Hombres G

Hombres G is a Spanish rock band that formed in Spain in 1982. To date, Hombres G have performed more than 600 concerts and sold more than 9 million albums across Spain and the Americas.

At the time of release of their two movies, over 6,000 people covered the Gran V?a madrile?a and Lima's airport was nearly closed due to the 20,000 fans that covered the landing runway. Several tribute albums such as, Voy a pas?rmelo bien, un tributo a Hombres G, have been made.

Career

Rafa Guti?rrez (Rafael Guti?rrez Mu?oz, of 1960) and David Summers (David Summers Rodr?guez, of 1964) met in Televisi?n Espa?ola's corridors, where they had to do a figuration work in the show Aplauso. A while after, Rafael asked David to play clarinet in the new group he was planning to do with his brother Felipe (David always had admired the clarinetist Benny Goodman, and he had studied the instrument because of him). It was the year of 1982, and Tequila had just dissolved. Felipe was free and Rafael didn't quite clearly see his role in the different groups he had been in, like Pl?stico (group he formed with Toti ?rboles and Eduardo Benavente before they were implicated in other groups like Alaska y los Pegamoides), Las Chinas, and even Los Zombies de Bernardo Bonezzi (which he toured with some times).

David accepted, but he asked to put his guitar for the alternate project he was preparing with two childhood friends, Dani Mezquita (Daniel Mezquita Hardy, of 1965) on keyboard and guitar, and Javi Molina (Francisco Javier de Molina Burgos, of 1964) on the drums. One thing led to another, and in a short time, Rafa started working with them, whom had already been playing months before by different names, such as "Los Residuos" (The Residues) and "La Burgues?a Revolucionaria" (The Revolutionary Bourgeoisie). When Rafa entered, they didn't even have a name. After rejecting their first thought of a name, Bonitos Redford, they decided to name themselves after the James Cagney 1935 movie, G-Men. The movie was screened in Spain as Contra el imperio del crimen (Against the Crime Empire), where the G-Men (Hombres G in Spanish), were FBI special agents.

In 1983 they released their first two singles, Milagro en el Congo / Venezia y Marta tiene un marcapasos / La cagaste... Burt Lancaster. The record's name was Milagro en el Congo (Miracle in the Congo). At the time, their first record company, "Lollipop", wasn't in good financial position. In early 1984, Hombres G were almost in a dead-end alley, their record company wasn't able to launch them, and other record companies were not listening. At that time, they received a new recording offer. Paco Mart?n, who had just had made his new discographic seal, "Twins", offered to record their first album. Simply named Hombres G, the group included Venezia from its already recorded songs, and recorded a new soon-to-be hit single: Devu?lveme a mi chica. They also included ballads such as Alice Cooper's "I Never cry", which they named No llorar? (I won't cry).

1985 was their most prolific year. Hombres G exploded into a mass phenomena, and held a whopping number of 100 concerts . They were seen frequently on television and in teen magazines.

Interestingly, their songs had some cross-over appeal to US servicemen stationed in Spain at the time and received a fair amount of airplay on the AFRTS stations in Rota, Torrejon, and Zaragoza.

In February 1986, the group returned to record studios to make their second album, which was named after one of their first songs, La cagaste... Burt Lancaster (You fucked up... Burt Lancaster). However, the actual song was not included in the album. They also included another song from the Lollipop era, Marta tiene un marcapasos, which became one of their three number one singles on Spanish charts. The other two were El ataque de las chicas cocodrilo and Indiana.

With a solid market in Spain, Paco Mart?n took the group to the Americas, where he distributed their copies. He got his first response from the Peruvian offices of CBS. By mid 1986, they edited Hombres G in Peru, where it sold over fifty thousand copies in less than two weeks. Later, they received an offer from CBS New York offices to distribute Hombres G in the United States. The album performed well in Per?, and Hombres G was a smash hit in M?xico and Venezuela, where their records became gold and platinum . In December of that same year, they won the "Best Spanish-speaking group" award in Miami .

After the 1986 summer, their first two discs had sold over a million copies in Spain . Manuel Summers then thought of making an autobiographic movie about them. The result was Sufre, mam?n, a film made in Ibiza and Madrid, which came to theaters in 1987 .

Immediately after "Sufre, Mam?n", Hombres G recorded their third album, Estamos locos... ?o qu?? (Are we crazy or what?). To avoid pressure, they moved to Manchester, with Spanish-Chilean producer, Carlos Narea, habitual in charge of Miguel R?os works. Once again, songs like "Y cay? la bomba fetida", "Temblando", "Una mujer de bandera", and "No, no, no" topped sales lists.

When "Sufre, Mam?n" premi?red, the group wasn't able to watch it due to the dozens of newsmen, reporters, and fans, and was forced to stay inside a room for hours due to security reasons. The group's assistants were able to watch the movie, but were unable to hear it due to the deafening murmur of the street fans, and the loud singing of the fans that were able to get in.

Due to their high popularity, in 1987 Hombres G embarked on a tour of 60 concerts throughout Spain's most important bullfighting arenas and soccer stadiums. That summer, nearly one million people were able to see Hombres G live. Hombres G also toured throughout Per?, Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and the United States. When the group arrived at Per?, nearly 20 thousand fans covered the landing runway of the airport Jorge Ch?vez in Lima . Due to this, Hombres G counted on security guards in every hotel, to prevent fans from getting into the group's rooms (one did) . Hombres G played live for tens of thousands of people in concerts throughout the mentioned countries .

After a well deserved rest, in 1988, Hombres G released their second movie, Su?ltate el pelo (Loosen your hair). The movie was filmed in Spain, Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta . Its original name was La cagaste... Burt Lancaster, but was changed due to the actor's legal threats. A short while after, Hombres G released their fourth album, Agitar antes de usar (Shake before using). As usual, their album was a success and was widely known for the songs Su?ltate el pelo and Nassau .

Hombres G once again toured Spain, and the Americas. This time, they placed special attention on Mexico, where they had sold more than two million copies of all their albums . In Spain, Hombres G had already become the best selling band of the decade .

In 1989, a new album titled Voy a pas?rmelo bien (I'm going to have a good time) was released. This album showed that Hombres G wanted to make fun music, which reflected a more mature, adult world. This is how their album Esta es tu vida (This is your life), eventually surged later on in 1990.

Their farewell was on , 1992 with their disc Historia del bikini (History of the bikini). Colin Fairley, who previously had worked with musicians such as Elvis Costello or Nick Lowe, produced the album.

David later pursued a solo career in Spain and Latin America. Rafa became a guitarist as a collaborator. Dani became a musical producer in the record company Dro. After that farewell, several recopilatory albums containing the band's best songs were released, but never containing new material.

Hombres G eventually realized they had to return with new material. As a result, in 2002, they released Peligrosamente Juntos (Dangerously together), an album that included hits, demos, and five new songs. The version released in America contained the new songs Lo noto and En otro mundo. The European version contained the mentioned songs and also contained Intimidad, No te escaparas and Te vi.

At the end of 2003, Spanish pop groups such as El Canto del Loco, Los Piston, Antonio Vega, Los Secretos, Mikel Erentxun, Seguridad Social, ?lex Ubago and La Cabra Mec?nica, reunited to make a tribute album to Hombres G. The album Voy a pas?rmelo bien, un tributo a Hombres G (I'm going to have a good time, a tribute to Hombres G), contained cover versions of classic Hombres G singles. Another tribute was made in America with groups such as Divisi?n Min?scula, Moderatto and La Quinta Estaci?n.

In 2004, their first two films were released in DVD format in a pack called Hombres G - Las pel?culas (Hombres G - The Movies), which also included extras. That same year, Hombres G released El a?o que vivimos peligrosamente (The year that we lived dangerously). This album included live versions of songs from their Peligrosamente Juntos tour.

Near the end of 2004, Hombres G released a new album entitled Todo esto es muy extra?o (This is all very strange). The album was produced by Nigel Walker and contained 11 new songs. This release marked the return of Hombres G to the music scene. The first single off the album was ?Por qu? no ser amigos? which featured the main singer from Spanish pop/rock band El canto del loco. No lo s? and ?Qu? soy yo para t?? were the other singles released off the album. Hombres G embarked on numerous tours throughout Spain, Latin America, and the United States in support of this album. The album did not have success in America and Mexico due to very little radio broadcast.

On , 2007, Hombres G released their tenth album 10, which contained 11 new songs. A music video was also released for Me Siento Bien, the first single off the album.

Hombres G are currently touring Spain and the Americas in support of this album. One of their performances includes a benefit show for the victims of the 2007 Peruvian Earthquake. Tour dates and stories on the tour shows can be followed at Hombres G Fan Club

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Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hombres G