Singer and composer Manuel de la Calva, member of the Dynamic Duo, dies.
The Barcelona musician was 88 years old
BarcelonaThe Barcelona-born singer and composer Manuel de la Calva, a member of the Dúo Dinámico, died this Tuesday at the age of 88 in the Anderson Hospital in Madrid, according to his bandmate, Ramón Arcusa, on social media. "Manolo de Calva, my soul mate, more than a brother, a companion of a hundred adventures and a thousand songs, has left us today. Don't cry for him, you wouldn't want to. He was the soul of the Duo, always cheerful, optimistic, positive. We will miss you very much," Arcusa wrote.
Born in Barcelona on February 15, 1937, Manuel de la Calva met Ramón Arcusa when they both worked as mechanics at the Elizalde SA aviation engine company in the late 1950s. There, an artistic duo was born that would become a precursor to pop in Spain. The Dúo Dinámico's repertoire includes songs such as I will resist, Forgive me, I would like to be and My love is fifteen years old, a 1960 piece that two decades later was retitled My love is twenty years old. And together they were the creators of such popular songs as The, the, the, with which Massiel won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1968.
In addition to their work since 1958 with the Dynamic Duo, De la Calva and Arcusa were two fundamental pieces in Julio Iglesias' career: they were co-authors of songs such as I am a scoundrel, I am a gentleman and I forgot to live, the Spanish adaptation of a French song popularized by Johnny Hallyday. However, it was Arcusa who worked the hardest and with the greatest dedication with Julio Iglesias.
Manuel de la Calva and Ramon Arcusa were first The Dynamic Boys, the name they wanted to debut with on Radio Barcelona, but that same day they were already known as Dúo Dinámico. The melodic Spanish song and the harmonic interplay of the Everly Brothers were the musical references from which they began to sing. The North American influence was evident, and they quickly knew how to adapt it to the sociocultural context of Spanish youth who had been born during the Civil War (or just after), like themselves. In a country where singer-songwriter music was still barely existent and rock 'n' roll was too inhospitable, Dúo Dinámico found an open path to become a phenomenon with love songs, sometimes boleros laced with drama, which quickly became very popular.
The music industry took advantage of the duo's good moment to involve them in a film, Anchor button (1961). In addition to starring in the film, they included a few songs on the soundtrack. Neither Arcusa nor De la Calva were great actors, but they still starred in other films, always with a musical excuse, such as Find me that girl (1964), Stopover in Tenerife (1964) and One girl for two (1966). The early sixties were hectic for De la Cueva and Arcusa, who also recorded some songs in Catalan: Ai, esos ulls tan negres, You will be the first, The truth, The missatge and the Nadales Les dotze van tocant Yo Holy Night.
The passage of time took its toll on the Dynamic Duo's approach. De la Calva and Arcusa knew how to interpret the rhythm of change, and their harmonies had little to do against the push of both the singer-songwriters of artists like Joan Manuel Serrat (of whom they were good friends and for whom they had made The, the, the...) as well as the pop-rock of groups like Los Brincos and Los Bravos. So in 1968 they decided to turn the page and rename themselves Manolo y Ramón. Finally, in 1972 they closed the duo to dedicate themselves to composing and producing for other artists, such as Camilo Sesto and Nino Bravo. At that time, De la Calva met Mirna Carvajal, whom he married in 1973 and with whom he had two children.
In the late 70s, while Arcusa settled in Miami and dedicated himself intensely to working for Julio Iglesias, De la Calva continued living in Spain. From time to time, they recovered the name Dúo Dinámico and gave sporadic performances. Different waves of nostalgia favored the return of the duo, with very successful recording operations, such as the album Fit (1986), and the song I will resist, which Pedro Almodóvar used in the film Tie me up! (1989).
Since then, and always as a Dynamic Duo, they continued giving concerts and consolidating their legacy in Spanish popular culture, with unexpected situations such as the resurgence of the song Resistiré as an anthem during the confinement due to the coronavirus pandemic in the spring of 2020.
