The first, up to 1985, was essentially as a synthpop band, while in the second stage Mecano followed a more acoustic pop rock direction, with elements of ballad, dance, flamenco, bossa nova, tango, salsa, rumba flamenca, bolero, pasodoble, and even reggae.

After two years, it was announced that the musical had been seen by more than 1,500,000 spectators in both countries, making it the most successful original production in Spanish of all time.

[3][4] In a period of cultural experimentation in the newly democratic Spain, Mecano achieved its initial popularity with its debut single, "Hoy no me puedo levantar" ("I Can't Get Up Today"), a song about youth boredom and hangovers.

At the same time, Nacho Cano branched out into producing other bands, and both brothers started writing songs for other pop up-and-comers.

One was, "La fuerza del destino," ("The force of fate") in which actress Penélope Cruz debuted in the video clip for it.

"El 7 de septiembre" ("7 September") was dedicated to Coloma Fernández Armero, who was Nacho Cano's girlfriend for several years.

The new CD/DVD, Mecanografia (Mecano-graphy), includes a compilation of all their singles, never-before released songs, and a DVD with videos and early concert appearances.

José María also commented that he often locked himself in a room with a dictionary and books to write his songs, while Nacho has said that to compose he started off with a rhythm machine, then added the melody, and the lyrics came in last.

On 25 November 2011, the journalist José Antonio Abellán announced their reunion in ABC Punto Radio for a world tour in 2012.

Mecano also recorded many of their songs in Italian, such as: Mecano recorded some songs in French including: Some unreleased Mecano songs are Me Non Parle Vous Français ("I Don't Speak French"), Me he declarado en guerra ("I've Declared Myself At War"), Cristóbal Colón ("Christopher Columbus"), El Caballo de Espartero ("Espartero's Horse"), Solo ("Alone"), Lía ("Tie"), El Pez ("The Fish"), El Romance de la Niña María Luz ("The Romance of the Girl María Luz"), Arlequín ("Harlequin"), Al Alba ("At Dawn"), ¿Qué Haces Tú en el Mundo?

The Eurodance band Loona covered the song "Hijo de la luna" in 1998 and achieved a major hit with it.

Costa Rican Latin grammy winners, Editus covered the song "Hijo De La Luna" in their album Siempre.... Non-Spanish covers include Sarah Brightman, who sang the songs "Tú", "Hijo de la luna", "Naturaleza Muerta".

In their 2008 album, Tales of Ithiria, the German symphonic metal band Haggard made a cover for "Hijo de la Luna".

It is noteworthy that also in her beginnings (1982) Rego was the lead singer of ES-3, an underground rock band who specialized in performing Mecano covers in Caracas city night clubs long before this Spanish trio visited Venezuela for the first time in 1984 during the Promotional Tour of the "Ya Viene El Sol"-album (The Sun is Coming).

The Italian extreme gothic metal band Theatres des Vampires made an Italian-language cover of "Hijo de la Luna" in their 2011 album Moonlight Waltz.