BIOGRAFIA
He had an early passion for crossing frontiers; he celebrated his first birthday in Paris, with his family. There, when he was eight years old, he was awarded with the first price in a flamenco festival organized by the Spanish consulate, in the Bataclan hall with the name of LOLITO. Nevertheless, it is back in Madrid where he has his first experience with record companies: LOS GOLFOS (The little devils). Together with his younger brother, he obtains massive success and starts to establish trends. Indeed, the main sentence in the lyrics of their single, “¡Qué pasa contigo tío!” (“What’s up with you, guy!”) (RCA 1976) became a popular expression at that time.
Manuel Malou, nonconformist par excellence, did not get trapped by this easy success and began to explore other musical worlds, creating, in 1978, always jointly with his brother, the pop duo MANOLO Y JORGE (RCA), which split up after two years due to their wish of living individually new adventures in the musical universe. Nevertheless, their pathways intersected each other many times during their different trajectories.
During this long journey, his insatiable interest on music made Manuel Malou to lead different musical bands, explore different rhythms, collaborate with a broad range of artists, and work in different areas of the musical world, inside and outside the stage.
DISCOGRAPHY AND BANDS
LOS GOLFOS “¿Qué pasa contigo tío? (What’s up with you, guy?) (RCA) 1976
MANOLO Y JORGE “Manolo y Jorge” (RCA) 1978
PLÁSTICO “Nieva & Mil espejos” (RCA) 1980 - New Wave tendency
TOREROS (Bullfighters) “After Olé” (Nuevos Medios) 1983
MANUEL MALOU “Extraños Seres” (Extrange beings) (Polydor France) 1990-
This is his re-union with flamenco, but a different flamenco, fusion flamenco. With this record he shares posters with the best artists of World Music at the time, such as PAPA WENBA and CHEB KALED in the Womad Festival of Reading (UK), in Ronnie Scott’s (London), Nyon festival (Switzerland), as well as tours around Germany, Belgium, Italy, Greece and Canada.
MANUEL MALOU “Corazón Caliente” (Hot hearth) (WEA) 1993.
At that time, fusion is not a trend but something inseparable from his artistic approaches.
MIXA COOLTURA (BMG Ariola) 1997
This record will be a compulsory reference when, in the future, people try to explain the fusion and crossbreeding movement at the end of the XX century. Together with LA FURA DELS BAUS, he performed this record at the inaugural show of the 1st edition of the Music Awards (“PREMIOS DE LA MÚSICA”).
BUMBA RUMBA “Electrorock&Rumba” (Mixa Cooltura Records) 2004
Original SOUNDTRACKS
GAZON MAUDIT (Damned Doormat) by JOSIANE BALASKO (Virgin) 1995
TAXI by CARLOS SAURA 1996. There is no record of this soundtrack.
LA DUQUESA ROJA (The red Duchess) by PACO BETRIU (Ariola) 1997
TORRENTE “El brazo tonto de la Ley” (Torrente, Law’s stupid wing) by SANTIAGO SEGURA (RCA) 1999
FUGITIVAS (Fugitives) by MIGUEL HERMOSO (Ariola) 2000. He writes and produces the main theme of the movie (“fugitivas”).
MANUEL MALOU was awarded with the “best movie theme GOYA” in 2001 for this theme.
PRODUCTIONS
PANAME TROPICAL “Aux indiens du quartier” (To the Indians of the barracks) (RDC Records) 1995
LOS DEL RÍO “Colores” (Colors) (BMG Zafiro) 1997
HAKIM “Como suena” (The way it sounds) (Epic) 1998
JOSÉ EL FRANCÉS “Alma” (Soul) (BMG Ariola) 1999
HAKIM “El volcán de tus deseos” (Volcano of your wishes) (Epic) 2000
PERET “El Rey de la Rumba” (King of Rumba) (Chewaka) 2000, Theme “Amor a todo gas” (Full throttle love)
EL FARY “Ese Fary” (Muxxic) 2002
CHOPO “Gipsy, Rock and Lover” (Chitón y Mixa Cooltura Records) 2002
JAVI CANTERO “Tracalcatraca” (Muxxic Records) 2003
ANDY&LUCAS “Andy&Lucas” (BMG Music Spain) 2003- “El ritmo de María” (Maria´s rhythm)
LOS AMAYA “Tributo a los amaya” (Tribute to The Amaya), “Vete y Caramelos” (Go away and candies) (Muxxic Records) 2005
COLABORATIONS
TOKIKO KATO (japón) “Cypango” (Sony Music) 1991- Music of “Guitarrista” (Guitar player).
DAVID KOVEN “David Koven” (Polydor) 1991- Lyrics of “A gozar mi montuno”
Produced by “RAY BARRETO”
XAVIER JOUVELET “L’indigène” (Mad Minute Music) 1991- Lyrics of “Linda Flor” (Pretty flower)
MOTHERSAYS “Black Boards” (Comotion Music ) 1991- Voice and guitar in “Yaleo”
MAXIME LE FORESTIER. They share stage in the OLYMPIA (Paris, 1992)
CHEROKEE “Caballo Loco” (Crazy horse) (Epic) 1994- rumba guitars.
NIÑA PASTORI “Eres Luz” (You are light) (BMG Ariola) 1998- Lyrics and music of “Morao”
JOSÉ ANTONIO RODRÍGUEZ “Manhatan de la Frontera” (Discos de arte BMG) 1999- Lyrics and music of “Tiata mía”
CARLOS NUÑEZ “Os amores libres” (Free love) (BMG Ariola) 1999- Lyrics and music of “A orillas del río Sil” (On the shore of Sil river), performed by CARMEN LINARES.
ELENA ANDUJAR “Elena Andujar” (Alias discos) 1999- guitars in “Perdí la voz” (I lost my voice)
ORISHAS “A lo cubano” (In the Cuban way) (Crysalis) 2000 - He made Remix of “1.9.9.9.”
JAVI CANTERO “Javi Cantero” (Muxxic Records) 2001- Lyrics and music of “La llave” (The key).
MANU CHAO “Próxima estación Esperanza” (Next stop Hope) (Virgin) 2001-Remix of “La chinita” (The Chinese girl)
At the end of 2005, he decided to left again in order to have some time for relax and thinking, settling down in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia), on the shores of the Caribbean Sea, where he quickly gets inspiration to compose, produce and record again, in his new studio and record label “PAPI RECORDS”.
ISAAC LLAMAS “quiero ser presidente” (I want to be president) (Papi records) 2006
ZONE PEREKE “Cofre de sorpresas” (Chest of surprises) (Papi records) 2007
JUSTO VALDES “Champeta zucu” (Papi records) 2007
HERMANOS VILLALBA “pa toda la vida” (For the whole life) (Papi records) 2007
PANDEPABLO “Para mi” (For me) (Papi records) 2008
In 2009 he comes back to Spain full of ideas, tougher than ever and with a new solo project.
Pioneer in musical crossbreeding, particularly in rumba, Manuel Malou comes back today to music’s origin.
His voice and his guitar form the heart of this new project, daring due to its simplicity, in a world which gets more complicated. Full of strength, Manuel Malou, returns alone, with the powerful rhythm he gets out his guitar and a personal voice full of colours and nuances.
His songs invite to dance without alternative, since they are 100% rumba no additives, in the way that only a great professional can do. A real “RUMBAUTHOR” par excellence.