La Movida Madrileña
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La Movida Madrileña (English: The Madrilenian groove) was a sociocultural movement that took place in Madrid during the first ten years after the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, which represented the economic rise of Spain and the emergence of a different Spanish identity. This hedonistic and cultural wave also took place in other Spanish urban centers, such as Barcelona, Bilbao and Vigo. "La Movida" is also characterized by the large use of drugs by the youth and the use of slang known as cheli.
Outside of Spain, the best known artist from that period is Pedro Almodóvar, whose first films, such as Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón (1980), reflected the freedom of the moment. Other important artists in "la Movida" were musicians Kaka de Luxe and Aviador Dro; recording artist Alaska, who hosted the children's TV show La Bola de Cristal; pop groups like Mecano,Los Nikis and Radio Futura; graffiti writer Muelle; photographers Ouka Leele, García Alix, Pablo Perez Minguez and Miguel Trillo; and painters like Ceesepe, Mariscal, Guillermo Perez-Villalta, Costus and El Hortelano. Some other TV programs contributed to expand "la Movida" culture like La Edad de Oro, hosted by Paloma Chamorro.
Nacha Pop, Los Secretos, Derribos Arias, Gabinete Caligari, Joaquin Sabina, Aviador Dro, Un Pingüino en mi Ascensor, La Unión, Loquillo y los Trogloditas, Mecano, Los Toreros Muertos, Leño, Radio Futura and many others musicians of this movement are now part of the strongest rock and pop-wave of Spanish history. In moods, looks and attitudes it resembled British New Wave and Neue Deutsche Welle, sometimes mimicking styles such as New Romantic. Another important figure outside the artistic world of "la Movida" was Francisco Umbral, writer for El País, who was the journalist who wrote and documented this movement.
The musical Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar, composed by Nacho Cano, former member of Mecano, portrays a love story with "la Movida" as cultural background. The musical explains the condition of young people in this period, trying to survive in Madrid under the shadow of drugs and AIDS.
