Los Bravos

Los Bravos are a Spanish beat group, formed in 1965 and based in Madrid. They are most well known for their debut single "Black Is Black" which reached No. 2 in the United Kingdom in July 1966, No. 4 in the United States and No. 1 in Canada (the first Spanish group to do so), selling over a million records worldwide, and for their 1968 hit "Bring a Little Lovin'", which reached No. 51 in the United States and No. 22 in Canada.The band was an amalgamation of two pop groups, Los Sonor from Madrid and The Runaways from Mallorca. Los Bravos' lead singer, Mike Kogel (aliases: Mike Kennedy, Mike Keller), is from Germany. His vocal styling was sometimes likened to Gene Pitney's. "Black Is Black" reached No. 1 on the Canadian Singles Chart, No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1966, No. 4 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and has sold over one million copies worldwide."Black Is Black" was written by Michelle Grainger, Tony Hayes, and Steve Wadey in their recording studio for cutting demo discs in Hoo St Werburgh, near Rochester, Kent, England. The song was later covered by Johnny Hallyday and then by French-based outfit Belle Epoque, whose disco version coincidentally also reached No. 2 in the UK in 1977.Los Bravos' follow-up single, "I Don't Care", reached No. 16 in the UK in October 1966. In 1967, the band participated in the Sanremo Music Festival, failing to qualify for the final with the song "Uno come noi" in Italian. The band was the subject of two Spanish comedic movies: in 1967 Los chicos con las chicas (The Boys With the Girls), directed by Javier Aguirre and in 1968, ¡Dame un poco de amooor...! (Give Me a Little Looove!), directed by José María Forqué and Francisco Macián. Their song "Going Nowhere" from the soundtrack to Los chicos con las chicas was re-issued as a part of the Rhino Records series, Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969. The song had reached No. 91 in the United States, No. 54 in the United Kingdom, and No. 55 in Canada.Their single release of the Harry Vanda/George Young penned song, "Bring a Little Lovin'", reached No. 22 in Canada on 13 July 1968.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.