Juanjo: 70 years of Charly García: Eccentricities, genius and above all a lot of music

Carlos Alberto García Moreno was born on October 23, 1951 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but Charlie or Charly would be born a few years later, more or less with the appearance of Sui Generis, the first band with which he would begin to change the history of music. of his country, along with his namesake Carlos Alberto Its Mestre, who was also García’s classmate.

To begin to relate the life of Carlitos it is necessary to understand that he is considered one of the most important living artists of music in our language. A legend, a hero, someone completely different from the others. Even from conception, as he has a condition known as absolute pitch, which occurs in one in ten thousand people, and allows you to recognize any musical note without the need for any reference. Also vitiligo, a disease that causes loss of pigmentation in certain areas of the skin. This would give him his characteristic two-color mustache. Charly is different from everyone. Even among his peers, several recognize him as a father who helped their children in the world of rock and gave them a place in their bands and ensembles. Fito Páez, Andrés Calamaro, León Gieco, Pedro Aznar, the list could be endless, like his own career.

He is a man who jumped into the pool from the ninth floor of a hotel and lived to tell the tale, but there is much more. There are not only anecdotes or crazy things behind the author of topics like Promises on the bidet, They do not let me out, Song for my death and so many others. He had time to confront governments, dictatorships, censorship and everything imaginable, of course with music as his weapon and flag. Serú Girán (a band that he formed together with David Lebón, Óscar Moro and Pedro Aznar) was a great proof of that, releasing albums like The fat of the capitals O Peperina, that will have songs like Viernes 3am, prohibited in dictatorial times.

Now, far from political issues, of course Charly’s birthday was celebrated as a national holiday, honored in different concerts, with one that even featured his surprise participation, sharing the stage with musicians such as Fernando Samalea, Hilda Lizarazu and the aforementioned Fito Páez, who was in charge of providing an emotional show which had orchestral accompaniment and a Páez seated at the piano to interpret classics from the repertoire of the also founder of the group La Maquina de Make Pájaros.

In the midst of so many stories of excesses and eccentricities, without a doubt Charly García is a name that will be remembered in eternity and although now he can be appreciated as someone with diminished health, his rocker spirit remains intact and without signs of wanting to die out.

Happy birthday, Charly!