Banda Machos - Biography
By J Poet
Banda Machos has taken regional Mexican music to new commercial heights by combining the usual banda styles of cumbia, merengue, corridos, baladas, boleros, and other folkloric forms with a high-tech show and colorful costumes. They may be the most successful banda in Mexico, and are well-known throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Almost half the group’s catalog has gone gold. Two of the band’s albums have gone diamond with over ten million units sold worldwide—Casimira (1992 Fonovisa/2000 WEA Latina) and Sangre de Indio (1992 Fonovisa/2000 WEA Latina).
Banda Machos got together in Villa Corona, a town in Jalisco, Mexico. Their big brass driven sound made them immediate favorites both in Mexico and in the Southwestern United States. At one time, banda was considered déclassé, but the music’s popularity exploded in the ’90s in large part due to the success of Banda Machos. Their first album, Casimira (1992 Fonovisa), went gold on the strength of the hit song, “La secretaria,” before going platinum, and eventually diamond. Sangre de Indio (1992 Fonovisa/2000 WEA Latina) was an overnight smash, driven by the hit, “Al gato y al raton,” which dominated Mexican radio in 1992. The album went diamond as well.
The group is known for its high-energy shows with merengues that are closer to the supersonic Dominican style than the traditionally laid-back Mexican merengue. Their elaborate stage shows, dazzling stage wardrobes and a carefully selected balance of songs has made them legends in the banda genre.
Banda Machos’ other big albums are the gold Los Machos Tambien Lloran (1992 Fonovisa), with the hit “Mi luna, mi estrella”; Gracias Mujer (1995 Fonovisa), which went gold; Mi Chica Ideal (1995 Fonovisa), with the hits “Te lo debo a ti” and the title track; and Historia Sin Fin (1997 Fonovisa), yet another in a string of gold records. In 1993, Billboard magazine and Univision awarded the group a Lo Nuestro Latin Music prize as Group of the Year in the regional Mexican category.
Banda Machos had a cameo appearance in Gregory Nava’s film, My Family, where they performed the song “Zappa Mambo.” The track was included on the soundtrack album, My Family (1995 East West). In the late ’90s Banda Machos toured Europe and West Africa.
The group signed with WEA Latina for Mi Guitarra y Yo (2000 WEA Latina), and the company reissued all their Fonovisa albums that same year. They struck gold again with both La Reunion (2001 WEA Latina) and A Prueba de Balas (2001 WEA Latino). For the next few years they continued to score with Banda Machos (2002 WEA Latina), Pura Pasion (2004 WEA Latina), Alma de Fuego (2005 WEA Latina), and 20 Mil Heridas (2006 WEA Latina)—the latter of which was nominated for a Best Banda Album Grammy.
The group’s latest album, Estás Seleccionada (2009 Sony Discos), has already spawned a major hit with the merengue, “Arremángala Arrempújala.” Banda Machos has several Greatest Hits albums on the market including: 16 Reales Hits (2000 WEA Latina), which contains most of their earlier hits; and 20 Grandes Exitos: Segunda Edicion (2005 WEA Latina).
