Juan Carlos Baglietto

Juan Carlos Baglietto (Italian pronunciation: [baʎˈʎetto]; born June 14, 1956, in Rosario, Santa Fe) is an Argentine musician, singer and composer.[1] He is one of the iconic figures of the musical movement called Trova Rosarina, a famous generation of singers and composers based in the city of Rosario, who came to prominence during the 80’s, and were famous for their groundbreaking work in pop music, with a sound rooted in rock, tango and “folklore argentino”.

Baglietto was a member of various small bands until “Irreal” was formed, in 1980, comprising himself, Juan Chianelli (keyboards), Jorge Llonch (bass), “Piraña” Fegundez (flute), Alberto Corradini (guitar) and Daniel Wirtz (drums). They attracted a big audience to their concerts, but were always pursued by the censors of the Proceso. Halfway through 1981 Baglietto launched himself as a solo musician. He made his début in Buenos Aires, but he didn’t achieve a breakthrough until he became the surprise hit of the Festival de La Falda in 1982. By this time, he had armed himself with a supporting group consisting of Silvina Garré as a backing singer, Fito Páez as keyboardist, Rubén Goldín on guitar, Sergio Sainz on bass and José “Zappo” Aguilera on drums. With this band, he recorded Tiempos difíciles, the first Argentine rock album to achieve a gold disc. Many of its tracks, like Mirta, de regreso or Era en abril, were widely played on the radio stations of the capital and this fuelled the success of his concert in Obras, right after the Falklands War. This success affected a little the sales of Actuar para vivir, the following album.

In May 1983 a concert in Obras, of all the Rosarian musicians, was organised, called El Rosariazo. Baglietto performed together with Litto Nebbia, Silvina Garré y Fabián Gallardo. His band filled the Astral theatre five nights in a row, billed as “Baglietto”. In November 1984 he performed the show “Por qué cantamos”, together with Celeste Carballo, Nito Mestre and Oveja Negra. Modelo para armar (1985) was the first disc since his collaboration with Fito Páez, in which Baglietto tried to make a break with the style that he had been associated. For this, he specially composed all-new material. His subsequent disc, Acné (1986) is an hommage “to the music I grew up with.” Having this in mind, he chose tracks that hadn’t originally been hits, for example Los días de Actemio (by Los Gatos) or Tema de Pototo (by Almendra).