Alaska (singer)

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Alaska
Alaska in 2016
Born	María Olvido Gara Jova (1963-06-13) 13 June 1963 (age 60) Mexico City, Mexico
Other names	The Mexican Acid Queen
Occupations	Singer-songwriter actress record producer television presenter author businesswoman
Years active	1977–present
Spouse	Mario Vaquerizo ​ (m. 1999)​
Musical career
Origin	Madrid, Spain
Genres	Pop electronica dance
Labels	Chapa Discos Zafiro Hispavox DRO GASA Running Circle Subterfuge Warner Music Group
Formerly of	Kaka de Luxe Alaska y los Pegamoides Negros S. A. Alaska y Dinarama
Musical artist

Olvido Gara Jova^[a] (born María Olvido Gara Jova, June 13, 1963), known professionally as Alaska, is a Mexican-Spanish singer, songwriter and actress. Dubbed the "Queen of La Movida", Alaska has been widely recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, and visual presentation. Alaska moved from Mexico to Spain in 1973 with her family. In Spain, she joined the group Kaka de Luxe as a guitarist, until 1979, when she became the vocalist and composer of Alaska y los Pegamoides, a group with which she reached her first number one thanks to "Bailando", acquiring great recognition nationally and in some Spanish-speaking countries. From 1983 onwards, she was the vocalist and composer of Alaska y Dinarama; a band with which she continued to release albums that reached widespread popularity. Many of her songs have reached number one in the music charts of several countries around the world; her biggest hits include songs such as "Perlas ensangrentadas", "Rey del Glam", "Cómo Pudiste Hacerme Esto a Mí", "Ni Tú Ni Nadie", "A Quién Le Importa", "La Funcionaria Asesina", "Mi Novio Es Un Zombi" and "Quiero Ser Santa".

Life and career

Early life

Alaska was born in Mexico City on 13 June 1963.^[1] Her father, from Asturias, Spain, was in Mexico living in exile during the Spanish Civil War along with her Cuban mother, who was also living in Mexico in exile from Fidel Castro. In 1973, two years before caudillo Francisco Franco died, her parents decided to move to Spain, settling in Madrid.

Alaska was a big fan of artists such as

At 14 she collaborated translating Robert Crumb's comic strips for a fanzine called Bazofia, using the pen name Alaska. She chose the name inspired by the lyrics of Reed's song "Caroline Says II" ("All her friends call her Alaska"/../"It's so cold in Alaska").^[3]

The birth of punk also had a big influence on the young Alaska, who soon decided to form a band. She went to El Rastro, a famous flea market in Madrid, looking for band members, where she met Nacho Canut and Carlos Berlanga.

1970s and 1980s

In 1977, Alaska along with Fernando Márquez, Nacho Canut, Carlos Berlanga and Enrique Sierra, among others, formed the band Kaka de Luxe, one of the first Spanish punk rock bands,^[4] where she played rhythm guitar. In 1979, Gara, Canut, Berlanga, Ana Curra and Eduardo Benavente formed the band Alaska y los Pegamoides.^[5] Alaska was lead singer for the first time with the group "Pegamoides". They took the name as a tribute to one of the bands they admired: Siouxsie and the Banshees. Due to some artistic differences, Carlos Berlanga left "Pegamoides", and with Nacho Canut they formed "Dinarama".^[6] At this time, Eduardo Benavente and Ana Curra were involved in Parálisis Permanente, one of the first goth bands in Spain. A few months after Carlos Berlanga left the band, "Pegamoides" split up. In 1982, Alaska joined "Dinarama" and the band released their first album in 1983 titled Canciones Profanas under the name Dinarama + Alaska.^[7] The band decided to use the name "Alaska y Dinarama" in their following album, Deseo carnal, and they kept the name until 1989. In 1989, Carlos Berlanga left "Alaska y Dinarama" in the middle of their tour of their last album Fan Fatal where all songs are tribute to the bands they loved and admired over the years: Ramones, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Michael Jackson, Depeche Mode, Aviador Dro, Parálisis Permanente, etc.

When "Alaska y Dinarama" split up, Nacho Canut and Alaska decide to call themselves "Fangoria".

Subterfuge, an important indie company released Fangoria's next album: Una Temporada en el Infierno, considered by some to be a masterpiece of electronic music. Fangoria started selling loads of CDs and the band became very popular. Another album with Subterfuge, Naturaleza muerta proved that Fangoria was an amazing electronic band and that Alaska was a fantastic performer. Some creative differences with Subterfuge forced Fangoria to leave its new recording label. In 2004, DRO (Warner) released their next album: Arquitectura Efímera.

In the late 1980s, Alaska was the host of a Spanish children's show on Televisión Española called La Bola de Cristal.^[10]

21st century

In 2005, Fangoria visited Mexico to promote their new album Arquitectura efímera. Alaska appeared on two sketches of Telehit's Desde Gayola (a Mexican parody show). In the first sketch, she appeared as herself in an interview with Tesorito, in the second one, she played the character of Galaxia (a DJ) with Supermana, Chef Ornica & Manigüis.

Since 2011, she starred as herself in the

Kaka de Luxe

• Kaka de Luxe (1978)
• Kaka de Luxe/Paraíso (1982)
• Las canciones malditas (1983)

Alaska y Los Pegamoides

• Grandes Éxitos (1982)
• Alaska y Los Pegamoides (1982)
• Llegando hasta el final (1982)
• Mundo Indómito (1998)

Alaska y Dinarama

• Canciones Profanas (1983)
• Deseo carnal (1984)
• No es pecado (1986)
• Diez (1988)
• Fan fatal (1989)

Fangoria

• "Salto mortal" (1990)
• "Un día cualquiera en Vulcano" (Super Extended Play 1.0) (1992)
• "Un día cualquiera en Vulcano" (Super Extended Play 2.0) (1993)
• "Un día cualquiera en Vulcano" (Super Extended Play 3.0) (1995)
• Interferencias (1998)
• Una temporada en el infierno (1999)
• Naturaleza muerta (2001)
• Arquitectura efímera (2004)
• El extraño viaje (2006)
• Entre Punta Cana y Monte Carlo (2008)
• Absolutamente (2009)
• El paso transcendental del vodevil a la astracanada (2010)
• "Policromía" (2013)
• "Cuatricromía" (2012)
• "Canciones para robots románticos" (2016)
• "Pianissimo" (2017)
• "Extrapolaciones y dos preguntas 1989–2000 (2019)
• "Extrapolaciones y dos respuestas 2001–2019 (2019)
• "Existencialismo pop" (2021)
• "Edificaciones paganas" (2022)

Notes

References

1. ^ "Olvido Gara "Alaska". Music. Biography and works at Spain is culture". www.spainisculture.com. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
2. ^ "Singers in Spain – Alaska". www.enforex.com. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
3. ISBN 978-84-01-30559-7
   .
4. ^ "Kaka De Luxe". Discogs. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
5. ^ "Alaska Y Los Pegamoides". Discogs. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
6. ^ "Elefant Records". Elefant Records. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
7. ^ "Dinarama + Alaska* - Canciones Profanas". Discogs. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
8. ^ "Fangoria | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
9. ^ "Fangoria – Salto Mortal". Discogs. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
10. ^ La bola de cristal (TV Series 1984–1988) – IMDb, retrieved 5 November 2019
11. ^ Alaska y Mario, retrieved 5 November 2019
12. ^ Paglia, Camille. "Hillary without tears". Salon. Archived from the original on 3 March 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2012.

External links

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