A letter to Marciano, the memory of Sergio Marchi, journalist and author of rock books

Comparisons are always hateful and even more so if they are numerical. But the moment I received the honor of writing these lines to greet a friend like Marciano Cantero was and is still the rest of Enanitos Verdes, I went to look for his music on Spotify and was surprised: eight million, two hundred thousand and some monthly followers.

I was already struck by that Bolivian lament It is the most listened to Argentine rock song in streaming and that exceeds by a few hundred thousand reproductions what I thought was unbeatable: of light music by Soda Stereo. Well, what a surprise, within the Argentine rock Enanitos Verdes is the group with the most plays on Spotify.

Data, not opinions. And much less competition: Soda Stereo and Enanitos Verdes were two great bands, each in their own way has taken Argentine rock far and continues to do so. To find higher numbers you have to fall into the trap and in four decades you will see what the figures are like.

A great humility

Probably the numbers are just a pretext to escape the pain of the death of Horacio “Marciano” Cantero, a great man of humility like his companions. “You know, we are workers,” he once wrote to me. And it is true; they never cried for “having no press”, or not being recognized as they should have been.

There are no articles that talk about it the immense virtues of Marciano singer, transmitter of simple emotions, never raw, rarely exaggerated; Nor can you read paragraphs about his enormous ability as a bass player, with a solidity well learned from his teacher, Paul McCartney, because if there was anything he liked, it was the Beatles.

No analysis emerged on the great songs that came out of his pen (and also from that of Felipe Staiti). Could it be that simplicity is not listed on the critics bag? Or is it that they have never been in fashion?

They had superior virtues: the Green Dwarfs were titans of humility, geniuses of simplicity, gigantic hardworking mammals who They built one of the most distinctive and successful races in Argentina.

Until a few months ago they played in the United States, resuming their activity after the pandemic, a circuit they have been working on for decades, as well as the entire Latin American territory. However, in Buenos Aires it has always been difficult for them to even fill a theater, to the point that they have decided to forget it and continue their career. without vanity or grudges. Working as employees, always with the joy of playing for people and a low profile even calling crowds out of the country.

touring together

I remember my surprise when, after a show at the La Falda Festival, they invited me to continue the tour with them. Without protocols or ceremonies, good vibes and with love They put me on the bus and took me to a show in San Juanwhere four thousand people went crazy with his songs that, at that moment, were broadcast on the radio: The green wall, For the rest, Simulacrum of tension, Your old letters, I saw you on a train or I’m still singing.

They were like the Rolling Stones: I verified the hysteria of the provinces embodied in the attempted siege of the shy dressing room that sheltered them. Calmer was the passage through San Rafael, where they played locally, a condition that puts a band on a level playing field with its fans. It won’t be something they believe in. And that they had with what. The tsunami with which it was configured Bolivian lament and that verse that people like to repeat so much: “And I’m here / drunk and crazy”.

like Tom Petty

Beyond the different personal idiosyncrasies, it was the solid collaboration between Marciano and Felipe, that extraordinary guitarist, a sort of Steve Vai of Cuyo, who supported Enanitos Verdes for more than 40 years. Were an open marriage which allowed Marciano to have his solo albums and Felipe to hold a trio and write his stories.

When Daniel Píccolo decided he had had enough fifteen years ago, they were able to call one of Argentina’s best drummers: Jota Morelli, who jubilantly joined them and opened a new chapter in a story somewhat reminiscent of that of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.

Because Enanitos Verdes were a band founded on brotherhood and on a pop-rock repertoire, very underrated in Argentina, but highly appreciated in the rest of Latin America. Petty added Steve Ferrone, who quit his lucrative playing career, and the Midgets landed Morelli.

Happy to meet a famous luthier

And speaking of your old lettersI find myself leafing through the emails and I find one from Marciano, who wrote to me in 2010 to tell me that he had met Carl Thompson, a legendary luthier he became famous for the bass he made for Mud’s Les Claypool, “which will make me a special bass, because I need light instruments because of that little thing on my shoulder”.

Marciano was so happy to have visited his laboratory in Brooklyn, shared a dinner with him and visited Enanitos Verdes, that he needed to tell someone and I had that privilege.

Now I’m the one who needs to write to you. And somehow, I know this letter will reach him.

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