Speaker 1: Joseph, have you ever been on the receiving end of
Speaker 1: a mixtape?
Speaker 2: Unfortunately, I'm a loser, and I'm gonna say no, because
Speaker 2: I was someone that I really did give someone a
Speaker 2: mixed tape and he was straight. What did he say?
Speaker 2: He was my brother's friend and it was for us.
Speaker 2: I was just like, oh, hey, I really like like
Speaker 2: this some music, and it was it had like songs
Speaker 2: of pieces of me from two I just remember, and
Speaker 2: there was a song called Foolish Games and it was
Speaker 2: like with this really heavy like love song, no stop it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and that song was dedicated to like him. But there
Speaker 2: were lots of other stuff on there. But I remember
Speaker 2: that's the only person I ever gave it to, and
Speaker 2: he became a pastor. So whatever, what about you, I'm
Speaker 2: sure you got a whole bunch.
Speaker 1: I think my high school boyfriend gave me a mixtape,
Speaker 1: if I remember correctly. I never made anybody a mixtape.
Speaker 1: I would make mixtapes for like cheerleading dances, sure, sure,
Speaker 1: but no, I never did like a love song mixtape.
Speaker 1: But yeah, my exoyfriend in high school made me one.
Speaker 1: I don't think I liked him that much, so I
Speaker 1: feel like I was like cool, cool, and then I
Speaker 1: was like totally cheesed out. But I will say there's
Speaker 1: so many good like love songs that could go on
Speaker 1: a mixtape if you had to make another one. Is
Speaker 1: there a love song from like the eighties or nineties
Speaker 1: that you feel is just like represents your ALMOI for anybody? Like,
Speaker 1: is there a one that you can call out?
Speaker 2: Honestly? No, right now I can't, just because I am
Speaker 2: just getting over a breakup, Like I'm finally over it,
Speaker 2: and I don't want to think of any fucking love songs. Okay,
Speaker 2: you know what one.
Speaker 1: That always comes to me that I cannot forget is
Speaker 1: take my breath Away?
Speaker 2: Do you know?
Speaker 1: Did you ever see the money?
Speaker 2: Not? You bring me back to falling in love? Like no,
Speaker 2: I love taking my breath Away? Wow? I know it
Speaker 2: made my heart warm.
Speaker 1: Like that is like, and I believe that was like
Speaker 1: a one hit wonder for them, Like I don't think
Speaker 1: that they ever went on to like do anything. And
Speaker 1: I think there's so.
Speaker 2: Many Because they took our breath away, we weren't able
Speaker 2: to sing anything else, if I'm being honest.
Speaker 1: We couldn't breathe again. And I think that there's some
Speaker 1: artists like Berlin who made Take My Breath Away, who
Speaker 1: just can't help but like leave out one song, whether
Speaker 1: their love songs or not, like think about it, like
Speaker 1: George Michael, what was that song that he had, Oh My.
Speaker 2: God, Careless whisper God?
Speaker 1: Yes, this, And then Oasis obviously with Wonderwall, which in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, by the way, you can still empty
Speaker 1: out of bar at the end of the night. And
Speaker 1: today's artists that we are going to be talking about
Speaker 1: and what I'm gonna call the defining song for quote
Speaker 1: unquote guitar guys in Mexico through the mid nineties.
Speaker 2: We're talking, of course about Manna.
Speaker 1: The band who's claimed to fame formed the soundtrack for
Speaker 1: countless teen Romances across the Spanish speaking world.
Speaker 2: But don't get it twisted. Mana aren't one of those
Speaker 2: many one hit wonders of the Nikes.
Speaker 1: That's right. They are hands down the biggest band to
Speaker 1: emerge from the Mexico City rock scene of the seventies
Speaker 1: and eighties, but.
Speaker 2: Rock stardom would come only after a decade of rejection
Speaker 2: and too many lineup changes to count these rock bands.
Speaker 1: Joseph like they're always making us meet their new friends.
Speaker 2: It's like, Hey, I've read so much about you.
Speaker 1: Anyway, We have covered one other rock artist this season, Santana,
Speaker 1: who of course is one of the defining artists of
Speaker 1: that Woodstock generation and an eventual collaborator of man Nuts.
Speaker 2: And wouldn't you know it, Mana came out of a
Speaker 2: similar countercultural moment in the seventies in Mexico. But lots
Speaker 2: of people question whether they're true o genies.
Speaker 1: The band's relationship with the Mexican rock scene, and it's
Speaker 1: tied to age old debates about what rock music even
Speaker 1: is in the first place.
Speaker 2: Haters are gonna hate, but do they have a point?
Speaker 1: Well, we'll get into that eventually, but first let's meet
Speaker 1: the band. I'm your host, Lilianavoscuez.
Speaker 2: And I'm Joseph Carrio and this is Becoming an Icon.
Speaker 1: A weekly podcast where we give you the rundown on
Speaker 1: how today's most famous latinv stars have shaped pop culture.
Speaker 2: And given the world some extra tubble.
Speaker 1: Sit back and get comfortable.
Speaker 2: Because we are going in the only way we know how.
Speaker 3: With buenas buenasriesas and a lot of opinions as we
Speaker 3: relive their greatest achievements on our journey to find out
Speaker 3: what makes them so iconic.
Speaker 1: It is nineteen eighty in Guadalajara, and in the back
Speaker 1: room of a cit bar a little known band named
Speaker 1: Sombrero ver is playing their hearts out.
Speaker 2: The crowd here aren't exactly fans so much as regulars.
Speaker 2: If there's a bar where they can hear drums and
Speaker 2: electric guitars, they'll be there, and.
Speaker 1: Sombredo Verde are just happy to have the stage time.
Speaker 1: The frontman is vocalist Ferrol Vera, backed by lead guitarists
Speaker 1: Gustavo a Rosco and the Gajetos brothers, one on bass,
Speaker 1: Ulisi's on rhythm guitar and Abraham on drums.
Speaker 2: These college aged boys have made the rounds playing weddings,
Speaker 2: baptisms and quintanas for cash. You know, celebration gigs for
Speaker 2: straight least crowds. But the dive bar gigs are a
Speaker 2: different story.
Speaker 1: Because that's where they get to play covers by bands
Speaker 1: that had defined the counterculture of the seventies. I'm talking
Speaker 1: about the Beatles, the Stones, Led Zeppelin, plus then newcomers
Speaker 1: the Police.
Speaker 2: For the past stay here in Mexico, rock music like
Speaker 2: this has been off limits music yank contrabando, and tonight
Speaker 2: the popo is shutting it down, just.
Speaker 1: Like at several bars, and just like the regulars are
Speaker 1: used to, a police squad is entering the back room
Speaker 1: and giving Green Hat the red light, ordering them to
Speaker 1: cease playing, back up and go.
Speaker 2: If you're a loyal listener, you might remember that Carlos
Speaker 2: Santana got shut down in Peru and deported by the
Speaker 2: dictatorship for playing subbursive music aka music that young people
Speaker 2: liked like.
Speaker 1: Us, we are young. And in Mexico, the government enforced
Speaker 1: a similar policy towards Western rock music for more than
Speaker 1: a decade, beginning in nineteen seventy one. In September of
Speaker 1: that year, Mexico's first ever festival of rock music went
Speaker 1: up al festival the Avan that.
Speaker 2: Not long afterwards, Dot popped offs in the US. In
Speaker 2: nineteen sixty nine, rock music had exploded in Mexico, along
Speaker 2: with hippie Stea's and the thirst for social change dubbed hipitekas.
Speaker 1: The counter called Buristas of Mexico quickly came under fire
Speaker 1: by the government's Rule Party. And I'm not just saying
Speaker 1: this figuratively.
Speaker 2: First, the government restricted rock bands. Then they came for
Speaker 2: Los Dramaticos. They banned the musical hair.
Speaker 1: No they didn't, they did, Yes, they did, y'all. It
Speaker 1: was like a true footloose moment. The Mexican government banned
Speaker 1: the show after one performance in Acapulco, deported the show's
Speaker 1: American producers, and launched investigations into Mexican citizens involved with
Speaker 1: the production.
Speaker 2: All of this was happening in the aftermath of an
Speaker 2: event that shook Mexico's young generation in nineteen sixty eight,
Speaker 2: La Masatre de Tlatelorco, a violent crackdown at several universities
Speaker 2: in Mexico City, which had taken the lives of reported
Speaker 2: one thousand, three hundred and forty five people.
Speaker 1: By the time the Kipteka music promoters were putting together
Speaker 1: the Festival Les Avandro in the fall of nineteen seventy one,
Speaker 1: tensions were at a high. In fact, another assault on students,
Speaker 1: this time by a paramilitary group, had happened in the
Speaker 1: summer of that year, known as El al Conaso.
Speaker 2: And Festiva la Bando ended up drawing between one hundred
Speaker 2: and five hundred thousand attendees. The Mexican government and the
Speaker 2: army were keeping a close watch.
Speaker 1: Fortunately, the festival didn't end up becoming the site of
Speaker 1: another violent crackdown, but the countercultural songs and slogans that
Speaker 1: were sung there prompted backlash from church and state alike,
Speaker 1: and the government moved to formally banned certain songs and
Speaker 1: doubled down on the repression of rock music.
Speaker 2: So by the time soon Bredro Verde hit the scene,
Speaker 2: the scene had been driven underground to the CD bars
Speaker 2: and the basements.
Speaker 1: Now, to clarify, Sombredo Verte, that was hardly rage against
Speaker 1: the machine, let alone the police.
Speaker 2: There were just a group of cuities with long hair
Speaker 2: singing love songs. But unfortunately all you got to do
Speaker 2: is look and sound the part.
Speaker 1: And the combo of the long hair plus guitars equals
Speaker 1: looking and sounding the part. So Sombredover and their peers
Speaker 1: struggled in the dark, but the band would get their
Speaker 1: first chance at rising from the underground in nineteen eighty.
Speaker 2: That's when a small German record label named Ariola was
Speaker 2: scouting Mexican bands, and against the odds, Sombrero Verde got noticed.
Speaker 1: Now this was the precursor to a campaign called Rock
Speaker 1: and Thuivioma, a major push for Spanish language rock music
Speaker 1: by Ariola later in the decade, when the Mexican government
Speaker 1: reopened the economy and loosened its grip on rock music.
Speaker 2: Aka the Change is on the Way, and for som
Speaker 2: Breta Verde getting signed felt like a big step up.
Speaker 1: For the first time, they shelved the led Zeppelin covers
Speaker 1: and penned original songs in Espanol, although they still mostly
Speaker 1: just sounded like the Police.
Speaker 2: The record label put a tour across different regions of
Speaker 2: Mexico and even managed to get them some national TV appearances.
Speaker 2: After toiling away in the backs of CD bars, Sombrero
Speaker 2: Verde saw the light of day. It's like Los Digre said,
Speaker 2: if you banned something, it just makes people want it.
Speaker 1: Except Sombre Verde did quite move units the way the
Speaker 1: label had hoped. Rock music itself might have been sexy,
Speaker 1: but nobody knew who these guys were.
Speaker 2: So after one self titled album and one tour, the
Speaker 2: label droppedmre Verde.
Speaker 1: But they did get another chance in nineteen eighty two,
Speaker 1: and this time they got to work with Ricardo Maga Yannis,
Speaker 1: a producer who had arranged songs for Juan Gabrieed.
Speaker 2: Working with someone who worked with Royalty like that is
Speaker 2: a step.
Speaker 1: Up and under Maga Yannis Wing, a songwriting partnership blossom
Speaker 1: between bandmates Ferrero Lvera and Gustavo or Rosco. The results
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty three's at Temple de Rock.
Speaker 2: The tour for this album takes them to some of
Speaker 2: Mexico's most iconic rock venues. This time, it looks like
Speaker 2: Sombrero Verde is about to pop off.
Speaker 1: Wait, hold on a second, That is until drummer Abraham
Speaker 1: Gajetro's hangs up his hat and decides to pursue music
Speaker 1: in the States.
Speaker 2: Wait did they literally wear green hats?
Speaker 1: Jo, So sweetheart, it's just a saying Oh, I.
Speaker 2: Was going to say if that was their look, no
Speaker 2: wonder why they had trouble making it okay. So the
Speaker 2: drummer leaves and his brothers Juan and Ulisses stay in,
Speaker 2: which is going to make it real? Ox years later,
Speaker 2: when Manna hits it big and the brothers all have
Speaker 2: to see each other. Adam much of Whenna, but.
Speaker 1: For now, Sombrero Verde was down one member, and that
Speaker 1: was the beginning of the end, It's nineteen eighty four
Speaker 1: and an ad appears in the newspaper in guer La.
Speaker 1: It reads, drummer wanted under twenty years old with ten
Speaker 1: years of experience.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's a kind of your child. I mean.
Speaker 1: Also, do the math, like, did you start drumming when
Speaker 1: you were in fourth grade? I mean, I know that
Speaker 1: kids do, but like, let's be real with our expectations.
Speaker 2: I'm going to tell you, for real, I actually started
Speaker 2: playing the cello when I was like six, So so.
Speaker 1: Maybe you should have been in Mana. Okays, all right,
Speaker 1: So the deal is sore Verde needs a drummer and fast.
Speaker 1: But surprise, surprise, they're a very tall. Ask in the
Speaker 1: paper does not help them find one. The band's momentum
Speaker 1: SAgs as the day's dragon.
Speaker 2: Finally someone shows up, what at least checks the under
Speaker 2: eighteen box. Alex Bunzalez, a fifteen year old drummer who's
Speaker 2: new in town.
Speaker 1: Alex's Cuban Colombian family had just moved to Guaera Lahada
Speaker 1: from Miami. Here's this little kid with no friends or connections,
Speaker 1: and he impresses Sombrero Verde and the band becomes like family.
Speaker 2: For him, Greenhead lives to fight another day, at least
Speaker 2: until another departure finally sinks the ship.
Speaker 1: Gustavo Rosco, guitarist and songwriter, calls it quits and heads
Speaker 1: for university. And it's then that Ferro Verda, lead singer
Speaker 1: and songwriter, also decides to call it quits.
Speaker 2: On what but not on music. Fedu decides to christen
Speaker 2: a new band from the ashes of the old and
Speaker 2: this time he's done trying to copy the Ginghos.
Speaker 1: Yeah, don't copy the Ginghos, Like, let's not do that
Speaker 1: gospel for life. Right, We're done, he would say. I
Speaker 1: wanted to evolve the music to make a much more
Speaker 1: original and Latin form of rock instead of copying the
Speaker 1: Americans and the English.
Speaker 2: So fed baby Boy drummer Alex and the remaining Cayta
Speaker 2: brothers Ulyssi san Juan start to make music under the
Speaker 2: name Manap.
Speaker 1: The meaning of the name is well, it's a little
Speaker 1: Catholic and a little bit kind of like out there
Speaker 1: away no man mis the word mana in the biblical
Speaker 1: sense being mana from heaven, the bread that falls from
Speaker 1: the sky. Remember that when God had to feed the
Speaker 1: Israelies and the second meaning draws from a Polynesian word
Speaker 1: for the forces of nature, or, in Fair's interpretation, positive energy.
Speaker 1: She wanted the new group sound and message to be
Speaker 1: uplifting and optimistic.
Speaker 2: But Manett didn't find themselves in a very optimistic situation.
Speaker 2: Before Sombreto Vetda that disbanded, they had once again been
Speaker 2: dropped from their label, but not Tori. It turned out
Speaker 2: a friend from their past had their back. Chila Rios,
Speaker 2: a high school friend of Vettis and fellow musician, brought
Speaker 2: a Sombretto Veda the cassette to her Hollywood music producer
Speaker 2: Beppe Kintani.
Speaker 1: Bebbe saw what label scouts and executives couldn't see and
Speaker 1: immediately flew the band out.
Speaker 2: To Lasm holly Wood.
Speaker 1: And there in nineteen eighty seven, Managet signed to PolyGram Records,
Speaker 1: future home of big name artists like Soundgarden and Ryl Crowe.
Speaker 1: They released their self titled album with a major label.
Speaker 2: Back, Third Times a Charm Babe, Everything is coming up
Speaker 2: from Ane. Well don't you like? Don't don't tell me?
Speaker 2: The brothers left the fucking band.
Speaker 1: More like PolyGram left Latin Music. What the label closed
Speaker 1: its Latin Music division. Shortly after, Mana dropped their self
Speaker 1: titled album, and as with the division, so went the
Speaker 1: promo budget. Mana's debut record flopped.
Speaker 2: Damn these boys cannot catch a break. And let me guess,
Speaker 2: with the Latin Music Division gone.
Speaker 1: Mana are yet again without a label, and this time
Speaker 1: the band really looks like it's on the ropes.
Speaker 2: Two years past without a peep from Mana, not on
Speaker 2: the stage, not on the airwaves. So much for positive nge.
Speaker 1: The bandmates decided to focus on their studies, as Abraham
Speaker 1: Gaedel's had done years prior. Shortly before from Breddoverta they went.
Speaker 2: Meanwhile, remember that rock in Duidyoma campaign. It was in
Speaker 2: full swing after from Bredo Verda's former label got acquired
Speaker 2: by a major company, which meant bands like gay Fans
Speaker 2: were about to take off well.
Speaker 1: Mana, after missing their moment time and time again, seemed
Speaker 1: destined to become a footnote in Mexican rock history.
Speaker 2: But their guy in Hollywood wasn't going to take that.
Speaker 2: Shies lying down, Well, the boys of Mana are off
Speaker 2: writing their thesis or whatever.
Speaker 1: Beppa Hollywood, Beppekindana.
Speaker 2: Right, Bepper Hollywood Quintana, the execu who signed Bana to PolyGram,
Speaker 2: gets a new gig, a talent scout for Warner Music.
Speaker 1: Mexico, and just a few days later, Beppa's driving down
Speaker 1: Santa Monica.
Speaker 2: In a shiny new may Bag.
Speaker 1: Let's say, okay, definitely not a Mayback, more like a Mazda,
Speaker 1: but let's go with that. Beppa Hollywood is in his
Speaker 1: Mayback making a right turn on a red because yes,
Speaker 1: we can do that here in La and he screeches
Speaker 1: to a halt as a young couple cuts across him
Speaker 1: on the crosswalk. He leans on the horn. Then the
Speaker 1: couple turns their heads.
Speaker 2: And look who it is, fair or Vera and his girlfriend.
Speaker 1: They must have thought they hut the ride away because
Speaker 1: you can't turn right on red in Mechile.
Speaker 2: Honey speak, pedestrian. I'm begging you.
Speaker 1: Everyone listening to this while driving knows exactly what I
Speaker 1: am talking about. I'm not the weird one here, okay.
Speaker 1: Joseph so Peppe pulls over the Mayback, which probably took
Speaker 1: a minute, because hello, Hollywood, if you've ever tried to park,
Speaker 1: you know, jumps out of the car and gives fair.
Speaker 2: Wow, and Fed tells Pippitt that he's got the band
Speaker 2: together to record some music in a rented house.
Speaker 1: Also not just any house, Chuck Norris's house.
Speaker 2: Who I don't know who that is?
Speaker 1: Honestly, I cannot believe that you and I host a
Speaker 1: music and pop culture podcast, Like how do you not
Speaker 1: know Chuck Norris? Like the guy who comparalletl park a train?
Speaker 2: Is that another car? People joke?
Speaker 1: It's a joke for people. Our producer's age. Anyway, Beba
Speaker 1: Hollywood drives out to Chuck Norris's Ouls to hear the
Speaker 1: band's first new material in two.
Speaker 2: Years, including There's Soon to be Classic, Riyandro Ressoul and Beta.
Speaker 2: Hollywood gets on the phone with Warner Music and says,
Speaker 2: you don't.
Speaker 1: Know new sound you're looking for?
Speaker 2: Well listen to this, And just like that, MN I
Speaker 2: get signed to Warner Music Mexico and Henny I'd be
Speaker 2: shooting looks over at the label. By now, Nubu, who
Speaker 2: did we got money?
Speaker 1: Things are looking up? Mana self produces our second album
Speaker 1: with Warner Music distributing. The album drops in nineteen ninety
Speaker 1: and this time m is the same as every other time.
Speaker 1: The label doesn't give it the support it needs and
Speaker 1: it languishes an obscurity for about a year.
Speaker 2: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. I
Speaker 2: hate that these guys can't just jump on TikTok and
Speaker 2: make a cool video to move the needle.
Speaker 1: I mean it was different times back then. It shows
Speaker 1: you how important media is the success of these bands today,
Speaker 1: like so many people we love would not exist without that.
Speaker 1: But you know what different times?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Remember though, the band still has an ally in Beppa Hollywood,
Speaker 1: so they beg him to tap Warner Music Mexico for
Speaker 1: more support.
Speaker 2: And instead Beiby goes to a radio promoter and hence
Speaker 2: him the single he heard at old Chuck Norris's house, Rayandrosl.
Speaker 1: He tells the promoter give it a chance for two weeks.
Speaker 1: If it's not a hit, throw the record in the trash.
Speaker 2: The radio promoter takes the bet and Ryan Rossol makes
Speaker 2: it FM debut. The next day, Beppa drives his may
Speaker 2: back into the Warner Music parking lot like any other
Speaker 2: day and takes the elevator up to the office.
Speaker 1: The elevator reaches his floor, the doors open, and what
Speaker 1: he finds is absolute chaos. Rayando and Sol had dominated
Speaker 1: the airwaves all morning, assistants are running back and forth
Speaker 1: looking for every promotional material they can find, from anat.
Speaker 2: Photos of the band, bios, one shoot, all the stuff
Speaker 2: that was probably buried in the bottom of someone's store
Speaker 2: since they never believed the group would make it.
Speaker 1: It's a classic overnight success story, which is to say
Speaker 1: not overnight at all. After roughly a decade of lineup changes,
Speaker 1: flops and disappointing labels, Mana were finally off to the races.
Speaker 2: So Werner Mexicol gets its ass off off the couch
Speaker 2: and follow up singles came quick better than mbarco esto uscandola,
Speaker 2: a hit parade that carried fata More to gold record certification.
Speaker 1: And technically their first international tour. The band played one
Speaker 1: hundred and twelve dates across Mexico and a one show
Speaker 1: in Keith the Wegubber at a twenty thousand seat stadium.
Speaker 2: When Mana saw that they could fill that many seats,
Speaker 2: the boys were shook. This was a level of success
Speaker 2: they had never.
Speaker 1: Imagined, especially not Fer and the Cajo's brothers, who had
Speaker 1: I Don't Off playing CD bars that were regularly raided
Speaker 1: by police who were determined to stop them. From being
Speaker 1: heard in Mexico.
Speaker 2: But seeing the crowd before their eyes, they realized that
Speaker 2: they were destined to be heard across the whole world.
Speaker 1: But rising to the top doesn't mean leaving rock star
Speaker 1: Shenanigans behind. I know, then, what's the point of being
Speaker 1: a rock star?
Speaker 2: Hello?
Speaker 1: On the next Becoming an Icon, Mana escapes obscurity and
Speaker 1: crosses musical borders, but not without a little messy miss.
Speaker 1: Becoming an Icon is presented by Sonodol and Iheart's Michael
Speaker 1: Duda podcast network. Listen to Becoming an Icon on the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast