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Dúo Dinámico | |
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.jpg) Dúo Dinámico waving atBarajas Airport in 1968 (left: de la Calva, right: Arcusa) | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Barcelona, Spain |
| Genres | Pop |
| Years active |
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| Labels |
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| Members | Manuel de la Calva [es] Ramón Arcusa [es] |
Dúo Dinámico (transl. Dynamic Duo) was a Spanishpop music duo formed byManuel de la Calva [es] andRamón Arcusa [es]. Besidessingers, they weresongwriters andrecord producers and they starred in four feature films. They were the main precursors of pop music andfandom in Spain and were very popular in the 1960s.
They were the songwriters of "La, la, la", the song that won theEurovision Song Contest 1968. They received theLatin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.
Manolo and Ramón met when they were 16 years old, working asaeronautical engineeringapprentices. The duo officially formed on 28 December 1958 inBarcelona. Their first performance before a live audience was on Radio Barcelona; they wanted to be calledThe Dynamic Boys, but the show host, Enrique Fernández, said he did not speak English and introduced them asDúo Dinámico, a name the musicians accepted. After that came more radio performances and a contract to sing at La Masía, a famous restaurant in Barcelona, all while they still worked as engineers. Finally, in the summer of 1959 they quit their day jobs to dedicate themselves to their nascent music career.[1]
They recorded their first EP in the fall of 1959, and it was a sales success. From then on, their ascent was spectacular, and they frequently topped the Spanish charts throughout the 1960s with hits like "Quince años tiene mi amor [es]", "Quisiera ser [es]", "Perdóname [es]", "Bailando el twist", "Mari Carmen", "Esos ojitos negros", "Amor de verano [es]", or "Mi chica de ayer". They also starred in four films:Anchor Button (1961),Búsqueme a esa chica (1964),Stop at Tenerife (1964), andUna chica para dos (1966). Their popularity among Spanish music fans was comparable, if not superior, to the one achieved byThe Beatles.
The Duo often participated in the various music festivals that took place in Spain at the time. They won theMediterranean Song Festival [es] in Barcelona in 1966 with "Como ayer"; the Costa Verde Festival inGijón with "Somos Jóvenes"; they were twice second in theBenidorm Song Festival in 1962 and 1966, with "Quisiera ser" and "Amor amargo"; and they placed second inEurofestival, the Spanish national selection for theEurovision Song Contest 1965, with "Esos ojitos negros".
Their greatest achievement came as composers, when their song "La, la, la" won theEurovision Song Contest 1968, performed byMassiel. This was the first win forSpain in theEurovision Song Contest, and the only time that it has been the sole winner.[a] Initially,Televisión Española had internally selected the song forJoan Manuel Serrat to perform on the contest, and he recorded it and promoted it throughout Europe, but they replaced him after his demand to sing it inCatalan in the contest.
After the sales failure of their 1972 albumMejor que nunca, recorded inLondon with the collaboration ofGeorge Martin, the duo decided to retire, but they kept composing for other artists such asCamilo Sesto andNino Bravo, and producing forJulio Iglesias,Miguel Gallardo, orJosé Vélez.
Due to the continuing popularity of their songs, included in the soundtracks of many popular Spanish films and TV shows, and the insistence of various entrepreneurs, the duo made a comeback in 1978. A greatest hits album was released in 1980, and in 1986, they started to record new songs under a new contract withSony Music. In 1989, one of them, "Resistiré", was included in the soundtrack ofPedro Almodóvar's filmTie Me Up! Tie Me Down!.
The duo was presented with theLatin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.[2]
On 21 September 2007, thejukebox musicalQuisiera ser, featuring 24 hits of theDúo Dinámico, premiered at theTeatro Nuevo Apolo inMadrid.[3]
As of 2020, the duo were still active, performing their hits in yearly live tours throughout Spain.[4]
Manuel de la Calva died on 26 August 2025, at the age of 88.[5]
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