Serú Girán -

Serú Girán was an Argentine supergroup with national rock veterans Charly García, David Lebón, Oscar Moro, and teenage musician Pedro Aznar. Between 1978 and 1981, the band released four studio albums: Serú Girán, La Grasa de las Capitales, Bicicleta, and Peperina.

This was the fourth band in under a decade fronted by García, who previously headed Sui Generis, PorSuiGieco, and La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros. Lebón had earlier stints in Pappo’s Blues, Pescado Rabioso, Polifemo, and Color Humano, the latter with Moro, a onetime Los Gatos drummer who linked with Garcia in La Máquina after years with Litto Nebbia. Aznar emerged just beforehand in the second Alas lineup.

Members: Charly García (keyboards, guitar, vocals), David Lebón (guitar, vocals), Pedro Aznar (bass, keyboards, guitar, vocals), Oscar Moro (drums)

Background

Serú Girán took shape in 1978 after Charly García wrapped La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros and began drafting a new set with guitarist David Lebón. Using money raised at the Festival del Amor at Luna Park on November 11, 1977, García and Lebón rented a house in Búzios, Brazil, and wrote early material there; customs delays left their gear stuck on arrival, and García returned to Buenos Aires to lock in business backing with Oscar López and Billy Bond before the lineup fully crystallized.

Back in Buenos Aires, García recruited bassist Pedro Aznar after catching him in a Pastoral-related club setting and moved quickly to bring him into the Brazil plan; drummer Oscar Moro, fresh off La Máquina and with earlier Los Gatos history, completed the quartet. Before the band formally launched, the four folded into Billy Bond and the Jets for a short, contract-driven album project; when Bond dismantled that unit, the quartet continued under the Serú Girán name with a core songbook already in motion from the Brazil writing period.

The first album sessions began at Estudios El Dorado in São Paulo and concluded at ABC Recording Studios in Los Angeles, setting the template for a group that developed in transit rather than in one home studio block. Early live testing also followed that pattern: Serú Girán debuted in a press-facing performance staged on a boat on the Riachuelo, then stepped into a full Buenos Aires bill at Luna Park on July 28, 1978, at a benefit festival for the Fundación de Genética Humana, two key trial runs that led directly into the public rollout of the debut LP.

Serú Girán

Serú Girán released their self-titled debut album in November 1978 on Sazam.

The album runs on a compact 32-minute frame, combining long-form keyboard writing with rhythmic switches that move between rock drive, jazz-fusion motion, and Brazilian-inflected accents. Charly García centers the arrangements with grand piano, Minimoog, and ARP Solina string layers, building stacked chord blocks and sustained pads that set up the main thematic turns. Guitarist David Lebón threads electric and acoustic parts through that keyboard axis, while Pedro Aznar keeps the low end articulate on electric and fretless bass, and Oscar Moro holds the forms together with tight kit punctuation and percussion detail. On select titles, Daniel Goldberg expands the palette with orchestral arranging and direction for a 24-piece ensemble.

García carries most of the writing, with two García/Lebón co-compositions and one Lebón instrumental closing the set. The sequencing places extended pieces at both ends of the LP, keeping the shorter interludes and song-length forms in the middle as connective pivots.

Serú Girán opens with “Eiti Leda” in a long, slow-build form that starts on voice-and-piano with orchestral lift, then adds acoustic guitar and full band as the tempo tightens and the intensity climbs; Pedro Aznar breaks the middle with an exposed bass solo, and Charly García closes the arc with a high-register synth lead that pushes the ending into an emphatic, full-frame peak. “El mendigo en el andén” drops into a restrained ballad tempo under David Lebón, with piano-led harmony that expands as backing voices and thicker instrumentation enter, then drives toward a more charged final stretch where the rhythm section comes forward and the arrangement leans into a larger, uplifted cadence.

“Separata” compresses to a short, voice-and-piano statement with orchestra behind it, keeping the mood inward and spare. “Autos, jets, aviones, barcos” flips the record’s pacing with a percussion-forward pulse and a brighter rhythmic gait, with tropical accents and thick synth color from the Minimoog; the band locks into a bass-and-drums pocket early, then lets keyboards and vocals carry the chorus shape. The title track “Serú Girán” returns to extended pacing with a staged entry that moves from orchestral surface into full band, then cycles through fast–slow–fast instrumental shifts and a late crescendo built on repeating, invented syllables that act as their own rhythmic material.

“Seminare” centers on Lebón over a clear piano figure, then opens up when drums and bass hit with a large fill; the last stretch rides a sustained keyboard solo that lifts the intensity without changing the basic tempo. “Voy a mil” strips back the orchestral weight for a riff-led attack with louder guitar and more direct band punch, with Aznar’s bass lines taking a lead role and a late tonal drop that changes the track’s pressure. “Cosmigonón” is short, instrumental, and built on sustained, heavy synth layers behind the lead line. The harmony does not resolve into a clear cadence or return to a stable home chord; it holds tension through the last bars and stops without a release-type final chord.

A1. “Eití Leda” (7:01) – García
A2. “El Mendigo en el Andén” [The Beggar on the Platform] (3:47) – García, Lebón
A3. “Separata” (1:36) – García
A4. “Autos, Jets, Aviones, Barcos” [Cars, Jets, Planes, Boats] (4:12) – García

B1. “Serú Girán” (7:35) – García
B2. “Seminare” (3:32) – García
B3. “Voy a Mil” [I’m Flat Out] (3:07) – García, Lebón
B4. “Cosmigonon” (1:31) – Lebón

Serú Girán recorded the album at Estudios El Dorado in São Paulo and at ABC Recording Studios in Los Angeles, with Billy Bond producing. Flavinho and Luiz Carlos handled recording in Brazil, Jay Antista mixed the Los Angeles work, and Lanky Linstrot mastered the finished program; Researchcraft Studios L.A. cut the lacquer, with Francisco Hernández credited for the cut.

Sazam issued the LP as a gatefold, with cover layout credited to Eduardo Maia do Vale and photography by José Luiz Pederneiras. A later Diapasón CD/cassette reissue reordered the running sequence and omitted “Autos, Jets, Aviones, Barcos,” and a remaster appeared in 2021 in digital and vinyl formats.

Grasa de las Capitales

Serú Girán released their second album, Grasa de las Capitales, in August 1979 on Sazam.

The album tightens the band’s presentation into a more frontal set of song-length forms, dropping the debut’s orchestral layer in favor of four-piece interplay and sharper sectional turns. Charly García centers the arrangements with Yamaha CP-70 piano, Minimoog, Mellotron, and ARP Solina string colors, while guitarist David Lebón pushes the harmonic changes with electric and acoustic parts that shift between attack and restraint. Pedro Aznar holds the center on electric and fretless bass, expands the texture with synths and acoustic guitar, and takes full control of “Paranoia y Soledad,” while Oscar Moro anchors the pacing with a dry, direct kit feel and percussion accents.

García carries most of the writing, with three García/Lebón co-compositions and one Aznar original set into the middle of the sequence as a self-contained feature. The track order builds from short, pointed songs into the longer side-spanning pieces, then closes with two García statements that keep the lyrical focus on social surface and private aftermath.

La Grasa de las Capitales (The Fat of the Capitals) moves in short, hard-cut forms that pack abrupt sectional turns into compact runtimes, then opens the frame only twice for slower, longer spans. The title track hits fast and front-loaded, with the full quartet on stacked voices and quick atmosphere switches, then pivots into a more rhythmic, dance-tilted passage before Charly García drives a long synth-led push. “San Francisco y el lobo” drops the volume to acoustic guitar and a close vocal from David Lebón, staged as a calm transition point before “Perro andaluz” snaps back into tight ensemble timing, with frequent stops, emphasized accents, and Pedro Aznar’s loud, forward bass presence under Oscar Moro’s sharply placed kit work.

“Frecuencia modulada” keeps the pace brisk and leans on Aznar’s bass as the constant motor while the band cuts in and out of a more adventurous mid-song stretch. On the longer side, “Paranoia y soledad” slows to an introspective crawl, with extended wordless vocalizations and a late-arriving band entry that reshapes the final section, while “Noche de perros” holds a darker weight, lets bass dominate the blend, then builds toward a climactic instrumental rise crowned by one of Lebón’s most forceful guitar statements.

“Viernes 3 A.M.” sustains a depressed, narrative tempo with ornate keyboard-and-rhythm detail and a mid-song bass feature, “Los sobrevivientes” runs on voice and keyboards with unusual synth tones steering the motion, and “Canción de Hollywood” closes in chiaroscuro blocks, with heavier moments cutting across the back half before the last cadence lands.

A1. “La Grasa de las Capitales” [The Grease of the Capitals] (4:27) – García
A2. “San Francisco y el Lobo” [San Francisco and the Wolf] (2:20) – García, Lebón
A3. “Perro Andaluz” [Andalusian Dog] (4:56) – García
A4. “Frecuencia Modulada” [Frequency Modulation] (3:17) – García, Lebón
A5. “Paranoia y Soledad” [Paranoia and Solitude] (6:42) – Aznar

B1. “Noche de Perros” [Night of Dogs] (6:30) – García, Lebón
B2. “Viernes, 3 AM” [Friday, 3 AM] (4:25) – García
B3. “Los Sobrevivientes” [The Survivors] (4:48) – García
B4. “Canción de Hollywood” [Hollywood Song] (4:50) – García

Serú Girán recorded the album between June and August 1979 at Estudios ION in Buenos Aires, with Amílcar Gilabert credited for recording. García produced the sessions, and the band handled the arrangements.

Rodolfo Bozzolo created the artwork, with Rubén Andón credited for the cover photo and Horacio Rezza for the back-cover photography; García supplied the cover concept. Sazam issued the LP in a gatefold sleeve, and Diapasón later converted the album to CD in 1994, followed by a 40th-anniversary remaster released in late 2019 in digital formats and in early 2020 on physical CD and vinyl.

Bicicleta

Serú Girán released their third album, Bicicleta, in November 1980 on SG.

The album stretches to a 40-minute span built around long A-side forms and shorter B-side pivots, keeping the band’s writing in extended arcs while tightening the internal transitions. Charly García drives the front line with Yamaha CP70, Wurlitzer, and SoundCity DMI electric pianos plus Minimoog, Opus 3, and other synth layers, setting up stacked harmonies and sustained beds for the vocal sections. Guitarist David Lebón counters with electric and acoustic parts that move between chord weight and lead breaks, while Pedro Aznar holds the center on fretless bass, adds Oberheim OB-X synth color, and frames the instrumental “La luna de marzo” from his home setup. Oscar Moro anchors the pacing with firm backbeat control and clipped fills, and the arrangement expands on “Encuentro con el diablo” with added winds and on “Tema de Nayla” with Diego Rapoport on Fender Rhodes.

García supplies most of the writing, with two Lebón compositions, one Aznar instrumental, and one García/Lebón co-write closing the program. The sequencing places the longest track up front, then sets shorter songs and mid-length statements around the two longer Lebón pieces before the wind-driven finale.

Bicicleta opens with “A los jóvenes de ayer” in a long, piano-led build that keeps adding layers—small synth shading over a steady backbone from Oscar Moro, with Pedro Aznar’s fretless bass shifting between timekeeping and lead figures—then flips into a calmer sung middle before a final surge that returns to extended instrumental motion. “¿Cuánto tiempo más llevará?” tightens the frame into a slower, voice-forward piece where the rhythm section holds a restrained pulse until the closing stretch, when David Lebón’s repeated title line and a late guitar lift push the intensity up without speeding the tempo.

“Canción de Alicia en el país” starts with a softer, folky surface, then locks into a darker, more insistent drum pattern that stays active through the track, with interwoven guitar lines and clipped rhythmic accents steering the tension. Pedro Aznar’s “La luna de marzo” resets the mood as an atmospheric instrumental built from repeating figures, light electric-guitar arpeggios, and synth color, kept subtle enough to avoid fatigue.

On side two, “Mientras miro las nuevas olas” moves through sharp dynamic shifts between firmer rock sections and quieter passages, then “Desarma y sangra” pares down to voice and piano as the main structure, with sparse synth touches and a carefully staged rise toward the ending. “Tema de Nayla” begins as a steady, song-centered setup, then hands the last stretch to an extended electric-piano feature that turns the piece into a long-form instrumental run. “Encuentro con el diablo” closes with a brighter, more upbeat gait and a looser feel, using its lighter tone as a release after the albums more tense and inward pieces.

A1. “A los Jóvenes de Ayer” [To the Youth of Yesterday] (9:30) – García
A2. “Cuánto Tiempo Más Llevará” [How Much Longer Will It Take?] (3:55) – Lebón
A3. “Canción de Alicia en el País” [Song of Alice in the Country] (4:30) – García
A4. “La Luna de Marzo” [The March Moon] (3:32) – Aznar

B1. “Mientras Miro las Nuevas Olas” [While I Watch the New Waves] (4:00) – García
B2. “Desarma y Sangra” [Disarm and Bleed] (3:42) – García
B3. “Tema de Nayla” [Nayla Theme] (7:00) – Lebón
B4. “Encuentro con el Diablo” [Encounter with the Devil] (5:25) – García, Lebón

Serú Girán recorded the album between September and October 1980 at Estudios ION, Estudios Del Cielito, and one track (“La luna de marzo” ) at Pedro Aznar’s house.

Renata Schussheim served as creative director and supplied inlay artwork, with cover art credited to Jorge Fisbein and graphic design to Carlos A. Mayo; José L. Pederneiras shot the back-cover photography.

Also in 1980, Lebon released his second solo album, Nayla, backed by Pedro Aznar, Oscar Moro, and Spinetta Jade pianist Diego Rapoport.

Peperina

Serú Girán released their fourth album, Peperina, in August 1981 on SG.

The album runs on a 40-minute frame that alternates compact songs with instrumentals, keeping the band in a four-piece core while pushing a denser keyboard-and-synth surface across both sides. Charly García drives the arrangements with Yamaha CP-70, Wurlitzer, acoustic piano, Clavinet, organ colors, and layered Moog lines, while David Lebón shifts between electric and acoustic guitar, adds percussion on select tracks, and takes lead on two titles. Pedro Aznar anchors the harmonic movement with electric and fretless bass, adds contrabass and synth brass textures on the OB-X, and builds the closing instrumental as a self-contained performance that also carries his voice. Oscar Moro holds the pacing with kit precision and percussion accents, with track-level variations that include stripped-down percussion on “Parado en el medio de la vida.”

García supplies most of the writing, with one Lebón original, one Aznar instrumental, and two García/Lebón co-writes framed by instrumentals that break up the vocal sequence. The side structure uses short instrumental inserts as separators, then closes with a longer Aznar piece after a run of shorter, sharply cut songs.

Peperina leans on slower, song-centered pacing, with most of the weight carried by piano-led harmony, close vocal stacking, and short instrumental lifts that arrive late in the form. “Peperina” starts as an ironic, lyric-forward setup, then breaks into a harder, higher-volume middle where the band tightens the attack and lets the synthesizer take a longer lead line before the song drops back into its vocal frame. “Llorando en el espejo” holds a steady, restrained pulse and keeps the drama in the chord movement and vocal phrasing, then pushes forward through its instrumental passage without changing the basic tempo.

David Lebón’s “Parado en el medio de la vida” stays pared down and acoustic, while “Cara de velocidad” flips the album into a continuous, riff-driven instrumental run, moving from a misleading piano opening into clipped, fast guitar figures with time-feel turns that keep the meter ambiguous even when the surface reads straight. “Esperando nacer” works as a gradual build, with the band widening the arrangement in stages until the later instrumental stretch takes over. “Cinema verité” sits in a heavier, narrative ballad frame, shaping its sections like scenes, then “En la vereda del sol” rides a more percussive pattern, with hand drums and timbales driving a brighter, forward motion while the lyric tone stays less buoyant than the rhythm suggests.

“José Mercado” centers on synth-heavy patterns and intentionally odd vocal color, repeating tight intervals and pushing the line toward a mechanical, “funny” edge, then “Salir de la melancolía” snaps into a short, arranged burst built on quick harmonic pivots. The album closes with “Lo que dice la lluvia,” an unmetered piano-led piece that follows free-time phrasing, adds wordless vocal harmonies after the opening statement, then shifts into a moody synthesizer solo and dense sustained chords that return to the earlier harmony shape before the final fade.

A1. “Peperina” (3:42) – García
A2. “Llorando en el Espejo” [Crying in the Mirror] (4:03) – García
A3. “Parado en el Medio de la Vida” [Standing in the Middle of Life] (2:22) – Lebón
A4. “Cara de Velocidad” [Face of Speed] (2:40) – Lebón
A5. “Esperando Nacer” [Waiting to Be Born] (5:44) – García, Lebón
A6. “Veinte Trajes Verdes” [Twenty Green Suits] (2:05) – García

B1. “Cinema Verité” (4:55) – García
B2. “En la Vereda del Sol” [On the Sunny Sidewalk] (3:45) – García, Lebón
B3. “José Mercado” (3:32) – García
B4. “Salir de la Melancolía” [Leaving Melancholy] (2:07) – García
B5. “Lo que Dice la Lluvia” [What the Rain Says] (5:07) – Aznar

Serú Girán recorded the album in 1981 at Estudios ION and Wacameca Studios in Buenos Aires, with Amílcar Gilabert credited as sound engineer. The band handled production.

The cover uses photography credited to The Image Bank, with interior photos by Andy Cherniavsky and graphic design by Claudio Clota Ponieman for Estudio Grafix on an idea by García; one early cover concept circulated as Peperina y otras historias de Cinema Verité before the final sleeve was selected. The band presented the album on September 4–6, 1981 at Obras, and a later film titled Peperina premiered in 1995 from footage recorded at the band’s 1992 River Plate concert.

No llores por mí, Argentina

In June 1982, Serú Girán released No llores por mí, Argentina, a document of their March 6 show at the stadium of Club Obras Sanitarias.

The album captures the group in a live setting built as a compact survey of their first four studio records, framed by a new title track and a cover version that sit outside the earlier LP cycle. Charly García drives the set with Yamaha CP-70 electric piano and layered Moog and Solina textures, while David Lebón pushes the front line with electric guitar, Roland GR-300 synth-guitar color, and added percussion. Pedro Aznar holds the low end on bass and expands the keyboard spectrum with Oberheim OB-X brass tones and backing vocals, and Oscar Moro anchors the performance with direct kit attack suited to a farewell context that puts the band’s stage power at the center.

After Peperina landed in August 1981, the group kept live activity moving through the September 4–6 Obras presentations and a three-night run at Teatro Coliseo on December 25–27, then entered 1982 with Aznar’s decision to leave for Boston to study at Berklee and his parallel call to join Pat Metheny. The four regrouped for a February 1982 run along the Costa Atlántica—San Bernardo, Villa Gesell, Necochea, Pinamar, Miramar, Santa Teresita, and Mar del Plata—before closing the quartet chapter with the March 6–7 Obras shows recorded for this release.

A1. “No llores por mí, Argentina” (3:24) — live-only title introduced on No llores por mí, Argentina (1982)
A2. “En la vereda del sol/Salir de la melancolía” (5:22) — Peperina (1981)
A3. “Popotitos” (3:39) — live-only cover introduced on No llores por mí, Argentina (1982)
A4. “Esperando nacer” (5:49) — Peperina (1981)
A5. “Canción de Alicia en el país” (4:30) — Bicicleta (1980)

B1. “¿Cuánto tiempo más llevará?” (4:00) — Bicicleta (1980)
B2. “Seminare” (4:25) — Serú Girán (1978)
B3. “Mientras miro las nuevas olas” (3:25) — Bicicleta (1980)
B4. “Encuentro con el diablo” (4:43) — Bicicleta (1980)
B5. “Eiti leda” (6:36) — Serú Girán (1978)

The band recorded the album mostly live on March 6, 1982 at Obras Sanitarias, then retouched the tapes in studio. Gustavo Gauvry handled the mobile recording from Del Cielito, with Amílcar Gilabert credited for the ION studio work; assistants include Quebracho, Toto, Daniel Medina, and Carlos Boi.

Clota Ponieman handled graphic design, with photos credited to Andrea Cherniavsky. The concerts functioned as Aznar’s farewell and, in practice, the closing statement of the original quartet: after the March 1982 shows, the group moved into an impasse, weighed a continuation without Aznar, and then set the project aside, marking the breakup that held until the 1990s reunion.

Postlude

David Lebon released eight solo albums between 1982 and 1981 and played on Luis Alberto Spinetta‘s 1982 release Kamikaze.

Pedro Aznar made his solo debut with a self-titled album in 1982, followed by Contemplación in 1984, the same year he joined the Pat Metheny Group. He sings wordless vocals on their 1989 smooth-jazz crossover hit “Slip Away.”

After ten years of band activity, Charly García launched his solo career with the 1982 album Yendo de la Cama al Living, followed in 1983 by Clics Modernos, both with Aznar as guest.

Oscar Moro cut a 1983 collaborative album with Spinetta Jade bassist Beto Satragni, featuring guest spots by Garcia, Lebon, and Spinetta himself.

Discography: