The group was founded in
Granada in 1983 by Manuel España (voice), Enrique "Conejo" Moreno (bass guitar) and Carlos Gilabert (keyboard), initially called "La guardia del Cardenal Richelieu" ("
Cardinal Richelieu's Guard"). Having formed the band as teenagers, they adopted this name because they used to rehearse in the afternoons after they watched
Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds on TV. and which became the band's signature song. Manuel España said he had written the song while walking through the streets of the
Albayzín in Granada to his grandmother's house.
Vámonos went on to become a
multi-platinum album, selling over 250,000 copies, and the band performed on a tour with more than 100 dates. In 1990 came their second album,
Cuando Brille El Sol, with its successful single of the same name.
Al Otro Lado (1991),
Contra reloj (1993), and
Acento del sur (1994) were their next works, all three produced by
Dusty Wakeman. The latter was recorded in
Los Angeles at Mad Dog Studios. Shortly after this experience, Enrique Moreno died from a coronary disease, which ultimately caused the group to disband in 1997. Later, after he had been working for a few years on another band called Chamaco, España tried to revive La Guardia without the involvement of Almendros, which caused the latter to file two lawsuits. España won the rights to use the name for his new project and in 2003 he released
Ahora!, an acoustic record produced by Carlos Goñi, from the band . In 2007, with a new record company (
Vale Music), La Guardia recorded
Sobre ruedas, an album of
country rock sounds, which sold just over 20,000 copies. In 2008 the band celebrated their 25th anniversary with the album
25 años no es nada, in which Manuel España performed the band's hits with the collaboration of other artists such as La Mari (of
Chambao),
Álvaro Urquijo,
Mikel Erentxun,
Ariel Rot and Raimundo Amador. ==Discography==