Goodbyes are usually difficult, although if they are dressed as a celebration they are more bearable. That is what Los Chichos, one of the flagship groups of gypsy rumba in our country, are going to do during the spring and summer of 2024. After 50 years on stage, the Madrid trio formed by brothers Julio and Emilio González Gabarre, and the latter’s son, Emilio González García, who took the place that Juan Antonio Jiménez Muñoz ‘Jero’ left vacant in 1991, says goodbye in style with a concert tour of various Spanish cities (March 9, at the Palau Sant Jordi) that will serve to put an end to his long career.
“We’re leaving, they’re not kicking us out,” they proudly tell La Vanguardia, remembering that “we are the rumberos that have sold the most in history. “There are the sales.” It’s true, the numbers don’t lie: 22 million records sold, multiple gold and platinum records, and the record of being the musical group with the most registered products. The fruits of a lifetime dedicated to music that leave hymns such as ‘They are illusions’, ‘No more, no less’ or ‘I want to be free’.
Los Chichos are part of the Spanish musical heritage and this is demonstrated by the affection that not only the public has for them, but also their professional colleagues. “It fills you with pride. If there’s one thing that swells your ego, it’s the respect our teammates have for us. Everyone admires you and speaks to you with respect… Manolo Garcia, or that Sergio Dalma who, when he came to make ‘Son ilusiones’, a version for the album ‘Hasta aqui dondemos’, told us: ‘I’ve been nervous for three days because I’m going to sing with you’. A piece of Sergio Dalma! That’s what we’re left with. Apart from the respect that people have for us, the respect that our colleagues have for us,” they comment, knowing that they have been a source of inspiration for big names such as Antonio Orozco, El Barrio, Camela, Estopa or Ketama, among others.
The music industry has undergone great changes since they began their career in 1973, a time when YouTube and Spotify neither existed nor were they expected. “For us, an artist is record sales. There came a time when with 10,000 copies you were already a gold artist. But for an artist to look at himself by the reproductions he has, by the likes? Charging real fortunes for making a video, putting it on YouTube, hitting a ball, being at the right time, in the right place, and charging three times more than us… It’s amazing! And not a single album sold. “It’s not normal,” they reflect with a hint of indignation. Of course, they know how to recognize art when they hear it and agree that Rosalía is a great example of musical innovation. “Rosalía has many detractors and we don’t understand why. We love her. She has been the first to do what she does, and she does it well. And also, she is very cool,” they comment with a laugh.
Another thing that has changed in Spanish society in the last 50 years is the concept of diversity and globalization. It was not difficult for Los Chichos to excel in music in years in which the gypsy community was automatically associated with precariousness and marginalization, with no options for integration. “Paco de Lucía’s father, Don Antonio Sánchez, listened to us and from there on up,” they admit, although they are aware of the disadvantage that, even today, those of their race face: “There are many gypsies who do virguerías, but they are not known. Since the Catholic Monarchs, more than 500 years ago, there has been racism towards gypsies.”
There is no doubt that Los Chichos have had the approval of the public during these five decades, but what about the institutions? Have you shown your support for the group’s artistic creation? “Unofficially, yes. There was a minister, whose name we will not say, who told us: ‘I grew up with your songs and I love them.’ But they are the least. The thickness is in the neighborhoods, in the people, in the town,” they admit.
Fifty years of career give rise to many ups and downs, as they themselves acknowledge, and to many memories that remain in the memory of these three geniuses. Like the day when, to the surprise of many, they performed at Primavera Sound and “we were the winners.” Or what they consider their best show at the Sala Apolo in Barcelona where “none of us wanted it to end, no one wanted to leave there. The communion with the people made it a piece of concert.”
Los Chichos say goodbye in style with “a legacy for all time. 100 years will pass and Los Chichos will continue to be heard.” As they say, “being a chichero is not a hobby, it is a feeling,” and that is what will emerge in the concerts with which they will say goodbye to their audience: feelings and emotions dressed in rumbas that, undoubtedly, are already part of history. musical of our country.
