Manu Chao - singer, songwriter, musician and globetrotter extraordinaire - has divided his career between his two major passions in life: music and travelling. Manu, who rose to fame as lead singer of the anarchic genre-bending band Mano Negra, has gone on to launch a successful solo career, returning to his Latin roots and working on more reflective, personal material.
Manu Chao was born in Paris on 21 June 1961. His parents, both of whom came from Spain, moved to the suburbs shortly after his birth so Manu spent his childhood growing up in Boulogne-Billancourt, then in Sèvres. Manu's father, Ramon, was a journalist but young Manu spent most of his free time hanging out playing football with the sons of workers from the Renault car factory (which was close to the family home). Manu was also a passionate music fan and when he was not playing football he was to be found sitting in front of the radio or the family record-player, listening to Chuck Berry or songs from the Spanish revolution. (His musical tastes have remained extremely eclectic to this day).
In his teenage years Manu discovered the UK rock scene via the Clash, a group which was to have a strong influence on his own early career. In 1985 Manu went on to form his own group, les Hot Pants, who played their own inventive mix of rockabilly and rhythm'n'blues. By the mid-80's the alternative French rock scene had begun to thrive, throwing up a new generation of 'indie' groups such as les Beruriers Noirs and les Garçons Bouchers. Countless new bands were soon performing on the alternative rock circuit, playing gigs in bars, squats and disused factories to an audience of teenage fans eager to get away from the musical mainstream. Manu Chao also began to thrive on this new alternative circuit, performing with an indie rock outfit known as Los Carayos.
In 1987 Manu went on to form la Mano Negra, a multi-racial genre-bending group who were to have a seminal influence on the alternative French rock scene. La Mano Negra exploded onto the forefront of the music scene in June 1988 with a highly original debut album entitled "Patchanka". Over the next few years the group acquired international acclaim for their innovative albums and their explosive live shows, building up a strong following of fans worldwide. Then in 1995 la Mano Negra story came to an end when the ten members of the group finally decided to go their separate ways.
After the split Manu decided to go back to his Spanish roots, heading off to Madrid for two years. Shortly after arriving in the Spanish capital Manu began hanging out with a bunch of local musicians and soon went on to form a new group, Radio Bemba, with whom he began touring almost immediately. Manu also spent several months travelling around South America (a place he was already highly familiar with as la Mano Negra had toured there extensively).
After enjoying music as a collective group experience for so many years Manu was beginning to envisage a new musical approach. He came up with the idea of performing as a solo singer but collaborating with musicians from widely diverse backgrounds such as the group Tijuanano (from Mexico), Skank (from Brazil) and Todos Tus Muertos (Argentina). Turning away from the alternative rock sound he had developed with La Mano Negra, Manu began to seek new inspiration in street culture and the music he heard on the local bar scene. 1998: "Clandestino"
This inspiration would soon lead to him setting to work on a new album - his debut solo effort entitled "Clandestino". "Clandestino" was a highly personal album recorded with a tiny portable studio which Manu carried everywhere with him, keeping a kind of musical 'diary' of his travels. Mixing computer sound effects and street sounds with simple acoustic guitar, Manu created an album which had a strong Latino 'roots' feel. The fact that most of the lyrics on Manu's new album were written in Spanish also added to the strong Latino ambience on "Clandestino".
Manu's album was far from being an upbeat dance-oriented affair, however. On tracks such as "Clandestino" fans would discover Manu Chao in sombre disillusioned mode, singing lyrics such as "Solo, voy con mi pena" (I walk alone, carrying my burden of pain). One of the two French songs on the album was entitled "Je ne t'aime plus" (I Don't Love You Any More) and the album also featured a moody Spanish song called "Malegria" (Painjoy).
"Clandestino", which was released in April 98, did not rocket straight to the top of the charts but enjoyed slow, steady success. By the end of the year, however, Manu's solo album not only ended up being one of the top-selling albums in France but also one of the best-selling French albums abroad. Given this overwhelming success, it came as no surprise to anyone when Manu Chao triumphed at the 'Victoires de la Musique' awards in February 99, carrying off the award for Best Album of the Year in the World Music/Traditional Music category.
Throughout his career Manu has been closely involved with a number of local community projects both in France and abroad. He is an active member of 'La Caravane des Quartiers' (an association created in 1989 which organises concerts and festivals on council estates and in deprived areas). Manu has been involved with 'La Caravane des Quartiers' since his Mano Negra days and he recently took projects to Spain. Double Whammy
Ever since the phenomenal success of Chao's first solo album, "Clandestino", fans had been eagerly awaiting the release of a follow-up. Throughout 2000 the singer's record company made tantalising announcements about a forthcoming album, but the long-awaited sequel to "Clandestino" did not appear until June 5th 2001.
This time round Chao embarked on a major European tour to promote his second album, "Esperanza: proxima estacion". Needless to say, the tour and the album caused a veritable stir in the European media. Although "Esperanza: proxima estacion" sounded remarkably similar to "Clandestino" – featuring the same musical and linguistic fusion and a predominantly Hispanic feel, not to mention a cover of the Mano Negra hit "King of Bongo" – Chao's second album went rocketing up the charts within a few weeks of its release.
By this time "Clandestino" had established itself as one of the best-selling albums in French music history, clocking up sales of 2.5 million (1 million of which were accounted for in France alone!) "Esperanza" went on to score a double whammy for Chao, selling over 300,000 copies within a month of its release and remaining at the no.1 spot in Europe's Top 100 Albums for several weeks on end.
In spite of this phenomenal commercial success, Chao remained true to his militant anti-establishment principles and, just as he had done throughout his time with La Mano Negra, he continued to mix music and politics. On June 21st the singer headed off to Milan to play an anti-globalisation gig against the G8 summit (due to be held in Italy later that summer).
Meanwhile, Chao – who had made only rare appearances outside the Spanish-speaking world since the release of "Clandestino" – threw himself into a major tour. There was no mistaking the singer's popularity in Paris, where he played two sell-out concerts at La Cigale (on June 7th and 8th), before heading off to greet enthusiastic fans in Italy, Germany, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands. Manu Chao also appeared at several major music festivals over the course of summer 2001, bringing the house down at "Les Vieilles Charrues" in Brittany, Roskilde in Denmark, Wiesen in Austria and the Nyon Music Festival in Switzerland. Chao also flew off across the Atlantic to perform at the Montreal Jazz Festival (3rd and 4th July), the Quebec Summer Festival (5th July) and the Summerstage Festival in New York (July 7th).
Only seven months after it had been released, the album had already reached the 2 million mark. Manu Chao’s career had undoubtedly taken off internationally, and, in September 2001, the artist’s picture was to be seen on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. What’s more, later in December, Rolling Stones elected "Proxima estacion esperanza" as one of the 10 best albums of the year between Bob Dylan’s and Björk’s. Radio Bemba's tour
While continuing his tour around the world with stopovers in Macedonia, Japan, and Galicia, Manu still took the time to release a live album in 2002. Entitled "Radio Bemba Sound System", the album had been recorded the year before during a concert at the Villette in Paris. Paying a tribute to Radio Bemba, Manu’s short-lived band, this album offered a faithful reflection of the general atmosphere during the tour. It actually mirrored more the spirit of Manu’s former band, La Mano Negra, than of his two solo records, since it largely drew from the band’s now classic repertoire.
Back in Barcelona after such a long tour, the artist took some time off to prepare his album to come.
In February 2003, Manu gave a series of gigs in Spain where he was accompanied by Spanish singer Firmin Muguruza. During the Summer, he hit the road again with his band and headed for Volterra in Tuscany, where he played at the prison on August 7th. He then took part in the anti-mondial movement at Larzac on August 10th 2003 and in the Nuits du Mondial (an activist concert given on the occasion of the Athletics World Championship) in the Parisian suburbs on the 22th. Between Paris and Siberia
Following the "Radio Bemba Sound System" tour and a series of concerts in Brazil in June 2004 (which included an appearance at the "Cultural Forum" in Sao Paulo), Manu stepped behind the studio controls, producing albums for a number of artists including Malian duo Amadou & Mariam. Meanwhile, he was also hard at work on a new album in collaboration with the illustrator Wozniak.
Manu, who is now based in Paris, released his new album, "Sibérie m'était contéee", in September 2004, accompanied by a book of Wozniak’s drawings. Having broken with Virgin, the singer released his new work via an independent organisation Corida (which had previously taken care of his tour bookings). The album found Manu moving away from Latin American latitudes and concentrating on a totally new subject: winter in Paris (Siberia to an artist accustomed to warmer climes!) The album’s acoustic flavour revolved around accordion and guitar and featured lyrics in French.
Back on the recording front, Manu Chao was invited to record a duet with Jane Birkin on her album "Rendez-vous" and he also sang with the Jamaican stars Toots & The Maytals on their album "True Love", released in 2004.
At the beginning of 2005, Chao headed out to Brazil to perform in concert during the World Social Forum held in Porto Alegre. After this, he continued his trip around Brazil with the French group La Phaze, playing a series of dates all the way from Sao Paolo to Recife.
Manu Chao returned to Latin America at the end of the year with his group Radio Bemba, performing in major towns and cities across Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay in November. Chao continued his globetrotting activities at the start of 2006, touring Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile and Cuba. On 26 March 2006, he headed off to Mexico for a huge free concert, playing to an audience of over 100,000 music fans assembled on Zocalo Square in the centre of Mexico City. On this occasion, he reaffirmed his support for sub-commander Marcos, the leader of Mexico's Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN). Chao's Latin American tour was a phenomenal success, attracting over 700,000 people in all.
Manu Chao hit the road again in the summer of 2006, playing thirteen concerts across Europe (in Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, etc.) Then he flew off across the Atlantic to play six dates in the United States. In October, he continued his global activities, heading off to Colombia and Venezuela. Somehow, in between his hectic touring schedule, Chao found time to work on the soundtrack for "Princesas", a film by the Spanish director Fernando Leon de Aranoa. (One of the songs from the soundtrack, "Me llaman calle", went on to receive a prestigious Goya award). Meanwhile, Manu Chao's international status reached new heights when British pop star Robbie Williams included his own version of Chao's "Je ne t'aime plus" on his 2006 album "Rudebox."
In 2007, Manu Chao returned to America, kicking off a new tour in the Mexican town of Tijuana on 5 June. After fitting in an extensive series of dates in Dallas, New Orleans, Chicago, New York and many other cities, the tour ended up in Ottawa on 7 July. Chao then flew back to Europe for a series of appearances at that summers festivals. 2007: "La Radiolina"
By that summer, fans were already listening to Chao¢s new single "Rainin¢ in Paradize" on the Internet. And a new album, "La Radiolina" (Italian for "little radio"), was released in September. The album, a multilingual affair recorded in English, Spanish, French and Italian, proved to be a lot more electric than Chao's previous releases, capturing the energy and vitality of his live performances. In some ways, "La Radiolina" found Chao returning to the raw, rock sound of his Mano Negra days. And, interestingly enough, the final mix of the album was supervised by Mario Caldato (renowned for his work with The Beastie Boys). Chao's award-winning song "Me llaman calle" featured on the new album, as did the theme song from "La vida tombola", Emir Kusturica's film about the Argentinean football icon Maradona.
In October 2007, Chao kicked off a mini European tour in London, his 16-date roadshow also stopping off in Stockholm, Hamburg, Berlin and Vienna.
Not only did he perform in a huge number of countries across the globe, including Argentina, Mexico and the United States, but 2008 was also the year that saw Manu Chao’s return to French venues. He hadn’t toured his homeland for seven years. Tickets for the concerts were sold at a single tariff (€ 29 "to reach the working classes" and combat "exorbitant pricing") and kicked off in Toulouse on 30 May. With his group Radio Bemba Sound System, the singer made the uncharacteristic choice of alternating Spanish punk rock with intimate, acoustic songs in French. After France, which included two dates at Paris-Bercy’s Palais Omnisport on 11 and 12 June 2008, Manu and his cohorts rode on a stream of buses and planes that carried them across Europe, taking in Croatia, Serbia, Romania and the UK.
In July 2009, Manu Chao presented the general public with a project he was proud of: “La Colifata”, three hours of music recorded with patients from a psychiatric hospital in Buenos Aires who run a radio station. With a mix of programme extracts, interviews with the sick and musical themes from "La Radiolina", the album was free to download from an Internet site created for the occasion under the name of the La Colifata association.
Another of Chao’s anti-globalisation acts saw the day in 2010: an album by SMOD, a trio of folk rappers led by Sam, son of Amadou and Mariam. Manu Chao discovered the young musicians in 2008 while recording with the famous Malian couple. Keen to foster their fledgling talent, he succeeded in getting them signed up on his label, Because.
Throughout 2010, Manu Chao continued his tour of concert halls, taking in, amongst others, Brazil in May, and the United States and Japan in October.
October 2010
Source: http://www.rfimusic.com/artist/chanson/manu-chao/biography
