WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Los Del Rio

Did you do the “Macarena”? Can you still do the “Macarena”? Do you still do the “Macarena”? Ask Los Del Rio…

Antonio Monge and Rafael Perdigones (both born in 1948) formed the singing duo Los Del Rio in 1962, but had to wait 34 years before they became famous, and it was all over one song. The pair spent their days touring pubs and clubs across their native Spain, recording their debut album, “Luces de Sevilla”, in 1967. Dozens of albums followed throughout the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, but in 1993 they wrote and recorded the song “Macarena”, set to a traditional Latin guitar soundtrack. It went unoticed as did all their previous singles and albums did but in 1995, two producers by the names of Mike Triay and Carlos de Yarza, calling themselves The Bayside Boys, heard it while on holiday in Spain and thought…hmm…I wonder if…

Well, they did and give it a club mix with dance beats and voila, an instant holiday time party hit. This new version came out in August 1995 and over the next twelve months took the world by storm, topping the charts in seventeen countries and shifting over 11 million copies! Antonio and Rafael, both now 48, went on a world tour to promote the song and its catchy dance, getting holiday villages up around the pool and ‘doing it’. And as if that wasn’t enough, the chaps came back at Christmas 1996 to dish up a “Macarena Christmas”! The single went top five in Australia and No.57 in America, the third time a version of the song had charted there. The “Macarena” has kept them busy ever since, and while there have been no other hit records, and now in their late 70’s, the duo are happy to keep ‘doing it’ again and again. Ay, ay!