Radio Futura

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Radio Futura is a pop rock Spanish group.

[edit] The beginnings

In 1979, painter, singer and synthesizer experimenter Herminio Molero joined several other musicians to form a new rock group. Among them were the Auserón brothers (Luis and Santiago), who wrote then in a music magazine called Disco Express under the name Corazones Automáticos; Enrique Sierra, guitar player from Kaka de Luxe and percusionist Javier Pérez Grueso. They got their name "Radio Futura" from an Italian independent radio station.

Herminio Molero contributed with his fusion of electronic and traditional music to the style of the group while Enrique Sierra added a punk tone. After months of rehearsing and some live performances they published their first album Música Moderna (Modern Music) in 1980, which reached an unexpected success beyond the specialized circles.

Herminio and Javier abandoned the group due to disagreements on the concept of their music, and the group is completed in 1981 with Solrac (Carlos Velázquez) who had already participated in the first album.

[edit] The Quartet

In 1981 they recorded the single La estatua del jardín botánico (The statue of the Botannical Gardens), produced by Jaime Stinus, followed by Dance usted (You dance), in which they developed a new fusion style ("funky-punk") that made them successful all around Spain.

In 1984 they recorded their second album, La ley del desierto, la ley del mar (The law of desert, the law of sea), another unexpected commercial success, with the singles Escuela de calor (School of heat), Historia de play-back (History of play-back), En Portugal (In Portugal), El nadador (The swimmer) and Semilla Negra (Black seed). The album has two parts, the dry and hard sounding "law of the desert" and a more watery "law of the sea".

The following year they published De un país en llamas (From a country in flames), a risky and more baroque album due to the introduced technological innovations. Eight singles were extracted from this album, No tocarte, La ciudad interior, El tonto Simón, En alas de la mentira, El viento de África, Las líneas de la mano, Han caído los dos and Un vaso de agua (al enemigo).

They also remix Semilla Negra, giving it a latin flavor with the introduction of Raimundo Amador's flamenco guitar. The band evolves to a more latin style and Solrac abandons the group in 1986.