
Levi and the Rockats are a British rockabilly revival band originally from Essex. They are recognised as one of the pioneering neo-rockabilly groups of the 1980s.
"Mala Vida" is the second single by French rock group Mano Negra, appearing on their 1988 debut album Patchanka. Written by lead singer Manu Chao, the song also appeared on a 1984 demo tape of the same name by Hot Pants, a predecessor to Mano Negra. "Mala Vida" was an early hit for Mano Negra and became a staple of the band's live shows and has been covered by several artists. The song has also been performed by Chao as a solo artist; a live performance of the song by Chao was recorded for his 2002 album Radio Bemba Sound System. Boucherie Productions, who published Patchanka, financed a music video for the song, which received airplay on national radio stations and TV channels in France. Mano Negra's success with the release of "Mala Vida" led the band to a contract with Virgin.
Hippo Campus is an American indie rock band from Saint Paul, Minnesota. Their musical inclinations appear to be firmly rooted in the UK, drawing inspiration from notable artists such as Little Comets and King Krule. They are signed to Psychic Hotline in the United States and Transgressive Records in the United Kingdom. The band has performed at South by Southwest, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Summerfest and Reading and Leeds Festivals, Hinterland Music Festival, as well as on Conan. Hippo Campus were named one of NPR Music's favorite new artists of 2017.
