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uring the stages close to adolescence and in adolescence itself, an emotional blossoming takes place in young Westerners. In Catalonia, the youth manifestation experienced by those born between the mid-70s and mid-80s occurred in the midst of an exceptional context. Perhaps deliberately exceptional. A stage that may have played a more decisive role than we think in the process the country is experiencing. Freshly started in the 90s, young people became closely linked to three media phenomena: the birth of Club Súper 3 –with the daily broadcast of Bola de Drac-Dragon Ball –, the wave surrounding the Olympic Games, and the last and most relevant of the three: the explosion of pop-rock bands that composed in Catalan.
In a normal country, these events would have been just that: normal. But then people were beginning to move away from official Francoism and, for the first time in the modern era, a generation of Catalans was preparing to build the collective imaginary in their own language. Without realizing it, they were contributing content to the natural universe of a nation, the forging, without obstacles, of feelings, because the feelings of oneself and of a collective are neither natural nor favorable to self-esteem as long as they cannot develop in the context of one's own language and culture. Those years, locking oneself in the room on a Saturday after lunch, taking out the album Roda by Sopa de Cabra –the one with the red cover with the negative effigy of a Gerard Quintana with wide-open eyes–, putting the album on the player and listening to the first chords of El carrer dels torrats –The street of the drunkards– followed by the well-known cry of uiée is, even today, a sensation for which I myself feel immense respect, given its capacity to transport one to the origin.
And it's not the only case. Other songs from the same album: Tot queda igual–Everything remains the same, Dies de carretera–Road days, No tinguis pressa–Don't be in a hurry, as well as pieces by other groups: S'ha acabat–It's over by Els Pets, Quina nit–What a night, or Corre't, Corre, Corre't–Come, Run, Come by Sau, were the gateway to the dimension of normality and an invitation to explore every last corner. Furthermore, it is necessary to take into account that this normalization movement took place at a time when the internet and social networks were in their infancy, which makes it even more unique, and even more so, a final note of extravagance: everything was born in rural areas, far from the Condal centrality. As La Vanguardia reported, in just over fifteen years, Catalan pop-rock led to the appearance of more than 250 bands, the release of more than half a million albums, and admirable sales figures. To this success must also be added the appearance of the first music videos in Catalan, some recorded abroad, such as És inútil continuar by the band Sau, from the Osona region, directed by Ricard Reguant and featuring locations in London, New York, and Santo Domingo. The music videos would share television space with emerging groups from the global scene in music programs like Sputnik.
Regarding the origin of Sangtraït, the most daring group on the music scene at that time, there is a version that contradicts the official one. The unofficial account even speculates that the lyrics and music of the songs were the work of the also Empordà natives and singer-songwriters, Josep Tero and Lluís LlachIt was the protagonists of the movement themselves who wanted to get rid of the Catalan epigraph on the label. Most, however, today accept the opportunism and the value of having been so. At that time it was logical that they rejected it. The most prominent groups of the moment were making any band's dream come true. They had dozens of concerts scheduled and direct access to mass recognition, and not through the service door. Perhaps the person who best defined the Catalan Rock label was Lluís Llach in statements to Televisión de Cataluña: "it responded to the takeover of power by the Catalan music media." And he circumscribed the success to being "a movement born in regions, breaking a tradition that was already beginning to be too long." Whatever opinion it aroused, the national impact was evident.
In this sense, they referred to the words that opened the mythical concert at Palau Sant Jordi (1991). It was Carles Sabater, the singer of Sau, who, before almost 22,000 attendees – the most massive indoor concert that had taken place in Europe until then – stated: "you are writing a page in the history of Catalonia." Afterwards, pieces like No he nascut per militar–I was not born to be a soldier, Perestroika, and what has become an anthem over time, Boig per tu–Crazy for you, the agricultural and festive rock of those from the city of Constantí, Els Pets, with an immense Marc Grau, and those born between Blanes and Cadaqués – alluding to the lyrics of L'Empordà– Sopa de Cabra, would follow. The ones in charge of closing the concert were Sangtraït, from the Empordà town of La Jonquera. Regarding the origin of Sangtraït, the most daring group on the music scene at that time, there is a version that contradicts the official one. Some voices place the creation of the group around the record label Picap, which saw the lack of a quality hard rock band as an opportunity. The unofficial narrative even speculates that the lyrics and music of the songs were the work of the also Empordà-born singer-songwriters, Josep Tero and Lluís Llach. The latter, for example, appears in the song Freddie Memorium, a tribute to the leader of Queen. The band of Quim Mandado, Lupe Villar – who could not hold back tears when getting off the Sant Jordi stage – Josep M. Corominas, Papa Juls and Martín Rodríguez, with an unmistakable sound that has left legendary ballads like El vol de l'home ocell–The flight of the birdman and Somnis entre boires–Dreams among mists, closed a musical spectrum that included composers like Montse Llaràs from the group Bars, Cris Juanico from Ja T'ho Diré, or the extraordinary Adrià Puntí from Umpah Pah.
Leaving aside the ridiculous budget that Catalan culture continues to suffer from, the Rock en Català movement was the prelude to the country's current, completely normalized pop-rock music scene: Manel, Txarango, Catarres, Mazoni, Mishima, La Iaia and so many others today sing to refer to everyday life rather than to your blood or mine, or to know what lies beyond the sun; the latter question, which continues to matter rather little to us.