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When Spanish vocalist Nino Bravo (born: Luis Manuel Ferri Llopis) died in an automobile accident on April1 6, 1973, the world lost one of its greatest romantic balladeers. Bravo had been attracting acclaim since 1959 when he sang with the youthful pop group, Aielo De Malferit. He continued his success as a member of early-1960s trio, Los Hispanicos, and after serving a breif stint in the military, with the group, Uamado Superson. Launching his solo career with a recital at El Teatro Prinicpal of Valencia in 1968, Bravo signed a five year recording contract with Fonogram. His first single, "Como Todos" b/w "Es El Viento", composed by Manuel Alejandro, was a major hit in Spain. Bravo reached his apex in 1972. Shortly after marrying vocalist Maria Amparo, he represented Spain with a crowd-pleasing set at the Festival de Rio de Janeiro. In 1997, Alejandro produced an album, Duetos 2, featuring remixes of his songs and electronically-simulated duets with various artists. ~ Craig Harris

Spanish pop act La Casa Azul began weaving together the sugar pop sounds of groups like ABBA, the B-52's, and the Beach Boys in the late '90s. Formed by producer/songwriter Guille Milkyway, the band rose from indie pop obscurity to the Spanish Top 40 with the help of niche label Elefant Records. The group initially featured five members -- David, Virginia, Oscar, Clara, and Sergio -- who appeared in the group's popular throwback music videos and on album covers, but La Casa Azul's music is actually created solely by Milkyway. La Casa Azul's debut record, El Sonido Efervescente de la Casa Azul, was released in 2000. Their public recognition continued to swell with television appearances on programs such as Zona Disney and Música Uno. La Casa Azul's hit single and video "Como un Fan" was released in February 2005. The video won the group its largest listening audience thus far, priming Spanish audiences for the 2006 re-release of El Sonido Efervescente. The band's third original release earned a place on the Spanish Top 40 charts following its 2007 release, and La Revolución Sexual quickly became one of Elefant Records' most successful releases. In 2008 a song from the album, "La Revolución Sexual," was a finalist in Spain's Eurovision competition, just missing claiming the crown to become the country's entry that year. After taking some time off and releasing the compilation of singles and remixes La Nueva Yma Sumac: What the Revolution Left Us, Milkyway returned to music and created the incidental music for the popular 2009 film Yo, También. He also wrote and performed the theme song for the film, and was awarded for his efforts by winning Best Original Song at the 2010 Goya Awards. La Casa Azul returned at the end of the year with a new single, "Todas Tus Amigas," then spent 2011 working on a new album. La Polinesia Meridional was released to acclaim and brisk sales in November of 2011.

Milkyway stayed very busy over the ensuing years writing songs for films, playing the music of Nino Bravo in Las Casa Azul style on the 2013 album En Libertad, acting as a judge on the talent show Oh Happy Day, recording songs for the children's TV show Jelly Jamm (a soundtrack released by Elefant in 2013), and raising his profile through DJ gigs and festival appearances. By the time he released new La Casa Azul music in early 2019 -- an album titled La Gran Esfera -- Milkyway had added more modern sounds like trap beats and radio pop to his sonic arsenal to go along with disco and upbeat pop. ~ Evan C. Gutierrez