It was 1962, The Beatles were born in England. The group was one of the most successful in history and popularized rock around the world. The musical phenomenon spread throughout the globe until it reached the town of Dénia.
The young people of Diane admired this group, as happened with The Rolling Stones, a band born in the same year as the one from Liverpool. Rock fever would mark the musical panorama of the 60s and 70s in the town, where musical groups were created that imitated their idols, as was the case throughout the Marina Alta.
"The musical groups consisted of two guitars, a bass and a drummer, with two or three voices, the soloist and then the second or third voice," explains Pepe Ortolá, expert in the musical history of Dénia and creator of the Facebook page Musicians from Dénia and Marina Alta from the 70's, in addition to being a member of some groups of that time.
The life of rockers
The musical groups of Dénia were not like those in the movies, each member had to look for several jobs, since music was not enough to live on. «I worked as a carpenter until seven in the afternoon and then I went to rehearse; Very few groups could make a living from music,” explains Pepe.
His routine consisted of going to one of the music stores in Dénia and buying the singles of the moment. The guitarist remembers one located on Diana Street under the name Disco Marshall. "There were times when the album you were looking for wasn't there, so you reserved it and they delivered it in three days," he explains.
"The 60s and 70s were a learning experience because we didn't have many musical studies," says the musician. To know how to play the songs live they played the record player many times; Another technique was to observe the performances of the other groups at the festivals.
There were two songs that could not be missing from any ensemble's repertoire: Satisfaction of the Rolling Stones and the Twist and Shout of the Beatles.
Who were the protagonists of the Beatlenian phenomenon?
Los Brujos Negros, Los Pigui-Bacan, Los Combo Star (where Pepe played) and the Merry Boys were groups of musicians born in Dénia. Other singers and groups from other towns, and even nationally famous ones, such as Bruno Lomas or Juan Bau, also passed through the city.
The fact that there were so many musical options meant that there was a certain competition between the groups: "We competed to see who had the most shows per year, who had the best venues, which group had signed a singer who was very good...", he recalls. Pepe.
There were also internal discussions in the groups, which made everyone very changeable. Four new ones could emerge from a group that dissolved. In addition, many disbanded when members had to go to the military.
«But then we would meet in Oliva, there was a restaurant called El Rebollet and the bands would go there before playing, at six in the afternoon, and when we finished, at three in the morning. We all had chocolate and churros together,” Pepe recalls.
The concerts were organized so that novices performed first, then intermediate level performers, and the most experienced veterans were left for last.
The crazy atmosphere of those decades
Pepe describes the feeling of playing in a band as “adrenaline” and remembers the applause and praise from the audience as “a drug”, a reward for the recognition of a good musician.
The audience that came to these concerts was young, between 16-20 years old, and everyone wanted to be in the front row. «There was a huge fan phenomenon, an explosion of sound beat», comments the interviewee.
However, alcohol was present at these parties and there was always some altercation, since there were drunk people who wanted to get on stage: "We had to call the police through the microphone," laments Ortolá.
«Every place there was was filled. In the Rosaleda room, for example, when a group we liked came, there were about 500 people there. We young people liked live performances and there was a lot of talk about music,” explains Pepe.
Admission was 60 pesetas and when a good group played it was around 75 pesetas. Starting in the 80s, city councils began to hire large orchestras and singers of national fame. Concerts became free and many venues were forced to close business.
It wasn't just music, it was a way of being
The motion hippie It emerged in the United States in the early 60s, but began to decline at the end of that decade. However, Pepe says that in Spain the phenomenon was popular until 1977 and marked the personality and style of the Dianense population.
"We all had long hair, bell-bottoms and very tight shirts," recalls the musician. There were also the rockers, with their black leather jackets and long hair.
Music today
«Those years were an explosion of live music. Now there are not many groups because there is not much offer, before there were concerts every week and in the summer every day. Furthermore, young people today like reggaeton, which is made with a computer," Pepe acknowledges.
The expert believes that there is still hope: on Calle de la Mar, there are four venues for musical groups, for example the group Black Little. “Live music will never be lost,” he concludes.
I am not from Denia, I am 77 years old and my Dianense memories are La Rosaleda los Migui-Bagans, the Camping Femenia els Merri-Bois that Marti played and the singer was Carrasco, the Palladium and Mini Golf and the impressive Salon Diana de Femenia des Mobles and the Capri cafeteria where Jijonenca is today after Jaime is going to put on Don Quixote. In that time we all wore a coat and that year it was common on Carrer Campos expressed her "Hey, listen to you, I say yes, yes to the one in the coat."
There are fewer and fewer people left, because they are dying, who get angry about these things and there are more and more people who don't give a damn about Francoism and the republic or even know what it is. Thats the reality.
Today... April 14th Anniversary of the Second Spanish Republic and it is not the cover of this pestilent media? How do you like the information from the Franco era, murderous, genocidal and Sadistic... eh?
LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC, LONG LONG LIVE STALIN (WHICH HELPED US WITH MEDICINES, BULLETS, FOOD, ETC.. AND LONG LIVE MEXICO, YOU BAGS WHO WERE THE ONLY 2 COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD THAT GIVEN US HELP TO OVERCOME THE FRANCO TRASH.
There are fewer and fewer people left, because they are dying, who get angry about these things and there are more and more people who don't give a damn about Francoism and the republic or even know what it is. Thats the reality.
Thank you for explaining to us why we lost the war.