Uploaded February 2016 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
"Black Is Black", by rock band Los Bravos, was released in 1966 and became the group's debut single and made Los Bravos the first Spanish rock band to have an international hit single.The song peaked at #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100, #2 on the UK Singles Chart, #1 on the Canadian RPM 100 Chart, earned a gold record, and is remembered as the peak of '60s Spanish pop. The four Spanish members were a blend from two other pop groups, and the lead singer was German-born whose voice had an uncanny resemblance to that of singer Gene Pitney which many people thought after hearing the song. Actually, Pitney did collaborate on the song, but couldn't take any credit for it due to another contract commitment. In fact, Pitney once commented that, when he heard the song later, he racked his brain trying to remember doing the session for the song. Since none of the band spoke English, the song was recorded phonetically, and the instruments were played by studio session players, not by Los Bravos. One more thing: Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, U.S. media conglomerate company Clear Channel Communications (now iHeart Communications, Inc.) distributed a memorandum to program directors at the more than 1000 radio stations the company owned. The memo contained a list of at least 162 songs with "questionable lyrics and/or titles" stations should avoid playing. "Black Is Black" was among the songs on the list.
"Black Is Black", by rock band Los Bravos, was released in 1966 and became the group's debut single and made Los Bravos the first Spanish rock band to have an international hit single.The song peaked at #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100, #2 on the UK Singles Chart, #1 on the Canadian RPM 100 Chart, earned a gold record, and is remembered as the peak of '60s Spanish pop. The four Spanish members were a blend from two other pop groups, and the lead singer was German-born whose voice had an uncanny resemblance to that of singer Gene Pitney which many people thought after hearing the song. Actually, Pitney did collaborate on the song, but couldn't take any credit for it due to another contract commitment. In fact, Pitney once commented that, when he heard the song later, he racked his brain trying to remember doing the session for the song. Since none of the band spoke English, the song was recorded phonetically, and the instruments were played by studio session players, not by Los Bravos. One more thing: Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, U.S. media conglomerate company Clear Channel Communications (now iHeart Communications, Inc.) distributed a memorandum to program directors at the more than 1000 radio stations the company owned. The memo contained a list of at least 162 songs with "questionable lyrics and/or titles" stations should avoid playing. "Black Is Black" was among the songs on the list.
