The debut album behind the ‘60s Spanish one-hit wonder

Los Bravos is one of the more unlikelier stories of the 1960s Top 40, breaking out of Spain with a German lead singer to achieve U.S. one-hit wonder status with the #4 “Black is Black” in 1966. The single, along with their debut album, features the Gene Pitney-like vocals of Michael Kogel and horn-heavy, soul-influenced pop that owes more to 1960s New York R&B than the British Invasion then winding down its sweep of the world’s stage. From their sound, you’d be hard-pressed to place this band as German and Spanish in origin. The group had a second hit in the UK with “I Don’t Care” (included here), and a follow-up album, Bring a Little Lovin’, whose Vanda & Young-penned title single (not included here) failed to crack the Top 40. The group never really regained their footing on the U.S. or international charts. Their debut has no other songs that compare with the catchiness and drive of the iconic hit, though Kogel’s vocals add punch to “Trapped” and “I Want a Name,” and “I Don’t Care,” suggest the operatic verve of Jay Black. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com]