El Último De La Fila - 1986 - Enemigos de lo ajeno

El Último de la Fila was a successful Spanish rock group based in Barcelona, Spain. Formed in 1985 by Manolo García and Quimi Portet, the group released a total of 7 full-length albums before disbanding in early 1998. Manolo García was the singer in a group called Los Rápidos (The Rapids) and Quimi Portet had created a group named Kul de Mandril (Mandrill Buttocks). They started playing together in Los Burros (The Donkeys) in 1984. Then around 1985 they decided to form El Último de la Fila, becoming one of the most successful Spanish groups of the 1980s and 1990s, touring throughout Spain and Latin America.

They were ranked number 1 on Rolling Stone's "50 Greatest Spanish rock bands".

In 1985, the two frontmen for the short-lived band, Los Burros ‒ Manolo García and Quimi Portet ‒ formed the group, El Último de la Fila. After signing with independent music label, PDI, they released their first full-length album in February 1985 entitled Cuando la pobreza entra por la puerta, el amor salta por la ventana. In 1986, the band released their follow-up album, Enemigos de lo ajeno, with the track, "Insurrección", being chosen as "Best Song of the Year" by Rock de Lux magazine. Enemigos de lo ajeno achieved the first Gold record, due to sales in excess of fifty thousand, for the band. 

“Enemigos de lo Ajeno” (PDI, 1986) has gone down in history as one of the best albums in the history of rock sung in Spanish. They achieve a balanced and very personal ensemble of miscegenation and musical bastardy that looks east and west, north and south and is charged with a Mediterranean breeze. The pop-rock songs use electronic elements when they are necessary, and the atmospheres are recreated from Arabic and Flemish references. achieved with a smaller team of musicians than the one they had on their debut. The lyrics are especially applauded, with excellent images such as “M i patria en mis zapatos, mis manos son mi ejército ” that they recite in “ My country in my shoes” or others as poetic as in “ Angels have no propellers ”: “ Like silver hooks your fingers are stuck in my body / and your laughter is spent between my fiery kisses; / smell of something that does not exist / of love, that perhaps never existed ”

1987 saw the release of the group's third album, Nuevas mezclas ‒ recorded on a larger budget with improved sound quality ‒ followed by 1988's Como la cabeza al sombrero which sold more than 400,000 copies. The band began performing at larger and larger concert venues throughout Europe and South America, including the September 1988 Amnesty International Human Rights Now! concert in Barcelona, along with Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman, and Youssou N'Dour.  From 1988 to 1990, the group continued touring throughout Europe and the Americas including stops in Mexico, the United States, Colombia, Argentina, and Venezuela. 

In 1990, the band released their fifth album, Nuevo pequeño catálogo de seres y estares, which reached #1 on the AFYVE sales chart. The group also founded their own music company, Perro Records. After another extensive tour throughout Spain, Europe, and South America, the group issued its sixth album, Astronomía razonable, in 1993 which became the first album by a Spanish group to stay at #1 on the AFYVE sales chart for 10 or more weeks. The disc also went gold in Venezuela and Mexico. The group promoted the album with a new international tour which included scenography designed by the Els Comediants theater group. In 1995, the band released their seventh and final album, La rebelión de los hombres rana, and again toured internationally in collaboration with Els Comediants. The concerts included tracks from the group's entire history including songs from the Los Rápidos and Los Burros eras. On 13 January 1998, El Último de la Fila announced their breakup so that the group's two founding members, Manolo García and Quimi Portet, would each separately pursue solo careers.

TRACKLIST:

1. Lejos de las leyes de los hombres (M. García, Q. Portet) 3:22

2. Insurrección (M. García, Q. Portet) 2:12

3. Mi patria en mis zapatos (M. García, Q. Portet) 4:22

4. Aviones plateados (M. García, Q. Portet) 3:52

5. Zorro veloz (M. García, Q. Portet) 4:14

6. Las palabras son cansancio (S. Alpers, M. García, Q. Portet) 3:50

7. Soy un accidente (M. García, Q. Portet) 3:22

8. Los ángeles no tienen hélices (M. García, Q. Portet) 3:40

9. No me acostumbro (Q. Portet) 4:20

10. ¿Para qué sirve una hormiga?» M. García, Q. Portet) 2:29

Credits

Angel Celada: Drums

Jose Luis Perez: Electric Guitar

Quimi Portet: Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Harmonica

Manolo García: Vocals, Keyboards, Tambourine

Marc Grau: Guitar [Spanish]

José Llobell: Engineer

Marc Neuhaus: Engineer

Rafael Moll: Producer