"Soda Stereo, Buenos Aires, Argentina". It was the words used by Gustavo Cerati at the beginning of The Last Concert on the farewell tour of the band after 15 uninterrupted years. The phrase, meant the consolidation to the trajectory of the most relevant and important group identity that has achieved a Latin American rock band. Today, its fans are not only the Argentines who saw them play in the small bars of the 80s, or those who saw them last or first time in 2007 after their reunion. Their fans are several generations who have grown up listening to their songs and when they are going to thank something great say " total thanks ". The cultural and musical impact of Soda Stereo was felt throughout the continent and the songs " Persiana Americana " and " De Música Ligera " are hymns of Latin American rock that are now part of popular culture.
A band, millions of fans
Soda Stereo assumed the leading role in the development and diffusion of Latin American rock during the 80's and 90's, which allowed him to become the first band with international projection and acceptance in a cultural space unified by the language. They performed more than 1500 concerts in 97 cities of countries of America and sold approximately 17 million copies worldwide.
The band formed by Gustavo Cerati, Héctor " Zeta " Bosio and Charly Alberti in 1982 were the most energetic and modern expression of the pop-rock of his time. They had charisma, talent, a new sound and a different staging. In the beginning, her clothes were extravagant and fashionable, colorful and polished, her hairstyles were rare, and her faces full of makeup and lipstick. Very influenced by New Wawe , Post-punk and British culture with bands like The Cure and The Police .
They were then innovating and creating an intense energetic and emotional relationship with their fans. Their concerts were massive, accustomed to playing for 50 thousand people, managing to create, without any premeditation, a process of denationalization of them with the public. It did not matter if the band was Argentina and the young people of Chile, Venezuela, Brazil or Mexico, they all felt that the band was theirs, becoming a unique cultural expression. Not only were the pop-rock band of a country, but the band of Latin American youth.
Internationalization of Latin rock
The massification of his music, the consumption of his image and the musical influence of the time, marked the beginning of the internationalization of Latin rock. They found themselves living a process where youth identity smiled on rock as a global cultural movement, where the information society, globalization, postmodernity and social inequalities of the countries, led to the emergence of new alternatives in the musical field, emerging A movement of new bands that had a continental explosion.
In its time, the pop-rock bands did not realize international tours and Soda Stereo broke with it. For 15 years they went to Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica, Mexico and United States. All the media wanted to do interviews. They always sounded on the radios. International TV networks such as MTV spent their videos and watched all TV shows in each country. They became rock stars.
Sodamania and collective hysteria
After attending the Viña del Mar Festival in Chile in 1987, Sodamanía began. The girls threw themselves into the car in which they traveled, cried, shouted, kissed, took pictures, fainted. They revolutionized the music market and their sales were massive. They were the band sensation of Latin America.
"After Chile we were very happy, because we wanted the fame, to sell many records and we thought that we were the best group of the world. In the background it is very rare to not be able to leave the hotel and all this madness, one thought that was living like a movie of The Beatles, and we had fun " noted Gustavo Cerati in an interview to the Subte Magazine .
From the alternative to the popular
During its years of activity (1982-1997) Soda Stereo occupied the covers of the main magazine of rock in America and its discs and songs occupied the first places of the specialized lists. His image was no longer that of the simple Argentine rock group. Now they were icons of music and mass culture. His life ceased to be private and became public.
In 1991 while on tour in Venezuela, they appeared in a sketch of the humor program Radio Rochela . Transcending their pubic appearances to spaces away from music. They were also objects of comic strip characters and super heroes by the Soda Stereo Comic Group group where they took the members of the band to cartoons with their themes: " Signos ", " Tele-Ka " and " Zoom ".
Cirque du Soleil honored the band with the show " Seventh Day. I will not rest ." It sums up the story of a 15 year old boy who is caged and thirsty to live. When the character listens to the music of Soda Stereo is released and lives a fantasy life where music is stronger than death.
The advertising campaign Argentina Nothing like bringing Coca-Cola to your home , used the lyrics of the song " Games of seduction ", alluding to the consumption of the product. The brand of Brahma beer also has a commercial where they promote their product through the music and image of Soda Stereo .
Soda Stereo brand of consumption
Soda Stereo began to sneak into Latin American pop culture from 1990 when they became the rock band of the moment after releasing their album Canción Animal . The consumption of his music and his lyrics came to the population through a scenario of integration and communication where his songs linked and unified all social groups, without distinction of any kind, creating identity elements similar to them. They were modern, popular and at the same time, elegant.
They had their own aesthetic, a concept of their own and they became a popular icon. A registered trademark capable of filling a youth market that needed to consume items that bear the name: Soda Stereo . Under its name, artificial necessities such as flannels, caps, plates, stickers, key chains, postcards, mugs, glasses, jackets and many other objects were created.
The symbolic capital that had left the band in its trajectory transferred the musical dimensions. They returned from their separation in 2007 under the tour Me Verás Volver and promoted their concerts as " the band that never left ." They adapted to the dynamics of everyday life as part of the collective imagination of a continent. They played the glory as Maradona and The Beatles , the tragedy gave them the immortal touch with the premature death of Gustavo Cerati in 2014.
