Year 2001. 'Copperpot's Journey' by La Oreja de Van Gogh manages to be the best-selling album of the entire year in Spain… after having been the 9th best-selling album of the year 2000, when it had actually been released. The album ranks at number 1 weekly up to 14 times. One of them at the release of the album in autumn, and the other 13 during 2001 already. 'Copperpot's Journey' manages to be a hit on the charts thanks to the success of the first album and the good reception of the first singles 'Cuídate' and 'París'.
But it is after Christmas that the album takes a leap, thanks to the fact that singles continue to come out, especially 'La playa', but also 'Mariposa', 'Soledad' and 'Pop'. These are the golden years of the industry and more than 1 million units are sold, especially on CD.
Year 2002. 'Estrella de mar' by Amaral manages to be the 3rd best-selling album of the entire year in Spain. It is only surpassed by Álex Ubago's 'Qué Pedis Tú' and David Bisbal's 'Corazón Latino', but the work of Eva Amaral and Juan Aguirre manages to survive the onslaught of albums and more gala albums from OT first, and the albums themselves. the triumphs, later.
'Estrella de mar' will never make it out of the top 5 of the sales charts, but it will survive until 47 weeks of that 2002 (it came out in February), going around and around the top positions, thanks to the reception of singles like 'Without you I am nothing', 'I need you', 'All night in the street' (very appropriately published in summer) and 'I would die for you' (very appropriately published in autumn). Up to 800,000 units are sold locally.
Both groups would continue their path in different ways. In the case of LOVG, delivering two more successful albums that left their mark in the 2000s, even after the change of singer. Leire Martínez would pick up the glove exactly where Amaia Montero left it, taking advantage of the fact that there were several hands that gave that marked and defined personality to the group. Not just those of the vocalist.
Amaral would also embark on a peculiar course, first releasing other successful albums such as 'Pájaros en la Cabeza', and then opting for a slightly more alternative profile through double albums, self-released and slightly more raw. 'Into the Wild' would be the most interesting.
Everyone's careers have continued their course, but always without forgetting what 'Copperpot's Voyage' and 'Starfish' meant to both of them. On the tour that both groups have embarked on this year, both albums occupy privileged places in the setlist. Van Gogh's Ear usually play up to 5 songs from “Copperpot.” Amaral, 4 of 'Estrella de mar', also reserving a privileged place for 'Pájaros en la corazón'.
This is what we saw in SanSan, where Amaral and La Oreja played on the same day. And this is how we will celebrate next July 5, when both groups will coincide on the same day of Río Babel in Madrid, with JENESAISPOP as the official media. Gabriel Cárcoba, who covered the Benicàssim event during Holy Week, noted then: «Both La Oreja and Amaral have been taking to the stage for around 25 years and giving us a collection of songs that will accompany us forever. Not only to those who have followed them from the beginning, but also to all the generations that came after. “They are two of the groups that have sold the most in the history of this country.” He defined both shows as those of «two bands that have left an indelible mark both in the history of Spanish pop and in the lives of millions of people. “These melodies have not belonged to them for a long time.”
At one point in the setlist of La Oreja de Van Gogh, Cárcoba wondered what the hell they were saving for last, after such a collection of hits, especially after the performance of 'Rosas' raised the cell phones of everyone in attendance.
But perhaps it was Eva Amaral's charisma that left the most significant statements. First of all, she explained the relationship they have with the band from San Sebastián: “We are very excited to play with them tonight because we have been together for many years and they are excellent companions. “We have survived a lot of noise.” What noise could the artist be referring to? She explained it shortly after: “From calling me a little girl, they immediately started calling me an old lady, as if it were an insult, but I am proud to be an old lady.”
Amaia Montero – later Leire Martínez – and Eva Amaral had to suffer the prejudices of the general and specialized press of the time, very oriented to the underground. Somehow, the three of them were considered “little girls.” The 2000s were the times when Los Planetas and Nacho Vegas took over the covers of indie magazines, while the Premios Amigo usually went to Alejandro Sanz, Manolo García, Álex Ubago and Carlos Vives (although LOVG did manage to monopolize some ).
Supported by radio formula and major labels, both left their mark in the 2000s, without perhaps at the time, or even with the figures in front of us, we were able to see how much. Perhaps it was even assumed that they could be products of “major” instead of authors of their own songs. We always talked about the Golden Age of Spanish Pop in the past tense, without realizing that we were also living another Golden Age of Spanish Pop. We thought that La Movida was better, without remembering that studio musicians and busybody producers were also common in La Movida.
It is only today that there is talk of a revival of those years. When festivals that would never have called them to play, call them to play. When we realize that a generation of twenty-somethings grew up listening to those songs in their parents' car: exactly the same phenomenon that had been experienced with Mecano. When we realize that their repertoire is part of the history of our country.
The good news is that we have time to repair mistakes: we can see them play, even together at a festival. And by the way, we can stop continually despising the present of Spanish pop, in favor of a supposedly better past that never existed. Look at the charts and guess which artist we'll see headlining festivals in 20 years. Quevedo? Probably. Lola Indigo? Sure. Is Bogotá burning? Too bad it bothers me. Ana Mena? She looks good.
