Biography
The collaboration between two major figures to release a joint album—as Spinetta and Páez did in 1986—was an unusual occurrence in Argentine rock. Argentina was in its third year of democracy following the fall of the last dictatorship. Within this democratic context, Argentine rock—which had emerged in the late 1960s—was reaching a mass audience and developing new sounds, even as a new generation entered the scene. "The eighties tattooed freedom onto me," Fito Páez said two decades later.
The partnership between Spinetta and Páez channeled precisely that meeting point between the generation that founded Argentine rock and the second generation, which was shaped by the Malvinas War (1982) and the restoration of democracy (1983).
Read full biography ↓
Spinetta was 36 years old. He had already released nineteen albums and led essential Argentine rock bands such as Almendra, Pescado Rabioso, Invisible, and Spinetta Jade. He had been shifting significantly toward a techno style since his album *Mondo di cromo* (1983). Fito Páez was just 23. He had emerged on the Argentine rock scene in 1982 as part of the *Trova Rosarina* movement, standing out from the very beginning; after backing Juan Carlos Baglietto and Charly García on historically significant albums, he had launched a solo career with two releases—the second of which, *Giros* (released the previous year), was shaping up to be one of the greatest albums in the history of Argentine rock.
The previous year, Spinetta had attempted to create a joint album with Charly García—a project that fell through due to personal differences—and had released a solo album titled *Privé* (featuring Fito Páez on two tracks) that expressed the mixed emotions caused by that failure. Páez was beginning to shine in his own right at the pinnacle of the Argentine rock scene and wanted to fulfill his dream of playing alongside his musical idols. He had already done so with García, and in 1986 he would definitively bring it to fruition with Spinetta.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.