Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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MANO NEGRA

Multicultural North African, Spanish and French group inspired by music as diverse as flamenco and the Clash's punk music, although 'deranged street music' could also apply. In the mid-'80s vocalist Manu Chao played in Cajun and folk-styled group Los Carrayos with his brother Tonio Chao (trumpet) and in rock group Hot Pants with his cousin Santiago Casirego (drums). They became Paris-based Mano Negra c'86, lineup bolstered by others such as street musicians, often busking on the Paris Metro. The live act that developed was energetic and fun. Independent album Patchanga '88 sold 100,000 in three years; the title from patchanga, music played at Spanish fiestas, with disreputable undertones similar to Greek rembetika, Algerian rai or tango in its original form (the related word 'patchangero' meant 'punk' in its pre-musical sense). They signed to Virgin in France; Puta's Fever '89 brought them to international attention and inevitable comparisons with Les Negresses Vertes in the English-speaking press (which can't tell foreigners apart). The album's title derived from slang for a souvenir of visiting a prostitute, i.e. a sexually transmitted disease. Success in Anglophone countries largely eluded them except for a cult following; King Of Bongo '91 incl. traces of English, but Gypsy wanderlust prevented them exploiting it: like busking sharks they went off to cruise the waterfronts of South America as government- sponsored ambassadors of French culture '92. This so-called Cargo Tour was full of high jinks; in one incident they supposedly demolished an Argentine television studio in response to a question about the meaning of anarchy. They returned to South America '93, travelling by train through Colombia, playing informal gigs when allowed, paying tribute in order to be allowed to play in a reversal of rock'n'roll clich‚. Casa Babylon '94 was a rich amalgam of South American dance styles picked up on their peregrinations. The next album Casa Negra received only a limited release.