Rise and fall of Rodondendro Mariñansky: a story of...

Rodondendro Mariñansky was a musician from the Brazilian Chaco, who moved to the Argentine Chaco, El Chaco.

His days in Chaco went by playing an -as original as exotic- instrument called 'verdulera', sort of Italian accordion, but smaller, and with a screeching, characteristic sound.

In 1976 Rodondendro formed a band: 'Los Cau', they played a typical folklore, chamame, a mixture of Polish polka with something out-there that noone knew what-the-hem it was.

He recruited some people from the zone, mixture of circus and desperadoes, among them, an Ukrainian bloke who was escaping from the law, due to some murders he committed in the Matto Grosso, where he burned two men alive, using one match, and a spirituous beberage, Caña Legui as combustible.

The band started playing the traditional, picaresque tunes of the folklore of Chaco, they rolled all over the province of Chaco, bearing days of 55ºc in the shade, and drinking vino Resero.

They transported all the instruments and amps in an old Estanciera 1950... one hot afternoon, Rodondendro listened something on the radio of the van, that opened his eyes.

It was "Love Her All I Can" by KISS: the fucked up speakers of the Estanciera were blowing the hinsane rock and roll that echoed among the quebrachos: Rodondendro jumped like a perturbed out of the van, and sat down brusquely on a cut log of quebracho, to ruminate deeply all this revelation, drinking a boiling maté, in spite of the barometric record, which reached that afternoon the 66ºc.

After 5 hours of deep and silent thinkings, Rodondendro Mariñansky suddenly shouted something that the rest of the band couldn't understand: he decided to give his band a drastic stylistic shift, they would turn into a band of KISS covers, but in chamame versions: 
so they bought all the KISS cassettes on a store of Resistencia, Chaco, store that sold vinyls and tapes brought in contraband from Pelotas, Brazil, transported from the guerilla front in Colombia, in large caravan of trucks, Scania Vavis.

As Rodondendro saw on the "Dressed to Kill" cover the KISS members with their faces painted and wearing suits, so he imitated every detail: suits and make-up for his band, too.

The tours around Chaco became feverish and unexpected things happened:

one night someone released a maddened tapir in the middle of the show, and the enraged animal hopped over the stage, pushing everyone's way through with furious haste, even the amplifiers.  
The gig ended with everybody under arrest, even the musicians, who were transported toward la commissariat in a Fiat 600.

Their first album: "Hotter than Mulatta in Carnival", sold the astonishing quantity of 500 copies; released by the microscopic Discos de La Concha label: 

on the cover could be seen the five members of Los Cau wearing the make-up, and correctly dressed with their suits under an abrasive sun, in the infernal 75ºc of the Chaco's afternoon.

The next year, with the release of "The Kings of Tropical Chamame", they started wearing curious top hats.

Apparently, a short time later, the strange Danish musician-singer-performer-whatever, King Diamond, stole them the whole concept, and formed the acclaimed black metal combo MERCYFUL FATE:
during the tour of a Danish contingent, that visited Chaco in 1979, Diamond could see a show of Los Cau, and got profoundly shocked; but this is only a rumour.

But truth is that the next year, Diamond was already seen on the streets of Copenhagen wearing a top hat and make-up, in front of the dumbfounded neighbors, who couldn't understand this extravagant behavior.

Very strange, strange things.

 
No-one knows what happened to Rodondendro Mariñansky ever since; there are several theories, let's see:


Some biographers assure that Rodondendro, in front of a succulent sum that he owed to the drummer (18.000.000.000 Patacas of Macao), escaped to the Brazilian Planalto of Matto Grosso in the night, being subsequently shattered and devoured by strange entities in the jungles; others, instead, affirm that he hid in the woods of Chaco (El Impenetrable), and was haunted by the owls and the witches of El Impenetrable, until he lost his mind, and turned into a sort of wild beast with human appearance, and wings of bat.

In those profound sub-tropical forests of Chaco, called El Impenetrable, do live unclassified creatures, they say, like the weeping bull, and the tree-witch: La Lechiguana.

Other people simply say that Rodondendro was driven by ..... towards ... .... one summer night.

Rise and fall of Rodondendro Mariñansky