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Saturday, July 21, 2012

LOS IBEROS - HIDING BEHIND MY SMILE b/w SUMMERTIME GIRL

A few weeks back I had a lovely time on tour in Barcelona; not only did I get a bit of a suntan but I also brought back a few dozen WONDERFUL Spanish beat singles.

Presented firstly and certainly not lastly, here's the debut from Los Iberios, a group who formed in the mid-60's and were active until 1973. The group spent several years honing their craft in Spanish clubs covering the English favorites of the time, and when it came time to cut their first single, the group traveled to London and cut the record at the famed Decca studios to excellent results.

While the a-side is lovely, the vibe of the b-side is the one that fits in with what we do around here which is why I'm presenting it first. "Hiding Behind My Smile" is a fantastic psychedelic-minded uptempo dancer with cool orchestration and a fabulous, hooky chorus.

"Summertime Girl" is certainly the poppier number of the two, but being as it's summertime and all, I felt it necessary to post. Plus, the chorus is hauntingly beautiful, adding an edge of drama to the sunny choruses, just like a reckless summertime romance. Ahhh those Spaniards...

A truly masterful record.

from 1968...

LOS IBEROS - HIDING BEHIND MY SMILE


b/w SUMMERTIME GIRL

2 comments:

Álvaro Tarik said...

I'm glad you had a good time in Spain, Derek.

Los Iberos were one of the greatest bands in the 60's over here. They became very popular by appearing regularly on a TV show called "Escala en Hi-Fi", where they had to play lots of covers. That made them gain brilliant skills with their instruments and singing.

There's another superb band from the Spanish 60's that I like a lot too, Los Brincos. Especially their first 2 albums, with the original members.

Good post, mate. Cheers!

Derek See said...

Thank you, Alvaro! I love Spain very, very much. Wonderful people and country. I bought a handful of Los Brincos records as well :-)