MANO NEGRA – Puta’s Fever [fvll albvm] (1989)

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 (e.g. “Puta’s Fever”). They also had a hit song in Arabic. They are considered pioneers of world fusion.

The group earned a cult following through its eclectic sound and festive performances. After the release of their highly anticipated second album, Mano Negra famously declined to play the major Paris venues and toured only the cabarets of Pigalle instead (in accordance with the theme of the album, Puta’s Fever i.e. “whore’s fever”), sometimes ending their sets with illegal street performances. 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 [sic] 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.

Tracklist:

1. Mano Negra (Edit Version)

2. Rock’n’roll Band

3. King Kong Five

4. Soledad

5. Sidi h’bibi

6. The Rebel Spell

7. Peligro

8. Pas assez de toi

9. Magic Dice

10. Mad House

11. Guayaquil City

12. Voodoo

13. Patchanka

14. La rançon du succès

15. The Devil’s Call

16. Roger Cageot

17. El Sur

18. Patchuko Hop

© 1989 Because Music