Totem - Totem 1971

The group was initially formed by Rubén Rada, Eduardo Useta, Enrique Rey, Mario "Chichito" Cabral, Roberto Galletti, and Daniel Lobito Lagarde. With the exception of the last one (who was only 19 years old), they were all musicians with extensive experience in Uruguayan music. The group's name was proposed by "Chichito" Cabral in a group rehearsal. According to him, on a trip to Hamburg, he saw a bright sign that said "Totem". He thought it might be an abbreviation for "Todos tenemos musica" ("We all have music") and promised himself that if he ever got a group together, that would be the name.

The band's first rehearsals were held at the end of the 1970s. Its first public performances were in January 1971: the 6th at the Clube da Universidade de Salto (in a dance for the youth of the Communist Party), the 7th at the Wanderers stadium, in Paysandú and the 20th in Montevideo, at Segundo Concierto de la Rosa (where the band plays alongside Psiglo and Syndikato). His performance in February at a festival in Parque Harriague, in Salto, is also well remembered.
The first album, "Totem", was recorded on May 2, 1971, at ION studios in Buenos Aires and published in July by the De la Planta record label. Although there are songs by Rey, Lagarde, and Cabral, many of the compositions are written by Rada and Useta (as co-authors or individually). The album was presented on July 14th at the El Galpón Theater, in a performance with Camarata de Tango. This first work was very well received both in sales (with more than three thousand copies sold in his country) and in reviews. At the end of 1971, it was already one of the groups that most people called for in Uruguay, filling all the scenarios in which it was presented. This is due not only to the good reception the group received but also to the precise marketing management carried out by manager Alfonso López Domínguez.

By 1972, the group had established itself as the most popular in Uruguay (perhaps along with Los Iracundos). That year, they were filmed by RAI for a television program about Latin American music and were presented in Pipo Mancera's successful circular Saturdays. The group's second album, titled "Descarga", was recorded in the same studio as the first album. There are compositions on this album by Rada, Lagarde, Cabral, and Useta: the last song is written by the entire group. This album is also a sales success, although the opinions of music critics are not as good as those of the debut LP. The album was released in Casapueblo (without having yet been released) and without the presence of Galetti on drums, replaced by Santiago Ameijenda. The second performance of the album (newly released) was held on July 9, 1972, at the Teatro Solís, filling the place (there were even more than a thousand people without tickets waiting outside the theater).
At the end of 1972, mainly due to the country's socio-political situation (in the prelude to the Coup d'état), the group's shares began to decline. Rubén Rada and "Lobito" Lagarde left the band, joining the first line-up of Gula Matari (a group that only had a few recitals at the beginning of 1973). Roberto Giordano (bassist) and Tomás "Chocho" Paolini (who played saxophone, flute, and clarinet) joined the group. The group's first voices became those of Useta and Rey.

In January 1973, they recorded their third and final album, "Corrupción". Of the eight songs on the album, six are written by Useta, one by Cabral, and one by Rey. Although it is an album respected by the public and critics, Rubén Rada's absence was too noticeable to be ignored and the group began to lose popularity.

listen here