Cuca

Mexican rock en español trailblazers la Cuca command a devoted cult following and an organic grassroots audience that any major-label pop star might covet. Toward the close of 1989 Jose Fors and Carlos Avilez first teamed up, soon expanding the roster with Galo Ochoa and Nacho Gonzalez. The quartet made its live bow only months afterward, performing under the name CUCA. Already contracted to BMG subsidiary Culebra by 1992, the group entered the studio to cut its debut album, La Invasion de los Blatidos. The release stirred excitement throughout the nascent Spanish-speaking hard-rock scene and attained gold status within its first year of availability. Only a year later CUCA headed to England to track its sophomore effort with producer Robin Black, whose résumé includes work with Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, and Alice Cooper. Tu Cuca Madre Ataca de Nuevo was completed just as the band joined Aerosmith’s Get a Grip Tour across 1994. The third studio album, La Racha, dominated Mexican rock radio for months following its appearance. Jose Fors rejoined in 1996 after an absence and launched sessions for El Cuarto de Cuca. The ensuing tour earned the group coveted support slots with longtime idols Deep Purple on Mexican dates, marking one of the band’s final shows before an extended hiatus. After several years apart, the members reconvened for a sizable outdoor concert in their native Guadalajara that yielded the live CD and DVD Viva Cuca. A subsequent run of major-venue performances prompted the veterans to lay down their fifth studio album, Con Pelotas, issued in 2006.