Mano Negra: Discography 1988 - 1994

 

Named in honor of an Andalucian anarchist group, Mano Negra emerged from the same Parisian

artists' scene which also gave rise to the like-minded Les Negresses Vertes, drawing equal influence from the punk ethos of the Clash and the multitude of sounds and rhythms endemic to the global music community. Mano Negrawas 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. 
                    

Formed in 1986 from the remnants of the neo-rockabilly unit the Hot Pants, they create a heady

brew they dubbed "Patchanka," a name derived from a Spanish pejorative for dancehall music. 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 (e.g. "Puta's Fever"). They also had a hit song in Arabic. They are considered pioneers of world fusion. 
                      

Mano Negra incorporated an impressive array of musical styles: punk rock, folk, flamenco, ska,

salsa, French chanson, hip-hop, raï, rockabilly, reggae and African rhythms. They also made frequent use of samples of everyday sounds, electronica and experimental post-production techniques. This omnivorous approach, based on absorption and combination of a broad range of styles and sounds, was termed patchanka by the group (literally "patchwork", and the name of their first album). Mano Negra's debut LP, also titled Patchanka, appeared in 1988, scoring the French indie hit "Mala Vida." 
                    

The record's success led to a contract with Virgin, which in 1989 issued the group's sophomore effort Puta's Fever (Dominican slang for a sexually-transmitted disease caught from a prostitute), increasing

the band's visibility abroad as well as establishing them as France's most popular alternative act. Enriched with the Latin American experience and basking in the success of the new album in France and other European countries, in 1990 they began a world tour to more than fifteen countries, including Japan, Holland, Germany and the United States, where they opened for Iggy Pop. However, the U.S. tour was not a good experience, and the band decided not to pursue the Anglo market. 
                      

While 1991's King of Bongo attempted to broaden their Anglo fanbase via the inclusion of several English-language tracks, but their focus quickly turned to South America when in 1992 they embarked

on the "Cargo Tour," travelling to a series of port cities to perform on a stage built into their ship's hold. In 1992 they celebrated the 500th anniversary of Columbus's voyage with a Latin American tour completed on a cargo ship in which a street of Nantes had been recreated. ("[H]aving transported a street of Paris across the Atlantic is a marvel [una maravilla]", commented Gabriel García Márquez who visited the attraction.) It included a performance at the Earth Summit where they were joined on stage by Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys. 
                        

Mano Negra returned the following year, this time journeying by rail from Colombia's Caribbean coast

to the capital city of Bogotá, giving free concerts at stations en route. Latin influences dominated 1994's Casa Babylon, which proved to be the group's final record; Manu Chao later resurfaced in Radio Bemba, and released his first solo album (Clandestino) in 1998. 
                           

STUDIO ALBUMS

1988: Patchanka
1989: Puta's Fever
1991: King of Bongo
1994: Casa Babylon

MANO NEGRA - PATCHANKA 1988

                    

The debut from Mano Negra is more than a band wanting to be the Clash. It's the sound of a band becoming the Clash (it compresses all the musical sprawl of Sandinista! into a single disc), then going

on to find their own sound, most especially with tracks like "Indios de Barcelona" and "Mala Vida," both of which would become staples of their repertoire. "Killin' Rats" is a perfect mix of hip-hop and rock, while their take on the traditional "Rock Island Line" (the song that launched the skiffle movement of the '50s) flows through several musical styles in the course of three minutes. 
Perhaps its most remarkable achievement is that in 1988, when acid house was rendering guitars obsolete all over Europe, Mano Negra could make such a vital record that made rock important again. 
                                    

Mano Negra – Patchanka
Label: Virgin – 869202
Format: CD, Album
Country: France
Released: 1988
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Ska, Punk, Pachanga

TRACKS

                  

 

01. Mano Negra    1:44
02. Ronde De Nuit    2:55
03. Baby You're Mine    2:55
04. Indios De Barcelona    2:34
05. Rock Island Line   3:03
(Written-By – Traditional)
06. Noche De Accion    2:45
07. Darling Darling    1:46
08. Killin' Rats    2:24
09. Mala Vida    2:53
10. Tackin' It Up    3:40
11. La Ventura    2:28
12. Lonesome Bop    2:57
13. Bragg Jack    2:32

LINE - UP

               

Bass – Fred, Jean-Marc "Guilouli"
Double Bass [Contrebasse], Vocals [Chant] – Alain
Drums [Batterie], Percussion [Percs], Vocals [Chant] – Santiago Casariego
Featuring – Les Casses Pieds
Guitar [Outrageous Guitar-Playing], Voice [Sexually Explicit Voice] – Manu Chao (Oscar Tramor)
Guitar, Vocals [Chant] – Gilles
Synth [Synthés], Vocals [Chant] – Géo
Trumpet, Vocals [Chant] – Tonio "Chao" El Carayo
Vocals [Chant] – Anouk, Denis
Vocals [Chant], Saxophone – Mamack

Flac Size: 402 MB

MANO NEGRA - PUTA'S FEVER 1989

                        

The highly influential Puta's Fever opened the door for a flood of young rock bands outside the English-speaking music world to fashion new hybrids that reflected their own musical cultures blended with popular worldwide sounds like rock and reggae. Manu Chao and company started from patchanka,

a fast-paced French music hall style that sounds like speeded-up ragtime or hot jazz, and started singing songs in Spanish, French, and Arabic. Puta's Fever is a triumph of eclecticism as a style where each song shifts into a different musical gear, and one key jumping-off point for the rock en español (or Latin alternative) school. Which doesn't mean that Mano Negra abandoned their original inspiration -- English lyrics dominate and there's a strong identification with a classic rock & roll outlaw stance in "Rock 'N' Roll Band" and the '50s-rooted "Devil's Call." 
                  

Mano Negra – Puta's Fever
Label: Virgin – 30721
Format: CD, Album, MPO
Country: France
Released: May 31, 1989
Genre: Rock, Latin
Style: Rock & Roll, Punk, Ska, Pachanga

TRACKS

                 

01. Mano Negra    0:57
02. Rock'N'Roll Band    2:33
03. King Kong Five    1:56
04. Malavida    2:53
05. Indios De Barcelona    2:34
06. Sidi H' Bibi    2:36
07. The Rebel Spell    2:01
08. Peligro    2:54
09. Pas Assez De Toi    2:20
10. Magic Dice    1:23
11. Mad House    2:41
12. Guayaquil City    3:01
13. Voodoo    3:00
14. Patchanka    3:06
15. La Rancon Du Succes    1:57
16. The Devil's Call    1:42
17. El Sur    1:00
18. Patchuko Hop    2:31

MANO NEGRA

                 

Oscar Tramor (Manu Chao) – lead vocals, guitar
Tonio Del Borño (Antoine Chao) – trumpet, vocals
Santiago "El Águila" Casariego – drums, vocals
Garbancito (Philippe Teboul) – percussion, vocals
Roger Cageot (Daniel Jamet) – lead guitar, vocals
Jo (Joseph Dahan) – bass guitar, vocals
Helmut Krumar (Thomas Darnal) – keyboards, vocals
Krøpöl 1er (Pierre Gauthé) – trombone, vocals

GUEST MUSICIANS

Mme Oscar (Anouk) – vocals
Napo "Chihuahua" Romero – vocals
Alain "L'Enclume De Choisy" Wampas – double bass, vocals
Zofia – vocals

Flac Size: 278 MB

MANO NEGRA - KING OF BONGO 1991

                   

The almost all-English lyrics embrace the outlaw rocker stance, and the material is largely geared toward emphasizing Mano Negra's connection with the punk side of the rock spectrum. The ranting

rave-up "Letter to the Censors" isn't that far from Motörhead, and the acoustic guitar and organ on "Out of Time Man" has a feel close to Iggy Pop's "The Passenger." "Don't Want You No More" even lopes along at a country & western-flavored clip. Mano Negra can rock hard and convincingly -- notably on the steady, rolling title track or when blending dub reggae and rap elements into "Bring the Fire" -- and the music still offers much more variety than the rock norm here. 
                   

Mano Negra – King Of Bongo
Label: Virgin – 30840
Format: CD, Album
Country: France
Released: Apr 15, 1991
Genre: Rock
Style: Folk Rock, Punk, Ska, Pachanga

TRACKS

                    

01. Bring The Fire    3:29
02. King Of Bongo    3:37
03. Don't Want You No More    3:06
04. Le Bruit Du Frigo    3:12
05. Letter To The Censors    2:32
06. El Jako    2:49
07. It's My Heart    1:44
08. Mad Man's Dead    2:46
09. Out Of Time Man    3:27
10. Madame Oscar    2:40
11. Welcome In Occident    4:22
12. Furious Fiesta    1:28
13. The Fool    2:52
14. Paris La Nuit    3:20

MANO NEGRA

                 

Oscar Tramor (Manu Chao) – lead vocals, guitar, accordion, keyboard
Tonio Del Borño (Antoine Chao) – trumpet, vocals
Santiago "El Águila" Casariego – drums, vocals
Garbancito (Philippe Teboul) – percussion, vocals, guitar
Roger Cageot (Daniel Jamet) – lead guitar, vocals, kazoo
Jo (Joseph Dahan) – bass guitar, vocals, synthesizer, guitar
Helmut Krumar (Thomas Darnal) – keyboards, vocals, guitar, triangle

ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS

Bruno Gephard – delay, noise gate, midi synch, patch
Anouk – vocals

Flac Size: 265 MB

MANO NEGRA - CASA BABYLON 1994

               

                    
Lyrically, it's the birth of the internationalist Manu Chao, as overt political messages largely replace the previous rebel rocker sentiments. Musically, Mano Negra returns to the manic rhythmic drive of Puta's

Fever and ups the reggae, ska, and Latin ante after testing more mainstream rock waters on King of Bongo. But Casa Babylon goes one step beyond Puta's Fever by crashing together different styles and even lyrics in different languages within the songs. But Manu Chao definitely turned a corner here, one that set the stage for his success even as it marked the end of a group that exerted an enormous formative influence on the Latin alternative scene. 
                

Mano Negra – Casa Babylon
Label: Virgin – 7243 8 39655 2 6
Format: CD, Album
Country: Europe
Released: 1994
Genre: Rock, Latin
Style: Alternative Rock, Pachanga, Dub, Ska

TRACKS

                   

01, Viva Zapata   2:04
Music By – Mano Negra
02. Casa Babylon   2:01
Music By – Mano Negra
Words By – Manu Chao
03. The Monkey   2:47
Music By – Mano Negra
Words By – Dave Bartolomew
04. Señor Matanza   4:06
Music By – Mano Negra
Words By – Manu Chao
05. Santa Maradona (Larchuma Football Club)   3:27
Music By – Mano Negra
Words By – Manu Chao
06. Super Chango   2:53
Music By – Mano Negra
Words By – Manu Chao
07. Bala Perdida   2:13
Music By – Mano Negra
Words By – Fidel Nadal, Manu Chao
08. Machine Gun   4:25
Music By – Mano Negra
Words By – Manu Chao
09. El Alakrán (La Mar Está Podrida)   3:50
Music By – Manu Chao
Words By – Manu Chao
10. Mamá Perfecta   1:54
Arranged By – Mano Negra
Written-By – Traditional Cuban
11. Love And Hate   2:28
Music By – Mano Negra
Words By – Manu Chao
12. Drives Me Crazy   3:38
Music By – Mano Negra
Words By – Manu Chao
13. Hamburger Fields   3:14
Music By – Mano Negra
Words By – Manu Chao
14. La Vida (La Vida Me Da Palo)   2:41
Music By – J.M. André, Philippe Teboul
Words By – Manu Chao
15. Sueño De Solentiname   2:51
Music By – Manu Chao
Words By – Manu Chao
16. This Is My World   4:57
Music By – Mano Negra

MANO NEGRA

               

Manu Chao – lead vocals, guitar
Antoine Chao – trumpet, vocals
Santiago Casariego – drums, vocals
Philippe Teboul – percussion, vocals
Daniel Jamet – lead guitar, vocals
Joseph Dahan – bass guitar, vocals
Thomas Darnal – keyboards, vocals
Pierre "Krøpöl" Gauthé – trumpet, vocals
Fidel Nadal – vocals

ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS

Anouk – vocals
Ana – vocals
Rocio – vocals
Djerba – vocals
Abraham – vocals
Jhonder – vocals
Carlos de Nicaragua – vocals
Napo Romero – vocals
Matéo Van Vliet – vocals
Jello Biafra – vocals
Les Moskokids – vocals
Tempo – bass guitar (9)

Flac Size: 346 MB