Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Brighton 64

 


Brighton 64 were formed in Barcelona in the fall of 1981, when Albert Gil and Ricky Gil, brothers of the actress Ariadna Gil, highly influenced by the British mod scene that they were beginning to discover through records and movies, decided to join forces with various colleagues studies and began to rehearse versions of The Who, The Jam, The Kinks and Chuck Berry. Quickly adopted by enthusiasts, especially Barcelona mods, they began to play in venues around the city such as Pub Boira and Salón Cibeles, culminating this first stage with their appearance on the TVE program “Musical Express” and a performance at Rock-Ola from Madrid. Barely a year after its formation, the group recorded its first album, the maxi single "Barcelona Blues", released in April 1983 by the independent Flor y Nata Records. They present the album in the Zeleste room with a full house, evidencing that they have already become a benchmark of the powerful Barcelona independent scene of the 80s. 

The following year they published the single "Stop playing my girl", and immediately afterwards they traveled to Rome to perform at a festival and make their debut abroad. The entry of drummer Tino Peralbó leads to the recording of the mini-LP Haz el amor, published by Twins and containing a good portion of hymns such as “LaNext Time”, “Photos of Yesterday” or “Explosión Juvenil Nº 17”. Shortly after, the incorporation of an old friend of the group, Jordi Fontich, as keyboard player, stabilized the group, and the multinational EMI signed the group and published in 1986 the maxi single "La casa de la bomba" with great sales success and strong radio and television promotion. The presentation of the album at Studio 54 in Barcelona was a success and “La casa de la bomba” won the Radio 3 listeners award for best song of the year. 

The band combines an endless tour with the hasty and problematic recording for EMI of the LP "The problem is age", which despite containing great songs like "Like we don't care" or "Get going for me", is harmed by the lack of confidence on the part of the record company, which cracks the morale of the musicians. In September 1987 they performed before the most massive audience of their career during the Mercè festival in Barcelona, ​​but internal tensions began to surface and the group ended up giving way to the Gil brothers' next project, the Brigatones. In 1994, the first and tremendous gathering of Brighton 64 took place in Barcelona (Apolo room) and Madrid (Revolver room), sharing the stage with Los Flechazos, Los Negatives, Scooters, Los Kanguros and Kamenbert to celebrate the compilation album "Mi Generación" . At the end of 2001, Albert, Ricky, Tino and Jordi get together again to participate in the Purple Weekend festival in León, and Bip Bip Records publishes the album "Explosión Juvenil" live. 

In 2003, Ricky Gil publishes the book "Bola y Cadena" (Editorial Milenio), where he explains the history of the group from a totally personal point of view, and in 2006 Brighton 64 fills La Paloma in Barcelona to the brim. In all these meetings there has been a curious communion between the usual public and the new batch of fans who did not have the opportunity to see them live at the time.

 https://linktr.ee/brighton64bcn

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