Mecano was a Spanish pop band whose debut coincided with La Movida Madrileña (Madrilenian Groove), a sociocultural movement that occurred in Spain during the 1980s. Although Spanish music critics do not consider the band one of the most representative ensembles of the aforementioned cultural wave, Mecano found commercial success in the '80s and the early '90s, both in its native country and Latin America, France, and Italy with 25 million worldwide sales. Most of the lyrics were written by one of the Cano brothers from a male perspective, and were mainly sung by Ana Torroja in a melodic, childlike voice while preserving that male perspective; this gave the group its distinctive, playful and sexually ambiguous style.
The musical group was started as a synth-pop ensemble (música tecno in Spanish) by brothers Nacho and José María Cano, along with singer Ana Torroja, on Madrid in 1981. In a period of cultural experimentation in the newly democratic Spain, Mecano achieved its initial popularity with their debut single, Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar ("I Can't Get Up Today"), a song about youth boredom and hang over. The initial album, named after the band, became a collection of classics that would later represent La Movida Madrileña.
