1. The Foundation
In the modern Lover nightclub in Vallecas, owned by Ángel Nieto, Emilio González, known as El Chicho, sought a spot for him and his brother Julio in the club’s live music shows. The duo, still unnamed at the time, also hailed from Vallecas but a different Vallecas — the Pozo del Tío Raimundo — and hustled their way through Madrid’s taverns and Costa Fleming pubs with covers of Bambino, Peret, and similar artists. Eduardo Guervós, public relations for Lover and a singer in Eddy, Los Cracks, and Batería de Goma, not only booked them at Lover but also became their representative. A name was needed, and thus Los Chichos came into being. A third member completed the trio for their first professional gala at the Nuevo Electra nightclub in Vigo, a stage possibly too large for two artists. Jero, the nickname for Juan Antonio Jiménez Muñoz, joined after a discussion during the train trip to Vigo. He explained in that ride that he wrote songs and, to prove it, sang Quiero ser libre.
2. Too Gypsy
A demo of Los Chichos featuring Quiero ser libre among other tracks reached Antonio Sánchez, father of Paco and Pepe de Lucía and Ramón de Algeciras. Backed by Sánchez, the demo landed at Philips, whose initial verdict was that the group was too Gypsy. The same sentiment would be echoed by RTVE later. Yet Polygram recorded Los Chichos. To everyone’s surprise, the first two singles, Ni más ni menos and Quiero ser libre, released in 1973, sold rapidly. The suburbs had found their chroniclers.
3. A Criminal Tale
On the B-side of Los Chichos’ third single, with Te vas en la cara A, lay La historia de Juan Castillo. It stands out as a pivotal piece in Spanish pop for several reasons. The opening verse alone is powerful: It was a night of sorrow and tears because everything led to failure. Two cousins and two brothers planned something, but they were betrayed. The tale becomes tangled, yet it is clear that a scheme aimed for a murder ended in a conviction. It blends criminal ballad traditions with flamenco influences and introduces caló language such as pucabar for delatar, bucharnó for shot, and najar for fleeing. La historia de Juan Castillo has a close sister in El fracaso by Tony el Gitano, released at around the same time by the Acropol label. The most plausible explanation is that Jero and Tony el Gitano, who had collaborated previously, began shaping the piece independently before merging ideas.
4. The Production
The key difference between La historia de Juan Castillo and El fracaso is that the former is a torpedo of rumba, rock, and salsa, while the latter remains a raw rumba. Los Chichos benefited from the major studio system, delivering impressive productions. José Torregrosa and Alfredo Garrido served as the musical director and artistic director for the majority of their classic recordings. Ricard Miralles arranged Amor y ruleta in 1979.
5. The Che-Name Dynasty
Los Chichos started a family of groups whose names began with the syllable che: Los Chunguitos, Los Chorbos, Los Chavis, Los Cheles, all related. Some claims suggest that the industry sometimes rode the confusion to advantage, especially in the cassette market at gas stations.
6. A Prison Audience
Los Chichos cemented their association with the darker side of life by composing the soundtrack for Yo, el Vaquilla in 1985. They launched the album with a performance at the Ocaña prison, where the incarcerated figure Juan José Moreno Cuenca, known as Vaquilla, was held. It was the first of many concerts staged inside prisons.
7. The Drug Era
Drug use reached alarming levels, including cocaine and heroin, to the extent that Emilio bought an apartment in the building where his dealer lived. He would go back and forth between his home and the dealer’s place, finding it more convenient to live upstairs. Julio points to the drug scene as the real cause of the original trio’s split in 1990. Jero pursued a solo career and was eventually replaced by Junior, Emilio’s son.
8. Tragedy Strikes
Jero, later known as Jeros, released albums such as Tembló pero no calló in 1990 and Agua y veneno in 1993. He died on October 22, 1995 after a fall from his apartment balcony in the Pozo del Tío Raimundo neighborhood, at age 44. Those around him have often referred to the incident as a tragedy. Jero was a prolific composer, with around 200 works registered with the SGAE. By a certain point Los Chichos agreed to record numbers by Emilio and Julio as well.
9. From Primavera Sound to Chamán Club
In 2016, Los Chichos performed at Primavera Sound with a seven-piece ensemble before thousands. A month later they played the Chamán nightclub in Los Escullos, Cabo de Gata, with pre-recorded music for an audience of about a hundred. Few groups manage to span such a wide range of formats while performing on both flagship stages and more intimate venues.
10. Sampled by C. Tangana
Los Chichos’ songs have been sampled by artists like C. Tangana in Son ilusiones from Tú me dejaste de querer, Dellafuente in La historia de Juan Castillo from La historia de John Castle, Sólo Los Solo in La cachimba from Como podamos ser and Ni más ni menos in Todo el mundo lo sabe, as well as El Coleta in Te vas, me dejas from Kamborio. The group released a collaborative album Hasta aquí hemos llegado in 2008 featuring remakes with Estopa, Peret, Manolo García, Los Delinqüentes, El Arrebato, and many more. [Source attribution: music history records]