Editing Manu Chao (section)

===Early years and Mano Negra (1984–1995)===
Heavily influenced by the UK rock scene, particularly [[The Clash]] and [[The Jam]], and [[Dr. Feelgood (band)|Dr. Feelgood]],<ref name=la>{{cite news |last=James |first=Falling |title=Mano a Manu Chao |url=http://www.laweekly.com/2007-05-31/music/mano-a-manu-chao/ |work=[[LA Weekly]] |date=May 30, 2007 |access-date=2011-06-07 }}</ref> Chao and other musicians formed the Spanish/English [[rockabilly]] group [[Hot Pants (French band)|Hot Pants]] in the mid-1980s. The group released a demo entitled "Mala Vida" in 1984, which received plenty of local critical praise but otherwise gained them little attention. By the time the group released their first album in 1986 the Parisian alternative music scene had taken flight, and Manu, his brother Antoine Chao, and friends such as Alain from [[Les Wampas]] formed [[Los Carayos]] to incorporate this sound with the rockabilly and punk styles of Hot Pants. Los Carayos remained a side project of the artists for eight years, releasing three albums in the first two years followed by a final album in 1994.

In 1987, the Chao brothers and their cousin Santiago Casariego founded the band [[Mano Negra (band)|Mano Negra]]. Manu Chao said in [[Alt.Latino]] in 2011, "Mano Negra started playing in a subway in Paris before the band started to be known and selling records. We started in a subway for a living. This is what made the musicians of Mano Negra. And so the people using the subway in Paris was very eclectic. There were people from a lot of different countries, different cultures. So we have to be able to play all kinds of music to please all the people in a subway. So that was a perfect school to learn a lot of different styles of music."<ref name="AltLatino_20110908" /> Starting on a smaller label, the group released a reworked version of the Hot Pants single "[[Mala Vida]]" in 1988, which quickly became a hit in France. The group soon moved to [[Virgin Records]], and their first album ''Patchanka'' was released the following year. Though the group never gained much fame in the English-speaking market, popularity throughout the rest of the world soon followed, reaching the Top 5 in the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. The band achieved some fame in South America with 1992's Cargo Tour, where it played a series of shows in port cities, performing from a stage built into their tour ship's hold.<ref>{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p638316|pure_url=yes}} |title=Biography |access-date=2008-03-14 |last=Ankeny |first=Jason |work=[[AllMusic]] |publisher=[[All Media Guide]] }}</ref> Mano Negra also performed a tour through much of Colombia in a retired train, the "Ice Express".<ref name=beater/>  Still, rifts began to grow among band members during the port tour and the following year's train tour; many band members, including Manu's brother Antoine, had left the group by the end of 1994. Following that year's release of their final album, ''Casa Babylon,'' Manu Chao moved the band to [[Madrid]], but legal problems with former bandmates led Chao to disband the group in 1995.<ref name=rfi/>

Mano Negra's sound is mostly characterized by energetic, lively rhythms, symbolized by the title of their first album, ''Patchanka'', derived from the word ''pachanga'' (which is a colloquial term for "party"), and a distinct informality which allows the audience to get involved and feel close to their sound. Mixed music genres are present throughout their albums. Manu Chao is friends with [[Gogol Bordello]] and that group has covered Mano Negra's song "[[Mala Vida]]" on their own and with Chao beginning in 2006.