Toni Cruz, member of La Trinca and key figure in Catalan television, dies.

BarcelonaWith a tenor voice, his albums sold more at gas stations on cassette than in audiophile stores. He didn't seem to mind: for more than fifty years, he had a flair and pride for connecting with the mass public, regardless of criticism, whether as a member of the comedy trio La Trinca or as the creator of successful but controversial programs like Martian ChroniclesToni Cruz's talent has faded at the age of 78. He would have turned 79 on July 14th. His friend and colleague Josep Maria Mainat received the news of his death while traveling in Athens, Greece, and this afternoon he was trying to find a flight that would allow him to return to Barcelona as soon as possible, as he explained on TV3.

Born in Girona in 1946, he moved to Canet de Mar as a teenager and, to get to Barcelona, ​​he used to take the same train as another restless young man: Josep Maria Mainat. From these comings and goings came the idea of ​​​​creating a musical group. But before forming the trio that would become their soundscape for two decades, there were a few attempts, such as the quintet The Víkings, with a conventional repertoire of tangos, boleros, and cha-chachas, which they occasionally peppered with their own songs that combined folklore and irreverent humor with social criticism. The bassist for that combo was Miquel Àngel Pasqual, and the three tried their luck with a new group.

The springboard, like so many other groups and solo artists, was provided by Salvador Escamilla. Mainat listened to his famous radio show and realized that performing didn't require a released album. No sooner said than done, they landed a gig. And legend has it that it was just the day before they decided to change their name to La Trinca. They became regulars on the show, and the host put them in touch with the head of Edigsa, who offered them their first record deal. The result is a first album, titled The Trinca, which is already a hit with the public, although critics view them from a distance and dismiss them as little more than clumsiness, at a time when political commitment is often expressed with the understandably overwhelmed air of protest songs.

Over the course of two decades they released albums that would leave behind classics of musical humor such as Baron de Bidet, It doesn't come from a palm either Things about the language. And they will introduce an essential element that will be the seed of their later work in the audiovisual world: a theatrical conception of their shows, which will not be simple recitals. They also soon began performing for television: the first one-hour special on TVE dates back to 1972. However, their first own program arrives in 1986 on TV3, with No problem, which combined an informal interview with songs and sketches.

Paradoxically, that would be the beginning of the end for La Trinca. Television work was so absorbing that they stopped touring theaters and also making albums. The trio had a new toy in their hands: the producer Gestmusic, founded in 1987, which is also the year of their last studio album, Tag! With this new company they will make subsequent programs, such as Look what they do now, also on TV3, or those on La 1, such as Tariro, tariroThe departure of Miquel Àngel Pasqual in 1990 and the sale of his stake in Gestmusic to the Dutch group Endemol brought the triumvirate to an end.

In search of the format of formats

Cruz is focusing all his efforts on the production company during this period. His first major success outside of the cameras is Martian Chronicles, hosted by Xavier Sardà. The show revolutionizes nighttime television and achieves unprecedented audience records, but as the seasons progress, the transgressive nature of the beginning gives way to other, more controversial segments, and this Martian show often ends up being branded as trash television, although Cruz, Mainat, and Sardà have always rejected that label.

There is another, less polarizing moment in television history. In the mid-90s, during a meeting with Jon de Mol, the founder of Endemol, Cruz listens in amazement as he explains the format he has in mind: locking a group of participants in a house in the middle of nowhere and filming them all day. "He's crazy," he and Mainat think, on the way back. But it turns out that this is the seed of Big Brother, which becomes a worldwide phenomenon. And if they applied that principle, but instead of not letting them sprout, they took some amateur singers, got them in shape, gave them training, and turned them into singers. as it shouldAnd what if, on top of that, their recorded versions of the galas were released weekly? It was born Operation Triumph, a format that would eventually be exported to dozens and dozens of countries. Once again, critics are up in arms about the impact of this format and how it overshadows the singers. oh really, but the producers will remember that so many records had never been sold before and, in the end, the number of artists who have emerged from that television academy and fill stages is not negligible.

In 1995, Cruz and Mainat decided to integrate Gestmusic into Endemol, but they continued to run the company until 2011, leaving behind a string of successful programs (Meteor shower, High voltage, National Parody, Don't laugh, it's pitjor, Strength Barça, Those crazy little guys, If I guess right, I guess it. either Love at first sight) and a huge umbrella: the management of copyrightsOperation Triumph, which will continue to be monetized every time the format is sold in a new country. In recent years, he has also been linked to Barça, serving as an external consultant for the project. Barça Studios, which eventually led to Barça One, the sports club's free audiovisual content platform. Cruz's final stint will be at the independent production company Reset TV, a more modest project, alongside his eternal comrade-in-arms, Josep Maria Mainat. The two built a specially designed desk that allows them to work together and separately at the same time, as needed. A desk that, today, decades after those Renfe journeys between Canet and Barcelona, ​​is the image of mourning for Toni Cruz, with its unprecedented asymmetry.