How I Made It: Maná

Latino USA

My Cultura, Futuro and iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture

4.9 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 8 June 2021

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The rock en español group, Maná, is one of the most successful Spanish-language rock bands of this generation. They've sold over 40 million records worldwide. But the band didn’t start out playing stadiums. It all began when one member started an English-speaking band three decades ago in Guadalajara, Mexico. Latino USA sits down with drummer Alex Gonzalez, who tells us how they got their start and became Maná.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Maria Inojosa and I am Penileira Mides.
0:03.0	And on this new series, we're going to get to know the most powerful Mexican government official ever to face trial in the US for his alleged ties to the infamous drug lord El Chapo.
0:16.0	But this is not your regular narco story.
0:19.0	It's like true crime meets telenovela.
0:22.0	This is our new series, USA versus Garcia Luna.
0:27.0	Find it whatever you get your podcasts and at futuroinvestigates.org.
0:43.0	From Futuro Media, it's LatinoUSA.
0:46.0	I'm Maria Inojosa.
0:48.0	Today, the legendary drug and espanyol band Mana.
1:00.0	Over their decades-long career, Mana has sold over 40 million albums worldwide.
1:09.0	The Grammy-winning rockeros made a name for themselves playing fusions of reggae, salsa, rock and punk.
1:17.0	The current band members include Fer Orbera, Alex Gonzalez, Sergio Vallín and Juan Galleros.
1:24.0	Mana didn't start out playing stadiums.
1:30.0	Over three decades ago, lead singer Fer was playing small venues in Guadalajara with his band The Green Hat and he was singing in English.
1:39.0	They quickly changed their names to Sombrero Verde and they started singing in Spanish.
1:50.0	They eventually added drummer Alex and in 1986, they became Mana.
2:00.0	Since then, they released 11 albums.
2:03.0	Their 1992 album, Bonte Jugaran Los Niños, is the best-selling Spanish language rock album of all time.
2:11.0	Hola amigos! Welcome to this morning's Walk of Fame ceremony!
2:26.0	In 2016, they became the first Mexican rock band to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2:33.0	And in 2018, they received the Latin Music Lifetime Award from Billboard and were awarded person of the year at the Latin Grammys.
2:43.0	But back when they were just starting out, drummer Alex Gonzalez says, it wasn't all that easy.
	...

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