Spanish pop in eight books

A bit of order before we get started

Sometimes the hard part is knowing where to start, and there are some guides that are really useful. We have, for example, the recently published "Los 100 mejores discos del rock español de los 60 y 70", by César Campoy and Juan Puchades, Director of the Efe Eme magazine. A journey in sound through two decades of a still young genre, which will help you understand the references and influences of your favourite bands and how rock evolved in Spain.

And with regard to documentary features, it is worth taking a look at "¡Grité una noche!", by Gabriel Abril. An in-depth tour of numerous live Spanish pop albums from the mid-60s to the present. Great work of documentation including both pop and singer/songwriters, punk, melodic songs and rock. History of Spanish music from the stage, edited by Milenio.

Towards modern times, indie and urban music

Let's broaden our horizon. Trap as popular music but also as an aesthetic and a lifestyle has invaded the Spanish scene and its influence is undeniable, and is not restricted to this style born of hip hop and urban music. In "Trap. Filosofía millenial para la crisis en España", a book by Ernesto Castro, you will find an excellent introduction to the genre and its impact from a philosophical and sociological point of view. Ideal for delving into the symptoms of your generation or to understand it better if you consider yourself to be from another era and you have trouble understanding what is happening.

We will now go a little further back, to the origins of indie in the 90s. A genre that evolved from rock, garage and pop and that still stars in festivals throughout mainland Spain. To get an idea of where we come from and including hundreds of interviews we have “Pequeño circo. Historia oral del indie en España", by Nando Cruz. A book that has sufficient time perspective to provide a picture of what in its day was considered to be alternative music.

La Movida y la Nueva Ola española

Indie was precisely a response to La Movida, so we suggest you go back a little further to revisit the phenomenon with two illustrious journalists, Patricia Godes and Jesús Ordovás. They co-wrote "Guía del Madrid de la Movida", an illustrated guide to an era they lived in the first person. A battery of anecdotes, a tour of the key venues and of course succulent stories from its leading players. The book also includes two routes written by living myths like Alaska and Pedro Almódovar, who give us their point of view.

At this point we should also remember “Música moderna” by Fernando Márquez 'El Zurdo', founder of Kaka Deluxe, Paraíso and La Mode, who in this book originally published in 1981 reviewed the incredible batch of new bands and sounds of the time, from Radio Futura and Nacha Pop to Rubi and Los Casinos and Aviador Dro. The was reissued in 2013 thanks to La Fonoteca and included a prologue by the journalist José Manuel Costa and photographs by Miguel Trillo and Javier Senovilla.

Even more personal, with Miguel Ríos and Eric Jiménez

Tireless work by journalists and experts was key to unravelling the keys to an era and the role of pop music. But it is essential to include the protagonists, who sometimes give us the opportunity to find out about their experience. We are talking about books like "Cosas que siempre quise contarte", written by the incombustible Miguel Ríos in 2013. The rocker looks back and delves into his beginnings in great detail. Not to be missed.

Another great example of an open-heart biography is the one provided by Eric Jiménez in "Cuatro millones de golpes". The drummer of none other than Los Planetas and Lagartija Nick tells us without mincing words of a turbulent life, with especially hard moments but at the same time with the optimistic spirit of an unexpected survivor. Ideal to understand the history of music in Spain over the last four decades from his perspective

Did you know about these books? Can you suggest any other titles? We would really like to hear what you think, remember we are on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.