♫ Black Is Black ♫

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The world may be falling apart before our very eyes, but there’s one thing that can help us shut it all out for a little while, help us remember a saner time, things that mattered once upon a time, can bring a smile to our face and make us tap our toes, if only for a short time … music.  I was in the mood for some toe-tapping tunes tonight, and I happened across one from way back in 1966 that I always liked.

This song is by Los Bravos, a Spanish quintet with a German lead singer – Mike Kogel.  It is one of the few songs by a group from a non-English speaking country to have an international hit, in part because they were one of the few Spanish acts to sing in English.

After getting tipped to the group by someone at Decca Records in Spain, the British producer Ivor Raymonde took a trip to that country and signed the group, who at the time were using the name Mike & The Runaways. He brought them to London and had them record “Black Is Black,” which was their first release as Los Bravos.

This song was written by the British team of Michelle Grainger, Tony Hayes and Steve Wadey.

Now, I’m playing two versions here … both by Los Bravos, but one is the 1966 Los Bravos, and the other, just for fun, is Los Bravos … um … some years later, though I’m not sure of the exact date, I believe it is circa 2015.  Quite honestly, I think they sound just as good, maybe even better, nearly 50 years later as they did way back when, and the sound quality of the video is far superior!

Black Is Black 
Los Bravos

Black is black, I want my baby back
It’s grey, it’s grey, since she went away, oh oh
What can I do, ’cause I, I’m feelin’ blue

If I had my way, she’d be here today
But she’d go in time, and leave me to cry again, oh no
What can I do, ’cause I, I’m feelin’ blue

I can’t choose, it’s too much to lose when our love’s too strong
Maybe if she would come back to me, then I can’t go wrong

Bad is bad, that I feel so sad
It’s time, it’s time, that I felt peace of mind, oh oh
What can I do, ’cause I, I’m feelin’ blue

I can’t choose, it’s too much to lose when our love’s too strong
Maybe if she would come back to me, then I can’t go wrong

Black is black, I want my baby back
It’s grey, it’s grey, since she went away, oh oh
What can I do, ’cause I, I’m feelin’ blue

‘Cause I, I’m feelin’ blue, ’cause I, I’m feelin’ blue

Songwriters: Anthony Hayes / Michelle Grainger / Steve Wadey
Black Is Black Mono Single lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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27 thoughts on “♫ Black Is Black ♫”

  1. All you bubblegummers! Have any of you heard the flip side? (At least the one we got in Canada.) “I Want a Name” was a sorrowful ballad of a man who virtually had nothing, like a homeless boy with no family of his own. No name of his own. That was how I felt in those years…

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  2. Incredible that the older version of them sounded better to me! I had to check the original to make sure they weren’t lip syncing an overdub. I’m familiar with this song, but not sure where i heard it, maybe in a movie. Nice pick!

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  8. As soon as I saw the title that song was in my head. I think I prefer the original, but I don’t recall ever knowing who sang it. In Australia, mid sixties, there was a half hour weekday early evening pop programme called ‘Komotion’ – a must watch for me and source of arguments with my little brother, who wanted to watch Eighth Man cartoon. To showcase hits from Britain and USA they had a team of go go dancers to dance and mime to the songs. I was in love with half the blokes, but of course had a totally skewed image of where the songs came from and who was singing them.

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    • Ah yes … while I didn’t know of Komotion, over here it was ‘American Bandstand’ every Saturday. I only fell in love with the nerdy ones with coke-bottle-thick glasses … I guess because they more nearly matched me! 😉 Glad the song brought back memories!!!

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