Due to having only partial memory, I’m trying to recall the name of a compilation album that included the song Black is Black by Los Bravos. Los Bravos was “a Spanish beat group, formed in 1965 and based in Madrid. Their single “Black Is Black” reached no. 2 in the United Kingdom in July 1966 and no. 4 in the United States (the first Spanish group to do so), selling over a million records.
What I remember is the male announcer on the TV ad nearly yelling, as he named the artists. “LOS BRAVOS!” But I have zero further recollection except that one had to purchase it by mail order. “Not sold in stores!” Or so I believe.
I figured it might be K-Tel, who were always putting out albums like these. But the only album I could find in a cursory Google search was Get It Together by the folks at Sessions. “A collection of the best rock music by the best performers that comprise the heart of the New Rock Movement.”
CREAM Sunshine Of Your Love, White Room / FOUR JACKS AND A JILL Master Jack / JOHN FRED AND HIS PLAYBOY BAND Judy In Disguise / THE GRASS ROOTS Midnight Confessions / THE GUESS WHO American Woman, Share The Land, These Eyes / Broadway Cast of HAIR Aquarius / IRON BUTTERFLY In A Gadda Da Vida / JEFFERSON AIRPLANE Somebody To Love, White Rabbit / THE KINKS All Day And All Of The Night / LOS BRAVOS Black Is Black / BUDDY MILES Them Changes / THE MONKEES Daydream Believer / MUSIC EXPLOSION Little Bit O Soul / GENE PITNEY She’s A Heartbreaker / THE RASCALS People Got To Be Free / SHOCKING BLUE Venus / STEPPENWOLF Born To Be Wild / VANILLA FUDGE You Keep Me Hangin’ On / THE WHO Baba O’Riley / YOUNGBLOODS Get Together / ZAGER & EVANS In The Year 2525.
This is possibly it because Black is Black is one of the few songs on the collection I didn’t already own, which is why I never purchased it.
Listen to Black is Black by Los Bravos:
UK mono
version
version
1986 Dance Mix
I loved this song back in the day. I haven’t heard it for years. Another memory lane post for me!
I admit, the first time I heard “Black Is Black,” I thought it was Gene Pitney. And that bass line evokes some other songs of the era, notably the Four Tops’ “I Can’t Help Myself” and the Newbeats’ “Run, Baby Run.” I got my own copy from a London/Parrot collection called The Greatest Hits from England.
That 80s dance mix is swell. And in 1976, Cerrone put out a three-track disco album called Love in C Minor; the shortest of the three is a six-minute cover of “Black Is Black.”
Well my memory is failing me also ~ thanks for the challenge ~
Wishing you a special week ~ ^_^