Alphaville

Alphaville was a band from Madrid that emerged in 1980, at the beginning of the so-called "Movida Madrileña", with a new wave and synth pop style. Unlike other well-known musical groups of this style, Alphaville opted for a more elegant, cold and compact sound, with a weight in lyrics and the creation of gothic atmospheres, that had the unanimous respect of the critic and public. The group was formed by José Luis Fernández Abel (voice and electric guitar), Fernando Muro (bass guitar), José Luis Orfanel (electric guitar), Juan Antonio Nieto (drums) and José Carlos Sánchez (keyboards), all mates from the Colegio Obispo Perelló of Madrid, and followers of bands of progressive rock like King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Together they formed a group called Alchemy that tried to break through the hectic musical moment in Madrid. After some changes in the original formation of the group, they named Alphaville.

Without much success in the record companies, they gave some concerts by the well-known venues of Madrid, like Marquee or Rock-Ola, where they met Servando Carballar, director of the DRO label (Discos Radiactivos Organizados) and leader of Aviador Dro, who believes in his musical project and puts them in a studio to record what would be his first work, an EP called 'Paisajes Nocturnos' published in April 1982. A few months later, the bassist Mendi leaves the group and Pablo Vega replaces him, while appears a maxi that would report the first success: 'Palacio de Invierno', with remarkable songs like "Nijinsky el Loco" and "Ataque Lateral". Subsequently a single would be edited with a song very characteristic of their style, "La Escalera". In the B side appeared an instrumental version of "Nijinsky el Loco".

Bassist Pablo Vega is required to serve military service and is substituted by Jane (Almudena) de Maeztu (formerly from La Mode). Finally, in 1983 appears the first album titled 'De Mascaras y Enigmas' where its sound is definitely aimed of powerful and atmospheric guitars and suggestive keyboards. Their influences are of English groups like Joy Division or Echo & the Bunnymen but they are able to create a very distinctive style that deserves a more than acceptable criticism. The following year, it will appear the most acclaimed song of his career: "De Máscaras y Enigmas", with a homologous name to the previous album, in a maxi called 'El Desprecio'. The song exhibits an atmosphere of mystery thanks to the enigmatic lyrics and a dark guitar that the firm and forceful voice of Abel is in charge of putting together. However, the maxi was not to the liking of critics and in a sense contributed to the group decline. 

The strong personality and self-centeredness of their supposed leader, Jose Luis F. Abel, made the rest of the band show their discomfort with the situation. They considered that Abel had developed an ego and a protagonism that was devouring the group. All of this, along with the discreet promotional success of his latest work, made the band definitely split in 1986. There has been some attempt of a later reunification, with the recording of some sporadic session (as in Radio 3 with Jesus Ordovás) but never finally occurred. In the decade of the 90's two compilations CDs with some unpublished songs were released. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]