Parchís: The Documentary (2019) - full transcript

A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY

You choose: singing,
having fun and so on,

or staying at home studying,
doing homework and going to school.

I had no doubts.

It was something most kids
in the world never experience.

I think it's something
that marked them.

The strange thing is that
the best part of your life,

or one of the most intense parts
of your life,

happened when
you were fourteen years old.

That seems to be
the hardest thing to swallow.

I felt bad for them
as I thought the fall would be hard,



because they were on a cloud,
they spent years on a cloud.

That's the cliché:

there's a kid who's a performer
and that kid is going to be a loser.

Why?

That kid will be whatever
he makes of himself.

PARCHÍS
THE DOCUMENTARY

One of the craziest things

that Parchís fans like myself
used to do

was at this exact hotel,
the Camino Real, where Parchís stayed...

I'd come from Cuernavaca,
two hours away,

and I'd stand here for hours in the sun

to see Tino or Yolanda
maybe peep out of the window.

This is precisely
where their van would pass by

and there were hundreds of people
on both sidewalks



here to see Parchís go by.

Yolanda once went like this to me,

and it was the greatest, I felt...

I don't know how to explain.

I felt accomplished.

Okay, well I don't think that it's
a mystery to anyone in this studio

the reason behind the emergence
of bands aimed at young people.

I think it's fundamentally due to,
among other reasons,

the spectacular development
of media outlets, like television,

that give all of us access

to new possibilities of fun
and entertainment.

That's why this band, Parchís,
has come to fill a void

that, for a long time,
we hadn't been able to fill.

Tonight, Parchís!

Of course, when Parchís
was launched in '79,

there had been a small baby boom.

So there was a sudden
spectator boom...

JOSÉ VIRUETE
JOURNALIST

...a boom of kids
that had to be entertained somehow.

Do you know if someone's looking for me?

Yes!

Yes? Who could it be?

-Ana!
-Ana?

JORGE LÉRIDA - AUTHOR OF
"THE FABULOUS WORLD OF CHILDREN'S SONGS"

I'll always say the boom started
on a September night in 1977

on Jose Maria Iñigo's program
Esta noche... fiesta.

With the song...

The B-side of this single by Enrique,
the song "Esto es Amor."

The Hispavox record label itself
was surprised

by the success, the boom of Enrique y Ana.

Marvelous!

When the idea came up
to start a band...

ANTONI PLANA
MANAGER IN SPAIN

...it was the artistic director's idea.

He took me aside and told me

to put an ad in the papers
to find boys and girls.

DISCOS BELTER GIVES THE OPPORTUNITY
TO CHILDREN FROM 8 TO 12 YEARS OLD

They had to be good looking,
to know how to jump around...

MARTA MINGUELLA
MUSIC TEACHER

...and know how to move onstage,
to be charismatic.

IGNACIO JANER
INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR OF BELTER

But what they were looking for
was a band that, aside from singing,

portrayed a certain image on television,
and an image in their performances, etc.

And that's how it started.

They counted on the invaluable
collaboration with Rudy Ventura,

a performer at Discos Belter,

as he had a daughter who had already
made records with her father, and such.

When Belter had the idea
of starting the band,

he thought of me as a potential member
of Parchís.

At the beginning there were
to be four of us, two girls and two boys.

To your rhythm and beat

But then David arrived
and we saw how he moved.

He was a kid who knew
how to dance well.

We said, "He can be the dice.
He can be the white counter."

For me at that time
it didn't represent anything.

I liked to dance and play.

It wasn't like I'd been given
my dream job, I didn't care.

Tino was spotted by a man at school,

a man who worked at Belter,
as his son was a singer,

and Tino was singing...

The dice doesn't want to sing

The anecdote from the audition,
I remember that after singing,

they walked out
and left the door ajar,

and I heard the artistic director
tell his secretary...

..."The kid can sing,
it's a shame the runt is so ugly."

That stuck with me, I asked my mom,
"Mom, am I that ugly, dammit?"

Parchís, chís, chís
Parchís, chís, chís

There was this kid, Oscar,
he was a little kid.

He was quite the looker.

In reality, the first auditions
were for a solo vocalist...

...and that's how it was sold, I arrived
as if it were the casting for an ad.

You land on the square...

Probably the only one to arrive
via casting

was Gemma.

I'd get home and tell my parents,
"Oh, I think I really messed up,

they're not going to pick me,
I didn't come out well in the photos,

I didn't sing well...

...I haven't heard anything back..."
Always a bit pessimistic.

Parchís, chís, chís
Parchís, chís, chís

The game that is sung
For you and for me

Parchís, chís, chís
Parchís, chís, chís

But at the beginning
it was just a kids' get together.

I was the youngest, along with David;
there's a year and a half between us.

But the difference
with Gemma and Yolanda was bigger,

more so with Tino.
And that was noticeable.

Suddenly, they put you
with four kids you don't know.

Now live together, now record,
now take photos, now...

Very strange at the beginning.

It wasn't an immediate
"we're close" connection.

It was a complicated age.

They said, "You're going to sing
and we're going to make a record."

And I was, like, buzzing, happy,

I thought, "This is sure to get me
out of school for a few hours, awesome!"

Well, at the beginning, in August,

we started recording
Las Super 25 Canciones de Los Peques.

Today we're going on a field trip

We'll play ball

For the recordings, mainly the girls
and I would coincide,

as we were the ones with slightly
more important solo moments.

We'll run faster than a train

I think that due to her level and style,
Yolanda sang the most, then Gemma.

And I think David sang about the same.

That was, not a lot, to be honest.

Let's all sing

Regardless of whether the band
had lasted a year,

the record label's idea
was to have a big launch.

Twenty-five super-songs for children!
Two LPs or two cassettes.

Belter's catalogue was mostly
made up of Spanish performers,

such as Juanito Valderrama,
Dolores Abril, Rosa Morena,

Dolores Vargas, Carmen Sevilla,
Lola Flores...

That is Spanish music, notably Spanish.

Belter was sinking.
And they said...

as they saw the kid boom
had not yet been exploited, they said,

"It's something to cling to."

And that's how it was.

A lot of money was spent
on the Parchís venture,

placing ads on TV and all,

and if it hadn't worked out,

then maybe we'd all have been
really screwed.

But I don't think the company
was on the way down, not at all.

At the beginning we were just getting
together for just that, for a short time,

for three or four months and that's it.

It was just recording an LP,
that's ten songs,

and appearing on the program.

So no...
There was nothing else.

Following in our magazine's tradition,

Aplauso is starting
a new kids' page, that's right.

And we're dressed in full regalia
to introduce a new band.

We leave you with the story
of "Barbapapa" and the voices of Parchís.

I mean, if you appeared
on a winter afternoon

on Aplauso,
which aired on Saturdays,

then you'd be seen by all of Spain,
because there were two channels,

there were no more options.
They'd see you.

You just found a Barbapapa

I was tense, I was so tall,
the tallest of us all.

And there I was... And they even
put me in one of those long jackets...

The initial idea was that I was the dice,
so I could dress in white, in black,

I could dress in any color.

But in the end white stuck.

So now, as a reaction,
I dress in all black.

-Did you like the story of Barbapapa?
-Yes!

After the second program of Aplauso,
for me it was like...

you know...

interviews, they'd cut our hair,
wardrobe made to measure...

-Applause!
-Applause!

For example, in Spain, on Aplauso,
it was pretty strict.

Enter music!

I remember that Giorgio Aresu's dancers
always complained

that we weren't good enough.

Anyway...

I think it was part of the band's charm,
not doing things perfectly.

To the beat of the same twist
Singing and dancing

And I remember, my school headmaster
made me go from class to class on a chair.

He'd stand me on a chair
and he'd say, "See this girl?

She's gonna be on TV,
just so you know."

On Monday when you'd go to school

and you'd been on Aplauso, on TV,
and all your classmates had seen it,

you'd be like, "What happened?"

They'd stare at you more, they did,
because you were more popular.

It's not that I liked it that much,

but it did boost
your self-esteem a little.

And in my case it was a good thing.

-Let's dance everybody!
-Let's dance!

-Come on, come on!
-Let's dance!

-Come on, let's go!
-Let's dance!

To my school's twist

I ask you: How would you feel
if you were twelve?

You're not aware of what
you're living, but it fascinates you

because it's like a game
that nobody else has.

To be doing those things
at that moment, at that age...

It was a privilege, a stroke of luck.

THE CHILDREN'S GROUP OF THE MOMENT

I don't think we knew
what the word "hit" meant.

When you're ten,

you know tangible words,
like "stone," "red..."

But we didn't understand
the concept of "hit."

And what does receiving
this gold record mean to you?

To us it represents the fact
that kids like our songs,

and we're all really excited
to receive this record.

-Congratulations, Parchís.
-Thank you very much.

I think some circumstances arose
that only arise once in a blue moon.

I think they did a good job
with the members,

they did a good job with colors,
choreography, wardrobe, music,

composers, songs...
I think these things were all well-chosen.

People were really looking
for something exciting and new.

I think that the success was backed up

by the TV programs and films,

because they were the ones making
more film and TV appearances.

CONTRA EL HOMBRE INVISIBLE - COMANDO G

No, no, success undoubtedly came about
because a lot of money was invested.

SALVADOR FENOLLAR
HEAD OF BELTER'S SALES

The company gave me
a 500,000-peseta check every month,

which I deposited into my account,

then I'd make checks
for 10,000, 15,000, 20,000...

and they'd get handed out
to different people

so they'd play our records.

"PARCHÍS", MUSIC AND SONGS FOR CHILDREN

So yeah, money and gifts would circulate,

and mink coats, and gold Rolexes and...
who knows what...

Checks for a million pesetas
to some TV presenter...

Now, attention, mini-viewers.

And this week, with all of you...

...with a beautiful song
that the kids will love.

-And what's their name?
-Parchís!

With all of you, Parchís!

I also think there were things to do
with Parchís that happened by chance.

Looking at the band's trajectory,

there are times they took a step forward,
then took a step back.

I don't think there was a master plan.

Mortadelo
Mortadelo and Filemón

There's no one general style,
you can't say they're pop records

because there are songs
that are rancheras.

Extrovert
And very careful

And we also have to talk
about the record production.

I mean, Parchís records sound like a bomb.

There is a war between galaxies

THE BATTLE OF THE PLANETS

At that time, I didn't do arrangements,
I was a technician.

But the artistic director
asked me for an arrangement...

JOSEP LLOBELL
PRODUCER AND ARRANGER

...and it was precisely the first I did
in my life, "Comando G" by Parchís,

that was my first arrangement.

Comando G, Comando G

Is always alert

They could sing anything

within the limitation
that they didn't all sing well.

And we had to...

The little kids always
went behind the mic.

Whose mission is to protect
The Earth from attacks

They'd record,
we'd dub vocals, whatever,

and then the professionals
would come in, studio vocalists, girls.

As they could do boys' voices perfectly,
you couldn't tell.

Phoenix take flight

In any case, Parchís' voices
were always there on one level.

So I can't say that they have
or had so much help

that their voices were lost.

Their voices, their timbres,
were always there.

They will win the battle

"Comando G"
has been really successful, right?

-Yes.
-Why do you think...?

Because the film is on TV, and...

they see it every day and they like it.

Do you like the film?

Do you like traveling all the time,
or is it boring for you?

No, I look forward to it, I love it.

I wasn't... From the beginning,
you have to go bit by bit,

and TV would accelerate the process.

And there was even a time

that we'd take a Seat 131 Supermirafiori,
the five of us with the manager,

which would be unthinkable now.

-Are we all in?
-Yes!

I made sure they wanted for nothing,

that they were comfortable and happy,

and especially
that they were having fun,

that this didn't seem
like work to them.

What else?

Oh, the vaccines!

They were all great kids.

They did their kid's things...

Permission from the parents.
One, two, three, four, five.

So, the usual.

I don't know, my daughters have played
some dirty tricks on me!

So imagine kids who aren't yours!

We were on this terrace,
sort of bored, then suddenly...

I decided to throw
a chair from the terrace.

Wham, and throws it.

With the risk of what could have happened.

But it didn't end there,

because, driven by fear...
Have they told this story or not?

And when we go back out to the terrace,
I stick my head out

and I see the man from the house below
is looking up and complaining.

I felt sort of provoked
to throw another chair:

"As he'd already seen me,
I'll throw another chair."

And I did.

Keep throwing cakes!
At the end of the day it's me who gets it.

And, of course, the man came
to the hotel, really angry,

saying that he was going
to report us to the police,

and the poor man was perfectly right.

It's always me
who takes care of everything.

-Well, that's what you're here for.
-Don't be insolent!

Honestly, it was like
a kick in the balls.

Places we went to started filling up.

Success was growing,

the first film was put forward,
Children's War.

No rattles

No problems

And the films were full
of great professionals from Spain.

Javier Aguirre had a very long career

making all kinds
of commercial productions,

from nude films to these kinds of films.

The previous one done with kids
had been a failure.

Bermudez hired me saying that
the film had been a bust...

CHILDREN'S WAR
THE FIRST PARCHÍS FILM

...but he was hiring me in particular...

JAVIER AGUIRRE
FILM DIRECTOR

...because of how well
the kids had been directed.

In Parchís, that father figure
didn't exist.

In fact, in the films,
parental figures are there to be defied,

the authority figures,
which is pretty cool.

It has a sort of punk side to it.

Go ahead with your diggers, go ahead!

Demolish an unnecessary
neighborhood school!

And while you're at it,
kill its rightful owner!

The man who didn't want to do
business with education and was ruined!

I especially remember that Tino
was a natural.

He was the band leader, of course.

I don't think they'll be back.

-And Skinny, what will he be up to?
-It's not hard to imagine.

The advert read:

"Wanted: fat child to film commercial."

Before I read it, I always thought
it said, "Wanted:

attractive, cheerful and charismatic
young man..." Not "fat and showy."

RODRIGO VALDECANTOS
ACTOR

That was the dynamic we started with.

To give you an idea, prior to that
I had no idea who Parchís were.

CHILDREN'S WAR

Bermudez was totally convinced
it would be a hit.

And, for example,
in the theater in Callao

there were hardly ever tickets.

It was a measure of how well
things were going.

I didn't see a penny.

My mother and father decided
where it was going.

I'm getting full!

I've been asked, "Listen, what about
all the money you made with Parchís?"

I don't know, first of all, what I made,

and second, they gave me a bicycle

and it was stolen the next day.

It was like...
some gypsy kid stole my bike

and basically he was the one
who made money from Parchís.

That was it.

I was preparing
the last trip of the year,

visiting all the companies

that licensed Discos Belter
in Latin America.

So, of course, when I saw and heard
the Christmas carol record,

I saw the photo,
they introduced me to the children,

and this, that and the other,
I got my ideas straight.

I didn't care about the songs.

If they sang,
if they were dubbed in the studio,

I didn't care.

I wanted to sell them.

Their charisma, their ease,
how they moved,

how they dealt with people.

We got some test album covers,
I ordered a tape recorder,

which was how we worked back then,

and asked if there was a postcard
or a photo and this and that,

because I was going to add them
to my agenda for the tour I was preparing.

So, necessarily,

an essential condition, sine qua non:
I want the kids in Argentina.

"That's ridiculous!
it will cost a fortune!"

But it's true that things changed
upon landing there.

After all we'd been through,
the success here in Spain,

we landed in Mexico,
and there, against all odds...

WELCOME, PARCHÍS

...things didn't work out.

And in Argentina they did.

It was the reaffirmation of everything
that had happened in Spain,

which happened there but with
a much bigger audience

and greater repercussion.

When the band started
to have real success in Argentina...

ALL THEIR HITS
SUPERSONGS

...a producer approached me, Mr. Spitz.

PARCHÍS SUCCEED IN SOUTH AMERICA

He was a film producer,
proposing the band do a film.

Rat-a-tat-tat! Look
Rat-a-tat-tat! Dance

The first film
we recorded in Argentina

was in Mar del Plata.

We were in a hotel next to the beach.

And there we'd film the movie
in the morning

and do two sessions
in a performance circus in the afternoon.

PARCHÍS
FROM 8 JANUARY TO 20 FEBRUARY

That went on for practically a month...
Or more.

We'd make one reverse charge phone call
per week to one of our parents

and that parent would call
all the others.

So, you'd speak to one of the parents,

so you didn't even speak to your parents,
you'd speak to them once a month.

But that tour of Argentina, that was...

Experiencing it as a child,
you don't realize,

but it was a little out of control.

Because I had a boyfriend
and so did someone else,

we did whatever we wanted.

We'd go and make out...

I don't know, there was nobody
watching over us.

We've all kissed Yolanda,

because she's that outgoing
and at some point we all liked her.

Gemma too, but Gemma had
a different way of relating to us.

That doesn't mean that anyone's
relationship went any further than that.

We were just experimenting

and playing and getting to know
our bodies and that sort of thing.

The toing and froing of hanging out
made us start to notice

the opposite sex.

We met when walking

I think experiences that people my age
may have had with a schoolmate,

I had with my band mates.

And you feel the way I do

And I care as much as you do

I don't know if this is normal

Ours is a special age

Special

My first kiss was with Tino,
but it didn't last.

She was a girl who'd started out with you
and little by little you start noticing

two little lumps in her t-shirt,
and you're like, "What's that?"

I think part of the attraction
of a relationship when you're very young

is the excitement of meeting up
and distancing...

When you're together all day,
there's no mystery.

He doesn't leave me alone
For a moment

I can't even breathe

Before we had time to make
that possible relationship official,

I realized that in the front rows,

not just the girls and the fans,

but the moms who had come
with them and that...

You think, "Dude, whoa, check that out!"

What awoke in Tino is what awakes
in all of us when we hit 15 or 16.

And back then, at the concerts,
the girls were, like, crazy,

and all he wanted,
if he met a girl who...

was going to make it easy, was,
well, to take full advantage.

What we all did when we were young.

South America was in love with Tino.

He was the leader.

And in interpersonal relationships
within the band,

subconsciously...

he portrayed it.

Tino, at that time,
had a lot of power in the band,

at that moment
and maybe later on, but...

he acted like a...

Let's put it gently, like a leader.

He was always very clear
as to what he wanted.

And, aside from that, the label,

who were the absolute owners
of the whole Parchís concept,

chose him as their protégé.

That meant that he'd spend all day
at the label's HQ when we were in Spain.

He'd eat out with them,
he knew their secrets,

who was dating who
or who was so and so's lover...

He knew all the goings on,
whereas to us it was all a mystery.

We'd go when there was a meeting...

But we didn't move around
with ease at the label's HQ.

It wasn't our territory.
But it was his.

That gave him a lot of power.

When, in the afternoon
I see her leaving

Something seems to burst
Out of my chest

Times goes by...

I'm aware and I realize
that, in some way,

on the company's part,

they tried to highlight my presence

for concrete and precise matters.

One day, at a contract signing,
Orfila suddenly says:

"Everyone makes this
and you make this plus that."

How come?

What was I gonna say,
"No, don't you dare"? Well, no.

She's my dream girl

She's my dream girl

There were sort of two sides:
the record label's side...

and Tino was on that side.

And he was one of
their biggest representatives.

He had a lot of scope,
they'd let him do anything.

Obviously, power in a very young kid
can be...

a dangerous weapon.

And he used it.

I think we all had our issues.

You could say that Tino,
being the most famous in the band,

maybe had a more despotic attitude,
but he was also the eldest

and probably had
a more adult thought process.

Are you the one who leads them all?

I wish I was!

-They don't let you.
-Me too!

-But I can't.
-Can't you?

Also, the relationship
with Tino was not good.

I didn't get along with Tino at all,

that is, not in the beginning,
but it got worse.

Oscar was a problematic kid.

He was continually
fighting with the others.

Maybe because he was the youngest,

the others fought continually with him.

At the end of the day,
I got on best with Gemma.

And with the others, well...

less.

Oscar went...

He did his own thing.

On our second trip, his mother came,
so he was...

He was, like, younger,
more protected.

And the fact... the fact that Oscar
had his mother and the rest didn't,

it made the rest of us
be a little like, "Look at him,

how come he gets
to have his mom here..."

Well, because his mom
got on a plane and went!

The others just didn't.

Oscar's mom always came along,
but we never took any notice of her.

So my mom comes along
and she realizes that the whole thing...

is out of control,
and that there were no limits,

no discipline,

and that there was no one
to really look after us.

So when they went to see the kids,

they saw a panorama
they didn't like one bit,

because they saw that the kids
were really abandoned, living...

Throwing things from a terrace
to see if they fell on someone's head...

JOAQUÍN ORISTRELL
TOUR MANAGER

...calling room service and ordering
the most expensive thing on the menu,

like caviar, and not eating it...

They were kids like...

like the ones from Lord of the Flies.
They'd gone wild.

It's not all eating out here,
eating out there,

the best gifts, the best hotels...

and no, that can't be,
there have to be some rules.

Quick, down we go, short stuff!

The feeling I retain from that moment,

is of being well looked after.

Things improved a lot after that
because we had teachers.

Something happened that had upset
the foundations of the group, so...

As there were important commitments
to go abroad, etcetera,

they were hoping to find the person

who could somehow cover the job
of being with the kids,

to be a caregiver,

someone to entertain and distract them.

And aren't you guys tired of recording?

No.

-And of singing?
-No.

-Don't you miss your mom?
-What?

-Don't you miss your mom?
-You have her here!

-His mother's here.
-Is she?

Oscar's mother wasn't happy with how...

the issue of our fame was being handled.

As a kid you'd probably say,
"I'm tired" or "I'd rather be at home..."

but you don't have the view to say:
"This isn't for me, as a world," right?

My mother could see that,

I think that by traveling with me,
with us all, to South America...

IT'S A GAME TO SING

...she saw that things
weren't going down a good path.

SPAIN'S YOUNGEST MILLIONAIRES
TVE REPRESENTATIVES AT THE WARSAW FESTIVAL

There was a campaign
to say that she was someone...

That she was damaging the band,

that she was bad for us,

that she lied,
and that she was irritating.

So the other parents, sort of...

started to see her
as a problematic person.

"And now what does she want to tell us?
And now...

it turns out that instead
of eight hours they worked ten?"

And they entered into a dynamic that
anything that Oscar's mother said

didn't seem to have a positive bearing
on the band.

With the other parents...

VICTÓRIA CAÑADAS
OSCAR'S MOTHER

...I had a good relationship,
but every time I went along on a trip,

I told them what was going on.

And what was going on was...

that the kids weren't getting paid,

that they were being exploited
and all that.

All of their performances
were full to the brim with people.

So where was the money going?

You didn't have to be an accountant
to see that.

It clearly didn't add up.

Some kids' parents didn't find it
as worrying as Oscar's mom did.

At that time,
the spotlight was burning bright

and certainly, even though
I was hung, drawn and quartered...

I'd go on tour for two months

and make what my father
was making in four.

I think Gemma's mother,
as well as mine,

would let their husbands
control them a lot.

And the husbands had a different idea
of what was good for their daughters.

In my uncle's case I have no doubt,
it was the profession.

He was a man on the way down,
and being involved in all of that

was something that invigorated him,
fascinated him.

He liked that his daughter could be
a performer...

That's for sure.

At that time, I was separated

and I needed the money,
but I put Oscar first.

I put Oscar before my own needs.

We're five real friends

I asked him if he wanted me to take him
out of the band and he said, "Well, yes."

I mean, he wasn't totally sure, but yes.

Because he had fun too,

the kids played a lot,
he traveled a lot...

I mean, it wasn't all bad.

If I have to have this woman there,
not good.

The kid's not comfortable.
I made a profile of what was going on.

Together without fear

And I suggested that if we wanted
to move forward

and not be met with surprises,

it was convenient and necessary
to replace him.

We're five real friends

But when we wanted to leave the band,
it wasn't easy.

They said there were pending tours,
there were contracts...

For us as kids it was like,
"This woman only finds problems

and now she wants to leave,
so let her go."

That's all, right? No more complications.

But we must admit
that the things she was saying,

she was probably more in the right
than our parents.

I don't feel like
they were traumatized by Oscar leaving.

Because I imagine that
when I arrived he'd spent a while

threatening to leave.
And if he hadn't, his mother had.

And somehow to them,

as they wanted to continue and they were
happy with what they were doing,

what they wanted was for someone new
to join,

and problem solved, it was that easy.

Hello, friends. We are Parchís.

And as I'm the eldest
I've been asked to introduce the others.

Here we have the youngest member,
the pup of the band, Frank.

Hey, I'm nine!

Oscar always took the position of,
"I do it, I'm all right,

but I don't love it,"
because he was a model.

Frank...

Parchís was his life.

He had an awesome passion
for the band.

We're recording, right?
My versions are...

My versions are from...

There are lots of things that,
as my colleagues Yolanda and Gemma state,

I exaggerate a lot.

I tend to exaggerate a bit.

If I tell you that there were
150,000 people, maybe it was 70,000.

But I do remember a lot of things.

They started telling me
everything that had to be done.

Tour around Mexico, Argentina,
a movie...

and I misunderstood.

I understood that I'd be joining
after all that.

The walls and the floor as well

When my parents told me
I'd be starting in a month's time,

the joy was overwhelming.

To join Parchís, a band I really loved.

And Frank was a kid
who worked out really well.

Firstly, due to his physical attributes,

due to his charisma
and him being a natural.

Hello, friends

It was Yolanda and Gemma who helped me
the most from the beginning.

They spent many days
teaching me the steps,

where I came in,
where I went out...

It was harder for him
to get the choreography,

because he was the smallest.

He'd be sort of following the steps
of the older kids.

That's why in lots of scenes it looks
like I'm being funny, but the truth is...

that I'd get lost,
I'd get lost because I was...

It was a lot of information
for a nine- or ten-year-old kid.

Do you think it will work?

Yes, it has the most powerful magnet
in existence.

Frank and I, it was a constant game,
always.

Everything we saw as an opportunity
to play.

Everything.

It's not like we'd wreck hotels,

but we'd make
training obstacle courses in our room.

In Cádiz, they set up a football pitch
in a bedroom.

In a five-star hotel.

A hotel in Buenos Aires,

where we'd often make
tents with the beds and all that,

told us not to return.

For a time,
we turned into sort of thieves.

My first cologne was Agua Brava,

which was the cologne
your dad would wear,

and it was one of the perfumes
we'd steal on the plane.

Crank it up.

We'd go to souvenir shops
for tourists, for example,

and when we saw something we liked,
we'd steal it.

And then we'd get to the hotel
and we'd be like,

"How many have you got
and how many have I got?"

Okay, let's film.

Stop that machine, it's noisy.

Silence!

Mexico, Argentina,
were the first countries I visited...

Lights!

It was a constant trip.

Playback!

You come from a humble family and suddenly
you're in the middle of this hullabaloo

with planes, helicopters.
fans, tours, interviews...

We'd arrive there and we were like...

I felt like the Beatles. It was...

They welcomed you.
They gave you everything.

And another of the great rewards
they received

was a triple platinum record
for the sale of three million copies,

so just imagine. Go, Parchís!

The end of the great adventure

Their success was so awesome,

it was impossible to remain oblivious.

Come on, kids, we're ready for rehearsal.

I mean, it would infect you.

So you were somehow swept away
in that wave and on that path

and even if you could have
a critical perspective of the issue,

you'd get carried away.

I ended up writing lyrics
and preparing shows for them.

And now, what all the kids
have been waiting for,

with you all, Parchís!

I mean, I've experienced, for example,

going to certain places
that were cock fighting enclosures,

and saying to the promoter, "You have to
give me the money before the performance."

And he had two six foot officers
at his back

who pulled out two guns like this,

and he said, "The kids will perform
and then you'll get your money."

Whose mission is to protect
The Earth from attacks

We've performed in places...

some odd, diverse
and complicated places.

You might play in a concert hall today

and in the afternoon in a place
that you say,

"How's this held together?
Four planks."

We'd had a problem in a concert,

there was a song
where we got kids onstage,

and there was
a black curtain behind us,

but the curtain wasn't attached
to the wooden stage...

It's really fun
It's our favorite

...and the kids came up
and got behind us to sing,

but unfortunately kids
kept falling off the back.

We saw parents going...
and people getting up...

We didn't know what they were doing.

Often there were places that we'd say,

"Where have we just performed?
With what resources?"

But the great thing is that people,
even if we'd sung without mics,

people thought it was fantastic.

The show could be good,
bad or mediocre.

People just wanted to see us,
to be there, to have that experience

of being at the concert.

The boys and girls

aged twelve, thirteen,
fourteen, fifteen and sixteen,

would go crazy.

Friends of Parchís

But the kids aged four, five,
six, seven,

were stupefied seeing all that,
and they took part:

"Did you like it?" "Yes!"
"I can't hear you!" "Yes!"

Friends of Parchís

One of the reasons why we connected
so well with people

was because they realized
that we were having fun.

Despite being shy,
getting up onstage...

I loved it.

Just seeing...
The more people, the merrier.

Because people,
like in Mexico or in Argentina,

there they call your name, they scream,

you hear your name everywhere.
You feel so loved.

Another member of the hottest
child and youth band,

here's Gemma!

Thing is, after a while
it got hard for me,

the thing with the tours, traveling,
movies, interviews...

it got heavy going.

I think Gemma is a pretty brave woman.

From a young age,
she handled things well.

She had a great natural intelligence.

She met Yolanda and...

they got on very well,
especially because Gemma yielded,

but I think she needed that at her side.

But the relationship they had

was a slave relationship,
as it's known in philosophy.

The master and the slave.

Each needed the other
to be who they were.

People may think
that I tried to overshadow her,

but it wasn't like that.

I think that, emotionally,
we depended on each other.

And in that sense
I depended on her a lot,

because she looked after me too.

There were times she felt tired,
that's true.

Maybe her energy was less sizable
than Yolanda's,

who gets it from her father,

and who's a woman
who loves her job above all else.

This beautiful ten-year-old kid, Yolanda,
is Rudy Ventura's daughter.

I want to know if you like
that she is a singer.

2/8/1979
YOLANDA'S FIRST TV APPEARANCE

Yes, she has recorded albums
and stories for children. I like it.

What about her?
Do you like to sing, Yolanda?

Yes, a lot.

Well, let's see her performing
"Si Vas a París, Papá."

My father was like,
"You have to be a singer and an actress...

a supercomplete performer.

And the stage is sacred,
even if you don't feel well,

on stage you give it all..."
because he was like that.

Daddy goes to Paris
And he won't say what for

If he's going to Moulin Rouge
Or to get a baby

Daddy goes to Paris...

Of course, my mother would tell him,

"But the girl has to go to school,
she isn't going to school."

And my father was like,
"But she's doing well," so...

"She's doing what she's going to do."

The first impression wasn't like,
"Be careful with the academic issue."

But suddenly,
the following year it was like,

"These kids aren't going
to school much."

Another school year
What adventures can we expect?

Your teachers did give you
your subject matter,

but of course, you didn't go to class.

In fact, in my third year in Parchís,
I went to school five or six days.

THE SECOND CHILDREN'S WAR

And they made me repeat that year.

With Latin, English and French
To battle once again

For a kid of fifteen who comes back
with the whirlwind of success and that,

to face the day to day again...

There were some moments
that were a little complicated.

School was really hard.

And I've always said that...

the fame or fandom that we got
in Latin American countries

turned into a search
and destroy in Spain.

It was always, "Parchís, chis, chis..."
"What?" "Parchís, chis!"

The usual.

But you eventually
become immune to all that.

Are you happy to be back at school?

Yes!

I'm glad.

There was a moment when I said,
"Let's bring a teacher along."

In case, at some point...

Because on those long tours,
there would suddenly be four days

that they might be a bit quiet.

I think I kind of played the role
of the parents who weren't there.

Sort of the job of making them study...

IMMA CABECERANS
TEACHER

...be there for them
when they had a problem...

A bit like a care-giving mother.

I think that the moment reality struck
was when we finished a tour,

we got back to Barcelona,
and they were out of place

because they didn't have school friends.

I'd get to school and they'd go off
on trips, to camps and all that,

and I could never go because I had tours.

And swing my sword like D'Artagnan!

I guess that, as soon as they got
into that routine,

they almost preferred to spend four months
away from home than to be there.

Being just another kid at school.

Our mischief is innocent
Hilarious...

Why can't I be in my group
from school

if they ask me to go out,
and speak normally

without anyone looking me up and down
to see how I'm dressed?

It was all a bubble.

Our bubble.

And we lived there.

Because it was such a whirlwind,
you barely had time to think.

Every day we'd do new things,
appear on television...

Almost every day there was a performance.

Okay, don't get nervous.

The main thing is to keep calm.

Are you nervous? Would you like
a tranquilizer for your nerves?

No, no... Better not.

Everyone who had power and money

wanted Parchís to rub shoulders
with their children, grandchildren...

So, of course,
the kids would kick up a lot

and they'd often start trouble.

But we'd do it.
We might say...

But we'd go. We'd go to the party
or interview or whatever.

Their special routine

was they'd set one foot on the plane
and they'd fall asleep.

Well, I can't wait another minute
to visit Rio de Janeiro.

Why don't we go right now?

I learned to sleep on planes too.

On that four-month tour, I think that,
as far as sleeping in a bed,

I must have slept
less than four hours a day

over those four months,
so I'd get there and crash out.

Returning to Mexico,
the extraordinary and classy band

that, one time only
and for just four shows,

will perform in the Aztec Pavilion
and in Mexico City.

In Mexico, if you didn't work
with Televisa,

you didn't work.

They had the power, not as a label,
but media power.

Parchís the idols,
Parchís the brilliant,

Parchís the consecrated.

Televisa was the most important company
in Mexico,

but the one that paid the worst.

Saturday 24th
and Sunday 25th of April,

4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
in the Aztec Pavilion.

And then lurking around the hotel,

I don't know through whom,
nor why, nor in what way,

this character appeared.

Jorge Berlanga, for example, is who sold
Hugo Sánchez to Atletico de Madrid,

so he's a guy who works a lot
with football transfers,

he knows all about it,

he's a close friend of Maradona's,
he knows the deal with Messi.

He's a real character.
If you ever meet him,

take a lot of batteries,
and I mean a lot,

because I'm Harpo Marx in comparison.

Joaquín would say...

and he can confirm this
if you speak to him again,

he said...

PARCHÍS' MANAGER IN MEXICO

..."The first Porsche
I ever got into was yours."

Did I have a Porsche?
I don't even remember having a Porsche!

So, he explains that he knows that...

that working with him
would be better,

and that he had a network
of managers all over the country,

that we could book much bigger gigs.

As an aside,
the kids wouldn't be as tired;

he offered them, for long journeys,
to go by private jet.

I felt a terrible lethargy

arriving and queueing for a flight
with 200 people to board five kids,

so I'd say to some businessman,
"Send me a plane."

They gave us luxuries,
that they did.

And the best.

If I wanted to go to a shopping center
and I was adamant that I liked a ring,

then I got the ring, right?

Jorge Berlanga did well

in saying, "The kids need
a day off per week."

No one had ever done that.

Or, "If these kids have a birthday,
they need it to be celebrated,"

and they'd turn up with mariachis
and give us gifts...

Before that, you could spend
your birthday on plane

and no one cared.

What bound me to Parchís
was a series of circumstances.

The first was the huge affection
I developed for Joaquín Oristrell

and Carmen Balaguer and Rudy Ventura,
may he rest in peace.

The second...

my children adored Parchís.

On the longest tour we had,
our parents came along.

All our parents were invited...

to Las Vegas, then to Acapulco...

We went to Los Angeles,
San Francisco,

we went to Orlando.

That was all paid for by the manager,
Mr. Berlanga, in this case.

And he paid for my wife,

who wasn't my wife at the time,
she was my girlfriend.

She'd tell me all the anecdotes
from the trip, which I experienced later.

I mean, it was a number,

it was...

A "Sentmenat" was a Seven Up;

the "Tutti Frutti" was the Duty Free
and so on.

It was like a cartoon family
going to Mexico.

So you'd end up in one of those
open-grill Japanese restaurants,

a super awesome one,
between this guy and that guy,

these people who'd just come
from a humble neighborhood...

We were in Distrito Federal
with the parents,

and they were delighted to watch
some of the kids' performances.

They were in the best hotels,
all expenses paid,

and so the parents were happy,
the kids were happy, and I was happy too.

So, at the Aztec Pavilion
in Mexico again,

it was a more exclusive gig

and let's say the venue's capacity
was 6,500 people,

really expensive tickets and all that,
they crammed in 10,000.

It was a stage set up in a marquee,
a bit like a circus, but not.

What happens?
That marquee was sweltering.

And it started to rain sweat.

The climate in there was inhumane.

We had to change them several times.

The parents were at that one,
everyone's parents, as guests.

I remember one mother
thought it was unbearable,

so the next day she didn't go
to see her daughter sweat.

And I said, "Come on, if your daughter
can sweat, you can sweat!

At least you'll be able to buy yourself
something with her money."

Well, anyway, I had my problems with them.

I'd say the most significant performance
by Parchís in their artistic career

was in the Aztec Stadium, without a doubt.

AZTEC STADIUM

One of the anecdotes
from those two days

is that I remember this kid
who was begging, who called us...

I remember seeing that kid get
right to the front row

and he spent the whole concert
with his arms out like a cross.

This is America

He was a kid who had been begging
so he could end up

listening with his arms stretched out.

That made an impression on me.

America, a paradise beyond compare

I remember a performance

in a place called Bosques del Lago,
north of Distrito Federal.

We had to get to the location
by helicopter.

It was impossible by car
because so many people would be arriving.

I remember getting on that stage
and starting to cry

from the excitement,
or rather the awe,

of standing in front of
over 100,000 people.

It's something that for a child,
maybe I was ten or eleven then,

it really struck me,
and I sang the first two songs crying.

PERUVIAN CORPORATION OF AIRPORTS
AND COMMERCIAL FLIGHT

The biggest reception we had
was in Peru.

"PARCHÍS FEVER" CAUSES DESTRUCTION
AND INJURY

We arrived in Lima
and the airport was overrun

by a mass of fans who were waiting
for us.

PARCHÍS CAUSES PATCHES

Well, that was a flood of people.
It was incredible.

I especially remember the day
they performed in Madison Square Garden,

which was really full of people.

Kisses, lots of kisses from Parchís

We didn't play alone in the Madison.

I remember there were other bands
like Los Chamos, from Venezuela,

Luis Miguel was there...

Going to New York,
climbing the Empire State Building,

seeing the city
and then playing there,

being one of the first,
or one of the few, Spaniards

who have managed to perform there...

It was always for the Latino audience,

because we didn't cross over
to the English-speaking market,

but it was a real landmark moment,
it's still important.

This is America, America

We devoured Menudo.

PARCHÍS VS MENUDO
WHO IS BETTER?

We devoured everyone.

I mention Menudo
because they were our competition.

We devoured the child entertainment world.

NOT AFRAID OF THE COMPETITION

We devoured consecrated performers.

Success meant that
there was Parchís chewing gum,

Parchís weekly comics,

there were all sorts of things.

Parchís were on every program.
Parchís were in every commercial.

Before the TV test card,
there was Parchís.

They were everywhere,
Parchís sold itself.

At the beginning,
I worked for it to be a success,

not for it to be a social phenomenon.

And Parchís didn't have success.

Parchís was a social phenomenon.

It was a time in Mexico, and probably
in all of the Spanish-speaking world,

in which children's music
wasn't made by children.

We had adults
singing to children.

They were the first band
who represented us as a generation...

BENNY IBARRA
TIMBIRICHE

...as far as music is concerned.

It was very interesting.
Obviously it was very colorful,

it was well made,
it was an intelligent product.

Parchís' success has instigated
the appearance of many bands.

I'm told that in Spain,
at least 15 kids' bands have arisen

because they all think they will enjoy
Parchís' success.

I personally feel that sequels
have never been as good;

he who lands the first blow lands two,

Whether on a kids' level, Parchís,
or a teenage level, Menudo.

They'd say that all those bands
were disposable and fake.

LUIS DE LLANO
TV PRODUCER

And now they're the ones filling
national concert halls.

All the performers from the '80s,
whatever age they may have been,

are currently the important
artists in Mexico.

It's true that prospects improved.

And it's true that,
being motivated by our success,

new bands appeared,
such as Timbiriche.

Timbiriche was created by Televisa
to demolish Parchís.

Do you know what Timbiriche is?

Yes!

Well...

To us it's...

-A game!
-A dream!

A story!

Fortunately, Miguel Bosé took them
under his wing.

He started to make introductions.

And after a while,
Parchís returned to Mexico,

and we decided to do
a double gig, Parchís-Timbiriche.

And we decided it would be
in the Palacio de los Deportes.

DIEGO SCHOENING
TIMBIRICHE

You looked at the ticket and it said,

"Parchís", with that logo
like inflated balloons, huge...

"Timbiriche." Tiny...

This is America, America

Parchís comes out and...

Honestly... Look, I well up...

It was collapsing from the kids' screams.

America, America, America

Thank you!

And then,
"With all of you. Timbiriche!"

With all of you, Timbiriche singing
"La Vida es Mejor Cantando!"

And half way through the gig
it was like...

"With all of you, Parchís!"

"With all of you, Timbiriche!"

That was the moment when they said,
"Hang on...

We're going to have to start
separating this, because it's a monster."

See you soon
To the old and the young!

Friends of Parchís

And in the Parchís-Timbiriche gig,
something very weird happened.

I don't know if you guys
have been told about it.

Paulina Rubio fell
madly in love with David.

So, Paulina, who was kind of the leader
of Timbiriche,

forced constant meetings
between Parchís and Timbiriche

so she could see David.

Then suddenly, I liked one of the girls.
Paulina, that is.

And I can assure you she wasn't
half as pretty as she is now.

And we had a relationship
based on friendship.

It was no longer the commitment
we'd had imposed upon us

to share a stage
or television shows.

We did want to meet up
when we had time off.

What do you think of the girls
from the band Parchís?

I remember always getting on
very well with Frank.

Tino was the eldest,
even older than us,

and there was
a great admiration for him.

Our house in Mexico was
two blocks from hers

so I'd go to see her
or she'd come...

And... Well... There was a sort of
an innocent relationship between two kids

who like each other
and who share a reality,

which is to be famous and that...

I'd make a joke in the Parchís era.
I'd say,

"If only Herod appeared again
and killed all the kids."

Because now all parents want to make
their kids famous and live off them

and milk the cow.

The thing with the fans and the madness
came more from the parents.

And oftentimes from the mothers.

I learned...

that when a woman goes up
to Julio Iglesias to get an autograph

and Julio Iglesias doesn't do it,

the woman turns away slightly irritated
and leaves.

But when a mother approaches
a member of Parchís,

asking for an autograph
for her son or daughter,

and Tino doesn't give her one,

the woman grabs Tino by the neck
and strangles him.

She assaults him.

And the problem is that all five
of them had to give it to you.

How did we resolve it?

"Here's your postcard, madam,
and please don't kill anybody."

Of course, people sometimes adapt
to the role they're given,

so...

they were very similar
to what people saw.

The projected image was pretty,
beautiful and pleasant,

while there was another part
that was less so.

But their personality was quite similar

to the personality that was sold
to the public.

It's Parchís' crazy beat

With five different kids
it wouldn't have been that successful.

Not because we were special,
but because

we were perfect fits
for the roles given to us.

It was coincidence that I had...

that part of the audience made up
of moms, grandmas, and the little girls,

David had the undecided,

Tino had the teenagers
and older girls...

and above all, there was a girl war.

Because as Yolanda was the pretty one,
the outgoing one, the exuberant one,

lots of girls backed Gemma.

There was an anti-Yolanda club.

The girls thought that Tino and I
were together,

or that Tino was after me.
And that meant competition.

When we introduced ourselves,
mostly in Latin America,

they'd introduced Gemma, and... "Yay!"
When they said Yolanda,

they booed me sometimes.
"I haven't done a thing.

I've just shown up,
why do you hate me so much?"

You see that people there
love you in a different way,

maybe because they found me...
more shy... I don't know why.

My favorite counter was Tino.

So I wanted to be Tino, to dress like him,

to see myself like him,
to have his looks.

I'll prove that I am the best

I've defeated everyone

Because that moment that everyone
has sky high bilirubin,

it's just natural,
everyone is the same there.

You find yourself in a position

in a position of constant worship...

It is like that.

So often you're told,
so often you're reminded,

and so often you perceive that feeling,

that you finally say,
"Well, I must have something in me!"

The discovery that, "I seduce,
I can, I'm liked, I'm admired..."

For these kids it was multiplied...

by a million,

because lots of people
were looking at them.

Lots of people were looking,
not only with an attraction and a look of,

"You sing so well,
and dance so well," and such,

but, "I really like you, you're so pretty,
you're so handsome."

And that was contagious.

I might have been flirtatious,
but I was just a girl.

And yeah, there probably were
people who had...

had...

fantasies inappropriate for that age.

So, there was the kids' party,
usually in the garden,

and the grown-ups' party,
where there were substances that...

that weren't exactly gummy bears
or anything like that.

There was a bit of everything.

VICKY VIVES
TEACHER

At the parties, there were people
who were interested, of course.

The girls looked cute.

So, there were... flies around the honey.

So you had to make sure
that it didn't go any further.

For example, the protection
of my own cousin, Yolanda,

because she was a target

for many businessmen,
for many adult men.

I remember my mother would say,
"Be a bit careful.

Because you sit on someone's lap,

and that someone might get
the wrong idea." And I'd say,

"But how can they get the wrong idea?
I'm just a kid."

By sitting on their lap, I mean...

They had daughters almost my age!

I think she liked to be liked,

by the young and the old,
she liked to be liked,

but she was fifteen or sixteen,

she didn't want to be hassled.

Yolanda to me was...

beautiful, gorgeous. I fell in love
and lived in love with Yolanda

from the age of nine.

Yolanda has been the love of my life.

But I was also very aware
of the fact that Yolanda...

was growing and she had her suitors
and there's nothing you can do about that.

You'll never guess who I ran into
in line at the theater!

I think he loved me a lot
and maybe I hurt him.

Not intentionally,
but because I was...

Just that, someone else would come along,
and he was very young

and liked Argenis from Los Chamos
or I liked someone else and...

I'd become their girlfriend
for that tour or those days.

Gorgeous!

Off limits for minors, kid.

I mean, I wouldn't mind
getting to know her.

And get to know her you will.

Tino was by far the one
who picked up the most girls.

Also, he was the eldest,

I mean he had a...
His relationships weren't so much about...

sharing a couple of kisses.

Tino wasn't supposed to smoke,
but he smoked.

He sometimes drank...

In truth, fortunately,
he didn't really like alcohol.

He had sex at a very young age.

In a gratuitous way, to put it one way.

So of course, he was living a life...

similar to Justin Timberlake
when he started at eighteen,

not to a kid of that age.

And that had been motivated
by the people surrounding him.

As far as I know, Tino's father once

told him if he kept misbehaving,
he'd throw him out of the house,

and he said,
"But I paid for this house."

Tino, the contest is very easy,

you ask me if I want to go out with you
and I respond that I do.

-And we've won, sweetie.
-No.

Most of the brief relationships I've had,

needed to have more
than "the heat of the moment."

So let's start with the questions.

I'm going to ask my first friend
her first question:

What color eyes do you have?

I have green eyes.

-Green?
-Yes, and I hope you really like them.

Well, yes, I really like them.

He'd sometimes boast
about his great conquests,

but he always...

A lot of women liked him.
And a lot of older women liked him.

He didn't go looking for them.

Well, maybe if he especially liked someone
in particular, he'd go for her,

but I recollect
women creeping into his bedroom.

I mean, they'd go into the bedroom
and hide in the wardrobe.

All set to do whatever he wanted.

I wasn't close, but I kept my eye on them.

You know? I couldn't allow...

in Parchís' house, for Tino to have
an amorous relationship with a mother.

Aside from it being the death
of the business,

we'd all go to jail.

In the most auspicious moments
they'd hire a chalet.

In Mexico, for example,
in the Pedregal area,

there were three ladies there
who looked after us.

From an operational standpoint,

for adults and elders
it would be less practical,

but for us it was a lot more comfortable.

One day they're like,
"We're going to show you the house,"

we see the house,
the house was really big...

and the moment arrived
and I asked, "And my room?"

And the answer was,
"There's no room for you here."

I was being separated from my duty,
from my responsibility.

I think that there was a...
power struggle

between the manager,
who at that time was Berlanga,

the record label
and their representative, and the parents.

And I think Berlanga was playing his hand

because he saw that Parchís
had a real future.

I think Parchís had a real future
and they generated a lot of money.

Well, we carried on our activities,
our work, the shows and so on,

but there was an increasing
hold up with payments.

I was probably Parchís'
most fun adventure.

But I wasn't...

The big money came from the movies.
I wasn't Bermúdez de Castro,

I didn't make any movies.

I had nothing to do
with the records either.

We were in the dressing room,

and I asked
when I was going to get paid.

He said no, that he couldn't,
or maybe later on or whatever,

and that's when I got serious.

I said, "If I don't get paid,
the kids don't sing today."

There was an upheaval
and the kids went out to perform,

amongst other things because
they, the band, the team,

said they would,

and my authority meant nothing.

I went back to the hotel,

and I was told that someone
had been looking for me.

They suggested
it might be better to leave the hotel.

Something weird happened.
I didn't really know,

but there was a very tense situation,

nobody knew what was going on,
at night... I don't know.

He was in a hotel
called Presidente Chapultepec,

and he asked me to go up
to his room to get his bag,

because he was afraid there might be
someone there to shoot him.

They called me...

from Discos Belter
telling me to return to Barcelona.

I explained everything
that had happened

and then...

I was told that...

that I hadn't been, let's say,
honest with the kids.

That I had duped them,
and this, that and the other,

and that I'd better hand in
my resignation.

And...

And on the second tour Janer disappeared.

I don't even know
who was stealing from whom,

how often and in what way,
but it's...

It seemed almost like...
like out of a nightmare,

because...

you didn't know who the good guys were
and who the bad guys were.

Now we know our money
winds up in that dirty investor's bank.

What really bothers me is that he kept
everything we made on the TV program.

Yes, they'd made a lot of money,
this tour here, that tour there...

CARMEN TERÉS - FRANK'S MOTHER
MATEO DÍAZ - FRANK'S FATHER

And then came expenses:
hotels, travel, personal expenses...

Belter's share, the manager's share,
the other guy's part.

A sort of mini-corporation is created.

A mini-corporation in which Belter...

PLATINUM RECORD FOR PARCHÍS

...necessarily but unduly,
from my perspective,

also becomes the band's manager,
obviously with the parents' consent.

A relationship with the parents
that, if I remember correctly, was 70-30.

And yeah, Parchís, on one tour,
made 10,000 dollars per show,

but when the peso was devalued,
they made 2,500 per show.

So when you do a tour in which...

the whole tour
leaves you with 200,000 dollars,

and out of that 200,000 dollars,

140,000 goes to Discos Belter

and 60,000 gets split
between five families,

that's only 12,000 dollars per family.

Come on, you're not David Bowie,

you're not Eric Clapton,
you're not the Rolling Stones.

But the idiot who was managing you
in Mexico put you on a private jet,

okay, sue him for psychological damage.

It's my fault.

The first time we were paid
a commission for records

it was 100,000 pesetas per head,
each child.

I think that the label
that owned the rights,

say Musart in Mexico,
Discos América in Peru,

would tell Disco Belter
they'd sold 100,000,

and maybe they'd sold a million copies.

From abroad, nothing.

We'd always say, "Well, and this..."

And they said, "We're missing figures
from here and from there,

we have to get the numbers straight,
we have to this and that..."

And we were never paid
anything else for records.

So, viewed from their perspective,

you think, "With all the sacrifices
I've made,

I've ruined my childhood,"

because they ruined their childhoods.

"With all the work I've done,
and the sacrifices from that,

I've only made this?

I've been ripped off, I've been robbed."

Frank asked me:
"Did you ever have a contract

where it said 2,000 dollars,

and you were paid 3,000,
but you made them write 2,000?"

Never ever.

Never ever.

I'm talking about those famous
600-million pesetas

that, when Ignacio Janer
was kicked out of the record label,

I thought or I'd heard or I'd imagined,

he'd supposedly stolen.

I think that was a setup
by management, or I'm not sure whom,

but as soon as money came in,
it disappeared.

What I do know
is that they generated a lot of money.

A lot of money.

And that money wound up somewhere.

I don't think it was that guy or any other
in particular; it was the sum of many,

the sum of lots of these things,

but we're in a world
where that happens a lot.

That is...

I think I directed twelve films
and I still don't know what they cost.

I think for the families,
I guess it got to a point

where their kids
could make a lot of money,

and they never considered
if it was too much pressure for them,

if all those months away from their homes
and their families could harm them.

But it was their fault.

And that's that.

Then, sure, a very bad record label,
some evil men, some exploiters,

whatever, but they're your kids.

There's no excuse.

We were also...
Look, a surprise like that,

from one day to the next your child is
picked up by such a famous band,

of course, the last thing
we were thinking about was money.

We weren't going to argue.

To get on track, he should have asked
work for some time off

to see how everything was going,
to see the accounts...

He didn't bother.
The others didn't bother either...

-I had a lot of work.
-Nobody bothered.

And then the final, final conflict,

came when...
there was an offer for the kids.

A contract appeared from Disneyland,
the people from Disney,

from Parker board games and from Atari.

These people came with a proposal.

What they wanted
was to take Parchís and...

give it a Yankee twist, if you get me.

And we'll fulfill
the Latin American dream, right?

The Latino kids who end up making it

will be on the stage at Disneyland
or Disney World or whatever.

They got us really excited
about the project.

It was...

the best really is yet to come.

A beautiful world

You were able to build

The Disney project had a problem:

The kids, the five kids, had to go
and live in the USA for a year

with no pay.

And they were going to get them
English and singing and dance teachers

to make them professional.

How many dreams

You took flight

My parents discussed it with Joaquín,

so it wasn't just within Parchís,
but within the family,

especially at that time.

Joaquín was who we consulted
to see if this could be a good thing.

And as things stood,
in view of what appeared in the future,

and as the parents weren't going
to give up

on their kids continuing to perform,

it seemed like a very good option.

Living with joy

And the kids
more or less agreed, too.

But the record label wasn't involved,
they missed out.

Everything is possible
Here in Disney World

Rudy Ventura and I went
to Mexico, we spoke to them,

they explained the contract,
all about the conditions...

One of their conditions,
according to Jorge,

was that there had to be all five of us,

because we wouldn't be able
to keep the name if there wasn't.

Belter obviously wouldn't want that.

This was being done in secret.

Well, not all the parents agreed.

For instance, legal doubts appeared;

"Can we break the contract
with the label?"

Just an example.

I think it all happened very fast
and someone mouthed off.

I came back to Spain
to meet up with the five families,

who were all very decent and charming,

and four of the families
accepted the Disney project,

but one didn't.

And when we got back to Spain,
we were met with a huge surprise,

which was that Belter
had stolen Tino.

There had been a conspiracy,

something working against someone,
who, for better or worse,

had been with us for four
or five years of our career

and who was the only
valid reference we had,

because what we had accomplished,
we'd accomplished with them,

with Belter.

So when we got back,
we spoke to Tino's father;

"How can this be?
Do you know what you've done?

You've destroyed the success

and everything that Parchís
has done until now,

you've just destroyed it with this."

We were at a point
where I was sixteen,

and I was starting to feel a bit oppressed

in the red Parchís dungarees.

And I wanted to express things in music

other than the red train that's heading
to the little house in Canada.

And when Tino left,

if the financial problem
was already bad,

because of Parchís' situation in Mexico,

it was the end of Parchís
in Latin America.

The band had a life cycle.

You never knew if the cycle
was two years long or twenty.

But every band has a cycle.

I think that we were made the offer
when we were already in decline.

I don't know if that would have been
a sink to bounce back from,

or if we'd really have sunk
to the bottom.

The last film,
Parchís Takes Action,

we filmed it with him,
but we weren't speaking to Tino,

because we thought
that he had betrayed us.

That is, he left us...

hanging.

"Okay, cut!" And we'd go our way
and Tino would go his way.

And throughout that month of filming
we led completely separate lives.

And I know, because if I'd been dressed
in blue or as a dice,

I'd have been seriously pissed off
with everyone and I'd have felt like crap.

And I probably would have held
a grudge this whole time, I don't know.

But I'd have been pissed off
at that moment, for sure.

But what happened to me?
I grew up before them, that's all.

And this is the spectacular night with...

Tino!

There are many questions
to get to know this singer.

There are many questions to get to know
this idol of the Latin American youth.

With courage, talk to me

In truth the first record
went well.

There were lots of people in the audience
who, like myself, had grown up,

and the first record went gold
in Mexico and also Argentina.

Don't be afraid
Let me love you

Let me hold you
Let me feel you

My whole artistic period
of four or five years

I'd been accompanied by them,
and suddenly...

I perfectly remember
the first feeling in a TV studio.

I look left and right
and, hell, it scared me because...

they weren't there.

Do you consider yourself a sex symbol?
You, along with Luis Miguel or Menudo.

Well, on a personal level,
I don't consider myself a sex symbol.

Thing is... I don't know,

if people want me to come here
to sing, I'll come here to sing.

And if people want me
to keep working, I'll keep working,

but not as a sex symbol, but...

as a friend to all of you
who loves you very much, that's all.

How lovely. Isn't he divine?

I don't think it benefitted any of them.

And both sides,
despite Parchís continuing

for a while making records with Chus,

the magic has been lost.

But Chus also did a great job.

I want Sunday to arrive
You also await it with glee

Chus was very valid
on a music level,

on a dance level,

but I think what happened is
that he felt a little...

He had it hard.

We'll have a nice drink
Well made with ice and gin

They had the idea
of doing something more juvenile,

because the songs were different,

they spoke about adolescence,
about dating...

But it wasn't the same.

We'll share a cigarette

All the production, all that care
was for Tino's solo album.

And we were like, "Well, until it ends."

Okay, take off your masks
let's start rehearsal.

-Hey, a bone!
-Forget about bones!

Let's start rehearsing,
we've got a show.

Then when I saw that things...
I saw a decline.

I want to see smiles,
I want to see strong steps, all right?

It's only a rehearsal.

Strong steps, smiling.

As if you were in front of 10,000 people.

-Shut up!
-No...

No way! As if you were in front
of 10,000 people.

They were grumpy too because,

"We no longer go here or there,"
or "We don't do what we used to,"

or "Before you'd open the fridge,
there'd be this and that, not anymore."

And they started to see,
and people started saying,

that their label, Belter,
wasn't doing too well,

I think it folded shortly after.

DISCOS BELTER SUSPENDS PAYMENTS

Better, when it folded...

I'll always say
that it was a fraudulent bankruptcy,

although they made it look
like a suspension of payment.

It was a bankruptcy that should have seen
half of the management go to prison.

I think it's hard to justify:
A company with a twenty-odd-year history,

that four years before closing
makes its highest earnings,

and four years later,
it closes because there's no money.

Where did all that money go?

I'll buy you dinner

I want us to talk
I'll buy you dinner

But that coincided,
after the second one,

with Belter closing,
they were going bust...

due to their wise... scheming.

And this on top of the fact
that I turned 18 and had to line up.

I had to do military service
like every other kid, a year,

in Zaragoza.

That's what cut short what could have been
a music career as a solo artist.

The first record went well,
the second held its own,

and the third...
was a complete flop, definitely.

So the time comes that I have to decide
whether to study or sing.

So I decided to study.

And I remember that instead of the head
of the label being the one to say,

"Are you sure?"

it was one of the parents
who said, "Are you sure?"

So, understand? They...

This goes to show who was
on the other end of the table.

Sometimes we weren't...

Sometimes it was us who were
at the other end of the table.

But it could have continued.

I think it could have.

With intent, with support and with...
We could have happily continued.

But when David left,
it was too many changes.

I mean, with Chus
we could have carried on,

but when David left...

Michel... I don't think Michel
was a good match.

Michel didn't match at all.

-Why?
-Because he was like...

Big Bird on Sesame Street.

He was a meter taller
than the rest of us.

But finally at fifteen
I got tired of it,

I wanted to be someone anonymous,

I wanted to get back to normal,
and that lifestyle, for me...

I didn't like it anymore.

The record label closed.
I think we were in... maybe in Mexico,

and when we got back, the label
had folded and we... That was it.

We got back,

and...

we all went home.

It ended there.

I knew that Yolanda, having
the performer father that she had,

would carry on as a performer,

but the rest,
I think they knew that wouldn't last long

and then they'd get on with their lives.

I'd done, during Parchís' final phase,

some auditions for a TV series
called Platos Rotos,

written by Joaquín Oristrell,
my cousin,

and I'd been given
the role of Mariel.

Mariel, stuck between Mom and Dad,
that is, between a rock and a hard place.

I'll never get married, putting up
with the same guy forever is a bore,

like having a TV with only one channel.

I think it was also like...

a way of escaping
all the surrounding conflict.

My parents had split up,
it was the end of Parchís...

And I think that, at that time,

I didn't see it,
but I didn't really fit in.

Not in Spain,
nor in my family, nor...

Not anywhere.

We were very distant for a few years.

I was very distant with Gemma,
with Yolanda, I didn't speak to Tino.

But Frank was always there.
Frank's a brother to me.

On a personal note,

I've had my adventures
with a bad lifestyle,

I've had difficulties
moving forward,

because you come out of there
really scarred.

Even though Parchís had ended,

at seventeen, wherever I went,
or at sixteen,

you were like a sore thumb,
especially me.

And deep down,
when you stop being someone,

more so at that age,

I was still the girl from Parchís.

In my neighborhood,
I was always "the one from Parchís."

All the neighbors,
the people at school...

But deep down you're left
with a feeling that you think...

it's over. After about a year,
there was something missing in your life.

All that causes a small problem.

And anyone who denies it
can tell me about it.

It causes a small problem, a little
lack of confidence, of self-esteem.

So I arrived here in Mexico
and there was no work,

the first months
there was nothing.

Being away from home
without the band,

living in a country that had been
so important to the band...

It's not easy to come to the realization

that you're going through
a phase of depression. That you're sad.

We can all experience that,

because you go through a grieving process,
because this and that happened,

and because it's very hard

to survive having been part of a band
like this with integrity.

Because it was everything.

Well, when you weigh it out
you think, "What?"

Classified ads, job offers...
That's all you got left.

It was the rupture of the band
at a personal level,

and what's more, I think
that sort of anger lasted for years.

We distanced ourselves from Tino,
and we didn't hear from him for years,

until...

Well, because of the accident,
we rekindled our relationship with him.

Everything I'm going to tell you,
it's not that I remember it,

because, in addition to the amputation,
I had pretty bad cranioencephalic trauma.

It's from the statement of the guy
I crashed into, the van I crashed into.

So the guy gave a statement
to the Guardia Civil saying

he was traveling on the opposite side
of the road,

behind a guy who was messing around.

So the guy in front made his maneuver,

I was coming, he can already see me,

and instead of stopping,
the guy accelerates,

exactly at the point where I was passing,
so, to avoid him,

I encroach the other lane, he reaches me
and we collide head on.

From the head-on collision,
the hood shot into the car

and I instinctively put my arm like this,

and it acted as a guillotine along
with the roof and that's what it took off.

But it could have taken my neck.

When Tino had the accident,
I was still angry at him,

at the time I didn't care.

And that's not right, because
he's a person you care about and love,

so that was wrong of me.

And it changed my life,
of course, a lot.

Mainly because when you're confronted
with something like this,

you realize which things really matter.

And the things
with the sole purpose of filling

ephemeral voids
or ephemeral satisfaction,

are absurdities.

And really...

Tino is a person who,
at this time, I think is fantastic.

I admire people who don't play the victim

despite having lived through things
that would allow them to do so.

I really admire... I admire him a lot.

The way he's... the man he has become.

With us, we've gotten to the point
that we're brothers.

We can say almost anything
to each other.

As long as no one else says it.

I can say things like, "You're a douche,"
and he can say it back.

And within half an hour
we're over it.

There are some chains that bind
and that will never again be broken.

And it doesn't matter if you insult
or betray each other or whatever,

we've shared some experiences
that turned us into family.

For the good and the bad.

I can tell you that after that,
I've managed to be a writer or director,

vice-president of the Academy,
president of the Board of Directors...

I've had several lives,
I have two adopted children,

I've had a number
of complicated adventures,

but probably the most exciting thing

that's happened to me in life
was with Parchís.

It's fair to say that you get to a point
that you think, "I'm 50 years old,

I'm so happy I did Parchís,
but it's part of my past."

There were times I would have preferred
not to have been a part of Parchís,

not to have been so well known
or so famous.

But whatever I do,
that degree of success or popularity

is almost impossible
to attain again.

Over the years,
the situation has changed

and it's...
I think I feel grateful in this life

for having been in Parchís,
for having been a part of...

and I know it sounds corny,

but for having been a part
of the childhood of millions of people.

Who can say they've experienced
10,000 people singing along with them?

Who can say that?

Who can say that people used to wear
you on a t-shirt or wear you...?

We're fortunate,
because at the end of the day,

I think that life
is a collection of experiences.

And ours have been fantastic.

Because they have to be aware
of what they did

and of what that was.

Their memories will be full of blanks,
mine too,

but I'd never tell all this,

if I didn't believe
it had ended well.

For everyone.

There haven't been any tragedies,
no hard feelings,

there's been no devastation.

There's been hardship,
overcoming all sorts of things,

because at the end of the day,
what it comes to show

is that these people have been...

They've been champions
in their field,

not only in doing what they did,
not only in being Parchís,

but in surviving Parchís.

-Can I start?
-Please.

For me the most important thing
was traveling.

For a twelve-year-old kid
to get on a plane,

and that what you see
becomes your textbook...

Who travels for five years?

-Or six?
-I don't know.

-Non-stop?
-Non-stop.

When you think in all the full houses,
you'd perform...

and you'd do it
without any kind of embarrassment.

-Of awareness.
-Today I wouldn't be able

-to be out there two minutes.
-To be out there.

I attended a school of life
very different to the one

that many others did.
And I came to very deep...

conclusions.

When I left the band, around 16 or 17,
and went to clubs with Frank,

they would recognize you,

all the girls would look at you.
Flirting was very easy.

But they would flirt with the celebrity,
not with the real person.

-Sure.
-When they'd notice the real person,

they'd get disappointed,
that was not their impression of you.

For some time,

I had this insecurity, like,
"I don't think I can open myself

emotionally in certain ways,
because they don't see me

-as I am, but as they think I am."
-Right, yes.

There is this weird stigma,
where if you were...

not a child prodigy,
but if you were famous as a kid,

you lack talent as an adult.

I accept that it took me years

to get a call because of my work,
not because I was part of Parchís.

-I love to see their faces...
-Totally.

...when they realize.
That should be filmed.

When I moved to New York, eight years ago,

I thought, "No one will recognize me."

Obviously. So, I start working,
and suddenly, a girl,

she is looking at her computer,
and there is a picture of Parchís.

She recognized me, and everyone
in this New York company

going mad like...

How did they say it?

"You are a celebrity."

"You're so famous.

-How can you be so famous?"
-"A little celebrity."

And suddenly, everyone:
"You were at the Madison Square Garden!"