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MOCEDADES

“ERES TU (TOUCH THE WIND)”

(Juan Carlos Calderon)

Tara 100

No. 9   March 23, 1974

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 The Amezaga sisters–Amaya (b. Feb. 18, 1947) and Izaskum (b. Apr. 17, 1950)–are the voice of Mocedades.

They were born and raised in Bilbao, Spain, as were guitarist Roberto Amezaga (b. Apr. 21, 1948), bassist

Javier Barrenechea (Dec. 16, 1946), and keyboardist Carlos Uribarri (b. Oct. 10, 1944).  Guitarist Jose

Urien was born in Madrid, on January 7, 1949.  Together they are the sweet-sounding Mocedades.

 

Their initial North American release, “Eres Tu,” caught pop fans by surprise. The sound was delicate, folk-

flavored, and mysterious.  Juan Carlos Calderon, the tune’s composer, told Al Clark, Rolling Stone, “The

song was already written for Mocedades to record some time before it was chosen for Eurovision [Song

Contest in 1973].  Originally, it was two different pieces which somehow fitted together and built up to

some­ thing, and in the course of doing so it became appar­ent to me that the construction was sufficiently

similar to that of a hymn to benefit from having a choral sound, which was simply achieved by double-

tracking the six voices.”

 

For a brief spell, the group basked in the limelight.  Mocedades’s follow-up 45, “Dime Senor,” went

nowhere.  While their debut disk has been their only stateside success, the group still has a following with

its predominantly Spanish-speaking audience.

It’s ironic, thought Calderon, that “Eres Tu” was issued in America in English by Mocedades, as well as

Eydie Gorme, and that both versions failed.  “It’s curious,” said Calderon, “but singers always sound more

convincing in their own language.

 

When people ask me what the success of the record means, my instinctive reply is:  ‘As a Spaniard, every­

thing; as Juan Carlos Calderon, not much.”‘