aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser
#053: Loquillo Y Los Trogloditas – ‘El Ritmo Del Garaje’ (3 Cipreses Records ’83)
Hello friends,
41 years ago, way before MTV was born, German television got privatized. Basically, this just meant you didn’t have only three boring stations to watch, you were able to watch a few boring stations more. Because, in a sense, it was all rubbish by and large – everyone tried to be really clever and innovative, obviously all of them got it ludicrously wrong. Just like today, nothing much has changed. But, for us teenage music nerds, there finally was some light at the end of the tunnel, albeit a very small light, to be frank: ‘Formel Eins’, a music show à la MTV, but with various presenters, which first started on the state-run television, but then quickly switched to one of the new independent stations, I forgot which one that was, doesn’t matter though.
I used to watch it religiously in its beginning, well, it was the only source I had for new music – plus they featured some ‘alternative stuff’ from time to time. This was before I discovered John Peel, it must be said, so I sat in front of the TV with my tape recorder and tried to record what I thought was worth keeping. Amongst those recordings I made, there was a tune which I instantly fell in love with: a very cool mixture of Rockabilly, New Wave and Postpunk, I would say. I am looking at the very same battered cassette whilst I am typing this, I must have heard it a squillion times since then, I reckon.
The problem was: I never caught the name of the group nor the name of the song, all I remembered was that they were Spanish, and the band name translated as something along the lines of ‘The Little Madman in The Cave’. Now, this was decades before the internet, so I grabbed the cassette from time to time and listened to the song, but what should I have done – there simply was no way to find in finding out what it is or whom it’s by. So, as years passed on, I forgot about its existence by and large.
Then, I think four, five years ago – not quite sure, but definitely before google could identify songs being played in the background, I remembered it again. I tried to understand bits and pieces of the lyrics and entered them into google search, with or without what I thought would be the correct translation of the band name. The thing is, my Spanish is good enough to order a beer or two, but that’s about it. So this went hopelessly wrong. I remember harassing Mabel, a godlike Spanish waitress I knew, with my problem – but she told me to fuck off with this nonsense could not help me either, alas.
Years later, I managed to find a very cool Spanish blog which had a comprehensive list of Spanish underground music from the late 70’s and early 80’s, with literally hundreds of listings. I checked every band which got a mention there on youtube and elsewhere, well, at least if this was possible. And then, finally (!), after all these decades, I felt like Howard Carter must have felt in 1922 when discovering the tomb of Tutankhamun, because I was able to solve the great mystery:
mp3: Loquillo Y Los Trogloditas – El Ritmo Del Garaje
Turned out Loquillo became a well-known and super-successful character in Spain, as well as a solo artist and a writer as with the various combinations of musicians he performed with, first Los Intocables and later Los Trogloditas.
And even though this post might have bored you to death, it should have taught you two things. A: never give up, you will succeed eventually. B: pay good attention in school, because if I had done so, I would have known that a troglodyte is “a human cave dweller, from the Greek trogle ‘hole, mouse-hole’ and dyein ‘go in, dive in”. Of course, you knew that all along, didn’t you?
One thing is for sure: had I known this, my life would have been easier for some 40 years, bloody hell! But, and I am not putting a positive spin on my own stupidity here, believe me: this song is so majestic, it was worth every year of searching for it!
I only hope you see this likewise….
Enjoy,
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 