· Joan Manuel Serrat - "Catalan compilation 1965/2006"

Joan Manuel Serrat is a Spanish Catalan singer-songwriter. He is considered one of the most important figures of modern, popular music in both the Spanish and Catalan languages. Serrat became involved with music at the age of 17, when he got his first guitar, to which he dedicates one of his earliest songs: "Una guitarra." In the early 60's, the young artist participated in a pop band, playing along with classmates at Barcelona's Agronomy School and performing mainly Beatles songs and Italian 'pop-of-the-era' songs translated to Spanish. In 1965, while singing in a radio show called Radioscope, host Salvador Escamilla helped him secure a record deal with local label EDIGSA, where he recorded his first LP, as well as joining as the member number thirteen the group of Catalan songwriters called “Els Setze Jutges” (The Sixteen Judges). Joan Manuel Serrat's first live stage performance in 1967 at the Palau de la Música Catalana, served to establish him as one of the most important artists inside the Nova cançó movement in Catalonia. The following year, Spain entered Serrat in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 to sing "La, La, La" (She Gives Me Love), but he asked to sing it in Catalan, to which the Spanish authorities would not agree. This would be the first time he would come into conflict with the language politics of Francoist Spain, because of his decision to sing in his native Catalan language, repressed by dictator Francisco Franco. Defiantly, Serrat refused to sing the Spanish-language version, and was hurriedly substituted by Massiel, who went on to win the contest with her Spanish-language interpretation. As a result, Serrat's songs were banned and his records burned in the streets. He then traveled to South America and participated in the Rio de Janeiro's World Music Festival, where he took first place with the song "Penélope." In 1969, Serrat released an album containing songs with texts of Antonio Machado, a well known Spanish republican poet of late 19th-early 20th century. This album brought him immediate fame in all Spain and Latin America though, in spite of this, his decision to sing as well in Spanish was still criticized in some nationalistic Catalan circles. Regarding this and other times when his choice of language (sometimes Spanish, sometimes Catalan) raised controversy on either side of the political sphere, he once explained: "Look, I sing better in the language they forbid me." The release of the Mediterráneo LP in 1971 consolidated the artist's reputation worldwide. In late 1974, Serrat was exiled in Mexico due to his condemnation of arbitrary executions under Franco's regime. It wasn't until Franco's death November 20, 1975 that Serrat was able to return to his homeland. In 1976, Joan Manuel Serrat was acclaimed for the first time in the U.S.A., while performing in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York. In January 1995, the Spanish government awarded him a medal for his contribution to Hispanic culture. On November 28, 1998, Serrat performed the Cant del Barça during the FC Barcelona Centenary festival at the Camp Nou. In 2000, the Spanish Association of Authors and Editors (SGAE) awarded him with one of ten Medals of the Century. Serrat revealed in October 2004 that he had been undergoing treatment for cancer of the urinary bladder and in November that year he had to cancel a tour of Latin America and the U.S. in order to undergo surgery in Barcelona, where he still lives. His recovery was satisfactory, and in 2005 he went on tour again ("Serrat 100 X 100") around Spain and Latin America with his lifelong producer and arranger, Ricard Miralles. Serrat also recorded an album featuring symphonic versions of his songs, which was performed in several different countries and always using local symphony orchestras. In 2006 Serrat released Mô, his first album completely in Catalan in 17 years. The album title refers to the city of Mahón, capital of the Spanish island of Menorca, where he likes to get away from it all during long touring seasons.





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01- Una Guitarra
02- Ara Que Tinc Vint Anys
03- Cançó de Matinada
04- Paraules d’Amor
05- La Tieta
06- Com Ho Fa el Vent
07- Marta
08- Saps
09- De Mica en Mica
10- Bon Dia
11- El Meu Carrer
12- Conillet de Vellut
13- Pare
14- Helena
15- Res No es Mesquí
16- Temps Era Temps
17- Es Quan Dormo Que Hi Veig Clar
18- Plany al Mar
19- La Consciencia
20- Seria Fantàstic
21- Barcelona i Jo
22- La Rosa de L’adéu
23- Plou al Cor