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The “Golden Artists Of The 60s”

 

Los Bravos

“BLACK IS BLACK“

(Tony Hayes, Steve Wadey)

Press 60002

No. 4    October 1, 1966

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As Mike & The Runaways, Mike Kogel (b. Apr. 25, 1945, Berlin), Miguel Vicens Danus (b. June 21, 1944,

Palma de Mallona, Spain), Manolo “Manuel” Fernandez (b.  Sept. 29, 1943, Seville, Spain), Pablo “Gomez”

Samllehi (b. Nov. 5, 1943, Barcelona), and Antonio Martinez (b. Oct. 3, 1945, Madrid) had a heap of

success in Spain.   Some observers claim they were the numero-uno-groupo  in their homeland.   One of the

representatives at Decca’s branch office in Spain sent some copies of the group’s recordings to England.

There, Decca’s lvor Raymonde–a producer who had worked wonders for Dave Berry, Billy Fury, Dusty

Springfield, Marty Wilde, and others–detected a Motown-ish British Invasion sound in the grooves.

Raymonde flew to Madrid with a pile of British songs.   After hearing Mike & The Runaways’ magical

rendition of  “Black Is Black” (a tune penned by two blokes from the village of Hoo, England), lvor invited

the group to join him in London for a recording session.

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“Black Is Black” was their first release as Los  Bravos.   In support of this disk, Antonio “the comedian”

(guitar), Manuel  “the quiet one” (organ), Miguel  “the matador  from Mallorca” (bass), Pablo “a gas-looking

guy” (drums), and Mike “no nickname” (lead vocals, guitar) toured feverishly.  Despite their considerable

talent and effort, their follow-ups were not successful.    “I Don’t Know” charted in the U. K,. but only

“Going Nowhere” (#91, 1966) and “Bring A Little Lovin'” (#51, 1968) made the listings in the U.S.

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Hoping to start something of   a “Spanish Invasion,” Spanish groups with names like Los Brincos and

Los Canaries shipped their Anglicized offerings over here, all to little avail.   Mike “no  nickname” Kogel

did return to the charts for a brief moment in 1972  as “Mike Kennedy” with an album and a single,

“Louisiana” (#62).