Exerpts From Valley Blv Cruisn Tales

  

The following are excerpts from the re-edited version of Ric's book and represents about 1/2 of the total text. For the full text, see the Kindle and paperback editions at Amazon.com

 

The Padrino Tales: Valley Boulevard Cruisin’ Rock to Alternativo 

by Ric Fazekas

with Fausto Chavez

&

contributions from:

Edgar Bautista-Zúñiga, Chris Stimson, Jorge Leal, Giovanny Blanco, Mariluz Gonzalez, Tommy Morrison, Christian ‘Intoroq’ Mejia, Alessandro Morosin, Jose Roque, Zeth Bastian, Carlos Peña, Jose Amadeus Chavez­­

 

Stories from Ric Fazekas' long and varied music industry career.

Preface to Revised Edition

 

For this revised edition, many changes have been made, including proofreading and fact checking for greater accuracy, chapters given proper titles and reorganized for ease of readability, new sections added. -- July, 2021

Preface

 

It has been so much fun to recall the truly thrilling moments in my involvement with music. Hey, at my age (which at publication is just shy of 65), I think I still have a pretty good memory of so many of those important events, and a good chunk of them appear in this retrospective.

But I must say, this is a recollection of what my collaborator Fausto has asked me about in interviews, added to what other details I can remember to provide insight into the happenings of each period. Some have jokingly said that if you can recall what hap­pened in the ‘60s and ‘70s, you weren’t really there. Well, this documentation, including the later years, is proof this particular assertation doesn’t hold water. I do remember a lot, there are many outstanding memories—heart and passion to the max!

When you compose a tome such as this, it is your goal to include everything important that can possibly be chronicled. Many of those memories made it to this retrospective, but I am sure there are other sparkling stories or friend ‘shout outs’ that have slipped my mind. If an important event with you was not included, let me apologize and just say that in my 60s, I try to remember all I can, but there were so many events. In reality, I hope you have as much fun reading these crazy little stories as I did recalling them.

This book is dedicated to the jukebox in my parents’ and grandparents’ basement on Maplewood Avenue in Chicago, where I lived to almost age five; that jukebox gave me my initial musical grounding (my dad still regrets not bringing it with us when moving to California). And also to Grandma Lillian, who continued my discovery of great songs and artists after we relocated to Cali, and all the musicians who have touched me with their creative muse. Plus, the radio and internet programmers I still deal with on a day-to-day basis who care enough to provide you, the public, with ¡alternativo maximo!

Hey, I am someone who has dedicated his life to music and marginally gotten by financially doing so as a living: this is a passion for me. I love music and the people who make it.

Like many of you, my day is still consumed earning a living (for me booking individuals for research projects during the day, and promoting bands to alternativo radio at night). But even at 64, there is nothing better than heading out to a club for a great set from a band you know and love, or the thrill of being turned on to what possibly might be the “next big thing” from a brand new artist. It just doesn’t get any better than that, and I doubt I will ever get too old for the wonder of those moments to cease being amazing.

 

Chicago to California

 

It’s October of 1966 and I am excited about beginning my freshman year at University of California, Riverside. I had a rough senior year of high school, and I am thrilled to leave the nest of my parent’s home to live in a dormroom with others my age and experience the new world with them. The world is going through changes, and as Bob Dylan sang the times they are a-changin’. Like the parents of many kids my age, my parents were not quite aware of the generational shift that was about to take place. While I loved my family dearly, climbing into my Ford Fairlaine with all my things loaded for my college career was a siren call of freedom that I had previously never known: Freedom that I would always cherish, sometimes use wisely, sometimes abuse, but always revere. Freedom to be me is the way I have defined my existence.

My life-long love of music dictated I have the radio on when pulling out of my parent’s driveway at 798 King St. in San Gabriel, California. And what song blasted out at me? “96 Tears” by Question Mark and the Mysterians. I was listening to them for the first time. The car was in reverse, ready to pull out of the driveway, but the song was so powerful, I just had to put the car back in park. Nodding my head and smiling ear-to-ear, the tune became my freedom anthem. How was I to know that this catchy 45, sung and performed by sons of Mexican farmers from south of the border who had settled in Michigan and worked in the fields, would portend so much of my future heavily involved with Latino musicians? One of the things I’ve learned is that life always moves in mysterious ways. Don’t always try to figure out why, just appreciate what it gives you.

Where did this all come from? I was born in Chicago in 1948 on the South Side. We lived in a two-family, two story house that was owned by my grandparents. In the basement of the house, there was a jukebox that played 78 RPM discs of the big band songs. Some of my earliest and fondest memories involve listening to big band music with my parents and their friends in the basement. We would listen until bedtime. This, of course, was the pre-rock early 50s.

 

Top 40

 

When I was growing up in the ‘60s there was only Top 40 radio. By the later years in the ‘60s—by 1965—Bill Drake came along and started KHJ in Los Angeles with a format for Top 40 that was basically Top 30 instead of Top 40. This was the start of shortening playlists in Top 40. KHJ became a huge station and they had a network around the country. KHJ was only playing the most commercial records, and the limited repeated playlist opened the door for progressive album cut radio to become commercially viable, as well as for non-commercial college radio alternatives.

There was a big explosion of music in 1966; a crazy period where new music was coming out that didn’t really fit into Top 40. Bob Dylan was going rock. Joan Baez was evolving from straight-out folk acoustic guitar only, to a fuller musical accompaniment. And many don’t know this: Clive Davis when president of Columbia Records decided to put electric instruments behind Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sounds of Silence” he gave them their first Top 40 hit. In addition to the folk resurgence (which had become folk-rock) there was also the bluegrass outbreak, and there was also a garage style emerging with bands like Question Mark & the Mysterians, and the Standells. Buffalo Springfield put out their first single “Nowadays You Can’t Even Sing” with weird 3/4 time changes never heard before on Top 40 radio! This was a time of earthquake magnitudes of change in society, as well as what we listened to on the radio. A lot of us, including me, were ready for it.

 

San Gabriel

 

While being an Anglo kid, I grew up in San Gabriel where the early Chicano rock movement was very important to those who lived there. Bands like the Standels, Question Mark and the Mysterians, Ritchie Valens, Chan Romero, were part of my early musical consciousness. Sure, I got into progressive rock much later, but my childhood exposure to Latino music and Latino artists influenced me—Ritchie Valens, that’s square one. Without Ritchie’s inspiration who knows if I would have gotten into this. After all, the establishment of the Mission San Gabriel in 1772 was one of the earliest Latino settlements in California, so I grew up in a city that not only cherished but promoted its Spanish oriented heritage.

Looking back, I don’t know if it goes back to missing Ritchie Valens when he died in a plane crash, or going to a couple concerts at El Monte Legion Stadium, or being part of La Raza when I was in college and changing my major to Chicano studies, but many years later I ended up getting into the Latin side of the rock music business.

I went to school with Lawrence Perez from the Premiers—all the way from 3^rd grade to high school—who as a matter-of-fact toured with the Beatles. There were plenty of other great Latino bands at that time, like Thee Midnighters, and Cannibal & the Headhunters who actually played at my San Gabriel High School gym and who also were featured on the Beatles’ first tour.

 

Rolling Stones

 

One of the outstanding things about living in the greater LA area in the ‘60s and ‘70s was that both radio and fan audiences in Los Angeles were very open to the English invasion. In many parts of the US, it was just the Beatles and the Stones that got attention. But LA has always had a strong connection to London. As part of the avalanche of music from the British Isles, we were treated to the Kinks, the Animals, the Yardbirds, Herman’s Hermits, the Hollies, and Gerry and the Pacemakers. And this continued into the ‘70s.

The Rolling Stones were a popular band back in those days, in the 60s. But, the Rolling Stones did not break right away—not until 1965. Before that it was the Beatles vs the Beach Boys. It didn’t really become a Beatles/Stones thing until ‘67 when the Stones put out their Satanic Majesties Request in response to what the Beatles had done with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

I liked the Rolling Stones almost as much as I liked the Beatles, but for totally different reasons. The Stones have always been a more rhythmic band, a more R&B based band.

 

Beach Boys

 

I grew up in Southern California where people surfed. Surf music was very important here. Although the Beach Boys had hits around the country, they were worshipped in SoCal where they had some serious fans. People today don’t realize how big the Beach Boys were back then.

The Beach Boys were popular before the Beatles, with hits going back to about ‘62 or so. When the Beatles came out, Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson looked at the Beatles as their big competition. When Brian and the Boys put out Pet Sounds in the mid-60s, they were competing with the Beatles’ Rubber Soul album. But the Beach Boys were never really complex to begin with, it wasn’t like they lost their edge to the Beatles, because they didn’t have an edge to lose: they were basically a top 40 band.

There was a big controversy in my high school over who was bigger—not the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, but the Beatles or the Beach Boys. This was Southern California where dudes surfed. It was “Are you going to support the British, or are you going to support our surf music?” We even had a vote contest during my senior year to see who was more popular, the Beach Boys or the Beatles—I remember the Beach Boys scoring a narrow victory. And I remember during my junior year seeing the Beach Boys live (along with the Murmaids) at the Shamrock Roller Rink in my home town of San Gabriel.

 

Beatles—Rubber Soul

 

The Beatles had a major effect on my thinking. To me, they are the gold standard to measure other artists that came along.

In December 1965, the Beatles released Rubber Soul. I don’t think people realized how revolutionary Rubber Soul was when it came out. I certainly didn’t until I went off to college and had friends play the LP for me in its entirety. Revolver by the Beatles in ‘66 made fans realize there was something big changing in music, and the English invasion led by the Beatles made the difference. Obviously, bands such as the Stones, the Kinks, the Who were making an impact, but “Eleanor Rigby” with the use of cellos, did even more. A video was made for “Eleanor Rigby” that was played on the Ed Sullivan show—it was one of the first music videos; at that point the Beatles were about to do their last tour and from then on would only record and do videos.

Ironically, their decision to stop touring had as much to do with all the girls screaming and no one being able to hear what they were playing during their last tour in 1966. I didn’t have the money to buy tickets for the LA show, but I did go with some friends of mine in a car and parked on top of the hills behind the Hollywood Bowl. All we could hear were girl screams—you couldn’t hear the music but you could sure hear the girls screaming.

 

Pink Floyd

 

When I was still a kid, I grew up hearing B. Mitchell Reed (who is my all-time favorite DJ) on KFWB in Los Angeles. When Reed came back from New York, his show musically introduced me to Pink Floyd when he spun “See Emily Play” in 1966 on KFWB, their first English single, and I became a Pink Floyd fan for life. As a DJ, I patterned what I did after B. Mitchell Reed—and played Pink Floyd as well.

However, to me the Pink Floyd of Sid Barrett was and is the ultimate Pink Floyd. Sure, they got huge later on, but the ultimate stuff stained on my brain was when Sid was in the band.

Sid became an acid casualty: he took too much LSD and just flipped out. By the time of their second album, he could not even function and was eventually committed to a mental institution and the band had to replace him.

The most creative music that Pink Floyd did was when Sid was in the band, when he could control those impulses that acid gave him before it overtook his personality, causing him to lose control, requiring his institutionalization.

Many years later, my brother Ken, who also appreciated the Syd period of Pink Floyd, made a bumper sticker that read “Free Syd Barrett.” Many others besides my brother did this too, as there was the feeling that if he was released and allowed to let his creative juices flow, it would dazzle all of us. Sadly, it never happened.

 

UC Riverside—KUCR

 

In my freshman year at UC Riverside, KUCR-FM was going on the air for the first time, and I became one of the first staff DJs.

I always wanted to be a DJ. My goal in life as a teenager was to be a radio DJ and B. Mitchell Reed was my idol. He started on Top 40 radio and went on to be one of the pioneers of progressive radio. Back in high school, I used to buy 45 records and would make a weekly playlist as if my own radio station was on the air. I’d play through my top 15 songs, and pretend to be a DJ on the air, which is how I developed a voice that an audience could relate too. Even today people tell me “aw, you have such a great radio voice, you should be on the air.” That’s not an accident: I really worked on this as a kid. And with the beginning of my radio show on KUCR, a childhood fantasy was becoming a reality. There was an eager audience listening and loving that we were giving them a new form of radio; one that was not slavishly tied to the Top 40 hits of the time, though that wasn’t a lesson I learned right away.

When I started on the air, I used the radio name Ritchie Fox; to this day some of my old friends call me Ritchie Fox. This was an era where my given name was not radio catchy enough to be used on air. So it was Ritchie as a tip to Ritchie Valens, and Fox because the alliteration of the “F” matched my given last name, in a shortened radio-friendly form.

In the ‘60s, radio DJs spoke rapidly, and my idol B. Mitchell Reed was no exception. Maybe the first six shows, I was a “motor-mouth” like my inspiration, but after listening to the other DJs on the station, came the realization that this kind of delivery was archaic. There was a new radio audience that wanted to be talked to about the importance and meaning of the music, not just yelled at.

The cool thing about being at KUCR during this period was that commercial progressive radio was just starting. Before, only college radio stations or public radio were playing progressive music; and not so much public radio because back then public radio was mostly talk or classical: they might have had a jazz or folk program, but public radio didn’t seriously start playing progressive music until many years later.

 

Modern Media

 

College radio was important at that time. It’s not so important today in the age of the Internet. Most kids today don’t even listen to radio and didn’t grow up listening to radio. They found their music on the Internet.

And that change has affected me too. I don’t listen to radio for music too much anymore either, other than tuning into my friends’ programs who do alternativo shows. Instead, I tune in to talk radio—progressive talk radio because I’m a liberal and worry about the direction of our country—or to NPR for their programs. But there’s really no music I can get on commercial radio that I want to listen to. And that’s for two reasons: there has been very little released in English that entertains me in the last 10 years; and commercial Spanish radio is still not playing what I want to hear.

KCRW is popular for playing English Alternative with a nod or two at alternativo new stuff. But the new music they’re playing is so inferior to the great music I grew up with. Why even listen? So much of what is on radio today has been done before. I have my music collection, and on-line connections, and go to live performances by upcoming artists whom I respect, to get turned-on-to challenging brand new music. There are a few quality radio hosts I work with (and listen to) to this day who expose outstanding music in the alternativo community. But there are not enough commercial radio DJs who challenge audiences to listen to something in Spanish other than mainstream pablum. Come forth!

 

Interviews

 

Probably one of the greatest gifts of being a DJ at KUCR in the late ‘60s was that club owners and promoters respected the fact that we were getting people out to see bands they were booking, by playing their music on the air, talking about the bands, and playing spots to promote their live shows. Because of this, we were rarely turned down for requests to see bands play live and have access to them backstage.

Though having access to the bands, I rarely interviewed them because, quite frankly, most bands are horrible interviews, boring for people to listen to. Bands are into music, not into talking about themselves or expressing themselves in that way. Every once in a while you’ll find someone who can creatively give a good interview. But most musicians are not good interviews, so I was only interested in getting a station ID from them, saying “You’re listening to KUCR Riverside.” Even from the very beginning.

This is not to say that all musicians are bad interviews, or that most DJs don’t do quality interviews. It is just to make the point that if you are conducting the interview, research your subject so you know what to ask, and make your musician-subject feel comfortable. And if you are a musician, be prepared with important subjects you wish to discuss about your music, your career, or the state of the world.

I think the main reason I was anti-interview as a DJ during this period was because a lot of musicians were using drugs, which sometimes resulted in less-than-stellar interview responses. That’s just my personal feeling from when I was a DJ. I know many DJs today who love doing interviews, and many artists who do give good interviews, and there are audiences eager to hear what an artist has to say.

 

Michael Bloomfield

 

In the fall of ’66, one of the key venues for upcoming bands was the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach, Orange County. This is years before the 91 freeway was completed between OC and Riverside, so it was a hike to get down there.

An important show from that killer fall of 1966 happened at the Golden Bear, featuring Chicago’s Paul Butterfield Blues Band and fledgling LA blues-boogie-ers Canned Heat. Other KUCR DJs had a lot of reverence for Butterfield and this made me an immediate fan, soon I was playing them on my own radio show. Their first two blues LPs on Elektra were stellar.

From this show, I developed a bond with both Canned Heat and the Butterfield Blues Band that would go on for many years. When Michael Bloomfield found out I was a psychology major (only during my freshman year) he decided I should be his personal psychologist. And because he was an insomniac, for years he would call me at strange times of the night from various places around the world, to talk. I never considered this an intrusion (yeah, we were that open back then about not giving a f*ck about privacy or a good night’s sleep), and I always talked to him when he called. Michael was an amazing guitarist, but a troubled person and we lost him way too early to a drug overdose. But in the fall of ’66 few could match the dual lead guitar combination of both Michael Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop.

 

Janis Joplin

 

One week before the Butterfield Blues Band concert, a few weeks into my freshman year, Janis Joplin played her first concert in Southern California with her band Big Brother and the Holding Company at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach, and I was there for the show. I had just become aware of Big Brother and their outstanding first album on Mainstream. Being from KUCR allowed me to go backstage and talk to Janis with the intention of getting a station ID from her. Janis and I became friends—partly because she was so insecure and so was I—we related on that level.

So, I went backstage and got the station ID: “Hi, this is Janis Joplin and you’re listening to KUCR Riverside.” We played it on the air and they loved it.

The opening act for Janis that night was Big Mama Thornton, who had written a song that Janis was covering and about to have her first big hit with, “Ball and Chain,” on her first Columbia album next spring. Janis was looking forward to knowing what Big Mama thought about her performance that night. Big Mama had played in Southern California before and had a huge following, so people knew that “Ball and Chain” was her song.

Janis was so nervous—and I’m backstage with her, an 18-year-old kid. She is drinking Southern Comfort, offering me shots and coming on to me. I go Wow, I love this woman, but I’m a kid, and she’s two or three years older than I am. I held her hand and encouraged her to go out and play the song.

Back in those days, bands played two sets. Janis was so nervous the first set that she couldn’t play the song and waited till the second set to play it. But by then Big Mama had already left. And Janis didn’t get to talk to her. She was absolutely devastated that Big Mama missed her set, did not hear her play “Ball & Chain,” and left shortly after the show.

What happened that night between Janis and I was a bonding moment that we cherished even years down the road. Although nothing physical resulted in our encounter at the show, a friendship was developed that we’d carry for the rest of her short life as we stayed in touch.

 

Summer of Love

 

The Summer of Love happened in 1967 in San Francisco. And it started with the Human Be-Ins that took place at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park in January of ’67 as a prelude. The Bee-Ins were mass get-togethers of hippie kids at public parks, with guest speakers like Timothy Leary, and music guests like the Grateful Dead from the rich San Francisco scene. The buzz at the time was “You have to go to San Francisco and do this.” So much centered on what was happening in San Francisco. “Go check out Haight Ahsbury” was the word. The Bay Area was one of the first areas to organize the counter-culture. The counter-culture by definition defies organization, but the people in the Bay Area did it, they had a lot of people getting together. Elsewhere kids were doing similar things, but there wasn’t the big collective the way there was in San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area, and not as organized. The hippies in San Francisco were so dedicated, so into a new world order on a level that is not imaginable. There were a few Be-Ins, but I was in Southern California, so I didn’t go to any of them as I didn’t have a car to drive up there—we were a little less mobile in those days. In Southern California we had the same hippie movement but on a smaller scale and there was a be-in at Fairmount Park in Riverside around this time, which was a wonderful experience.

 

Jefferson Airplane

 

While Big Brother and the Holding Company were an important San Francisco band, the psychedelic scene in the Bay Area was producing many quality groups. Probably leading the pack was Jefferson Airplane. As an open-eared freshman, my dorm-mates and fellow KUCR DJs introduced me to Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, now a cornerstone of my LP collection that totals over 5500 vinyl LPs. I never got to see them with Signe Anderson (who left to have a baby, shortly after the debut LP came out on RCA) but did see them a number of times after Grace Slick joined and they were absolutely riveting in live performance. To this day, I consider Jefferson Airplane as the cornerstone of the great music the Bay Area produced during this period.

Having three great writers like Grace, Marty Balin, and Paul Kantner put the Airplane in a class of its own. Their second LP, Surrealistic Pillow, with the hits “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit,” set the tone for not only the change that was going on in society, but for how young people were using mind-altering drugs to increase their perspective.

 

Sergeant Pepper’s

 

A few weeks before the Monterey Pop Festival happened as a live event, the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. This totally changed the world of music more than anything before or anything after. When the album came out, one of my dorm hall buddies, who also had a show on KUCR like I did, had gone into Capitol to get an advanced copy. This was near the end of the school year, Memorial Day weekend, and we had two local bands play at the gym at UCR. After their sets, Eric went up to the microphone and said “stick around, I have a special treat for you”—he had obtained the advance copy of the Beatles’ new album which wasn’t coming out till next Tuesday. He played it all the way through side one and side two, on the PA system in the gym that was used for concerts. This was the first time we heard Sgt. Pepper, and instead of listening to it on a tiny record player, we were hearing it through a big PA system in my college gymnasium. WOW!

People couldn’t believe what they were listening to—it was revolutionary! Can you imagine the thrill of listening with your close college friends and about 350 others who were just totally digging it??? What a way to be introduced to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the defining LP of the century.

­­­

Jam Bands

 

Another big change happening at this time was that previously you went to see a band or artist live that you liked for their songs. Now, it was starting to be about how they played their songs. The psychedelic scene allowed bands to expand solos and impress their audience with their instrumental prowess. While this might have been true previously in jazz, jamming had never been a big part of rock, and all of a sudden it was. By the spring of ’67 Cream, and Jimi Hendrix were jamming on their records (although initially both were only available as imports from England) and this created the inspiration for the first US music festival: The Monterey Pop Festival.

 

Monterey Pop Festival

 

Although the Mamas & the Papas were initially a commercial band that knew how to make Top 40 hits (both “California Dreamin” and “Monday, Monday” were huge radio hits in my high school senior year of 1966) they were also part of the emerging hippie movement because they came from the folk scene that had preceded the hippies. And while knowing how to craft a Top 40 song, their material—like the Lovin’ Spoonful who they shared a musical history with—laid out typical boundaries for lyrics in their album cuts, if not their big radio hits.

John Phillips was the lead singer of the Momas & the Papas. John and his producer Lou Adler had a vision of a three-day musical gathering of the tribes, and they called it the Monterey Pop Festival, to be held in June of 1967. This was the genesis of music festivals. We actively promoted it on KUCR, and was thrilled when informed I would be on the back-stage guestlist for it. YES! And also super excited when they announced the lineup of the bands that would be playing on all three days! However, I was working a summer job to pay for college in my sophomore year. A deal had been worked out with my parents that they would pay half of my college expenses, and I would pay half—so couldn’t afford to miss work.

And while on the subject of paying to go to college, have to say my first three years of higher education at UCR were “tuition free.” Ronald Reagan was to change that and not for the better.

In 1966, I had the honor of being elected President of my freshman class at UC Riverside. The reason I even ran was that my friend Bill Weber—whose family had been active in Democratic politics for years—ran as vice president and encouraged me to run for president. And he helped me win. It seemed we were the first hippies to be in charge of a class.

Bill’s family was from Santa Clara. The first night of the Monterey Pop Festival, I partied with Bill at his house and we were to go to Monterey the next day. While knowing I would be missing a day of the festival, Bill wanted me to meet his family. The next morning, we were eagerly off to Monterey.

The Monterey Pop Festival was a hippie event and there were way more people on the guest list than could actually get backstage. The cops had restricted backstage entrances that night due to overcrowding. Even though I was on the guest list, they told me, “look, we know you’re on the guest list, but we have too many people backstage. We can only let so many in. But if somebody leaves you can get in.”

Since the cops wouldn’t let me in through the media guest list, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band stepped up and said “Yeah he works in the media but he’s also our West Coast roadie.” I had gotten to know the Paul Butterfield Blues Band at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach earlier the previous year and that’s how I finally got backstage at the Monterey Pop Festival: as the roadie for the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

That Sunday was Father’s day. I come from the type of family that insisted I be home for Father’s day, even though it was the Monterey Pop Festival. So I only got to be at the festival Saturday. I was about to head home Sunday morning, but the battery in my car died and had to wait for someone to come and charge it. I didn’t even get home for dinner that night. My family was pissed, and I missed Hendrix playing that day, the Who playing that day, Mamas & the Papas—the final day where Hendrix burns his guitar. I could only say, “I saw day two of the three-day festival

 

Festival Era

 

After Monterey Pop had set the standard, the late 60s was the dawning of the festival era. I remember going to the first Newport Pop Festival at the Orange County Fairgrounds in August of ’68. The show featured Quicksilver Messenger Service, the Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and the Fish, Steppenwolf, Chambers Brothers, Charles Lloyd, Tiny Tim, James Cotton, Alice Cooper, Sonny & Cher, Canned Heat, Electric Flag, Butterfield Blues Band, Eric Burdon and the Animals, Blue Cheer, Illinois Speed Press, and Things to Come.

And then there was the second Newport Festival in 1969, which was actually held in Northridge (on the northern edge of what is now Cal State Northridge.) This was a three-day show (and I was there for all three days) which featured on Friday: Albert King, Edwin Hawkins, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Southwind, Spirit, Taj Mahal. Saturday: Albert Collins, Brenton Wood, Buffy Sainte Marie, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Eric Burdon and War, Jethro Tull, Lee Michaels, Love, Steppenwolf and Sweetwater. Sunday: Booker T. and the MG’s, Chambers Brothers, The Flock, Grass Roots, Johnny Winter, Marvin Gaye, Mother Earth, Jimi Hendrix (again), Buddy Miles, Eric Burdon and Mother Earth, Poco, The Byrds, the Rascals, and Three Dog Night.

Then there was the Palm Springs Pop “Boogie” Festival with Canned Heat, Savoy Brown, John Mayall, Butterfield Blues Band, Procol Harum, Lee Michaels, Ike & Tina Turner. (Crazy riot out front I was able to avoid.)

 

The Monkees

 

In my freshman year at UCR, I got a lot of flak for being a Monkees fan. But let’s back track for a moment. In 1965, the Monkees, even though they were put together by publishing titan Don Kirshner, were the first band to get their own television series. For a rock and roll kid like me, this was HUGE. And on a major network! In late summer of ’66, they released “Last Train to Clarksville” and then “Hey, Hey, We’re the Monkees,” which were both great singles written by the outstanding writing team of Boyce & Hart who wrote some Monkee hits. Then the TV show debuted. As a kid who loved rock and roll his whole life, I didn’t give a flying f*ck how they were put together, nor did the other kids who were into them at the time. All of a sudden, there was an awesome TV show on the air about a rock and roll band, and that was cool. This had never happened before, way to go Monkees!

And, I can also point to “I’m a Believer” as a great single; and the fact that I eventually got to know Michael Nesmith quite well when he started his solo career and signed with RCA in the early ‘70s to do great country-flavored material. It’s also significant that the Monkees—looking for credibility—actually had Jimi Hendrix open a few shows for them, including at the Hollywood Bowl. I wasn’t there, but heard stories from those in attendance. And one other thing I know for a fact: Stephen Stills (of Buffalo Springfield, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) auditioned for the Monkees but was not chosen. And the world keeps on turning. Plus, Monkee Micky Dolenz appeared on the television program Circus Boy pre-Monkees which I absolutely loved as a kid and would not miss a weekly episode. The Monkees weren’t earth-shattering, but they did make some wonderful music.

 

The Seeds

 

Although LA Top 40 radio stations would quite often play quality new music before anyone else in the country, they didn’t always. Sometimes the stations would tell promo people “make it a hit in San Bernardino/Riverside and then I’ll add it.” Upon taking up residency in the ‘Inland Empire’ (i.e. Riverside/San Bernardino) as a collegiate, one the first songs I fell in love with, blasting on KFXM and KMEN, was “Pushin’ Too Hard” by the Seeds. It’s a driving, snarling 3:03 of what would in later years would be revered as ‘garage rock.’ Follow up hits by the Seeds included “Can’t Seem to Make You Mine” and “The Farmer.” And although Top 40 radio wouldn’t play it, we at KUCR featured the Seeds’ sexually suggestive 14+ minute song “Up in Her Room” from their second album.

The Seeds had a relatively short run of hits, and their singer/songwriter Sky Saxon became an acid casualty. But for a short period, they ruled LA.

 

The Doors

 

I first saw the Doors right after “Break on Through” came out as a 45 in the fall of ‘66 when I was a freshman in college. Their album had come out on Elektra, and Bob Stubernrauch, one of my dormmates at Bacchus Hall, absolutely fell in love with the album and played it all the time. So, even before the Doors started getting airplay on commercial radio, I had extensive exposure to them in my own dorm hall.

I first saw the Doors in November of ’66 at the Whisky right after “Break on Through” came out. It took about six months for "Break on Through" to get played on radio stations in LA, and on the Top 40 stations where I lived out in Riverside/San Bernardino (being so close to LA), but was not a hit elsewhere. It wasn’t until the release of their second single “Light My Fire” in the spring of ’67 that the Doors really took off. Luckily, I got to see the Doors play as a local band at the Whiskey because KUCR had an open deal with the Whisky where we promoted all their shows and they’d let us in for free. Having heard the Doors album and knowing they were the Whiskey’s house band, I had to check them out and was impressed; also saw them at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino and at a few big festivals.

The Doors were a good band, but Jim was not a nice person when drinking. He was a great person to converse with when sober or mildly high, but he was a mean drunk—and he drank a lot. If you could catch him before he got drunk, he was great to be around.

I wish Jim Morrison had been a nice guy—but he wasn’t. He was, quite frankly, a dick. Very talented, a great writer, but very insecure, self-absorbed and needed to be fucked up all the time because he had a lot of issues with his family and his dad. I didn’t know the guy too well, never sat down and had a really long conversation with him, but met him on a number of different occasions, not only backstage but at parties. All I can say is that he was a talented but flawed individual.

 

The Standells

 

In 1966 I first saw the Standells play during spring break at the Hollywood Palladium, but it wasn’t until they signed with the ‘budget’ label of Capitol called Tower Records that their music came out to the public. The Standells’ single “Why Pick On Me” was a minor LA hit, but their socially conscious “Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White,” and the sexually teasing “Try It,” both got banned from radio. With these great introductory songs going for them, the Standells should have known how to follow up and become superstars. I never heard the story of why they faded, but they sort of slipped away. But the Standells made powerful anthems that helped define the era

 

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

 

During my senior year in high school, the Ice House in Pasadena featured both comedy and folk musicians. That’s where I first saw the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Then, when I went to the Golden Bear to hear Paul Butterfield and get introduced to Canned Heat, there was a promo rep from Liberty, the Nitty Gritty’s label, and although the Heat’s debut album would not come out until 1967 the Liberty promo man sent us the 45 of “Buy for Me the Rain” and we at KUCR helped make it a hit. From what I understand, Jackson Browne was a member of the band for about a month, though I never saw him play with them. In 1967, a Jackson Browne song “Shadow Dream Song” appeared on the second Nitty Gritty album, and “These Days” by Jackson also appeared on Nico’s debut disc after she left the Velvet Underground. Wooooooooooah! Who is this Browne kid?—to place a song with both the Nitty Gritty Dirt band, and Nico! (It was rumored he was having an affair with Nico after he moved to NY.)

But while the Jackson Browne connection is an interesting footnote, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band were slowly but surely building a following. We at KUCR always played their ‘60s recordings. So have to place them #11 for this period. (When I joined United Artists in 1972 to do their college promotion, the Liberty label had been dissolved as an imprint, and all their artists were then published on the parent United Artists moniker, including Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.)

 

Cream

 

There were many great venues for music in LA in the late ‘60s, and there was always someone good to see live. The Golden Bear was kicking, but so were the Whisky and the Troubadour, and larger concert venues like the Shrine Auditorium, Pasadena Civic, Santa Monica Civic and the good old Swing Auditorium in my backyard of San Bernardino. It seemed I was off to at least one or more shows per week.

I went to Cream’s LA debut show at the Whisky with my friend Greg Marshall who lived in the same dorm hall as me at UCR (we had a co-host radio show on KUCR in addition to our individual programs.) After being blown away by Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker, we were able to go upstairs and meet them. Not only did Ginger roll a joint with one hand, which all present smoked, but since we were radio DJs, he gave us a broken snare drum head. Greg and I shared custody of that drum head for years: one month he would have it; one month I would have it—don’t know where it finally ended up. Ironically, the press release we received at KUCR when the first Cream LP was rolled out by ATCO Records (six months after its English release) trumpeted their “dynamic chick drummer Ginger Baker.” Whoever wrote the press release just assumed that Ginger was a woman based on his name, without even checking. Someone somewhere is forever regretting this long-lampooned press release that he or she put out.

 

The Yardbirds

 

Around the beginning of ’67, shows started being regularly featured at the Shrine Auditorium in LA. There were many wonderful bills at this classic venue. One of the most memorable was Jeff Beck when he was out promoting his debut solo album after leaving the Yardbirds. Jeff had put together an absolutely stellar band of side musicians including Ron Wood on bass, Mick Waller on drums, Nicky Hopkins tickling keyboards and a young gravel-voiced singer named Rod Stewart to handle the lead vocals, and of course Mr. Beck on guitar. “Rock My Plimsoul” “Beck’s Bolero” “Shapes of Things”—such awesome songs. Today, we would consider this a supergroup, but back then they were merely tastefully-selected English musicians who fit their roles, and all would go on to greatness.

We had our share of great shows at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino. Among the most memorable were Ten Years After (featuring Alvin Lee), and Cream doing their farewell tour after only their 3^rd LP. Eric, Jack, and Ginger of Cream were not even speaking to each other at that point, just playing to get the tour over. But it was an awesome set.

 

Buddy Guy

 

Buddy Guy was a blues guitar player. I think he was from the South, though he moved to Chicago because there was a good blues scene there. Vanguard Records signed him, and they signed a lot of folk and blues artists in that era. Bill Graham really loved Buddy Guy, and Bill featured Buddy on many SF shows in the late ‘60s. Buddy was able to book good shows in LA because of Bill’s endorsement in SF (even before Bill Graham did shows in LA, people there followed whatever Mr. Bill was doing.) Buddy was an absolutely amazing guitar player. He wasn’t necessarily a writer of great songs; he played other people’s material, and wrote some marginally good songs himself. But he was an outstanding player and had a wonderful personality on stage.

I got to see Buddy Guy play at the Yardbirds’ last US tour in ’67 at the Shrine, and met him backstage and talked to him and shook his hand. And you know, he’s still touring today. The man must be in his ‘70s by now but still crankin.’

 

Television / Dick Clark

 

For a music fan in the 1960s, you either heard it live or listened on the radio. Television had pretty much lost relevance, with the exception of when Ed Sullivan played a Beatles or Stones video, or a talk show host interviewed a rock personality (which rarely happened but was significant when it did).

When there was something important on television, you could always go to somebody’s house that had a TV, or you could go to the UCR student commons, as few of us students owned televisions during that period of the late ‘60s. Recently, I watched a couple of videos online of Janis Joplin on the Dick Cavett Show in 1969, which we all saw back then because Janis was so incredible. The fact that she appeared on a national television show was pretty amazing. But television wasn’t something important in my life back then. I didn’t even own one until I bought my first television set in 1984 when living in Philadelphia!

In a pre-internet world, Dick Clark was a tastemaker, but for only the most mainstream. Even as a kid, I far preferred Lloyd Thaxton's local LA afternoon TV rock show to Clark's American Bandstand out of Philly. The Lloyd Thaxton Show was much more authentic in its embrace of music, and truly reflected how far ahead of the curve we Angelinos were. Dick's show did not improve much once he moved it from Philly to LA. The LA kids did not have the personality ‘edge’ of Philly kids, but were far more musically sophisticated, and Dick never latched on to the musical maturity of his new LA taping audience.

Hey Dick, I will always give you kudos for giving us Bobby Rydell—"We Got Love" was my first 45, and he made some great songs. Probably more than any other person, you made us switch the car radio away from the Your Hit Parade stuff our parents were listening to, and over to the rock and roll. But when Bob Leftwitz criticizes you for making Bandstand more about Dick Clark the star than Dick Clark the music taste-maker, he is correct. RIP; you did a lot, but you could have done more, particularly when the music REALLY started to change in the late ‘60s.

 

Dusty Springfield

 

As someone who was captivated by the merseybeat invasion, of course I grew to love Dusty Springfield. In 1969, she decided to re-invent her career as more of a soul singer and signed with Atlantic. With producers Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd, and Arif Mardin, she cut the brilliant "Son of a Preacher Man" in Memphis. Ironically, this song was written for Aretha Franklin—she turned it down because she WAS the daughter of a preacher, but later on had her own hit with it after Dusty’s. I was happy to help make this song a hit for both of them as a KUCR DJ.

 

Mary Hopkins

 

In 1968, when the Beatles set up their own label Apple, one of the first hits they had was Mary Hopkins’ "Those Were the Days.” I was twenty years old when this song came out, not old enough to even buy a drink at a bar, but the message resonated with me, and we played it enthusiastically at the station. Now, in my 60s, it means even more. If you are my age, enjoy a flashback thinking on what is important; if you are younger, go check it out on YouTube and seep some words of wisdom.

 

College Radio Seminars

 

One of the great things about being a college DJ in this period was that the record companies were waking up to the power of college radio to break artists. One of the first people to realize this was Rich Paladino at ABC/Dunhill. He was the first promo person to start monthly seminars for college radio personnel of greater LA that included an address by someone in the industry, an appearance by one of their artists, and unlimited sub sandwiches and cheap red wine.

Not only were these seminars fun (I made some long-lasting friendships), but we would get albums for our private collections, as well as for radio station listener giveaways—and the food and wine was much appreciated by the struggling college students. Plus, there was a forum to tell the label execs what we liked-or-hated about what they were currently releasing. And sometimes there was a brutally honest put-down, as when many of us felt ABC/Dunhill was steering bands like Steppenwolf, and Three Dog Night into a too commercial Top 40 sound. I remember Howard Stark (who I would later work for at both ABC/Dunhill and BMG/Ariola) being horrified at how we college kids absolutely savaged ABC for having their artists sell out to Top 40 radio. He tried to defend, but the college programmers were truly brutal in our sell-out accusations against the label.

Rich Paladino would eventually move to RCA Records and continue the tradition of monthly college radio seminars. Before his arrival, RCA had basically been a ‘dog’ label with not much interest in promoting to college radio, or having quality artists that media or fans cared for—the Elvis era was long gone, even though he was still with the label. But that was changing. At these seminars, I was able to meet Lou Reed, Harry Nilsson, John Denver, David Bowie, Ray Davies, etc. John and Harry played sets, David, Ray and Lou were there to meet us and answer our questions.

 

Laurel Canyon

 

Scores of musicians lived in Laurel Canyon and many people, including me, partied there. I never lived in Laurel Canyon but went to many parties in the Canyon during the ‘70s.

 

LSD, Pot, Cigarettes

 

In my high school years, I identified with the transition between the beatniks and the hippies. I was in a poetry group where all of us worshiped Bob Dylan and were writing socially relevant lines. At one of the poetry group’s parties in my senior year, in the spring of ’66, I was told mid-party that there was LSD in the punch. I felt slightly different, but evidently it was such a small amount (no one was seriously tripping) that it almost doesn’t count as a first LSD experience, but it was a tiny introduction.

Shortly after graduating that year, I had my first exposure to marijuana in a parking lot with a group of friends. One joint was shared between five of us, and I got a little buzz. It wasn’t until I went away to college and into my second quarter in 1967 that I started puffing regularly along with many college friends. Another thing I discovered in this period: you could learn from LSD, but you had to be properly prepared to handle it. LSD is a powerful drug—do it at home with guides who can help you control your trip.

Generally, if I did LSD, I did it at home. I wasn’t tripping when out & about because it’s a powerful drug and there should be a controlled environment. When I first started taking LSD, I gained a lot of insights into values, spirituality and life goals. It was also an opportunity to learn from the people who turned me on to LSD, to do it in a safe place, in a safe way, not as something ‘socially recreational’ when going out.

One thing I started noticing was the amount of people who were taking LSD in a too casual environment, without controlling factors, without the support of people who knew this powerful mind-altering substance. This was alarming.

While I used LSD and smoked pot, I was against smoking cigarettes during this period. My brothers and I badgered my parents to quit smoking until they finally did. However, I eventually started smoking cigarettes myself, but not until I was twenty. I was going out with a girl in college who smoked, and I used to bum cigarettes from her so I could get high in public because you couldn’t smoke marijuana out in the open, but could get a buzz from inhaling a standard cigarette, so that’s how I got hooked on smoking cigarettes.

Truthfully, I’m not a big fan of marijuana these days. While I did start smoking pot in my late teens and early twenties (being part of the hippie generation), after leaving college and becoming an engineer at Sound Sync, I started realizing that marijuana was causing a few things I didn’t like. It was making me forget things. In my twenties, this was too young to be losing your memory; and it was also taking away my motivation. I’ve always been challenged to do things in music and I didn’t like the attitude of oh, we can do that tomorrow, f*ck it, let’s just get high today. Marijuana does both, weakens memory and motivation, and that’s why I had to dismiss it as a regular part of my life at just 23 years old.

Finally, I quit smoking cigarettes in July 2011. Probably six times I had previously attempted, successfully for at most maybe one year. The reason that it was possible to quit this last time is because of a scary episode

Magical Mystery Tour

 

Magical Mystery Tour was a decent album, but not a great album. Some of the intermittent singles from that period, like “Lady Madonna,” were wonderful. And then of course the spectacular “Hey Jude” released as a single in August of 1968 (right before KUCR was to begin its official third year of broadcasting). No one had ever done a long ending like on “Hey Jude” so leave it to the Beatles. We decided to make it even longer, so we created a tape loop that repeated the “nhan, nah, naha nah, nah naaaah, Hey Jude” over and over again and it played all night long on our first night of 24 hour broadcasts until the morning show came on at 6 a.m. Yeah, that’s how wild we could be in radio back then.

Grateful Dead

 

I always liked most of the Grateful Dead’s music, but a lot of it was too loose for me, unstructured and ‘jammie.’ They had their super-hardcore fans who would follow them everywhere all around the country to see them. The Dead deserve credit for continuing to tour over the years, building that fan base, loyalty and all. But if you’re going to be so experimental, you have to have more songwriting dexterity than they did. And if you don’t, then be more musically disciplined to do more structured stuff that people can relate to. Although I appreciated what the Dead did, I never became a huge Deadhead.

 

It’s a Beautiful Day

 

It’s a Beautiful Day was an eclectic San Francisco band featuring David La Flamme on electric violin and Patti Santos on co-lead vocals. UCR booked them to play on campus, but before they were to play, I hitchhiked up to San Francisco for a show, and I would have to return hitchhiking as well. Back then it was safe to hitchhike and many of us did when we did not have a vehicle or couldn’t afford gas. I met many wonderful people when either picking up hitchhikers, or thumbing it myself.

 In Gilroy, I was picked up by two guys from Nipomo who were marijuana dealers and were driving a stolen car. OK, red flags all over the place, but at least we got to Nipomo and we smoked some prime weed. (Nipomo to this day is a little mid-coast city, but back in the ‘60s almost no one lived there.) So they let me out, and I’m stoned and walking down this street to get back to the freeway entrance. And what happens, I get charged by a cow. A watch cow! No sh*t. The bovine started chasing me down the street! And I’m high, which is making it even worse. Fortunately, she stopped, but I always remembered being pursued by a watch cow in Nipomo. Finally, I get to the freeway on-ramp and was picked up by a couple who lived in Santa Maria who were strawberry farmers and they gave me a place to stay for the night. Made it back to Riverside the next day for the It’s a Beautiful Day performance having survived the watch cow attack.

 

Student Protest Movement

 

The spring of 1970 was a time of great change. There was accelerating protest against the war in Viet Nam which resulted in the only mass student strike in US history, and UCR and KUCR were right in the middle of it. Millions of students at thousands of college campuses boycotted classes and organized large protest demonstrations. Some students were shot and killed at Kent State in Ohio, and Crosby, Stills & Nash immediately wrote and recorded “Ohio” which became the movement’s anthem overnight.

 

Sound Sync Studios

 

In 1970 I enrolled in recording school at Sound Sync recording studio in Riverside. Money was tight in those days (hey, is it any different today?) and I had to make a tough decision since there was one more quarter of classes to complete at UCR to get my BA, but I couldn’t afford to go to Sound Sync at the same time. It was either recording school or my last quarter of college—and I chose recording school. My reasoning was: I had a college education even if missing those last few credits to have any actual degree. Hey, after all, wasn’t the education rather than the diploma, most important? Sadly, in later years, that lack of a formal BA kept me from being considered for certain positions, but that was the idealistic ‘60s-’70s mentality that many of us had at the time.

Sound Sync was owned by Ray Saar. I had gotten to know Ray’s sons Dick, Tito, and Greg, through my UCR Bacchus Hall connection to the Doyle brothers (Kevin, Bob, and Shawn). So the alignment was there for me to begin recording school; and an added plus was that my best friend (and former light show partner and UCR fellow student and former roommate) Josh Schiffer and I were both accepted for a class that was taught by the head recording engineer Paul Bass, himself a respected local musician.

 

Phil Spector

 

After completing the class, I eventually became the head recording engineer and general manager at the studio. It was a fun period, but a tough financial time, because I was only paid when we had clients recording and paying for those hours. But a great memory from that period was taking a producing class in LA from the legendary Phil Spector in 1971 when he was producing three of the four Beatles (John, George, and Ringo) after the breakup of the Beatles. To learn studio production from one of the geniuses, and certainly a hero of mine for producing the Ronettes, early Ike & Tina Turner, and the Teddy Bears, was an honor and a revelation. Truly a lucky once-in-a-lifetime break—being in a class taught by Phil Spector!

 

Sammy Hagar

 

While attending recording school, friend of mine Jeff Nicholson was playing bass in a local band. Jeff told me his group was called the Justice Brothers and a guy named Sammy was their lead singer. I had just started recording school at Sound Sync, and as part of my class, they allowed me to bring in what was called a ‘guinea-pig band’ to learn recording—any band I wanted to work with. The band would get free recording time while I was being taught how to record them. The band I invited was Jeff’s band, the Justice Brothers, which had Sammy Hagar as lead singer. This started a long, wonderful and positive relationship with Sammy. The Justice Brothers was Sammy’s band before he was even in Montrose, a solo artist, or eventually a lead singer for Van Halen.

So the Justice Brothers recorded a demo at Sound Sync. They actually recorded two demos: one in our studio and another at a live show. The one we did in the studio had four songs done on an 8 track (and I still have the master 8 track recording. Back then you had 16 and 24 tracks in more sophisticated studios, but all we had in this studio was an 8 track.) For the live session we went out and recorded at a club in Rialto in the Inland Empire, since the Brothers were a fairly popular live act. We recorded live on the studio’s portable 4-track machine with the help of studio-owner, Ray’s son Dick Saar.

 

ABC / Dunhill

 

One of the keys to being a good recording engineer is that you have to really know electronics (particularly back in that era, not so much today). And I had virtually no interest in electronics: I wasn’t an electronics geek, I wasn’t a techie in any way; I was just interested in sound and music. After about a year or so at Sound Sync, recording different people, I decided Hmm . . . maybe what I should be doing is working for a record company. So it was time to leave Sound Sync, and I briefly moved in with my grandmother until I could find the right music industry job. It came six weeks later.

Because of contacts made while at KUCR, I knew everyone at all the major labels (and the independents too). Right away, I couldn’t find something that was a promotional job, but did get a position in the mailroom at ABC/Dunhill, and that was a start.

Before leaving Sound Sync to make my trek into LA for the BIG TIME record industry, my musical friends from Riverside threw me a going away party. The party was organized by Bruce Terry, who I was recording and producing, and he recruited a great chorus of people to sing a song he had written for this occasion “Love Me and I’ll Be Your Friend.” There were so many friends there who were part of the musical landscape of Riverside, I don’t want to name some and have the rest feel left out—you know you have my love if you were there. It was a magical night with about thirty people singing the chorus. And then I was off to begin the trek with record companies in the wild world of LA proper.

One of my college radio friends, Steve Resnik, had been hired to lead the College Promotion Department at ABC/Dunhill. When I decided to make the move to LA, he got me a job in their mailroom. I’ll be eternally thankful to Steve for this first big break. Hey, David Geffen, started with a mailroom job, why not me too?

 

Steely Dan

 

For me, the most incredible thing about this period is that the first Steely Dan album was being recorded in ABC’s own studios, right upstairs from the mailroom where I worked. So, I'd sneak up there whenever I wanted and hear it being mixed, because at that point, the recording was done. Steely Dan is a musician’s band and they had some hits. But it was about two very creative guys. Steely Dan was basically Donald and Walter and whoever they could find to play with them and go on the road with them when they did play live. Recently, they have gotten back together to the delight of audiences worldwide.

Let me give some history about Steely Dan: they were signed as song writers to the publishing division of ABC. But the songs they wrote were so weird, they were told we can’t offer these songs to other people; nobody wants them. But they’re good, in a quirky way, so why don’t you guys do your own album and we’ll see if anything happens? And I was around long enough to be there when the album was being mixed and published. Great lucky timing!

When I was promoted to delivery director for ABC/Dunhill, other guys in the mailroom would ask me to pull records from the shipment warehouse in Burbank take back to them. Hey, why not do that for myself as well? I’d take orders from various executives at the label—basically to pull records from the catalog LP shelves and have them sent to radio stations or important industry people. This also allowed me the freedom to fill out my own shipping orders for anyone I wanted, providing myself with selections from the great Impulse Records jazz catalog LPs or their current releases, and I used this to the max. My band friends got shipments of albums they wanted, and I expanded my record collection with some classic Impulse LP titles by John Coltrane and many more.

After spending five months at ABC/Dunhill, I was hired at United Artists Records to work college promotion, first working LA and locally in August of 1972, then nationally, and what a time it was!

 

College Coordinator

 

Back then in ‘72 when I joined UA, FM commercial radio with album cuts being played was still fairly new, having just started within the previous two years. Commercial radio was happening in the bigger markets like LA, SF, and New York where it first started, but even in Chicago there wasn’t a commercial progressive album rock station when I first joined UA. One of the biggest markets in the United States—Chicago—didn’t get their station until two years later, and it was a lot slower in some of the other markets around the U.S.

This was pre-Internet. These days, it’s hard for people to imagine life before the Internet. How were you going to get music exposed? You had to reach out to the college stations first, or very small population commercial market stations. They might be low watt or whatever but that’s what people used to hear new music. You couldn’t hear music online. There were no smartphones or personal computers, so people had to find music elsewhere through these outlets.

College promotion at that time, when the commercial album-rock radio market was still very young, was much more important than it is today. One of te reasons I got the job at UA was that we had turned KUCR into one of the power house stations in the country. Not only was our station number two in the Hooper ratings in our market, even though we only had ten watts, but we were breaking artists left and right for all the major record labels. And I was invited to everything. So UA thought, Hey, he broke all these groups on radio—he knows how to get his friends at the stations to do the same.

While originally hired as the LA Coordinator, I immediately became the de-facto head of college promotions (in action if not yet in title) because there was no national promotional director and UA’s main office was in LA. We had twelve reps around the country and all called in to me; so even though not officially given the title for nine months, I was supervising what the reps needed to do with radio promo, artist visits, and interview scheduling.

You have to get results when you’re in the music business. As College Coordinator, my job was to communicate with the college radio stations. Remember, this was before email, so you had to call in by phone when people were at the station, or mail records to them and hope they’d play them. Then, a follow-up call would be made to see if they were spinning our records. Or they’d call me to set up an interview with one of our bands, which would be arranged.

 

Electric Light Orchestra

 

Upon joining United Artists Records, it was apparent that a key goal of the label was to break Electric Light Orchestra, and to this day, I’m proud of my part in doing that. The two main creative people in the Move, Roy Wood (who had been leader of the band for many years dating back to the beginning of the group) and Jeff Lynne (who joined later) put together a side project with their drummer Bev Bevan, called the Electric Light Orchestra. Initially the project was only going to be a foray into combining classical and hard rock music for the first time—a one shot. This was even before Emerson Lake & Palmer dabbled in classical-oriented rock. ELO recorded an album, and right around the same time, Don Arden (mega English band manager and father to Sharon Arden who would later marry and promote Ozzy Ozbourne) signed ELO to UA in the United Kingdom. Of course UA had the opportunity to bring them to the United States and did so.

Roy Wood wanted to be more experimental, while Jeff Lynne wanted to follow in the path of the Beatles with commercial songs—which led to disagreements.

 After the debut ELO LP, Roy left to form his own group called Wizzard, leaving Electric Light Orchestra to Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan, and they continued on, eventually taking ELO to stardom.

There is an interesting story about the US version of the first Electric Light Orchestra album called No Answer, and the reason it was called No Answer. Before I started working with UA, the American office called the English UA office to find out what the album’s name was. Someone wrote a note saying they had ‘No Answer’ (because the office was closed due to the time difference between LA and London). Whoever read the note thought the name of the album was No Answer, when actually the message was they had received was no answer! And that’s what was placed on the album jacket—and the way it was pressed but the US LP No Answer was originally not intended to be called as such.

My working relationship with ELO began with their second album, ELO II. The first single released was the Chuck Berry classic “Roll Over Beethoven” with a classical bent, which became a mid-level hit for them, even though we at UA worked slavishly on it. While not cracking the Top Ten nationally “Roll Over Beethoven” did hit the US Top 40 and ELO developed a following particularly in Southern California. Los Angeles was always a great market for English bands, very receptive of them, especially back then. Around their fourth album, Eldorado, ELO became superstars, and I worked with them on parts of their first four tours.

 

David Bowie

 

At this point, I was faced with a dilemma. We had done a show at the University of Denver, and had one more show at a local club to finish the tour. But, David Bowie was on his Ziggy Stardust tour and playing the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium that night and RCA had put me on the guest list. Bowie had just started touring in support of his LP The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, which came out in ’72. Since I loved David’s music, it was a must to get back to California for his LA debut concert. I decided to go back for David Bowie and leave the tour one day early.

A weird thing happened on my way home: since Spencer, Peter, and George had one more date to do in Colorado before going home. I gave them all the tour money that was left, we were almost out—back then it was pre-credit card days. On the way to the airport, I hit Colorado traffic, was delayed and almost missed my flight. So, I asked the check-in guy on the sidewalk to tag my luggage (to make things faster). Normally I’d go to the desk, so I wouldn’t have to tip the check-in guy. But I had forgotten that I gave all my money to the band: I had no money! So I couldn’t tip the guy, and he got pissed, and sent my bags to Hawaii.

My friend picked me up at the airport. And even though there was no money in my wallet I went to the show that night to see David Bowie.

The show was great and wonderful. The Santa Monica Civic, which holds a little over three thousand people, was totally sold out. RCA gave me only one ticket so couldn’t bring anyone with me—that’s how tight the guest list was and many people wanted to get in. There were so many people there from the industry that night. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a show in my whole life with so many industry people all there to see David Bowie and find out what the “buzz” was about. He was just becoming a star, his first LA appearance.

About four days later, the airline finally sent my luggage back from Hawaii. My razor was in there, shaving cream, etc. I had clothes at home, but still, there was a good lesson learned here: take care of the airport people when you’re traveling.

I feel lucky to have seen Bowie in that period, probably his creative peak, my personal favorite. David has had many creative peaks. He re-invented himself often and did it well (even 2013 he has new music out.)

 

Elton John

 

Within six days of returning to California, UA wanted me to go on the Elton John / Family tour—and I was quite pleased to accept this offer. I had been a huge Elton fan since being introduced to his music at KUCR by his label UNI.

In 1970, when Elton John first planned to tour the US, his booking agency asked me if UCR could do a show for him. Like so many other times, the UC Riverside administration had to go through so much red tape that when they finally said “yes” it was too late and we moved the show to the Riverside City College auditorium. This show was Elton John’s third US appearance, right before the nights he played the Troubadour, which broke him as a star.

What a way to be introduced live to this riveting dynamic entertainer! He performed for almost three hours! Ironically, even with media buzz, and our playing his songs on KUCR, the show did not sell out; there were only about 700 people in the 900 capacity theater. However, the show was not a big money loser, maybe about $150 lost above expenses.

But what’s so funny is that a few years later, after this classic appearance in Riverside (before Elton’s stardom), SO MANY people from the Inland Empire were claiming to have been at Elton’s third US show at Riverside City College. If you were ALL there, there would have been a two block line around the corner. How history rewrites itself.

 

Brian Wilson

 

Although my position with UA required often being on the road with bands, whenever I was back at our Sunset Boulevard headquarters, there was always important music to listen to in Marty’s office. Occasionally, Dean Torrance of Jan & Dean would come by for listening sessions, but frequently Brian Wilson would be in Marty’s office—yes THE Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys.

Brian is someone I had gotten to know because his ex-wife Marilyn was in an all-girl band called Spring who were signed to United Artists early in my tenure at the label. Brian Wilson used to come by boss Marty’s office and listen to Phil Spector 45s, in particular the Ronettes’ single “Be My Baby,” and sometimes he would ask Marty to replay it as many as three times in a single listening session. That’s how obsessive-compulsive Brian had become.

Brian was not a total acid casualty then, but he eventually became one. Yet since he made so much money from the Beach Boys, he was able to hire professional help, and got his mental health together. The first couple of people he hired didn’t do it, but he finally recovered. And now he is a mentally healthy human being who is out on the road touring. Brian got it together and came back. He’s one of the few people I know who has made it back from the depths of acid casualty-ism. I am glad to say he is recording new quality material and touring frequently both on his own and with the Beach Boys.

 

Greg Shaw

 

An infrequent visitor to Marty Cerf’s office/listening room was Greg Shaw, who was living in Northern California with his wife Suzie. Greg Shaw and his wife both joined UA in 1973, Greg as Publicity Director, and Suzie as right-hand to the Creative Services Dept., assisting Terry Barnes our long-time secretarial department coordinator. (Terry—wife of legendary rock critic Ken Barnes—would later be instrumental in me being hired by BMG/Ariola later in the ‘70s.)

Greg Shaw, through his Who Put the Bomp fanzine, had become an influential writer. Marty commissioned Greg frequently to write for Phonograph Record Magazine. Greg was a strong champion of U.S. garage rock and English pop rock bands. In the mid-’70s he actually coined the phrase 'new wave’ to describe bands like the Plimsouls, Blondie, and the Ramones who were re-defining the musical landscape. We lost both Marty and Greg way too young: Marty in the ‘90s and Greg in the 00s. Both had a profound impact on my musical growth. What a great thing, working with these two musical geniuses.

Marty and Greg were strong proponents of bands that were either one-hit wonders on Top 40, or bands that produced records that had not charted but became underground collector’s items.

 

Raspberries

 

In the fall of 1972, upon returning home from the first tour UA sent me on, Marty had just received an advance copy of the debut Raspberries LP and a listening session was held in Marty’s office. Phenomenal! Pure power pop at its best! Within a month, the Raspberries were on the cover of Phonograph Record Magazine and had a Top 40 hit with “I Wanna Be with You.” It took a while for FM radio to realize the Raspberries were more than a Top 40 band.

 

Mott the Hoople

 

The next day, “All The Way to Memphis,” the follow-up single to Mott the Hoople’s breakthrough hit—the David Bowie-penned—“All the Young Dudes,” arrived in the mail and became a staple on Marty’s turntable. And shortly afterwards, I got to see Mott the Hoople play the Hollywood Palladium with the Faces—what a great show! That’s the way the late ‘60s and ‘70s were, practically every day something outstanding arrived in the mail.

 

Touring

 

When you are on the road with a band, you party with them, you don’t just disappear to your room after the gig. Bands expect camaraderie, and it should be provided to them. I did it without hesitation, this was my “road family.”

And once again, it was time to hit the road for another tour. Later in the ‘70s, record companies created an actual position called Artist Relations: people who toured with the bands, setting up interviews, coordinating album signings at record stores, etc. Prior, those dutys were done by whoever was available at the label, either a publicity person or college radio promotion person. A publicity person would be sent on the road when they knew the people on the press side, although they rarely knew the radio side at all. College promotion people often got the tour job because anyone in college promotion was usually fresh out of college themselves and could relate to the band as a peer, someone whom the band could trust. And if you had your sh*t together in terms of knowing what had to be done, whether in radio, television, or dealing with the promoter, then usually you would also be the tour manager at the same time. That’s why UA consistently sent me out on tour with their bands.

The record company provided financial backing to pay for hotels, and car or van rentals to get to places to do band interviews or the next gig. I’d party with a band after a show was over, have them get up early enough to get to an airport and onto a plane in time to get to the next show, radio station or press interview. I did all of that for United Artists between ‘72 and ‘75 on many tours. When you are in your 20s, a pace like this certainly doesn’t bother you where you are basically going twenty hours with maybe four hours sleep.

Another interesting note about that period is that virtually all the DJ’s, press people and fans I met while on tour were fascinated by me living in California and expressed their desire to re-locate to this mecca of music and mild weather. While California had experienced a huge migration from other parts of the country and from México throughout the ‘70s the ‘60s and even the ‘50s when my family moved here, the same immigration desire dried up by the ‘80s other than immigrants from South of the border. If all who WANTED to move to California, whom I met throughout the US, actually did, our coastal state would have definitely tipped into the ocean from overpopulation.

 

WAR

 

When attending college at UCR from 1966 through 1970, the Inland Empire was ground zero for the Latin funk movement of that period along with the Bay Area. In Oct. ‘72, I was handed an advance copy of WAR’s second LP The World Is a Ghetto and was blown away. I called my roommate Alan Fitzgerald (who would later to go on to play with both Sammy Hagar and Night Ranger) to come down to my office and listen. We were both STUNNED by the funky brilliance of this album. While it was obvious the title track was a good way to promote the album out of the box, I immediately lobbied that “Cisco Kid’ should become the second single. It was, and “Cisco Kid” became a classic in the Latino music world. Stuck in my mind is the statement by Alan commenting on ‘Cisco’: “Man, that is the GREASIEST song I have ever heard, OHH what a groove!” Just couldn’t agree with you more, Alan.

 

Tower of Power

 

Tower of Power was one of the most important funk bands to come out of the Bay Area in the early ‘70s. Their first album was released on Bill Graham’s label, which was named San Francisco Records, but they signed with Warner Brothers to release their sophomore effort. When Tower of Power's third LP appeared in record stores, UA had me head out to San Francisco to promote a WAR date in Oakland. Once in San Fran., it was only natural for me to stay at the Justice Brothers’ band house, as they had relocated from the Inland Empire to the Bay Area. Sammy Hagar and his wife and kid lived downstairs, the rest of the band lived upstairs. While staying there, David Lauser (my good buddy and drummer for Justice Brothers) brings home the new LP by Tower of Power. We’re listening to it, we’re all grooving, until the band says to Sammy, “We should do more syncopated stuff like this." And Sammy replies: “No I want to do more rock.” Danger signal for the Justice Brothers! Two days later, Sammy met with Ronnie Montrose and joined his band Montrose as lead singer. When Sammy moved on to Montrose, that was the end of the Justice Brothers as a band.

 

Graham Central Station

 

Around this time, Graham Central Station (formed by former Sly Stone bass player Larry Graham) was making some noise in the Bay Area, and my college friend Joel Selvin (who had now become head rock critic for the San Francisco Chronicle) invited me up to see them. Oh, I was blown away! As soon as their debut Warner Brothers LP became available, I eagerly gobbled it up. I didn’t even wait for the promo copy to arrive from Warners—I went out and bought one. When Alan Fitzgerald moved back to Riverside and got Buster Bump going, they were now playing original funk tunes in addition to covering WAR, the Rascals, and Graham Central Station as funk became the music of choice to dance to in 1973 if you went out to a club in Southern California.

 

Progressive Rock

 

The early to-mid ‘70s were a sea of change. There were progressive artists like Yes, King Crimson, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Genesis, and Soft Machine. Many of us really enjoyed Yes’ earlier stuff because it was like progressive jazz, and on my trips back to Riverside progressive jazz is what we listened to. This type of music required great instrumental dexterity. Yes broke up in the late ‘70s and then got back together in the beginning of the ‘80s and had a hit with “Owner of a Lonely Heart” with a new singer, South African Trevor Rabin. A lot of people criticize progressive as being just noodling or self-indulgent, but I disagree. When done right, there was instrumental dexterity in the context of a well-crafted song. Progressive rock was about individual artists being able to play extended solos and people loving it. Everyone in the band would take their turns on solos, and a lot of the ‘70s rock bands did this.

But, the punk rock revolution rose up against this—against bands being self-indulgent instrumentally. I am a music wonk and I like to hear people play well on their instruments, but at the same time I can understand what happened with the punk rock movement and what they rebelled against, because sometimes individual musicians played too much, just jammed too long and did become self-indulgent in some but not all cases.

The progressive idea was still exciting when it worked: here was a fusion of jazz and rock. Examples would be the Mahavishnu Orchestra (featuring John McLaughlin), Return to Forever (spotlighting an all-star band of Chick Corea, Stanley Clark, Lenny White, Bill Connors), and Weather Report organized by Wayne Shorter.

One of my favorite prog-rock memories of the ‘70s is going with Larry Leeder the keyboard player of Matrix to see Return to Forever on their first tour at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. We were so stunned by the musical performance, we didn’t even speak for thirty minutes after the show—that’s how intense it was, and then all we said was “WOW.”

 

Bruce Springsteen

 

Sometime in 1973, I was at a music conference in Houston with Susan Blond who had joined the UA publicity staff in our NY office (and was a regular at the Warhol Factory.) While at the conference, I had the opportunity to spend a good deal of time hanging out with my DJ friends from the great NJ college station WSOU-FM. After the conference, I headed back to NY with Susan and would be in Metro NY for a couple days since we had Dory Previn playing at the Lincoln Center

Previously, I mentioned how I preferred staying at friends’ or college DJ acquaintances' houses when out on the road, which was usually possible since UA allowed me a budget to rent a car and get around. Now in NY metro, and my work for UA done for the day, I headed to the apartment of my WSOU New Jersey friends to happily sleep on their couch. And who should come over to visit them, but Johnny Carson’s son Ricky who lived nearby and was a fan of the Seton Hall University college station WSOU. He had heard of a concert that Bruce Springsteen was playing that night at a Jersey high school gymnasium (this was about two months before Greetings from Asbury Park was released, though there was already a huge industry buzz about Bruce since he had been signed by John Hammond). So we went to the gymnasium and experienced “The Boss” live for the first time at a high school gym, ironically, with more adults than high-schoolers present. And it was awesome! (This was in one of the “Oranges” in New Jersey, but whether it was North, South, East or West, I don’t remember.)

 

WCBN—Ann Arbor, Michigan

 

And speaking of conferences, in the early ‘70s Michigan had an incredible collection of influential college radio stations. Michigan was strong in the ‘70s for having college radio that could get listeners to care about new artists and come out to their shows. And the stations were very connected to each other, holding a yearly conference in Ann Arbor where they convened from all over the state.

In the fall of ’73 the US was going through a gas crisis, with long lines at the pumps: and the conference was cancelled because people feared they would not be able to buy gas to get home since many gas stations were closing on Sundays. However, my airline tickets had already been purchased and a hotel reservation made in Ann Arbor.

My best friend Ted, a talented musician who I had met through my future wife Lil, was still living in his native Michigan before he too eventually made the move to California. I wanted to see Ted from Detroit, or least see the great people from the University of Michigan station WCBN, who would certainly be around since it was their home town. Ann Arbor is not that far from Detroit (about thirty miles), so gas was not a worry—I took the flight.

At the hotel room in Ann Arbor, I was with the WCBN people, and the party went on into the wee hours of the morning at. After the WBCN radio people left, Ted and I got into a food fight (weird, there was this thing about food fights whenever I was in Michigan!). However, we failed to put the “do not disturb” tag on the door before crashing out, and the next morning, a maid came in. She woke us up in whatever corner we had crashed. The lady was a large Black woman, well over 300 pounds, and I remember her eyes getting as big as saucers and saying “lordy you must have had SOME party in here last night!” But that was rock and roll on the road in the ‘70s.

 

Musicians

 

ELO were nice people. Most of the people I’ve in the music business have been cool, fun people, and in reflection, can only count on one hand the people in the music industry that I’ve met who I didn’t really like—most were genuine. There’s a perception that musicians are intrinsically egomaniacal jerks. Maybe that’s true today, but back then, if an artist really wanted to make it big, or had a goal, and you wanted to help them with their aspirations, they were really appreciative and cool about your desire to be part of their success.

 

Roy Wood—Wizzard

 

And then there was Roy Wood, still with our label after leaving the Move and ELO behind. In 1972, Roy formed a new group called Wizzard, and once again in a listening session in Marty’s office, I first heard their single “See My Baby Jive.” This was Phil Spector’s vision brought to the new era—what a truly amazing recording! I was excited to promote it to college stations around the country and go out on the road with Wizzard for their one and only tour. “Ball Park Incident” had been their first single in the UK, but UA didn’t think it was right for the US market so it was not released here as a single. But I absolutely loved the solo album Roy did called Boulders, which we were finally able to release in the US.

 

British Humour

 

Next on the tour, there is a one day lay-over in Detroit before we go to Atlanta. My good friend Ted who lived in Detrioit is throwing a party. So I head to his house with cello player Hugh McDowell who played with ELO on their first tour and was now part of Roy’s band. Hugh and I had become close friends. After Ted’s party, I asked Hugh if he wanted to have pizza at my favorite Detroit pizza place called Buscemi’s (by then, I had gone there a few times in my travels to Detroit).

We were buzzing from the party. Once the pizza was served, we basically reverted to being silly little kids. The management of the restaurant was not necessarily pleased that we were throwing pizza at each other, so they asked us to leave. They escorted Hugh and me to the door. When about to leave, Hugh pointed to a little shingle on top of the door, decorated by grapes and wine bottles, where a slice of pizza was hanging, and said in a very proper English accent “By the way, would you wrap that to go for us?”

That’s the type of cheeky humor English musicians had in those days, and it always put a smile on my face. I wasn’t a hotel smasher (like the crazy things that happened at the Continental Hyatt House a.k.a. the Riot House on Sunset), but we still did our share of wild things.

 

Fans of Elvis

 

Roy Wood, like so many English musicians I got to know and work with, absolutely adored Elvis Presley. Elvis started losing his relevance in the United States once he became a cabaret act and started playing Vegas. However, the musicians from the first and second English invasions absolutely worshiped Elvis. This was true when I first met many Englishmen as a KUCR DJ, and continued to be true when I toured with English bands during my tenure at United Artists Records. In England, a lot of the fans over there also revered Elvis Presley. Virtually all the major acts that came to tour from England during the invasion were so much more into Elvis Presley than the people in the US. We kind of got over him. Not to mean that he became totally irrelevant to us, but he wasn’t a music god anymore, while he remained a deity in England until the time he died, and well beyond. That’s the big difference. The one exception in the US might be ‘50s-’60s era Latinos, who often had a velvet picture of Elvis right next to a picture of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on their walls.

And speaking of people who loved Elvis Presley, there was John Lennon who also loved Elvis.

 

John Lennon

 

John was my favorite Beatle. Late in my UA tenure, he was living in LA, circa early 1975. His lawyer was also our corporate lawyer, so he used to come by our UA office quite frequently. After some initial reluctance, I introduced myself to John after seeing him walk through the halls of UA a few times. I knew he was hanging out with Harry Nilsson, and since I had been a Nilsson fan since my senior year of high school, I immediately played that trump card on our first introduction.

John was a people person who loved to talk about music and also was a political activist, and he gave me a compliment that I will never forget: “You are not like the rest around here who just hype music.” It’s not like he and I became best friends and hung out together. But the thing I really appreciate is the fact that I was in my mid twenties, about eight years younger than John. And of all the people working at the record company, John took a liking to me because he knew I really loved good music, and not into the ‘shuck and jive’ hype.

My favorite John Lennon story involves Mike, my brother’s best friend, who was a huge John Lennon fan. I mentored Mike because his family was like a surrogate family to me, like second parents when I was in high school (and I’m still in touch with Mike.) So, Mike was a huge Beatles’ fan going back years. He and I used to have hours-and-hours of discussions about what the different songs on Sgt. Pepper’s meant.

One day, Mike came by my office at UA. He was sitting on a chair, just hanging out, and John Lennon sticks his head through the door and says “Hey Ritchie, you want to go out for some burgers?” (All the English people called me Ritchie—if your name is Ric or Rich, they call you Ritchie).

I thought Mike was going to totally freak out. Here is John Lennon sticking his head in my office, and he’s inviting me to lunch! We had a favorite burger place in Hollywood, on Santa Monica Boulevard (now gone). So I said, “Let’s go!” I mean, come on—you don’t say ‘no’ to John Lennon! Mike came with us and he was just speechless, didn’t say a word in the presence of John Lennon having hamburgers. When John was assassinated, it hit me almost as hard as losing Janis.

 

Changes at U.A.

 

In 1974, Marty Cerf and Greg Shaw left United Artists to make Phonograph Record Magazine independent. Then, UA president Michael Stewart resigned. Bill Roberts was still handling album promotion at UA, but the new regime that came in from Columbia Records, with Al Teller as our president, had a somewhat different vision for UA than what we had during the Michael Stewart era. Briefly, the brilliant Freddy DeMann was with us for a few months (he would later break both Michael Jackson and Madonna and then come out of retirement to make Shakira a star.)

Al Teller changed my job description. I was still handling college promotion, but now promoted to having an office (instead of a cubicle) and took on additional responsibilities, like calling retail outlets to see if they had UA products in stock to make sure they did. Wow, an office with a turntable and big speakers! And could I close the door if I wanted to listen to cool music with industry friends or even alone. Nice.

 

Montrose

 

After establishing my friendship with Sammy Hagar during his Justice Brothers days and recording them at Sound Sync in Riverside, they had relocated to San Francisco. Well, in 1972 I was excited to receive a call from Sammy letting me know that his first LP with Montrose would be recorded at Warner Brothers Studios in North Hollywood, and that he expected me to be there to make sure it was done right.

The first Montrose album is indeed an outstanding hard rock classic. Sammy wanted me present for those 1973 recording sessions because he was totally freaked out that Ted Templeman (who at that point had never produced a rock band) would make him sound too much like Harpers Bizarre, or the Doobie Brothers, both produced by Ted and both pop rock oriented. (Ironically Ted later went on to sign and produce Van Halen for Warner Brothers later in the ‘70s, and this was no small part of Sammy becoming David Lee Roth’s replacement in the second phase of Van Halen.)

Since I’m working for UA, there is only so much time I can spend in the studio while the first Montrose album is being recorded; but I tried to be there as much as possible, and was present for the recording of the classic “Rock Candy,” and knew immediately that it was spot on!—and was also present for the tracking of “Bad Motor Scooter” as well. Warner rushed out the LP, and sent Montrose out on the road. But the debut Montrose album is truly a hard rock classic, even if it only sold modestly.

 

Cherokee Studios

 

Upon returning to SoCal from that fateful show in Atlanta, I had the opportunity to set up a live recording for Roy and Wizzard at Cherokee’s studio in Chatsworth, since I was friends with the group Cherokee who ran the studio. Wizzard recorded some killer live stuff which our UA national album promo director Bill Roberts distributed to key FM progressive stations.

My friendship with Cherokee went back to when they were known as the Robbs. I attended some wild recording sessions at their studio (then out in the middle of nowhere, in a still undeveloped part of the San Fernando Valley) with Del Shannon and Brian Hyland. Cherokee had just bought MGM studio in the Hollywood area, and re-named it Cherokee Studios. Some of the key albums of the ‘70s were recorded there.

Cherokee offered me the prospect of being “caretaker” of their San Fernando Valley studio—I could live there rent free, and record whomever I wanted. Wow, so tempting! But at the time, it would have taken forever to go back-and-forth between my job at UA in Hollywood and the studio in this still rural part of the San Fernando Valley. Freeways in the valley were not yet finished, although under construction. Today I wonder how different my life might have been if I had said “yes.”

 

The Forum

 

I was a Dylan fan in high school. After first becoming aware of him in ’65, almost ten years later I had still not seen him play live primarily because he stopped live appearances circa 1965. Perhaps you can imagine how excited I was to hear that Bob was touring with the Band in early 1974. As soon as the Forum dates were announced, I procured tickets and put them in a birthday card for Lil Miller, my then roommate in Venice (who would later become Lil Fazekas years later). The concert was a few days after her 21^st birthday. She was so excited that she had to take two valiums to calm down enough to relax and enjoy the show. And it was a most memorable show. That same year, we attended the George Harrison tour, also at the Forum. George unfortunately had a sore throat, so his singing was weak, but Billy Preston took over to save the day. Two monumental concerts at the Forum from classic rockers in 1974—giants I had always wanted to see in a live setting!

Mexico—El Rancho Grande

 

After spending almost four crazy years at United Artists, constantly busy with tours, local shows, listening parties, etc., I took my first vacation in years to México with my friend Deanna, and Greg the older brother of Hammerhead’s drummer. We ended up on an Eastern-facing Baja beach about half way down into the Baja peninsula. During the day we’d go surfing, and at night, after the women had gone to bed or were taking care of the kids, the local men would join us around our campfire, bringing their guitars and tequila.

Evidently in 1975, they hadn’t seen too many people from the US, and wanted to bond with us. I was a Freddy Fender fan because of the hit “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” and the follow-up “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights.” But on that debut Freddy album—which my friend Steve Resnik at ABC had given me—was the cut “Rancho Grande,” one of the few songs in Spanish on the LP Greg had absolutely fallen in love with song when I played it for him in Venice at my house, and he eagerly asked our Mexican hosts if they knew it. “Si, si compadre,” with a toast of tequila, and they played us a stunning version that made the campfire burn even brighter. Greg was feeling the tequila and asked them to play it four more times, which they obliged.

 

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

 

Music in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s was about constant evolution, but by the mid-’70s it was just exploding in so many different directions. Interestingly enough, another great band from the ‘70s is Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers when they first debuted on Shelter Records. For many years, and probably even today, Tom’s debut album is one of my all-time favorites.

Tom & the Heartbreakers were a totally different type of music than Montrose, but in 1976 an English promoter booked them to go on tour together, Montrose as the headliner and Tom Petty as the opening act. But by the middle of the tour, Tom Petty was headlining and a Sammy-less Montrose was opening for Tom. This happened because of the crazy press and radio reaction in England to the first Tom Petty album. Tom was incredible in his early days, even through his first four albums. But I feel his song writing became lazy later on after becoming a star. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers were signed by Shelter, the record label that Leon Russell and Denny Cordell formed (they eventually sold Shelter to ABC then it went on to MCA when ABC was bought by MCA). Shelter inked both Tom Petty, and Dwight Twilley who has become an underground phenomenon—I love both these artists. Each of their debut albums have a place in my top-ten-all-time albums and they’re both on Shelter Records, signed by Leon and Denny—good taste, my men.

Tom Petty is from Florida but moved to California right after his first LP came out. The first single “Breakdown” was an FM and Top 40 hit for Tom in 1976. He so fresh and smart, so different from what was happening at that time.

 

City One Stop

 

In 1976, City One Stop, the largest independent wholesaler of music in the US, hired me in their 8-track/cassette department as a ‘tape dog.’  In those days, 8 tracks were outselling cassettes four-to-one, sometimes we could not even get cassette catalogs to send to our clients. That's how much more record companies concentrated on LPs and 8-track cartridges. It goes to show you how formats evolve. When the CD first appeared in the ‘80s the cassette had already doomed the 8 track format to dinosaur status.

City One Stop had a turntable that was constantly playing music for both customers and employees. When I first started with them, the incredible first LP by Boston was being played every day. I don't think Colombia was prepared for how this LP would take off right out of the box. We were consistently backordered on the LP, 8 track, and cassette early in its release—Columbia could not manufacture them fast enough to keep up with demand. But there was an LP that my friend Rob Wunderlich from A&M gave me by a St. Louis band called Head East that remarkably sounded just like Boston. To our music clients who could not buy Boston because it was back ordered, I recommended they buy Head East and play it in their stores. Result: the first Head East LP sold well in LA. Unfortunately, A&M never built on this, and Head East is consigned to a footnote in history. They put out a few more albums, but never broke big.

 

Punk Rock / New Wave

 

Also at this time there was the emerging punk rock scene happening on both coasts. As someone who lived in New York and in California, I won’t take sides on where punk started. New Yorkers think Oh, it started here at CBGB and LA music followers will say it started with bands like X in Hollywood, and Back Flag in the South Bay. In a way it’s not a valid argument, to say where punk really began. It happened all at the same time, even in England as well, where you had the emergence of the Sex Pistols, who blew the lid off.

Being part of the LA music scene at the time, in the mid 1970s, punk in LA broke into two factions: South Bay hardcore with bands like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Fear Fear (and Orange County’s Adolescents) and the hardcore punk they would play—and the more eclectic, melodic version power pop, new wave bands capturing Hollywood like the Knack (who had moved from Michigan and became an LA band), the Plimsouls, Go Go’s, Los Lobos, Los Ilegales, 20/20, Sunset Bombers, and Devo who had just moved to LA from Ohio with the Bombers. So you had this divide between power pop/new wave and hardcore punk bands building their respective audiences in LA. And then there were bands which spanned the arc between the two like X, Los Plugz, the Germs, and Needles & Pins (who I worked with, produced and managed).

On top of that, at the same time, there was the wonderful influx of New York bands featured at CBGB in New York such as the Ramones, Talking Heads, Television, Blondie, Mink DeVille, New York Dolls, Richard Hell & the Voidoids.

Plus, in England bands like X-Ray Specs, Sham 69, and 999 were building followings. And of course, Bay Area stalwarts Dead Kennedys were also starting to make their mark. And London punk too! Just an amazing explosion of music!

 

Reggae

 

My first introduction to reggae was the Millie Small song “My Boy Lollipop” which was a hit when I was in high school in the early ‘60s. Then at KUCR, a couple of reggae things came our way: “The Israelites” by Desmond Dekker & the Aces, and a few Jimmy Cliff singles like “Wonderful World, Beautiful People,” which we enthusiastically played. But it wasn’t until Island Records gave me a copy of “The Harder They Come” soundtrack in 1972 that I became a huge reggae fan. By this time my friend Joel Selvin was the lead music critic at the San Francisco Chronicle. I alerted Joel to how great the soundtrack was and that he would soon be getting a copy in the mail (which he received the next day). Joel loved it and became a reggae advocate. Soon, San Francisco and Boston were the two major US markets where reggae had a foothold through radio play and coverage in the press, and Joel was THE man responsible for Reggae booming in the Bay Area.

Shortly after, I was in Oakland visiting Joel and he had already accumulated an amazing amount of reggae, far more than even my own collection. Among the tracks on his jukebox was a 45 of Toots & the Maytals doing an awesome cover of John Denver’s “Country Roads.” Of course, Bob Marley was making an impact, but would not be discovered by mass audiences until Eric Clapton covered “I Shot the Sheriff.” And then there was Max Romeo, Burning Spear, the Wailing Souls, Third World, and so many more. Just a whole parade of reggae bands coming out of Jamaica. The reggae movement had already become huge in England, but (as mentioned) in the US it was limited (for a while) to the radio support for reggae in San Francisco and Boston and of course in college radio, but virtually nowhere else in the US (including LA, which was odd).

In 1976, my dining room had a ‘Rasta’ wall filled with posters honoring these great Babylon musicians that record company sales representatives were oh so happy to give me when I worked for City One Stop. Reggae has a bass-heavy beat, and I was listening to a lot of reggae. My up-stairs landlady (who was also my age) was cool about me constantly playing music when I wasn’t working or sleeping, but every once in a while she knocked on my door and opine, “OK, enough reggae for today—play some rock for me! Cool enough, bro?”

 

Disco

 

The late ‘70s was the heart of the disco era. Most people seriously into music say that disco is all crap, and most of it was. There are great disco songs that I remember, that were more than just something to dance to. Donna Summer had some songs with wonderful lyrics, but they were songs, songs that you could sing along to as well as dance to. I remember “Born to be Alive” coming out and thinking what a neat dance song and you could sing along to it. I don’t want to be too hard on disco, because there were some great songs that came from that genre, but not many, just a handful. And disco was mostly about making people dance, not writing classic songs, so I only marginally related to it. Great rock n roll, and great music, has always been about outstanding songs, not just something to groove to.

 

Ariola / BMG

 

After a little more than a year at City One Stop, Terry Barnes, who I worked so closely with at UA, let me know that she had left Motown and just started working in the US for Ariola (BMG) run by Jay Lasker and Howard Stark of my ABC/Dunhill mailroom days. Now this was exciting!

Ariola/BMG hired NY radio legend Scott Shannon as director of promotion. Terry was head of Creative Services, and wanted me to interview with Scott about heading up National Merchandising for the nascent label. Of course I was enthused, and after a brief interview, joined BMG’s initial foray into the US market.  While a world power in Europe, México and South America, Ariola/BMG had decided to tackle the US market in 1977.

As National Merchandising Director, my job was to not only contact record stores around the country via phone, but visit stores when with an artist of ours was playing in their town and encourage store staff to attend the show that night. But as a record collector, I constantly went to music stores looking for music I wanted to have in my collection. And, when you worked for a label, you were continually receiving promos from friends at other labels, and likewise sending them your releases. The idea was that after you finished hustling your own artists, you might talk about something cool you got from A&M or Columbia. This helped build up my music collection.

The first album BMG asked me to merchandise to stores was Out of the Closet a gay comedy album. They had me calling gay bars to get it played, and then calling the stores in those markets if the bars agreed—humorous indeed to think you could get comedy played in disco gay dance clubs! BMG had a lot to learn and I was eager to be part of the team. While I was at City One Stop, right before joining the Ariola/BMG and accepting the National Merchandising position, Ariola had a national number one single with Mary MacGregor’s “Torn Between Two Lovers” which was huge and certainly showed me that they had become “big league players.”

Our first big hit in my tenure at Ariola was a few months in with Eruption’s “I Can’t Stand the Rain” hitting the Billboard Top Ten, a remake of Anne Peebles’ powerful hit from 1970 that we played on KUCR. I remember Ariola sending me to Seattle to work the record stores since we were getting airplay up there, an early breakout market.

Ariola had some great rock bands that I had the pleasure of working with like Prism, and Japan, and also a later version of Sons of Champlin. I spent some time on the road with the bands, but as National Merchandising Director my role was more about hitting the key wholesale and retail outlets, making sure displays were up in the stores, that stores were playing our LPs, and that their staff went to our shows. This was an era where record labels finally realized the impact of in-store play for both albums and videos as well.

 

Amoeba

 

Amoeba came along much later. When I first moved to the Bay Area in ‘97, Amoeba only had one store in Berkeley. Shortly after I moved there, they opened the San Francisco store in late ‘97 or early ’98. Then, when I moved to Los Angeles in April of 2001, three months after my arrival, Amoeba opened the Hollywood store. I love music: going to a record store and searching all the stacks, seeing what you can find at a cool and affordable price. Now, you can find almost everything online and you don’t have to go to a physical location, unless you still get off on going to record stores, like me. Record hunting has really changed a whole lot from what it used to be, but it’s still fun to search for gems in a record store bin. 

 

Arista—Clive Davis

 

Although Ariola US had hits, we did not make anyone a superstar during my two years at the label. So in 1979 BMG bought Arista, which was Clive Davis’ start-up label after he left Columbia, which had been far more successful than Ariola. Clive Davis was fired from Columbia for charging a bar mitzvah to the label when he was president there. People in the music industry did that type of thing all the time, charge the company so they wouldn’t have to pay for it, but he got caught and the board of directors fired him.

There was a rumor in the mid ‘70s that Clive Davis was going to become president of United Artists records when I worked there, before he started Arista. Instead, UA hired Al Teller who was one of his right hand people at Columbia. I had become good friends with Bruce Williams who was promotion director for us out of Atlanta. Whenever sent to Atlanta, I went to party with Bruce and stayed with him and his girlfriend at their house in the Atlanta suburbs. In 1975 you could not buy Coors beer in Georgia, so Bruce had a friend who would fly to Denver in his own plane and buy Coors beer that he would sell to others in the Atlanta music industry. Not only did I hate the taste of Coors, but recoiled at the reactionary politics of the Coors family. So whenever in Atlanta at this time, Coors was always offered, but I usually turned it down, since I hated the taste of this beer and the politics of the owners.

Both Bruce and I had a devilish sense of humor. When United Artists was having its annual convention, and there were rumors of Clive Davis becoming our president, we went to the hotel lobby and asked to page Clive Davis over the intercom. The message went out, and we just started cracking up. He wasn’t even there. It was a joke on the people that we worked with, but it got people buzzing. Was Clive here? Were the rumors true? Inquiring minds wanted to know!!! But it was all a joke perpetrated by Bruce and me. The music business is SO serious these days, but back then, we could have fun and still be serious about our job mission.

Fast forward a few years later, Clive puts together his own successful label Arista. And he has huge hits with Whitney Houston, Eric Carmen, and a number of other people. BMG/Ariola is a big company out of Germany with a lot of money who I am working for, and they buy Arista.

 

Frank Zappa

 

My reverence for Frank Zappa, and how much his music influenced me and the other DJs I worked with at KUCR during the late ‘60s, has already been covered. Frank had continued traveling on his anti-establishment, musically progressive road. Right around the time I joined Glotzer Management, Frank recorded a single with his oldest daughter Moon called “Valley Girl” and lo and behold, it actually became Frank’s first (and only) Top 40 hit. I made many journeys up to the Zappa house during this time, but usually it was to deal with his wife Gail who handled a lot of the day-to-day business. Frank was always recording, buried in his studio, and I rarely but occasionally got to communicate with him. A few times, I was even able to listen to what he was working on, which was always stunning.

 

Nina Hagen

 

Right after I joined the management company, Bennett closed the deal to sign Nina Hagen. I knew of Nina because Pam Turbov, our publicity director at Ariola, was friends with Lene Lovich, who was one of Nina’s best friends. Lene Lovich was an American artist from Detroit who moved to Germany to become famous, and she became a star in Germany, and then in the States with hits like “Lucky Number.” I was a huge fan of Lene’s music. Around this time, I was DJing one night a week at the Rainbow Bar & Grill, and Lena and her boyfriend Les Chappell would come in to hear me spin, and Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne came by one night as well.

Upon working for Bennett Glotzer, when Nina Hagan first arrived from Germany, I took her apartment hunting. At the time she had pink dreadlocks and big globe earrings: there weren’t a lot of people in Hollywood who wanted to rent to her because she looked so weird. I finally got her a place. As a fan of Nina’s music, I loved working with her and I’m glad she’s still performing to this day. Later on, she lived in the Bay Area for quite a while when her daughter was born. Then she moved back to Germany.

 

Rainbow Bar & Grill

 

Let’s discuss the Rainbow Bar and Grill, which even today is a gathering place for the metal crowd. It started as restaurant for rockers in the ‘70s. However, by 1980, some of the regulars were shocked that many rich Arabs who had fled their home countries and settled in Beverly Hills had decided they loved the Rainbow and were dropping $20 bills on the rock DJs to play disco songs! Regular rock purists were horrified, and my rock friends recruited me to spin at the club at least one night a week (which turned into two) to offer a mix of danceable new wave and metal-lite that had a groove. It became a popular night and I remember Polydor Records giving me an advance copy of Blondie’s “Call Me” which became the most requested song in my one-year tenure as a Rainbow DJ. And I was doing this while working for Glotzer.

 

Leaving Glotzer

 

After working at Glotzer for a while, I became annoyed that sometimes my paycheck would bounce for lack of sufficient funds. Also, I was looking to get reimbursed for a Whisky pre-concert dinner for KROQ DJs that I had thrown at my house before we went to a Nina show (made them home-made pizza and lasagna, I am a pretty good cook). There was always an issue about money at Glotzer Management. Bennett Glotzer had his good days and bad days—he was a volatile man. When he got the bill for this dinner, he decided I shouldn’t work for him any more since I didn’t get his approval for the expenditure. It was a bill for only about $40 I was looking to get refunded for. But that’s the music industry. So it goes. When I called Nina Hagen to tell her I wouldn’t be working promo for her any longer since I was leaving Glotzer Management, she matter-of-factly asked, “Oh, what planet are you going to?” Just SO Nina!! It pleases me to say that Nina still has a huge underground following, and I was happy to add to the brightness of her cult-following stardom.

 

Music Industry Crash

 

1980 was a dangerous time to be out of a job in the music industry. At the end of the 70s into the early ‘80s, the music business probably went through the bigges crash it’s ever had in its history up to that time, and it happened for many different reasons.

Number one, the business had bet fairly heavily on disco, and rode the disco train for a couple of years and sold some records, but disco never became a major lasting trend. One of the ways that music has always made money is through catalog sales. And there are no catalog sales with disco: it’s about what’s happening at the moment, and when disco wasn’t popular anymore people stopped caring so there was no continuing income for years to come—disco just died.

The other thing that happened at the end of the ‘70s was that punk, or even new wave, hadn’t caught on as a commercial movement. It was an underground thing. Blondie and Devo and the Knack had some commercial success on KROQ in LA, but that was punk smoothed over as new wave. Not more than a few stations in the US were playing this ‘new music.’ Album rock radio (outside LA) was still playing Zeppelin, Rod Stewart, Bad Company but not the evolving genres of new wave and punk.

An additional factor was the availability (for the first time) of affordable cassette recorders where people could make mixtapes and give them to their friends. This predates burning CDs, but the idea is the same: a friend of yours buys an album, records it to a cassette and gives it to you. So people could record from LP to cassette—amazing! This technology had just become affordable and available to the average consumer at the end of the ‘70s and early ‘80s. On top of that, for the first time, people could record what they heard on radio as well. And in 1980, Sony released the Walkman in the USA, which eventually sold over 200 million units. The Walkman allowed you to portably listen to music that was not always provided by a record label, maybe it was a copy of a cassette a friend made.

All this caused a major recession in the music business where virtually fifty-percent of us lost our jobs, including me. When you put all the factors together: the end of the disco era; punk didn’t happen in a major way; New Wave had not become commercially huge yet; the cassette tape boom: it resulted in the music business crashing in a manner never before seen, not even during the Great Depression of the ‘30s. It was dire times.

 

Philadelphia

 

It’s 1983, and the record business is still recovering from the crash of 1980, still not into the ‘boom’ that would begin by the end of the year with MTV establishing a foothold, and compact discs (CDs) beginning their climb to become the dominant musical format. My boss at CSI wants me to move to the company headquarters in Philadelphia to work as an election-day analyst and exit poll sample developer. Previously I had turned down numerous opportunities to move to New York and accept positions in the music business, and now I was saying ‘yes’ to an East Coast move in a different occupation, in Philadelphia of all places. But after the frustration of the music business not recovering quickly enough and no job in the Southland, this was a change I needed to make: the California kid goes to the East Coast to live.

My Ford Fairlane only had an AM radio when I headed out across the country in mid-1983. Having been spoiled by the wonderful music I could always count on from KROQ-FM, I was horrified by the generally awful music coming out of the car speakers on the journey across the US. Probably the two songs that provided musically sanity on the trip were David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” and Eddy Grant’s “Electric Avenue.”

It took me four days to make the cross-country drive to finally arrive in Philadelphia and checked into a motel that Teichner Associates had set up for me. This world was SO different than the one I left in SoCal; but I was still the same person and felt it necessary to go out and get wild. The music at the club in Philly that first night was pretty mediocre, but they finally spun “Talk Talk” by the group Talk Talk. Hey, they were playing my KROQ stuff, and even though it was a new wave song, I got out there on the dance floor and skanked my ass off, the way Londoners or LA hip kids would dance to ska, though this was not a ska song. Woah! It was something very new to Philadelphians who in the Dick Clark era were on top of the dance crazes, but now in the ‘80s were way behind in the evolving musical world. My dancing skills made me some new friends; established in my new hometown!

My initial residence was a motel for about ten days until I rented a house in Italian South Philly a few blocks below the very hip South Street. OK, I’m a rocker, but one of the coolest things about living in South Philly in 1983 was taking a walk through the neighborhood on Sundays. The Italian mothers and grandmothers were all busy in the kitchen preparing Sunday meal for their extended family, and either had Frank Sinatra or some Italian opera star blasting from a stereo, it may have still been the ‘50s, as Talking Heads’ David Byrne said so brilliantly “Same as it ever was.” That was an important part of the culture shift I was going through.

When I first moved to Philly, there was one radio station that played music like KROQ, but changed format to country within one month after I arrived. It wasn’t good having to listen to only mainstream WMMR for rock, although they were still pretty decent for a mainstream rock station. I did make a life-long rocker friend during my two years there, Bobby Eberhardt, who I am still in touch with and makes Athens, GA his home these days. We were constantly turning each other on to music and I will always be grateful to him for first getting me into R.E.M. when they were just starting out.

In the ‘80s when living in Philadelphia I was mistaken for Huey Lewis all the time. Huey Lewis was from the Bay Area, played rock and roll and had a bunch of hits like “I Want a New Drug.” At that time, he became a huge star and really did have some good music. It was more than a passing resemblance: we were almost identical. But there were no games like the ones I played when goofing around with Robert from Led Zeppelin in the ‘70s. I always told the truth and said “No, I’m not Huey.”

 

Dog Lover

 

It should be mentioned that I am a dog lover, and have not always had the opportunity to own a dog, but did own one through many years of my life. Cleo was the dog in my youth. And many Inland Empire friends remember my basset-cocker half-breed Percy who became legendary in the community and at Sound Sync (and was even photographed on the steps of an apartment with the police making a pot bust that appeared in the Press-Enterprise). While in Philadelphia, I acquired a Great Dane, Max, who LOVED music! When I was playing tunes, he would lie down and put his big head on my thigh.

Max made the trip across the country with me when I moved back to California. Six days on the road, and we arrived at my Grandmother’s house in San Gabriel in June of 1985. After chatting with Grandma for a bit, I told her my dog was in the truck, and asked if he could come in for a drink of water. Bringing Max in, my Grandma commented “Richard, that’s not a dog, it’s a horse!”

 

No Van Halen

 

Back in Cali, I was staying with my good friend Gypsy in Marina del Rey, and then got hired as a project director for Consumer Surveys in Rosemead, so it was back to the San Gabriel Valley to live in Alhambra with Max.

Flashing back a few years, in 1980 I was living with my cousin in Monrovia (another SG Valley city), and a friend of mine out there asked me to make tapes for his metal parties—and I wouldn’t put Van Halen on it, because David was such a jerk in the ‘70s when I was working with Hammerhead. The mix tapes I made said, “This tape contains absolutely no Van Halen.” That’s how much I disliked David because he disrespected the band I worked with and so many others on the local scene that he would slag because of his huge ego. (How ironic that my friend Sammy would be his replacement as lead singer—some satisfaction in that). But now it is five years later, 1985, and I am back in the San Gabriel Valley where I grew up. Somehow, the SGV just keeps drawing me back.

OK, the stereo is set up in my new house in Alhambra, tuned to KROQ, and what’s the first song that comes on? The debut single from New Order “The Perfect Kiss” and it blew me away. The Alhambra house had been officially baptized. I became a huge fan throughout New Order’s career, having appreciated their previous incarnation as Joy Division. However, this phase of SG Valley residence was only to last a few months, as CSI sent me to San Diego to run the office there in ’86, and then moved me back to their headquarters in NY in ’87.

While in San Diego, Erasure broke and I heard “Oh L’Amour” for the first time on 91X, (which was like the KROQ of San Diego, and I think they still are). Ten minutes later after the debut of this great track, there was a huge earthquake in the ocean 30 miles west of Oceanside. I was making love on the couch, and it certainly got our attention. When great music strikes you, you never forget how and when it slammed you over the head.

Another great musical moment from this period was going to a club in North Hollywood and hearing “Conga” by Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine for the first time. This song definitely made me a fan for life.

 

Live Aid

 

In the short period I stayed in Marina del Rey before getting the house in Alhambra, MTV broadcasted the Live Aid concert from both Philadelphia and London, and we were glued to great performances on TV for 16 hours. Live Aid was a concert telethon organized by Bob Geldof, intended to raise money for starving people in Ethiopia. And let me point out: this was free on MTV. If it were done today, it would cost you a LOT of money to see on pay-per-view. Back in those wonderful days, great shows were broadcast at no charge.

 

From Live Aid London: Status Quo, Style Council, Boomtown Rats, Adam Ant, INXS, Ultravox, Loudness, Spandau Ballet, Elvis Costello, Nik Kershaw, Sade, Sting, Phil Collins, Howard Jones, Autograph, Bryan Ferry, Paul Young, U2, Dire Straits/Sting, Queen, David Bowie, The Who, Elton John w/ Kiki Dee, Wham, Mercury and May, Paul McCartney.

 

From Philadelphia: Joan Baez, The Hooters, Opus, The Four Tops, B.B. King, Billy Ocean, Ozzy Osbourne, Run DMC, Rick Springfield, REO Speedwagon, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Udo Lindenburgh, Judas Priest, Bryan Adams, The Beach Boys, George Thorogood/Bo Diddley/Albert Collins, Simple Minds, The Pretenders, Santana w/Pat Metheny, Ashford & Simpson w/T. Pendergrass, Madonna, Tom Petty, Kenny Loggins, The Cars, Neil Young, The Power Station, The Thompson Twins, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Plant/Page and Jones, Duran Duran, Patti LaBelle, Hall & Oates w/Eddie Kendrick and David Ruffin, Mick Jagger, Tina Turner, Bob Dylan/Keith Richard/Ron Wood

This was over 25 years ago, but do you really think such a wonderful and diversified lineup of music could play together in today’s world? I hope so, but I don’t think so. Even watching Live Aid ’85 on TV, it was such a powerful union of musical artists performing to help the underprivileged. What a truly memorable and inspiring musical fund-raiser statement.

 

New York City

 

Because my career in marketing research was doing well, and CSI was about to move me back to their headquarters in suburban New York City to become research director for the company, I didn’t give much thought to going back to the music industry at this time.  How ironic that I’d turned down at least five formal job offers to relocate to New York for positions with record companies in the previous decade—the ‘70s—and now in the ‘80s I was taking a position in NYC with a marketing research company. Life is full of strange twists and turns, but it was finally time to experience what NYC Metro had to offer on a daily basis by living there, rather than just on promotional visits. But nothing stopped me from being a voracious music fan. And unlike my previous cross-country drive, this time I wasn’t a slave to the horrible music being played by AM radio—there was a boombox in the front seat with me. 

So equipped with cassette tapes that included lots of Jane’s Addiction, Sinéad O'Connor, Red Hot Chili Peppers, They Might Be Giants, Gene Loves Jezebel, Flesh for Lulu and many others, in January of 1987, I hit the road, destination New York and settled into a two-story house in Astoria, Queens that actually had a platform for my music equipment in the upstairs living quarters. Immediately, I bought a second turntable and a mixer. Now, when making tapes for friends, rather than stopping the tape at the end of a song, and then starting it within a mili-second of when the next song started playing, I could actually mix into the next record, just like when I DJ’d live and commandeered dual turntables. Also, WLIR was my main FM music source that played a steady stream of new wave, like KROQ did. However, Astoria would not be wired for cable until September of that year, so I went without MTV for a little while once again like in Philadelphia.

 

Suburban Dad

 

In 1988 I experienced a life-changing moment. My good friend and former roommate Lil was living in a Detroit suburb with her son Steve, who was now eight. I hadn’t seen Lil and Steve for four years since they moved back to Michigan from LA so that Steve could go to a better school; plus, Lil was from Michigan and her parents and sisters lived in the area. CSI had a Michigan office where they sent me on business, and I stayed with Lil and Steve. I’d known them for years and had visited Lil the day she came home from the hospital after Steve was born, so we go back to when Steve was a baby.

The two days spent with them were fun filled, listening to the type of music Michigan residents were into: Guns N Roses, Whitesnake, Journey etc. (trad hard rock). But when I was leaving to go back to New York, Steve asked me: “Will you marry my mom and be my Dad?” I was stunned. At 39, I really wanted to have a kid, but hadn’t met anyone compatible to make it happen. For many years, it was my goal that one way or another I’d have a child by the time I was 40. My mind was spinning on the plane ride home, but by the time the aircraft landed at LaGuardia Airport, my decision had been made: a new family would be created.

Around that time CSI was planning to move their corporate headquarters from New Hyde Park NY to suburban north New Jersey where the company principals lived. So in May of 1989, we rented a house in Fair Lawn, NJ. I flew to Detroit, rented a truck, moved Lil’s and Steve’s stuff to our new home in the Garden State, and all of a sudden, I was a suburban New Jersey father!

 

Social Distortion

 

A few months after we moved to New Jersey, the CMJ Music Marathon was happening in NY—a several-days long event where bands showcase at different venues—and my old friend Gypsy from LA asked if she and a band that was showcasing could stay at our house. Of course I said yes; and that band turned out to be Social Distortion when they were first starting out—their first album wasn’t even released yet. To this day, my son still brags to his friends “Social Distortion stayed at my house when I was nine.”

 

NYC Clubbin’

 

We were only in New Jersey a couple months before CSI transferred us to Buffalo for me to run the last remaining phone room of the company. There was not much happening on the Buffalo music scene. I did get a job DJing in a club for a while, but it was more about blowing people away with what they couldn’t hear on the air than seriously getting them on the dance floor. Then, both Lil and I got laid off from our jobs in 1990, and it was clear to me that returning to New York City to make a decent income in marketing research was a must. It would be necessary to go there and leave them behind, which was difficult. This was particularly hard because Steve was almost eleven and seriously getting into music as well. But financially, it had to be done.

By 1990, both companies Lil and I worked for in Buffalo had gone out of business. Reality set in, and it was necessary to relocate back to NYC to once again make a decent salary in marketing research. Nothing at this time signaled a possible return to music, but I knew Manhattan would provide job opportunities; and even if it was 400 miles away, I could still do holidays and birthdays with Lil and Steve in Buffalo. How many times I made that drive upstate-and-back in the 1990s!

It had been only a few years since I had lived in NY-Metro, but the influx of Latinos from Puerto Rico and South America to the area was truly amazing. Their presence was reflected by the music being played in the clubs. In a way, this could mark my beginning shift from English to Spanish music. I earlier indicated getting excited about Gloria Estefan in mid-’80s California, but now my new Puerto Rican and South American friends were turning me on to a cornucopia of great dance music like Marc Anthony, La India, Ricky Martin, Celia Cruz and so many more. In the disco era, I felt that most of that dance music was formulaic plastic. But Latino dance songs were real, rhythmic, and so fun to dance to. There was a marked transition: when I wanted to go out to dance, I went to NY Latino clubs.

1990s Rock

 

However, that didn’t mean I had given up being a rocker. In the early ‘90s a blistering array of important alternative music surfaced on MTV and on progressive radio like WLIR. Led by Nirvana, this new stream of bands included Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Ministry, and Nine Inch Nails. I used to make mix tapes of these bands to mail to my son up in Buffalo and friends around the US.

But Steve’s musical tastes were moving in a more metal direction since he had picked up electric guitar. He was getting into bands like Deicide, Death, and Cannibal Corpse. While they were a bit more hardcore than I preferred, the one band from that period we both shared a true love for was England’s Carcass. These guys could play and write great songs, and to this day I still take out their CDs to play to my metal friends to great mutual satisfaction.

Reviewing over the years, it seems like the record business had been going through 10 year cycles since the 1940s. Some artists step forward to lead a new decade.

In the late ‘80s right before I moved to NY, a friend wanted to take me to see Jane’s Addiction at the Palomino Club in North Hollywood. I waited and waited for him to arrive, but he never got there. (Once again, I have to remind you this was before the days of cell phones and email). It turns out his car blew a tire and swerved into the next lane and slammed into a car. Both the Clash and Dwight Yoakam were on this show at the Palomino Club, which previously had been known only for country shows. So I never saw Jane’s Addiction live, but regardless, eagerly bought their recordings, including their early indie stuff and their Warner LPs.

However, even though Jane’s Addiction were selling out stadiums in Mississippi of all places as a headliner, there were personality conflicts in the band, and they decided it was not possible to keep playing together. I really believe that if they had stayed together, Jane’s Addiction would have been THE signature band of the ‘90s. But when they broke up, that mantle went to Nirvana, they were there to fill the void, followed by Rage Against the Machine.

Rage Against the Machine was the first rap metal band and they had a wonderful style with controversial politics. But so many rap-metalers who came in their footsteps were either just OK, or did it so annoyingly that they were impossible to listen to, though the Red Hot Chili Peppers were among the few to proceed correctly.

The 1990s was the last great decade for English-sung rock ‘n’ roll. It was killer at the beginning of the decade but it wimped out by the end.

In 1991 the video for ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ was spotlighted on MTV. Immediately after watching the “Teen Spirit” vid, I picked up the phone and called my son to tell him to check out Nirvana. We both became immediate fans. 

 

Green Day, The Offspring

 

Green Day and the Offspring both became huge right after Kurt died. Dookie and Smash were respectively such great debut albums. Honestly, although both bands have gone on to long and great careers, I don’t think either one topped the musical quality of their early albums in their later recordings. But still, their later output always had at least a few truly great songs per release.

This happens a lot to many bands, and most can’t soldier on like Green Day or the Offspring. A band may write for years before getting signed, then get to “cherry-pick” the best songs for their first album/CD. If they get a following from the songs on their debut, often their record label will rush them to create a quick follow up. Or if the band decides they have outgrown what they had written earlier, they will scramble to finish the songs for a second CD, and often will not get to ‘hone’ these songs until they are just right for recording. Instead, they rush into the studio with half-finished songs to satisfy the demands of their record label or their own whims. Thus, many artists get the ‘sophomore slump.’ And this is true for many bands going all the way back to the ‘70s.

A lot of people criticize Green Day and the Offspring for not being punk enough, being sell-outs, and it’s mostly from the hardcore punk community. Wrong, totally wrong. They took punk and gave it to the average person so they could relate to it. If people in the punk community feel that is selling out, then go listen to your obscure punk bands that never reached a significant audience. At hardcore punk shows, bands on stage would even talk about how the Offspring and Green Day were not the real punks, that “we are the real thing.” Yeah, ok, be the real punks: starve the rest of your life playing in front of twenty people. Be pure and obscure. But both Offspring and Green Day were seminal bands that connected with a big audience, and there’s a significant reason why they did—great songs that a widespread audience could relate to. And they are still around filling stadiums and arenas.

 

NY Latino Friends

 

All through my time in NYC, my good friend Tom Travis would come over to my Astoria house for music listening sessions. Although Tom and I introduced each other to many up-and-coming music artists in both rock and dance genres, he also introduced me to a lot of new Latino friends whose musical preferences for salsa, merengue, and cumbia (and yes to a smaller extent rock) would have a profound effect on my musical growth. Ulises, Eddie, Diego, Frankie, Jose, and Miguel—you were all part of the transition in this era, as music en español slowly but surely kept becoming a bigger and bigger part of my mental landscape. I heard so much wonderful Spanish language music played on jukeboxes or by DJs at various Jackson Heights clubs when out with my friends.

 

Caifanes—El Silencio

 

While living in Philadelphia and out shopping for music, just browsing, I happened to come across the Caifanes CD El Silencio. My thoughts were: How cool! A rock band that sings in Spanish. And they were so good, a wonderful CD. This was 1994 and the CD had been released two years before. Finding it really was an accident, I didn’t hear Caifanes songs on the radio. When I played “Nubes” at a party at my house, my Colombian friends were blown away. “You know who Caifanes is? That's so cool!” Shortly afterward, when searching for riveting Latino dance music, I started to find even more rock en español, discovering Todos Tus Muertos, those rock/ska/punk renegades from Argentina. Oh what a wonderful CD Dale Aborigen was! I started thinking hmm how much more of this great rock in Spanish is out there?

 

La Barranca

 

After starting my research director position with Dean & Associates, and moving into a house on Mt. Davidson (with a view from my bedroom window of the entire East Bay), it was time to go out and hear music in my new home the Bay Area. And the first show was La Barranca at Slim’s, after reading in Al Borde of their California dates, including San Francisco. ¡Chingon! Totally blown away by their creative brilliance! And Slim’s was completely packed to the rafters, obviously this band had a following. Shortly after the show, I went out and found their cassette Tempestad, where the song "Dia Negro" appears, and it’s still in my cassette collection today. Later, I got to know La Barranca, released two of their CDs through Verdad y Justicia, and put on major shows for them at both the Westchester Bar and the Knitting Factory. To this day, La Barranca continues to be a major musical force.

An interesting side note from this concert is that I immediately noticed how many kids were wearing Brujeria T-shirts of a death metal band that, although sang in Spanish, appeared on a couple of metal compilations I had bought for my son. Later on I’d have more encounters with Brujeria.

Bay Area Rock en Español

 

A week later, on Labor Day there was a big concert in the Mission District featuring a great line up of rock en español bands (yes, this was the preferred term at that time). This show was my first introduction to local Bay Area bands like Orixa, Lodo y Asfalto, La Muda, and Calavera. At various subsequent shows around town, I would get to know members of each of these bands. It was exciting to feel there was a rockero musical movement here! Much more so than in New York!

One of the cool things about living in the Bay Area is the wonderful record stores—then and even today. How delightful to discover Ritmo Latino in the heart of the mission district, where I could find the latest rock en español as well as more traditional Latino dance music since I was still club DJing. At Ritmo Latino, I could also pick up Al Borde the LA based Latino music magazine, and La Banda Elastica, when they were still publishing.

It became routine to soak up all that was covered in Al Borde, the live performance reviews, the interviews with artists, the CD reviews, the playlists of Spanish rock radio programs from around the country. What a wonderful wealth of information on current music. To this day, people ask me why I am not more fluent in spoken Spanish, even though I read it, can write it, and listen and comprehend it. My response is that I learned how to read en español from magazines like Al Borde, La Banda Elastica, y Retila, and when you read in a language not natural to you, there is always the opportunity to go back and reread if you didn’t fully understand on the first reading. You can’t do that in a real-time conversation with another person. So reading Spanish extensively before I learned how to speak it well has always held me back in feeling comfortable speaking Español.

 

Tributo a Queen

 

It’s rare that in one shopping trip to a record store, you find one classic CD like Rockmania in Spanish. However, in that same music hunting visit to Ritmo Latino, I also bought Tributo a Queen. Two classic CDs that would shape my orientation to Spanish rock, bought in one record store shopping trip—a monumental day! Although there were many quality tracks on this tribute, there are three that had a profound musical effect on me.

I’d previously mentioned that I am a big fan of funk. What a treat to be turned on to Argentina’s Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas. Their cover of “Another One Bites the Dust” is not only funny, but in the pocket groove, so right for dancing. Their album Leche came out in ’98 to become one of my favorite releases of the year. Later that same year, the Watcha Tour hit San Jose, with Illya Kuryaki and many others.

Fobia (who I had just discovered from the Rockmania CD) contributed a killer version of the Bowie/Queen collaboration “Presionando.” I was such a huge fan of both David Bowie and Queen that this track was honey to my ears, so well done.

And then there was the crowning jewel: Molotov doing “Rap Soda y Bohemia.” Damn, this track blew me away, and I immediately became a huge Molotov fan. This was the perfect combination of metal and rap, with a unique form of sly irony in their lyrics, mostly in Spanish with some English phrasing thrown in. A few months later, Molotov’s debut CD ¿Donde Jugarán Las Niñas? came out on Universal and I swooped up a copy at Ritmo Latino its first week on the shelf. With songs like “Voto Latino” “Chinga Tu Madre” “Gimme tha Power” and “Puto,” this was a band that would be a musical force.

 

Retila, Bazuca

 

Retila was a free magazine, handed out at shows, and you could subscribe to it. I first got a copy at a Molotov show in San Jose on their first US tour. Immediately, I subscribed, and later met Polo Morales who wrote for Retila before he started Bazuca Magazine and bazuca.com, both staples of the LA alternativo scene I would be joining a few years later.

 

Aztlan Records, Grita Records

 

There were two active indie record labels that started focusing on Latin Alternative bands in the late ‘90s: Aztlan Records out of San Francisco, and Grita Records based in New York. While Aztlan concentrated on bands from California like Pastilla, Maria Fatal, Orixa, Ley De Hielo, and La Muda, Grita’s focus was more international with the seminal Todos Tus Muertos, Mano Negra (who evolved to Manu Chao), LA’s Viva Malpache, and Niños Con Bombas. Then there was Roadrunner Records (a leading metal English-language indie that was later bought by Atlantic) who signed Brujeria though they sang in Spanish.

 

Pastilla

 

My first meeting with Pastilla took place during my residency in San Francisco; they were touring with Volumen Cero in 1998 and played the Fillmore. Pastilla were one of the original bands signed to Aztlan Records and I bought their first CD right after moving to the Bay Area in ‘97, the legendary yellow CD. [Curious bit of history: years later, when at El Chopo en D.F. with deSoL I saw ORIGINAL (not pirata) copies of the first Pastilla CD selling for $50 USD—no b.s.!] Shortly afterward, they got signed to BMG and released their second recording. But at the Fillmore concert, a friendship was established with both Pastilla and Volumen Cero that continues with members of both bands to this day.

I’ve maintained my close ties with Victor Monroy over the years. He’s had one of the more active bands from LA, and they actually moved to Mexico for a while in the mid 2000s, but is back based in LA Metro.

One of the things I loved about Pastilla is that it was originally a brother combination. Victor’s brother Adrian wrote a lot of the songs on Vox Electra. It turned out that I became closer to Adrian than Victor during this time, we just hit it off as friends. But rather abruptly, he left the band, and has virtually disappeared off the face of the earth. I don’t know what Adrian is doing now, he’s not on Facebook and he doesn’t have anything to do with Pastilla anymore. He was equally as good a songwriter as Victor, but from a totally different writing perspective. I’m not aware if he did anything musically after leaving the group. Sure, Victor was the driving force in the band, but Adrian was the ying-to-Victor’s-yang. They balanced each other so well, and that balance is somewhat missing in later Pastilla recordings.

Pastilla was first on Aztlan Records, then they were with BMG, getting a song on the Jimmy Smits’ “Price of Glory” movie soundtrack, then with our Verdad y Justicia label group period as artistas on DiVa when they moved to México, when Edgar Rueda was managing them.

 

Maria Fatal, Aztlan Underground

 

There was a club in North Beach, San Francisco, the name escapes me, but they used to have frequent alternativo shows, and I was a regular attendee. Here I first saw both Maria Fatal and Aztlan Underground, and upon returning to LA, I struck up a friendship with all three Ramirez brothers from Maria Fatal: Fernando, Ernesto and Gabo. Eventually, I spent many hours at Ernesto’s studio in Highland Park, listening to new Maria Fatal material and attending many parties there as well. And after establishing a friendship with Yaotl of Aztlan Underground, I’d not only book shows for them at the Westchester Club during my years there, but attended many other socially-poignant shows that they presented. Happy to report Aztlan Underground are still with us and creating outstanding new music.

 

Karmelo Santo

 

During my time in the Bay Area, there was another club in the Mission District that every year brought in the outstanding Argentinian ska/rock band Karamelo Santo for a show. Having become friends with the band Lodo y Asfalto, they always opened for Karamelo with shows organized by their singer Raul.

 

Latin Alternative Music Conference

 

In July of 2000, the first Latin Alternative Music Conference was held in New York. I felt it was important to attend for a number of reasons. First and foremost, as a music lover, they were having a series of great shows; second consideration was the contacts that could be made for getting El Cohete on the air; and third, for the panelists whom I could learn from, since I knew the English side of the music business and was just beginning to learn the Spanish side.

At this first LAMC in 2000 I finally got to meet Carlos Peña, and our friendship has endured to this day. Carlos Peña is a long-time DJ on WMSC-Montclair, NJ, with our musical friendship dating back to the ‘90s.

 

From my good friend, Carlos Peña contributes:

 

“The first time I heard of Ric Fazekas was when reporting to a magazine about music charts. Back in 1998/99 I saw his listing while I was preparing mine, and was arguing with Fernando Fazzari about who to put on my list, being that a lot of other listings were repeating the same tracks—but not Ric's. Ric's unique taste in track listing choices got me thinking about where I could find those songs and those artists, mind you that I also wanted to interview a lot of them like La Ley, Ozomatli, Cabula, etc...

One day, I get a phone call from Ric saying that Fernando had given him my phone number. I was in shock that someone who had been around the music industry had contact information to reach this nobody of a deejay. He let me know that Maria Fatal had a single and he would arrange for me to speak with their lead singer/composer. After hanging up, I was thinking I need to get to know this man, but first I had to prepare the interview, being that the only live interview I’d done at the time was with Alberto Comesaña of Amistades Peligrosas, whom I had tracked down through his label. I was still in shock thinking What would Ric do further? And why did he contact me, of all people? And then I finally met him at the first LAMC in 2000.

Back then, we didn't have streaming nor mixcloud to listen to other deejays or programs, but we managed to continue pursuing the music that we believed in, moving towards the future by attending conferences, and making connection with this circle of men and women who were building a scene, with audiences and artists, radio, concerts, musical bootcamps...and more. Ric and I go back to the ‘90s and are still in touch, talking music at least a few times every month.”

 

After checking in at LAMC, Leo Machado of the band Viva Malpache was the first person to come up and greet me. He invited me to their showcase later that night. Twelve years later, Leo and I are still great friends. In the mid-2000s, he preceded me as booker of the Westchester Bar, and now has his own solo career which is starting to take off. I wish him well in his new location in Washington.

Even though representing as a blonde haired blue-eyed kid, I was at LAMC because of a love for this music and even a plan to break it through El Cohete. When I made the announcement during a panel question-and-answer session about our plans for radio syndication, Leila Cobo, the Latin editor of Billboard came up to interview me afterward for more details. At that time, there wasn’t much more I could tell her, because even though the distribution deal had been green-lighted as a planned project for the syndicator, no contracts had been signed, so I couldn’t provide details to the press yet. However, establishing a connection and friendship with Leila would have a major impact four years later.

 

Edgar Bautista-Zúñiga

 

Even prior to my relocation to LA, there were constant trips to the Southland for significant shows, often with my right-hand assistant Edgar Bautista-Zúñiga who at that time was based in San Jose. A memorable trip in 1999 started with lunch at a Hollywood Denny’s with Mariluz Gonzalez from SourPop Records, and Vicky Cabildo who had just been hired as Elena Rodrigo’s assistant in the alternativo department of Universal Latin. Then it was out to club El Cuervo in Rialto to see metal rockers Pro-fe-cia play as a send-off party before they headed out on a tour of México. Listening intently, I immediately became a big fan of their aggressive but tuneful metal music. Freddie, Rafa, and Noe would become close friends of mine, and our friendships were to prove very fruitful and lasting over the years.

 

Here is what Edgar Bautista-Zúñiga contributes about us working together after I first met him in 1999:

 

“I don’t really remember what year I met Ric. I don’t know the exact date, but what I do remember is all those events we experienced together. All those shows we’ve enjoyed and all those hours listening to music and sharing anecdotes about the Rock en Español Movement.

It was 1997, Spanish Rock was booming (or at least we thought), many festivals were taking place all over the U.S where the headliners were mainly bands emerging from Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Spain. Many Latinos were attending great concerts; and in the search of new music, many non-Latinos enjoyed those shows too. The Bay Area was one of the most important stops of those tours.

The first time I encountered Rick was at a local gig in San Jose. That night, two of the most talented Bay Area bands were playing. The gig was at the Cactus Club on first street and San Salvador street right in the heart of Downtown San Jose. Lodo y Asfalto, Cara Dura, and Riesgo de Contagio (from Mexico City) gave one of the most energetic concerts of that era. I remember seeing this tall white dude all the way in the front of the crowd. To me, it was kind of weird to see a white guy enjoying this show. At first, I thought that it was one of those guys that just happened to be at the show. A few weeks later, I encountered him again at another concert. It was the Watcha Tour where Todos Tus Muertos, Molotov, Limbo Zamba, Viva Malpache, and Volumen Cero were playing. That day, I remember he was talking to Giovanny Blanco (ex-Viva Malpache) and I realized he was one of those music industry people who cared. We did not exchange any words, but I knew he was as passionate as me about Rock en Español.

A few gigs after that festival, I met him in San Francisco at Slim’s nightclub. That night, we had a nice conversation and he talked to me about a radio show he wanted to syndicate. We exchanged info and began a friendship lasting to this day. Through all these years, we have shared music, stories and many great moments.

We’ve gone to New York to the LAMC conference several times, we’ve gone to epic shows such as the one at Central Park, New York where Manu Chao performed for the first time in the U.S. We have enjoyed the intimate concert of La Barranca at Slim’s in San Francisco (even before we met); the ska festivals at Pico Rivera Sports Arena; Chido Fest, Premios La Banda Elastica, Premios Retila, Revolucion Fest, Wateke Fest. I mean, the list is long and the bands are infinite. But the greatest thing about this friendship is that I have earned a very valuable friend. Ric is not only a person who knows about Rock en Español or music in general, he is a person who knows about life and who loves to share his wisdom and knowledge with others.

I consider Ric one of my mentors. I have learned infinite things through the long conversations we’ve had. His passion about music is only one of the things we have in common. His political view is also another aspect I admire about him. He is one of those individuals who are so giving that sometimes he forgets about himself. I’m honored to add a few words about Ric because I know he is not looking for compliments to feed his ego. These words are for him to know that our friendship goes beyond music and politics, and to reach others.

Ric, thanks for creating this compilation of your memories. I’m sure that all the people who get to read some of these lines are going to get inspired to love music, to love their passion but most importantly, to become better people and help us spread the word about the music we love.”

 

Super Estrella FM

 

One of the reasons there seemed to be a market for El Cohete was the huge initial success of Super Estrella FM, which started out in Riverside before getting an LA frequency. In the ‘90s they were playing far more rock tinged stuff—it wasn’t just the super pop they are playing now, it was much more slightly alternativo then. I heard Moenia for the first time on Super Estrella during an LA visit. However, there was nothing similar on the radio in San Francisco.

 

Escena Los Angeles

 

While having spent three-and-a-half years from ‘97 to early ‘01 in San Francisco soaking up the local scene, more and more I was going down to Los Angeles for shows. There were so many excellent bands playing LA with its astronomically huge Latino population, yet too often they skipped out on playing the Bay Area. Particularly there were Jorge Leal’s historic Sunday shows at the Roxy, which I would make pilgrimages from SF to attend (and continued to attend once relocated to LA).

Probably the last significant show I attended in San Francisco before relocating to LA was at the Fillmore with Jaguares, Julieta Venegas, La Gusana Ciega, Jumbo, and Orixa in December of 2000. Going with my friend Alejandro Rodriguez who would become one of the great chefs of San Francisco, we were on BMG’s guest list thanks to Maria Castellon as by then I had put together the initial seeds of El Cohete Radio and gotten to know the alternativo coordinators at each major label. That night, a strong friendship was established with Bugs and Eddie Gonzalez of Jumbo, and with the guys from La Gusana Ciega.

 

Fatalism

 

OK, now I’m going to go ‘social science professor’ on your cabezas since I was a Chicano studies major in college at UCR. Even back then, the majority of Latinos (particularly Mexicans) had this weird tie to fatalism, where if anything could go wrong, it would, and could keep them from getting ahead. It was common thought that success only came if luck provided the way—otherwise life was doomed to failure or mediocrity at best. This translates to: we can’t make it happen unless someone else does it for us. I don’t understand the reason for this mind set, nor do I subscribe to it being carved in stone. If anything, the last thirteen years of my life have been devoted to breaking bands en el movimiento, and encouraging them to do everything they can on their own, or with my help, to reach a wider audience.

Sure there was a passion to do it. At the same time, I had some inroads with the whole Latino media, connections to get people to listen to me, but not enough to really make it happen, to make it a reality. I was this white kid who came from the record business, had toured with Electric Light Orchestra, WAR, Ike & Tina Turner, Japan, and all of a sudden I was going to be the one to break this movement wide open. It was wonderful that people here put so much faith in me, but I didn’t have that kind of power. I was only one solo gabacho [notice I didn’t say “gringo?” that’s a term only white people use, jajaja], who happened to like Spanish Rock, who kept knocking on doors. But to this day, I continue trying.

 

Jorge Leal

 

Previously, I mentioned my love for Jorge Leal’s shows at the Roxy when I’d visit LA while still living in SF, and the shows continued after LA became my homebase. 

 

Jorge was kind enough to contribute the following:

 

“Back when I was a teenager showing up to practically all the gigs and concerts happening in Southern California, someone noticed my assiduousness to the music and the scene and began to refer to me as a “Rock Latino activist.” While the term denotes a more profound engagement with socio-political causes, nonetheless I think this term applies to me—as well as Ric Fazekas—since we are dedicated “rockeros” who have tirelessly promoted this music genre. Allies and advocates for a more just and equitable world, we probably have advocated so much and gone so many nights without much sleep based on the understanding that music is part of a longer struggle for recognition and ultimately social and political autonomy for Latino people of color.

While I’m writing this reflection I realize that it allows me to better understand the importance of the dozens of concerts that I produced at emblematic rock-n-roll venues like the Roxy (and to a lesser extent the Whisky a Go-Go.) As a “Rock Latino activist” in my early 20s, I found that by 1999 there were few shows being made that truly represented the diversity and vibrancy of the local and borderlands (SoCal-Baja California) scene. It seemed the scene was starting to go into a rut.

I noticed that only bands gigging around were rock en español bands, which were heavily influenced by Caifanes, Héroes del Silencio, or even gasp! Maná. But they were mostly playing in front of a few fans at 21-and-over venues. Most critically the non-mainstream sounding bands (that adhered to ska-punk, Latin fusion, indie or even metal sounds) were being driven into improvised underground ‘venues’ or not playing at all. While I admire the role of these ‘ephemeral venues’ that emerged in South East L.A. and I have documented these venues academically, I was disappointed by the fact that these innovative Latino L.A. bands had only a limited number of venues in which to play, and thus a limited reach in terms of fans. I believed that many of these bands, and also the public who followed them, were eager to take their music and the scene to a different level and listen to their music on a more professional stage.

Therefore, in the spring of 1999, I started organizing and promoting gigs under the moniker Ecléctica with line-ups that included bands from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. The first shows featured bands like Los Olvidados, Las 15 Letras, Cábula, Voz D’ Mano, Las Abejitas (from L.A.) and border bands like Limbo Zamba, Tokadiscos, Almalafa, Mexican Jumpin’ Frijoles, Sonios, Bye Sami among others. The first shows at the Fais Do-Do (in Midcity) proved a success; many of them were at capacity. “How could you get so many kids in there with no radio and not even buying an ad in the L.A. Weekly?” That was the recurring question by the surprised and ecstatic booker of the venue.

Apparently I was doing something right. My dear friend and music-biz mentor, Yvonne Gómez Drazan (working in Rhino Records at the time), talked about the Ecléctica shows to Nikki Sweet, then the national booker of the Roxy Theater. I was a dorky, shy guy and even somewhat socially awkward back then, so when Nikki called me and asked about the possibility of booking Ecléctica shows at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, I was astonished and excited. Here I was, a still young inexperienced rock “promoter” who had only put together four-or-five shows in his life, now being offered the chance to produce “Rock Latino” concerts with whichever bands I wanted at the “World Famous” Roxy Theater.

I was first offered to do shows on Sundays, which was considered a sort of slow night yet there had been some intermittent rock en español shows on Sundays at the Hollywood Strip put on by the people behind Club Rock en Español (La Banda Elástica, One America Productions, among others). While the day of the week was not ideal, it was nonetheless an opportunity to produce shows at the Roxy. This meant booking Latino bands in a venue with a top of the line sound system, great lights and of course a stage where countless music legends had performed. Nonetheless, once Nikki went over the details of the rental agreement, I became very nervous. Putting on a show at the Roxy represented a big financial risk, especially since I was a college student with a measly income.

At the time I envisioned that every gig/concert ought to have a distinct title that would somehow encapsulate the concept or essence of the musical experience. Therefore, the first show I produced at the Roxy was entitled Encendedor as I believed these shows aimed to (re) ignite the scene, plus these initial gigs happened at the beginning of the year 2000 (February 6 to be exact) so there was some of that implicit new-century, new beginnings meaning to it.

The first Encendedor line-up followed the Borderlands cross-musical genre concept as it featured: ¡Viva Malpache! (rock-ska), Las 15 Letras (punk-rock-disco), Kung Fu Monkeys (skacore from Tijuana), Left Alone (ska-punk from Wilmington) and Idle, which was Kinski and Rodax’s band at the time. Idle would then become Monte Negro, a band that was signed to Sony Records for a brief period.

While the “Ecléctica” gigs were drawing a great crowd as I sought that every show was all ages, there was no guarantees that the same amount of rockeros, skateros, punkeros and other members of music subcultures would want to show up to what many perceived an elitist and snotty Hollywood rock club. Thus, I was in essence risking a couple of thousand dollars, which at the time was more than my whole life savings. Nevertheless, I decided to ‘go all in’ as I believed that it was necessary for the L.A. Latino bands to play in these mainstream venues that featured a superb production infrastructure and consequently be included and considered an integral part of the L.A. music scene.

Since it was my first time, doing a show at the Roxy, both parties were nervous. I was worried of losing my life savings and the Roxy…was worried that I had not sold many presale tickets through Ticketmaster as this is the normal indicator to gauge if a show will be well-attended (thus profitable) or not. Well long story, short, the first Encendedor was a great success with over 300 paying attendees. I was able to cover the rent for the venue, pay the bands and even make a bit of profit.

I was called into the Roxy office the day after and was shown the master calendar. I remember Nikki congratulating me for the great show and telling me: “now pick one Sunday every month of this year. Those Sundays will be yours.” This was the beginning of a long and productive relationship (with of course, some minor difficult moments here and there) that would last until my voluntary ‘retirement’ as a promoter in 2005.

During those five years, I produced around 60+ shows that featured most L.A. Latino bands active at the time. I was also keen on having some of the most important bands in the Latin Alternative genre in the U.S. Among them: Los Abandoned, Enjambre, Go Betty Go, Viernes 13, Volumen Cero (Miami), La Plebe (San Francisco), Firme (San José), Skarnales (Texas), King Changó (New York) and a many others.

Plus, I was fortunate enough to be able to book some really solid Latin/Ibero-American bands as well. Among them: Bersuit, Arbol, El Otro Yo (Argentina), Don Cicuta (España), Sol D’ Menta, Circo (Puerto Rico), Panteón Rococó, Zurdok (México), Sargento García (Francia), Wisecräcker (Germany) among many others. While it’s always hard to truthfully evaluate your own contribution to the music scene, in this case I truly believe that the Ecléctica/Encendedor concerts were instrumental in showcasing Rock Latin@ bands in a professional setting, at a first-rate venue. This in turn provided a sense of respectability to the scene and placed the Latino scene on the map of the larger L.A. scene. The rockeros were no longer isolated and segregated within dingy, rundown bars in L.A. suburbs. Most importantly, the shows at the Roxy during the first part of ‘the aughts’ (the 2000s) contributed to create a sense of scene and community among the different music subcultures within the Southern California Latin@ rock scene.”

 

Bajo 21

 

While there were always at least two or three interesting shows to attend each month in the Bay Area, after re-establishing residence in LA, I realized this city had two or three good shows per week, or even more. With the knowledge that we were attempting to get El Cohete on the air in syndication, pretty much everyone put us on the guest list for whatever show we wanted to attend. So I took this opportunity in the spring of 2001 to really go out and get to know the LA alternativo community.

One of the first things that happened when arriving back in LA was realizing that we had to get the word out to young people 18, 19, 20, who were the future fans of these bands, about shows they could get into. And, this age segment was a key part of El Cohete’s target audience. If we could get the program into syndication, and the young audience could get into an all-ages show or an 18 plus show, they would eagerly spread the word about music we would feature on the radio program. Kids this age are key in breaking music, and if they hear it live, it’s more likely they will spread the word.

Hmm? How to reach the kids to grow the moment? So we started an online newsletter called Bajo 21 which basically featured any shows that were under 21 that kids could get into (and included the 21-and-over places). Bajo 21 spotlighted Los Angeles, but also chronicled other shows across the US. It also (subtly) pushed clubs that were 21-and-over to establish an 18-and-over door policy.

The popularity of this newsletter eventually morphed into the foundation of El Calendario (as part of Al Borde’s weekly listings), informing them of shows to post on their site. At that time, Al Borde’s calendario was less than complete, so my research on live events each week made it more robust and actually attracted people to the site to find out where to go out.

 Although I no longer consult for Al Borde, to this day every Monday I still send out El Calendario. Since I am no longer being compensated to research listings, it is not as robust as it used to be. But working in promo for alternativo bands, it is important to know who is playing where. Plus, I send this listing of shows every Monday to various friends in the industry in the US and México.

 

El Cohete Continued

 

El Cohete was designed in 2000 to be a two hour syndicated program featuring: a top ten count-down, three songs from an earlier era, an artist interview, two pick hits, an editorial, and news of el movimiento. Even though we were not yet on the air, I felt it necessary to start tracking our weekly top ten as if we were broadcasting. The logic was that when we got a syndication deal, we could say “this was #3 one year ago!” And it would be true in terms of the popularity of the song among fans, even in the absence of actual radio play in the early internet days. Plus, this was a selling point to record companies: they could say their artist was #1 in our chart listings.

Our goal was to be ready to hit the ground running if picked up for syndication. Therefore, I started regular visits to the four major record labels (Elena Rodrigo at Universal, Rebecca Leon at EMI, Maria Castellon at BMG, and Carmen at WEA—no one at Sony). It’s not like the major labels were putting out a ton of alternativo products, but I knew we needed to have whatever they were releasing to prepare for being on the air. And for me to listen and determine which way alternativo music was headed, and how we would lead that charge, with only the best songs.

 

Orgullo Café

 

During this early period, I remember seeing Orgullo Café at Johnny Fox’s in Culver City. Now I cite this for two reasons: Adan Valdez was the promoter, and he still continues to be one of the few show producers in LA successfully doing alternativo shows. And secondly, it featured a band Orgullo Café that not only became friends of mine, but turned into one of the biggest draws in LA, being able to sell out the House of Blues, only to withdraw from the scene for a while. They recently made a return appearance at Roberto’s that was awesome. Maybe this time Orgullo Café can reclaim their crown as kings of Los Angeles alternativo and go on to much more.

 

LATV

 

Also, one of the great memories of being back in LA and part of the Spanish rock movement was that LATV was on cable every night with hosts Paul Saucido, Patricia Lopez, and Giovanny Blanco (whom I met at the first LAMC back then he was still performing with Viva Malpache and continue to be close friends with). It would be hard to count the numerous times I headed to the LATV studios in West LA to hear a band playing live on their network broadcasts. Damn, sometimes multiple times in one week.

But people do not realize how fortunate we were to have an independent LATV at that time which could feature any important local or international band. Their broadcasts did not necessarily make stars, but certainly built the following for many local and international bands in their early years. Now, LATV is just a sorry shadow of what MTV Tres has become with its reality shows. So sad, because once this channel was so influential in LA. An appearance on LATV could result in at least 150 more people than planned coming out to their next show, if not more.

 

Vox Magazine

 

Right after moving to LA, Vox Magazine interviewed me for a feature—even put me on the cover! Vox was covering all the local alternativo bands with Javier Pérez and Marissa Enriquez being at each key show, so I became a big supporter of the cream of the crop on the LA scene for what we planned to play on El Cohete. There was so much positive feeling in the air at that time, and by now I was part of the nexus.

 

Al Borde

 

Even in this period of the transition from the ‘90s to 2000s, little of this en español was online. Around that time there was Retila magazine as well as Al Borde. Polo Morales of Bazuka used to write for Retila. He authored many of the articles, though there were other writers too. Subscribing to and reading Retila as well as Al Borde and La Banda Elastica was part of building my enthusiasm for listening to and promoting bands from this emerging new genre of music, which I loved. The fact that there was much printed press at the time trumpeting this new musical Latino consciousness bode well for it growing into a major movement.

 

JC Fandango

 

One of the first friendships I established with a major club/booking force in LA/OC after my relocation from SF was Javier Castellanos of JC Fandango in Anaheim. Once Javier became aware of what we were trying to accomplish with getting El Cohete on the air, I was permanently on the VIP guest list of the club, not only to see any show I wanted to attend but also gave dressing-room access to any of the bands.

 

Jose Roque

 

I first met friend Jose Roque when he was working at JC Fandango, shortly after moving back to LA, being there for shows often three-or-four times per month, if not more. Jose was videographer of our Verdad y Justicia ‘coming out party’ when we debuted the label group at the Conga Room in November of 2004 and he and I have remained friends throughout the years.

 

Here are some of his remembrances—from Jose Roque, videographer and actor:

 

“In the beginning, I didn’t get the Rock en Español thing. I was born in Mexico, then moved to the* US and grew up in a white neighborhood. So I did not really understand that side of music at all, I was all into Anglo music.

    Then my parents moved to a more Hispanic area and I met kids who were from Mexico who had come to the US to live and study; and they started getting into Rock en Español, telling me about Maldita Vecindad, Jumbo, Fabulosos Cadillacs, Todos Tus Muertos. And I go ‘Ok, I understand the music, but I’ve never heard of these bands. Where did they come from?' Seriously. I’m like: ‘holycow, there’s this side of music that I don’t even know about.

    Then I met Ane who was working for Javier at JC Fandango, and he was impressed with my work ethic and added me to his staff. And it was shortly after this that I got to know Ric who was coming down for a lot of our shows.

   So Javier was booking the best Rock en Español, bringing in bands from Mexico, from Argentina, you name it. Javier started up Oso Records in ’04, and it eventually hooked up with Ric’s Verdad y Justicia.

    At JC, there was an office that I was never allowed to go in at first because I was the street team, the guy who did all the on the ground team stuff. Slowly I worked my way up to basically becoming Ane’s right hand, and Javier’s favorite team player in the business because I was that kid who was like ‘boom, boom’ trying to get things done.

    When I started working the actual shows, it was really cool because I got to be behind the stage, looking out at the audience from behind the curtain; and I could see all the people in the crowd adoring, loving and jumping, and I’m thinking 'this is really weird. I like the music, but I’m not necessarily a fan, so it’s kind of ironic that I’m back here.’ Then I started falling in love with the music.

    My favorite show of all time was Gustavo Cerati because I became a fan of Gustavo Cerati when I first heard Soda Stereo. Out of all the CDs my friends pulled out and showed me—I loved Manu Chao, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs—but the one that really captured my attention was Soda Stereo. I went, "wow, this is so amazing, this is my favorite" and then they tell me he is doing his own solo thing. When I found out that we were going to have him perform at our venue, I went, “f**k yeah, this is cool.”

    He finished the show, and backstage, you’d go up the stairs and to the left into a little game room, way in the back was Javier’s office, and to the right was the big room for whoever was headlining, which had an exit through the back into a little secret room where everybody could go and smoke pot and do whatever they had to do, then go back downstairs and there was the stage. Well, I remember that night there were so many important people who looked just like us.

    Normally you’d see a businessman who looked super-sharp, and you knew, ‘that guy is somebody—if he’s hanging around here, he is somebody.' But there were all these people there who were almost ordinary. Then my boss Javier walks in and says ‘This is the guy from Sony, this is the guy from EMI’ and I’m like ‘Wow this is cool’ just hanging out there and realizing that these people are professionals, and the whole room smells like weed, Gustavo Cerati is there hanging out and people are speaking Spanish in these heavy Argentinian accents because they’re from Argentina. Then Gil from Kinky came up and I met him that night. He’s like “Oh yeah, I love Gustavo.”

There were so many bands that played JC, everybody that was anybody in Rock en Español played at JC Fandango. When I went to Mexico, they’d say, ‘Oh, I want to go play JC Fandango someday,’ and I’d tell them ‘Well, I work for them,’ then hear, ‘Really? Oh my god, I love that place.’ I’d ask, “Have you been there?” and they’d say “No, but I heard about it from Jumbo—and from Victimas del Doctor Cerebro about that place.” I was at every show we had, shows with hard rock bands, shows with metal bands, bands I didn’t even like or know but the place was packed; sometimes I’d go backstage and see a bunch of people and wouldn’t know who was who.

There was a point where we were working with the Conga Room, where we’d have shows there. Javier would buy a night and book bands. We wouldn’t necessarily bring the bands from Mexico, the labels would do that. But we were hired to pick up the bands and drive them around in our van. Once I went with the van to pick up Circo for the Grammys and got pulled over by police at the airport, put on a ground with guns pointed at me because the van had no tags, no plates, it stunk like weed and I had no drivers license. The whole time I worked for them I wasn’t even 21, though I told them I was because I liked the job and just had to have it.

Then we went on a long tour sponsored by Budweiser. The bands were Circo, Enanitos Verdes, Maldita Vecindad, Liquits, Victimas del Doctor Cerebro (whom Javier signed to his label). I never drank or smoked as much as I did that year on the Budweiser tour; as soon as the show was over, we were all loaded. We had to get up at four in the morning, be out of the hotel by six, be at the airport by eight, fly to the next city, arrive there, shower, be at sound check by three, drive back, hang out for a couple of hours and try not to drink (even though sometimes we did), go to the show at 11, guys go up at 12, finish at 1 a.m., drink till two-thirty in the morning, then go to bed. The same thing over and over; you don’t get much sleep. Sometimes I’d wake up and see little triangles because I only had four hours of sleep and was hung over. I don’t know how I survived, maybe because I was so young.

By 2007 I had quit the music thing, but I’m proud that Ric continued when others quit.”

 

Genitallica

 

Damn, I couldn’t get a copy of ¿Picas O Platicas? from Genitallica! My intern Edgar had alerted me to how great this debut CD was from these Monterrey rockers, and so I went out on search across all Southern California Latino record stores. After going to about 15 stores (and finding a Molotov camiseta along the way, nice, I still have it and wear it) I finally found a copy of the Genitallica album at an obscure record store in Santa Ana. “Todos Tomados” was the track being played on video on LATV, but so many other wonderful songs were part of this CD like “Supergenital” “Imagina” “¿Qué Fue lo Que Paso?” “Supermal.” What a phenomenal debut, and shortly thereafter, I caught them live and met them at JC Fandango. These guys could have been superstars out of the box. Sony/Latin US didn’t know what to do with them. Genitallica are still around slogging it out, but now out on their own without major label obstruction.

 

Rascuache

 

Probably the local LA band that I had the most enthusiasm for at this time was Rascuache. I first heard them play at a Jorge Leal Roxy show and got to know Adam and the guys when I was still a SF resident, and once I moved back to LA, saw them play frequently. They didn’t sound like anyone else on the LA scene, with their pop-punk-garage sensibility and the parallel ability to write catchy tuneful songs, I was impressed. Frequently, they were featured on shows booked at the Westchester Club once I assumed the booking role.

 

Zurdok

 

Probably the other most memorable musical discovery for me in 2001 was yet another Monterrey band, Zurdok. How do you explain Zurdok—perhaps a band that combines San Francisco psychedelica with Pink Floyd, and composes killer melodies. Songs like “Estatico” absolutely blew me away. I think they didn't tour SoCal until 2002, but went to see them when they finally did.

 

El Otro Yo

 

The summer of 2001 provided another unique musical diamond. Argentina’s El Otro Yo released “No Importa Morir” and the song immediately took a top spot in the canon of punk en español. It was truly a pleasure to meet band founders (and siblings) Cristian and Maria Aldana when they came to the US to play. And, thankfully El Otro Yo are still around and regularly play Vive Latino, although they don’t play in the US as often as I would like.

 

Manu Chao

 

There was also the second LAMC in the Big Apple in summer of 2001. Wanting my intern Edgar to attend the event with me, I cashed in some frequent flyer miles from my previous corporate job so we could both fly there. Among the many highlights of this second gathering was seeing Manu Chao perform at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. The LAMC people of course had arranged for anyone with a badge to get in.

But what they didn’t anticipate was Manu Chao’s huge general popularity in New York, particularly among Russian (!) revolutionary ex-patriots who had become fans and turned out in force. The show was over capacity three hours before it was to start! And the city was not going to let in even those on the guest list since it was already over capacity. We LAMC conference people nervously waited over whether we would get in.

Not to worry, Elena Rodrigo took charge. Elena was alternativo promotion director for Universal. When being held up outside backstage, she explained to the powers that be that important media people must be admitted. NY is a media-savvy place, they understood, and immediately expanded the backstage area to accommodate us. And we all went in to view the amazing show. To this day, I maintain that this particular Manu Chao show rates up there with the Bruce Springsteen show I saw in the New Jersey high school gymnasium after Bruce’s first LP came out. Both artists have the same stage power.

 

Elena Rodrigo

 

It needs to be said, of all the pillars I have met in the Latin rock world, Elena Rodrigo shines the brightest. Not only was she head of Universal Latino’s alternativo promotion in the early 2000s, and actually broke many of the acts she was working with (unlike the other major labels), but later went on to be named Senior Marketing Manager of EMI Latin. And when EMI Latin went through their financial difficulties as a label, she re-established her own promotion and publicity company rather than move to Miami, which is what they offered. Ms. Elena, you are my hero. I had the pleasure of working with two wonderful ladies who were your assistants at Universal, Vicki Cabildo and Patty Flores; having these two very talented ladies on your team one after the other, makes you even more fantastic. You are indeed special. Keep up the great work. We need you doing it.

 

CBGB

 

Another important memory from that second LAMC in NY was that Edgar Bautista and I were out there with the guys from Emaue for the closing party (clubs in NY close at 4 a.m.). But before we all left NY, they wanted me to take them to CBGB to take pictures. First we scarfed at Papaya Dog (a hot dog must, and a favorite from my NY years, yumm!), by then there was light enough to head over to the Lower East Side for pictures in front of the legendary club. Years later, Emaue would play at CBGB as part of LAMC six in 2005 after they signed with Cielo Music Group.

 

Super Ratones

 

Another band I got turned on to in 2002 was Argentina’s Super Ratones. You talk about being able to craft a song: these guys were masters. They spent time with both WEA and EMI, yet neither label promoted them properly in the US—they did it on their own. My musical life moved one step forward when finally getting to hear Super Ratones live at the Roxy with Las Quince Letras, Rascuache, Vendimia, and Very Be Careful in May of ‘02.

 

Zoe

 

Looking back, probably my first opportunity to see Zoé was either when they played the Knitting Factory in Hollywood, or Rock El Boat on the Queen Mary. (The Knitting Factory used to bring in a lot of key Latino bands). I had already been a fan of Zoé for a long time. Zoe were signed to EMI, a major label, although EMI did not do what they could have done to make them superstars until the EMI-Elena years. Zoe has a following, they headline, do national US tours, but they should be even bigger than they are. Their music is too rock for the pop radio that currently exists in Spanish, but still, if EMI were really dedicated to turning them into a superstar band . . . —and I have to say during the short time that my friend Elena Rodriguez was in charge of EMI, she tried to do what she could to make something happen for them, but they’re still not that big US headliner band. I think en EEUU right now they’re probably capable of pulling maybe 2000-2500 people. I don’t think they can draw more. Somebody has to help them take the next step up, they’re good, they’re great, but not enough people know about them. And they’re not going to know about Zoe through radio airwaves. So it’s a matter of maybe a Live Nation or an AEG teaming them up with similar groups that have an equal following like a Babasónicos or a Fobia and putting them on a bill and start doing festivals. Build!

 

Jumbo

 

I became a huge fan of Jumbo when their first album Restaurant was released by BMG in 2000, and met them on their first tour opening for Jaguares. The original Jumbo was torn apart a few years later when Bugs and his brother Eddie wanted to move to LA and the rest of the band wanted to stay in Monterrey, MEX. They fought over this for quite a while until finally the Gonzalez bros went “Hey, we’re moving to Los Angeles.” The rest of the band stayed together and replaced them. The remaining members have pressed on as Jumbo (saw them in 2005 at SXSW when I was there with Delux).

 

Babasónicos

 

Los Angeles was magical with shows back then. It wasn’t unusual to be going out two, three, or four nights a week because there were so many good live events and exciting artists. And one of the major musical highlight of the big ’02 was finally hearing live and meeting the crazy guys from Babasónicos after being a fan for years. They built a tour around their participation in the 3^rd LAMC (which I was not able to attend). Babasónicos had bounced from Sony to Gustavo Fernandez’ label Delanuca by this time, then went to both EMI and Universal, and just recently re-signed with Sony. I think it was Fernando Fazzari and his assistant Chali Muñoz who provided me tickets and backstage passes for Babasónicos first LA show at JC Fandango (which was my first opportunity to meet them) playing with my buds Jumbo, and Volován. I have enjoyed renewing my acquaintance with Babasónicos whenever they play LA, which is usually every other year. And, I heard Volován just recently reunited.

 

El Cohete Rising Compilation

 

In the ongoing push to get El Cohete into syndication, we felt it helpful to officially put out a killer CD of bands from the very vibrant LA scene, but also from around the world as well. Originally, the plan was to release it through Felix’s Opción Sónica label, but for whatever reason, that never materialized and the CD was never formally released for the public to buy. However, we burned many copies on our home computers and handed them out to fans at alternativo shows. El Cohete Rising Stars-Volume 1 included:

 

1. Epidemia—“Raza Indígena” (Modesto, CA-USA)

2. Emaue—“Santo y Blue Demon” (San Diego, CA-USA)

3. Rascuache—“Estado Finál” (Culver City, CA-USA)

4. Mambé—“El Vino” (Republica Dominicana)

5. Plomo—“Plomo” (Monterrey, NL-México)

6. East LA Sabor Factory—“Party at Louie’s” (E.LA, CA-USA)

7. Los Superlitio—“Escena Forward” (Bogotá-Colombia)

8. Las Quince Letras—“Aurelia” (Los Angeles, CA-USA)

9. Curanderos—“Comunicate” (Los Angeles, CA-USA)

10. Cabrito Vudú—“Parte En On” (Monterrey, NL-México)

11. Cábula—“El Poder de la Mujer” (Los Angeles, CA-USA)

12. M-16—“Sentimientos Rotos” (New York, NY-USA)

13. Lamonyk—“Volver a Vivir” (Hesperia, CA-USA)

14. Pro-fé-cia—“Fe Muerta” (Ontario, CA-USA)

15. Ongo—“Huracán” (Carolina-Puerto Rico)

 

This was only the beginning of my obsession with compilation CDs of key bands from the alternativo scene to promote it. There were more compilations to come, and ‘old timers’ still ask me today when they see me at live shows if I have a new compilation CD to give them.

 

LIK to Sony, Pastilla to BMG

 

It was also during this period that one of LA’s biggest rock en español bands LIK continued to hone their huge audience at the Westchester Club, got signed to Sony-Mexico, and put out their first CD. This was a magical time when I became a regular at LA’s most significant alternativo club, the Westchester, and many local artists like Fatima, Fitter, Maria Fatal, Pastilla, Chencha Berrinches, Afixión, Audio Control, Dr. Jack, Pro-fe-cia, Sector Libertad, Las Quince Letras, Sebastian Lords, Mundo Aparte, Cábula, Sonsoles, and LIK could headline and regularly pull in an audience of over 200 or more people. Yet, LIK (Sony) and Pastilla (BMG) were the only ones who scored major label contracts for nationally-distributed CD releases. Also, Miami transplants Volumen Cero had relocated to LA after signing with WEA Latina. These bands were played on LATV and a bit on MTV-ES, but even with major label deals, they were not in rotation on pop radio like Super Estrella, only when they were interviewed.

 

Alternativo Research Study

 

While 2002 was a great year for new music, there still was no formal offer for us to put El Cohete into radio syndication. In December of 2002 I moderated a focus group where we surveyed various fans of rock en español, analyzed the results, and provided it to the record labels.

So in 2003, all stops must be pulled out to prove the viability of a show like El Cohete for Spanish pop radio, a two-hour window into alternativo each week. With our staff of interns, I designed a retail questionnaire for buyers at record stores so they could relate what was important to them and their customers. This was just natural considering my marketing research background. We went into the stores and using a questionnaire in both English y español, we conducted our study. The research took most of 2003, and in early 2004 I analyzed the results.

During the course of 2003, our little El Cohete volunteer staff and I, interviewed various buyers at retail outlets from all over California who stocked and sold alternativo CDs, about the financial viability of rock en español. Here are the music retailers that participated:

 

I wrote up the results of the research study, a 27-page white paper that we sent off to people in the music business. Leila Cobo of Billboard—the bible of the music industry—who I had first met at the initial LAMC, devoted a half page article to the results of the research project, and this garnered even more attention being paid to the findings.

 

Here is the executive summary conclusion of that report, published in March of 2004:

 

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

 

“Like ‘The Little Engine That Could’ in the children’s fairy tale, rock en español keeps chugging up the hill with an “I think I can!” mentality. Virtually ignored by radio, slightly acknowledged by television, and generally overlooked in both Spanish and English mainstream print media, it is alive, well and flourishing at the retail outlets that embrace it.

In the stores surveyed for this report whose sales were at least half Spanish-language product, a significant majority reported that at minimum, one in four of those Spanish-language music sales were rock alternativo. Even more encouraging, at stores where CDs in English outsell Spanish language CDs, nearly half of their Spanish-language sales are accounted for by alternalatino CDs. If a manager or store clerk is dedicated to exposing this product, there will be a sales result.

It was also heartening to discover that almost all of their customers have an interest in finding out about new bands and purchase an average of two CDs when they are making a purchase. However, it was disturbing that only 17% of respondents indicated that the majority of their customers were under 18. [A healthier number would have been about 30%] The Latino teen crowd must begin buying in greater numbers to substantially grow this movement. The demographics are present—now, the challenge is to attract them.

Universal Music is the world’s largest record label. The fact they were picked by the most respondents as doing the best job of promotion to their store shows why they are number one. Yet, over one in three independent stores could not pick a label or one-stop that was doing even a marginal job of servicing them with in-store play CDs and merchandising materials. Sure, the chains can buy in larger quantities, but attention must also be paid to the small independents that have unwaveringly championed this music. A house is built from the foundation, and the foundation for breaking rock en español is still being laid. All stores must have help to promote the product, particularly the ones that so far have been ignored.

Of the fortrespondents, each reporter indicated that in-store play either “frequently” or “occasionally” resulted in sales. This can be an important tool for jump-starting sales. However, less than one in four stores reported frequently receiving CDs for in-store play, and less than one in ten of the independents. While the 100+ alternalatino radio programs across the U.S. are an important cornerstone for exposing this music, most are two-hour weekly shows limiting market penetration. Concentrated in-store play can result in a number of complete plays for a CD in a given week. The power of in-store play cannot be minimized.

These days, in-store play refers not only to CDs but also to videos, and videos were the top merchandising aid requested by the stores next to CDs for play. Now that an entire generation has been raised with MTV and other video programs, the visual aspect of music ranks up there in importance with the aural aspect. They would also like to receive posters, banners, and 12” x 12”s, but reported that the band post cards could be skipped.

Juanes was the artist picked by the largest number of respondents for artist with the best chance of breaking to a wider audience, followed closely by La Ley, Maná, Jaguares, Café Tacuba, and El Trí. But the fact that 45 separate artists were picked in this category for breakout shows that many more have the potential to do so. While Café Tacuba, Juanes, La Ley, and Maldita Vecindad headed a list of respondent personal favorites that deserved wider recognition, once again, this list included 27 artists. And while major international artists with major label contracts dominated both lists, a healthy dose of California and Baja local acts appeared on the two lists. This demonstrates that there are U.S.-based latin alternativo acts ready for major label nurturing.

Three-in-four store respondents feel that free downloading has had a negative impact on their sales. Yet, seven-in-ten profess that allowing consumers to hear a song online from either the artist’s or the label’s website can improve sales.

While about one-quarter of the respondents feel rock en español artists should record their material only in Spanish, over two-thirds felt it was acceptable to include some English songs if the artist feels comfortable doing so. Once again, it should be stressed that this question was not asked to either encourage or discourage the practice of bi-lingual recording, but just to assess retailers’ attitudes toward the practice from a sales perspective.

And finally, the respondents had quite a bit to say to both the Latino divisions of the major labels and to Spanish-language radio. To the labels, the primary plea was for more promotion in general and more promotional tools, with lower CD prices. To radio, they are requesting more radio shows featuring alternalatino, “real” rock en español, and a healthy mix of local talent. All of these are reasonable requests—hopefully their requests will be recognized and brought to fruition soon.”

 

Yet, even the embrace of this research project by the industry did not change much. Spanish Pop radio did not start adding more alternativo artists, and we still did not get El Cohete into syndication.

 

deSol

 

And then, in that same period, I was at a music networking luncheon at the Rainbow Bar & Grill (yes, where I use to DJ in 1980) and I met Bob Catania, who at the time was handling alternative promotion for Curb Records, which had just signed a Spanish/English act, deSoL from Asbury Park, NJ. Bob sent me home with their CD, and asked me to review it and let him know what would work at alternativo radio. Curb Records was primarily a country label, but the fact that they had signed a Latino band, had Bob working for them, and might hire me to promote them, got me excited, particularly since their indie CD was so good—but it was all in English. Plus, Franke Previte who was managing deSol had written the “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack that included the huge hit “(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life.” And Michael Lloyd, who I kind of knew from his MGM days, was A&R director at Curb Records. This sounded like an unbeatable combination that I wanted to work with.

Being already aware that deSoL were re-recording the album that came out on the indie Sazón Records, I told Bob we needed to have a few songs sung in Spanish for the radio I was working with. And that was back in the good old days when you could actually get a budget to do things like this from a label! At Michael Lloyd’s home studio, we cut Spanish-language versions of “Spanish Radio” as “America, Mi Radio,” which undeniably could be a hit with alternativo radio (and it did just that), and also “Cumbia Raza” “Karma” and “Chica de Miami.” Wow, not only were Curb Records hiring me to promote deSoL, they were producing a special deSol EP en español to promote with. I got to meet Albie and the guys when we recorded the Spanish tracks at Michael’s home studio in Beverly Hills, and we immediately became fast friends.

That year in 2004, LAMC was held in LA for the first time. Though deSoL had East Coast bookings and they could not attend, Curb Records paid for me and their manager Frankie to attend the conference, and we laid the groundwork for their upcoming Spanish EP. A highlight of that LAMC was getting to see both El Trí, and Las Ultrasónicas on the same show at the Mayan Theater.

By LAMC 4, my partner Chris Stimson and I were close to signing the distribution deal with Navarre, but it wasn’t quite finalized. So I was promoting deSoL, and wooing quality local, national and international artists to become a part of our upcoming label group.

After LAMC 4, when deSol’s album and Spanish EP both came out, I met up with Albie and the band for a major show in Miami, and we did a radio interview on Kike Posada’s show. We were heading up the coast to do an interview in North Carolina with Batanga Media, based in a little NC town at the time. It was right after a huge hurricane had hit Florida, and deSoL and I were saddened by the damage we saw out of the car window as we headed up the East Coast.

In December of 2005, deSoL’s booking agency had them opening for R.E.M. at Palacios de los Deportes in Mexico City, since both bands were with the same booking agency. Ironically, R.E.M. had never played Mexico City, so anticipation for this show was at fever pitch, and deSoL was lucky to be opening for them. I was a huge R.E.M. fan, yet had never seen them live. Imagine my excitement when Michael Stipe went out on the side of the stage clapping and whistling to deSol’s music, and then came by our dressing room to introduce himself and congratulate deSol on a great set! And while at CDMX, we also visited El Chopo, the great rock-n-roll swap meet. Also, as part of the event’s activities, I took the band to Grita Radio for an interview and established a friendship with the station that would extend to the future. Although deSoL is no longer together, the leader, Albie Monterrosa just released a solo album and has opened a music school. Rock on, hermano.  

Volumen Cero

 

Around this time, the Volumen Cero boys from Miami, who had done a couple of US tours, decided they needed to relocate to LA after signing with Warner Latin. And this was further underscored by Chelina Vargas managing them (then of Cookman International, parent company to LAMC; Chelina is now a key coordinator of Spanish products for iTunes). Having first gotten to know Volumen Cero during their tour with Pastilla, while I was still based in SF, I was eager to connect with them now that they were moving to LA.

The guys from Volumen Cero were original tour warriors who got in a van and toured all over the United States to get an audience. Ironically, though they were from Miami, they wrote a song called “Hollywood” and made a video for it, even before they moved to LA. Their video had pornstar Ron Jeremy fooling around with a blow up doll, which was their impression of Hollywood. I remember seeing it on MTV ES and it was great. But, though they were a quality band, they never became superstars. It’s because once they moved to LA they didn’t match the LA mold, never quite fit into the LA scene. 

 

From Jose Amadeus Chavez, former band manager and label head:

 

“The day I met Ric Fazekas I was trying to hustle my manager talents and that was at the world famous Cocoanut Teaser. I saw him, and he looked mature, sophisticated and knowledgeable. I immediately knew I should talk to him. So I asked him for a cigarette even though I didn’t really smoke. I became a smoker just so I could pick his brain. I did so for a number of years—a friendship had been created.

When attending a music listening session at his house in Northridge, he turned me on to the band Sombra who I went on to manage and almost broke wide-open. Plus, he facilitated my forming a record label MoFo with Ernesto of Maria Fatal as part of Verdad y Justicia. Good days! While the label did not achieve huge financial success, it was still a fun time and a learning process to grow from. I have so much adoration for Ric that mere words cannot describe such feelings. Best of luck to you Mr. Fazekas. Cheers!”

 

Verdad y Justicia

 

Once I completed the research study of the alternativo record stores and finished the analysis in March of 2004, I sent a copy to my friend Chris Stimson who had run indie labels by himself and worked for Capitol Records in the ‘80s. Chris and I had gotten to know each other when I lived in San Francisco, but his experience was all in English and he’d never done anything in Spanish. He was blown away by the potential for this market, and took that research paper to Navarre Corporation, which was one of the bigger independent distributors of music products at that time, and sold to them the idea that we should be given our own label group to break rock en español since the research paper indicated the majors weren’t doing it properly—maybe indie could.

Navarre was very enthusiastic, as was Chris. Me—I was a bit more cautious. Was there enough radio and TV to break alternativo artists on a big scale to sell copious quantities of CDs? I doubted it, but when you get offered your own label group with national distribution, are you going to turn it down? Of course not! So Chris and I accepted Navarre’s distribution offer and christened our label group Verdad y Justicia (truth and justice, as there had always been little of either in the music business, so that’s what we stood for). Plus, by this time Leila Cobo of Billboard felt the findings were important enough to give us a half page write-up on the results. Anytime you get a half-page article in Billboard, the industry takes notice.

Chris was kind enough to contribute to this musical retrospective, one that you will read here documenting his ‘80s record label experience that convinced me he was the right person to co-pilot Verdad y Justicia, and in the next chapter, how it all came about.

 

Written and copyright by Chris Stimson, former President of Verdad y Justicia, and current President of VYJ2:

 

“So how did all of this lead to getting Rock en Español into “real” retail? By learning how to get “alternative” music their due attention from their potential fans/buyers through pairing traditional and non-traditional avenues of promotion. Lessons all learned from the early days of alternative English Rock. That was quite a task.

I met Ric Fazekas in San Francisco after I had moved there and created a Bay Area alternative rock label called Miraloma Music. It simply carried the name “Miraloma” from my SF neighborhood.

We met at a bar called Esta Noche after being introduced as a couple of “record rats” by a mutual friend Tom O’Connor. In chatting, we discovered that we shared a sort of parallel work universe in music. He turned me on to what he was rabidly involved with in Latin Rock and his newly growing enterprise El Cohete radio.

The music he was involved with was great! Passionate, stimulating and virtually unknown to me! Some of the best rock I had heard in years, and what better way to find a killer guitar break than to go to the culture that invented the instrument? It was an absolute “no brainer” in my opinion. I asked him why seemingly no one had ever heard of any of it…the music nor the bands?

He said that there was virtually no means of exposure outside of the Latino community, and that it was primarily because none of the “regular” retailers carried it. It was simply because none of their labels had access to those stores. That set me thinking…and wondering why.

Ric told me that there were a couple of reasons. Primary among them was a deep seeded mistrust of the few distributors open to these up-start labels operating in a “second language,” and with little or no experience in the ways of the American market, they weren’t what a truly big distributor would touch. Besides, it was relatively easy to understand the situation from the “big indie distributor” perspective. You have a label that, at most, has maybe five titles from two or three bands, it’s a far left-field type of music, you have virtually no knowledge of how things really work here in the U.S. and you’re doing it in a “foreign” language?? Naw…don’t think that’s something we can do…sorry.

So here’s what I came up with: A label “collective.” It’s a concept that I had come up with earlier on that had given me enough clout to bargain with larger indie distributors who were dealing with my English Rock Alternative label 4:20® Records; we had combined our label and releases with three other labels and all of their releases to give us numerical strength. It worked.

We faced the additional hurdle of coming up with a name for ourselves…I tossed out “truth & justice,” Ric translated it to “Verdad y Justicia,” and away we went! Firstly, we had two guys with great credibility within “the industry” for about 30 years. We knew how the industry worked and where “the bodies were buried,” so to speak. I knew indie distribution backwards and forwards. Ric had full knowledge of Latin Rock and, perhaps most importantly, the trust of the Latino Artists. All we needed was a sufficient number of labels and artists together under one distribution roof to demand the kind of clout we needed for large indie distributors to pay attention. Not an easy task, we found out.

Rock en Español labels and artists had a deep mistrust of one another, due to them being in competition with each other. Sort of an “us or them” attitude. Highly competitive! Plus, it was difficult to distribute Spanish rock; basically any Spanish language music distribution was non-existent. We pulled together several L.A.-based labels into a meeting to pitch the whole concept to them at once, in one room, with everybody together at the legendary Westchester Bar & Grill. By the time we got through the meeting, it had worked. They gave us something I could take as a package to “real” distribution and have a shot.

Who came to the table? Just the man I’d hoped for. Eric Paulson, the founder of Navarre Corporation in, of all places, Minnesota, got it in one quick minute! To help reinforce our viewpoint to Eric on the potential growth of the genre, I presented a little background in the form of a white paper research project that Ric Fazekas and Edgar Bautista had spearheaded shortly after Ric had made the move from San Francisco to L.A. (the paper had been covered in Billboard). Eric is a very clever and creative guy who already saw the future of Latin music, in general, for the market at large and already had access to ALL of serious retail at the time…from Tower Records on down the line. You name ‘em, Eric & Navarre had open lines to them. I was able to focus him on Rock en Español and Verdad y Justicia as a vital sub-genre combination that had not yet been looked at by serious indie distribution, but showed great potential.

With his own assessment of the future of music, and his faith in what I was bringing him, he jumped on it. We knew each other very well, and both of us immediately recognized the possibilities for both of our businesses. He had faith in the fact that Ric and I had already done the “homework” on this and had things well researched as to the potential of the music, as well as us having the right artists already lined up and ready to go. Oh, yeah…did I mention I had worked for Eric, too? That sure didn’t hurt.

Navarre had now found in Verdad y Justicia a group with all of the right resources…the right artists doing the right kind of music for the future and well known music professionals with years of industry experience and the ability to communicate with and educate the labels and artists involved. It was just what Eric and Navarre lacked and badly needed, to make this work. It was a perfect match. It took more than a little while to get the Navarre sales staff educated on Rock en Español, and even longer to get our newbie Latino labels to understand the workings of U.S. “real” retail. For example, did our new guys understand the concept of “returns??” ¿Que?

In their past dealings with retail, it was simply “sell a CD, get paid for a CD”…not even any concept of a retailer returning a CD back to the distributor, and eventually back to the label, if it didn’t sell through at retail. Totally new…and a concept somewhat mistrusted by the labels. Can we say that it took a while to communicate to our guys that that’s the way it worked north of the Rio Grande in “real” retail in the U.S?

There was also the concept of a manufacturing advance, the payment of which is taken out of future sales. That wasn’t exactly an easy idea to communicate, either. It was “Business in America 101.”

What it did accomplish was notoriety for new Latino rock artists and Rock en Español in general here in the U.S. in serious mainline stores like Tower Records. And, from Tower it was on to other mainstream retailers. Rock en Español was finally being seen as a force to be reckoned and dealt with by regular retail in America on a truly serious basis. Hallelujah!”

 

So with Navarre’s support, Chris and I trudged forward with Verdad y Justicia, making us the new 500-pound gorilla in the room for indie Latino música.

 

Tommy Morrison

 

Here is a contribution from Tommy Morrison, one of the first artists I signed to Verdad y Justicia:

 

“The first time I met Ric was in August 2003 at the LAMC convention at the Beverly Hilton. I remember thinking wow, how cool, I’m not the only white guy interested in the Latin music industry. He was so excited and tuned into what was going on, I was amazed. It’s so rare to find someone in the industry who will actually help you, unconditionally, to get to where you need to be. He was very helpful in guiding me to who, what, and where in the industry. I had just done a three song demo in Spanish and I was doing crossover from English to Spanish, blindly jumping into the Los Angeles Spanish Rock Scene as an Anglo artist singing in Spanish.

As I immersed myself deeper into the scene, Ric was everywhere I went, at every show, every night of the week. The scene at that time was electric, there were tons of bands, fans, clubs, concerts, events, TV shows, radio shows, etc... and Ric was connecting me with all of this. It was a new world of music and I loved it.

About four months later I remember getting a phone call from Ric saying, "Hey Tommy, I have some good news for you! "Nunca" is currently getting airplay on the radio in New York." I didn’t believe him at first. It had been "one of those days" and I wasn't in the mood for jokes or anything else that could go wrong. So I was like, "What? You gotta be messing with me.” But he swore he wasn't. He said look it up on Radio & Records, that's where the Spanish rock music charts were listed.

And to my surprise he was right, I was right there with the artists I had first been turned onto in Spanish. What a great moment! I was so grateful to Ric, although he never said anything, I know he had a hand in making this happen. So now I had a song charting on radio and no CD. So into the studio I went and recorded seven more songs to have a complete CD. 

Being an independent artist is very difficult and with no label or distribution it’s almost impossible to compete with the major labels and artists. But here came Ric again to save the day. He had a great idea, Verdad y Justicia! He and a friend Chris Stimson had a plan to help all the independent artists in the Spanish rock scene: create a music group of independent labels large enough to get major distribution. We had a meeting at the Westchester Bar and Grill, which was an iconic venue where some of the best artists had started and continued to perform. Most of the bands were there, and we were a little lost, dazed, and confused with the real workings of the business end of the recording industry, but Ric and Chris were there to hold our hands and make this happen. They helped us all start our own labels and got us national distribution! It was awesome! I remember the release show we all did at the Conga Room in Los Angeles when it was still on Wilshire. It was an incredible night with all the best of Los Angeles' Spanish rock bands—and we were all with the same label group, Verdad y Justicia. This was the kick off to great things to come. As I toured the U.S. I would go to the local record stores in each city I played to see if it was true or just a dream, and there it was my CD in New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, L.A. Etc..... Ric and Chris had made it happen for all of us!!! Thank you Ric!”

 

Tom Morrison is still doing music, songwriting, recording and performing live and can be found as Tommy Morrison Music.

 

Label Group

 

Since we had solicited artists to send us their CDs for El Cohete, along with my three years on the local scene in LA and my time in San Francisco, I had a pretty good idea of quality artists that deserved release on a national and international level. Because neither Chris nor I had the financial resources to start a label, but did have the experience to offer advice on how to break artists, we became a label group, not a label. We explained to the artists we signed that they must be their own label, and handle promotion to radio and press on their own, with our advice. Verdad y Justicia was to handle their national distribution via Navarre, and inform Navarre about promotional efforts being done to obtain radio play and press coverage.

A few years later we renamed our label group VYJ2, when we restructured the contracts between the labels and our distributor Navarre, as part of our evolution.

 

Tower Records

 

When you are running a label group, you must have the support of retail. I have to say that Monica Ricardez and Roberto López from Tower Records were staunch supporters of our label group from the beginning. Over the years, we had a number of in-store live appearances by our artists at various Tower locations. I used to love shopping at Tower Records—they had a wide range of music. Plus, they always stocked VYJ releases in the Latino music sections of their stores. It was a sad day for all of us in music when the Tower chain went out of business.

 

Giovanny Blanco

 

Having a friend like Giovanny Blanco is truly special. Besides being an amazing vocalist, he is a former host at LATV, was going to be the host of El Cohete if we ever got on the air, and continues to sing, perform and direct and write. Is there anything Gio CAN’T DO?

 

Here is his contribution about the band promoting their Verdad y Justicia release, and me joining them on tour and the great time we had together on the East Coast in February 2005:

 

“I've been lucky to call Ric Fazekas a friend for over a decade now. "Ricky Roc" has been a prominent figure in the Latin Rock/Alternative scene in Los Angeles and I met him way back in the early days of Viva Malpache (2000? 2001? 1977?) - I can't remember the year exactly, but I do remember where. [Ric’s note: it was 2000 at the first LAMC in NY when Leo came up to introduce himself and invite me to your showcase that night.]

Ric was a mentor to us and many others in the scene. When he formed Verdad y Justicia (with Chris) it was a no-brainer to release Viva Malpache's second record "La Venganza de Rock and Roll" with them. As soon as the CD hit the streets we gigged all the clubs and bars we could play in California to promote it. When it came time to think outside the box and play somewhere else besides our backyard (the Southwest US), we made plans for many tours but only a few panned out. When you book your own tour it's not like the hottest venues of the world come calling. We weren't Mana. We did what we could and that was alright. Ric helped us out with radio, media and some venues along the way.

But there was one particular weekend that comes to mind that took place far away from our rehearsal spot drummer Jesse's pad in South Central.

In the winter of 2005, Viva Malpache (six overly excited musicians from LA with sunny dispositions and some LA street mad-doggery) had the genius idea of going to NYC for a few shows in February, one of the coldest months of the year. Yes, snow and freezing temperatures. 

A few days before going to the East Coast we received good news: Ricky Roc was already in NYC on some family business and could accompany us on our three-day rock and roll travesty tour. His statesmanship and veteran guidance was welcomed, even heavily needed.

For this small tour we rented a van and filled it up with borrowed music equipment. It was a big white van that we nicknamed ‘Larry Bird’ and coasted it down to our first gig in the Bronx. Yes, the Bronx!

That first night in the Bronx we arrived at Club Ibiza, it was a velvet ropes, VIP list and bottle service kind of joint. Club Ibiza had their Rock en Español nights on Thursdays and we were game. We were always game, we never argued about where we played, we were happy to play anywhere. 

Too bad others weren't. Nobody showed up. We played our 45 min set to Ric and the beautiful but uninterested wait staff. After I yelled, “Thank you Ibiza and good night!" Ric was kind enough to mention that we kicked ass and that the show was a good warm up for the rest of the weekend (thanks coach!).

After we cleared our equipment for the DJ to take the stage, I made a bet that "Hombre Lobo en Paris" would be the first song the DJ would play. "La Negra Tomasa" took the honors. Then, we all bum rushed the bar for our complimentary drinks. By the time the DJ actually played "Hombre Lobo" (4th song, after Mana's "Clavado en un Bar" and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs' "Matador") we’d been showered with compliments from the club’s staff. They loved us. Even the Dj liked us. Ric made sure the DJ got a CD even if his playslist choices guaranteed he’d never spin it.

After the show, on our way back to our rented apartment, we stopped by Gray Papaya's for hotdogs and guava juice. 

Upon arriving to our apartment, there is no street parking available. Some of us get off the van, while Darren (guitarist), and Steve (drummer) who is asleep in the back seat, drive off in search of a late night parking space. The moment they leave I realize the apartment keys are in the van!

Time ticks slowly as Jesse, Joe, Ric and I are freezing to death on the street. Then my phone rings, it’s Darren calling me on his cell asking what our budget for parking is. I tell him to pay anything, that we are on the street locked out of our place.

Ric starts pacing because he needs to pee. He has to go bad, and there is no suitable place in sight. Ric and Joe (bassist) go for a walk to find a spot to pee. This shouldn’t be too hard, after all it's NYC!

In the van, still on the phone, Darren says, "Damn, I gotta go" and hangs up. The van is just two blocks away when a vehicle flashing red-and-blue lights, sounding a siren, approaches from behind. Darren pulls the van over, thinking “I hope no one stashed anything in the van.” (No, we were not drug smugglers, just drug enthusiasts.)

An officer steps to Darren's window. "You know it's illegal to drive and talk on your phone? License and registration!" Darren hands over his California driver’s license, saying "I'm sorry officer, I wasn't aware of that. I'm not from here." The cop lets him off with a warning, but wakes Steve from his slumber by flashing light on his face.

Down the street, is Ric relieving himself in front of a closed-for-the-night deli shop, with Joe watching his back. They are not aware there is a cop sitting in his parked car not far away, watching. The cop emerges and catches Ric red handed. He gives Ric a ticket for urinating in public, which in NYC is like getting a ticket for sprinkling sugar on a cupcake.

The rest of the weekend, we managed to steer clear of the law, though none of us slept very much, the East Coast was so stimulating. Ric made sure we arrived at the right place-and-time for every show, sober enough to perform. And he stayed awake most of the time as well. Our hero. When I grow up I want to be just like Ric.”

 

Delux

 

Dados Por Vivos raved about a band they had just played with in San Diego who were from Tijuana named Delux that also had an endorsement from Budweiser. Ironically, the day before, I had just seen Delux’s debut video on MTV-ES (how we miss this channel—it turned me on to so many great bands, unlike its successor MTV3rs which totally sucked with just reggaeton/hip hop and reality programming. In Mexico and South America, MTV had a strong presence with vjs as MTV-LA [Latin America], just like its US parent use to be. However, in the US, MTV-ES was a totally automated channel with no vjs—but they did play great videos back-to-back, 24 hours a day.)

Within two days I was in touch with Mo Pérez from Delux, and we made a deal for VYJ to release their debut CD in 2005. “Mas De Lo Que Te Imaginas” became Verdad y Justicia’s third #1 single in our debut year and spent eleven weeks at #1 on the charts, at that time setting a record for the most weeks at #1 on the Radio & Records Spanish Alternative chart in 2005. This facilitated Delux being selected as a showcase band at SXSW that year, and I flew to Austin to help promote their shows. But before SXSW, I saw them rock out House of Blues in San Diego right after they signed with us.

 

San Pascualito Rey

 

In my stay in Mexico City in 2004 with deSoL, I narrowly missed seeing San Pascualito Rey at the Hard Rock Café—damn, missed the call on my cell phone. But I definitely heard enough of a buzz about SPR to want to release their debut album through one of the labels affiliated with Verdad y Justicia, and I set about making that happen when back to the EE.UU.

A friend of mine described San Pascualito Rey as “cocktail music to commit suicide to”—and there is agreement on my end with that assessment. The band is definitely non-commercial, which is why they have never played in LA; promoters here evidently didn’t feel they could draw enough to justify the expense of bringing them from México. The group did play Chicago and New York because promoters in those two markets were willing to pay enough money to fly them in from México to have them perform. It’s very bizarre but wonderful music. You have to really be into it.

Ironically, once I announced SPR’s availability to the labels already with V&J, a bidding war took place between three of them to sign San Pascualito Rey for US release, eventually won by Edgar Rueda’s DiVa label. Their debut CD Sufro, Sufro, Sufro was part of our June 2005 release.

And while on the subject of the band San Pascualito Rey, I once again have to dump some social science on your heads. One of the things I learned as a Chicano studies major at UCR was the strange fatalism of the Mexican culture, a fatalism that San Pascualito Rey addresses SO to the point! And this is not merely an academic observation, because it permeates the musical society I now live in. There is a pervasive attitude: “what can go wrong, will go wrong; if we are lucky, we can side-step it, and just hope for the best.” But always there’s this ominous worry about going forward. I feel this fear is one of the things that has held el movimiento back from more progress. Let’s get beyond that fear.

 

Tributo a Rage Against the Machine:

En Español

 

Originally we wanted to make our tribute to Rage Against the Machine a double CD and invited a lot of bands to be on it, including many signed to major labels. While many bands expressed interest in participating, we wanted to get it out in time for the Christmas market 2005, to possibly make it our first “blockbuster” CD. So many people I was talking to in the whole Spanish alternativo music industry wanted to be on it, including Molotov, and Café Tacvba. But, when dealing with artists signed to major labels, it’s usually not possible to get positive clearance in a timely fashion, because they have to clear it with their label; so many acts couldn’t give us a commitment to go into a studio and have a song ready by Christmas 2005. If we waited to get some of the major label artists on board, it would delay the release of the CD until 2006. With this in mind, I went ahead with the CD. My partner in V&J Chris Stimson also felt strongly that it should come out in time for the Christmas 2005 buying season to be a sales blockbuster and carry our other label-group CDs along with its momentum, and Navarre, our distributor, shared this opinion. While I hated to compromise on the original 2-disc intention of the CD, Chris was right business-wise that Verdad y Justicia needed a killer automatic seller for the holiday season, and hoped that Navarre could get retailers to stock up on our other releases when they ordered this tribute CD. People in the industry were expecting a blockbuster CD from VYJ, and we couldn’t disappoint. And Michael Freeman, through his Grammy connection, had allowed us to do this CD, contributing to the Grammy Education fund, which lowered our licensing fees.

The first band to send me a track was Timmy O’Tool, from Argentina, and their version of “Freedom” absolutely smoked. It became the lead track on the CD. Ironically, I‘d heard of Timmy as a band, but hadn’t had direct contact with them. Their contribution would lead to a friendship with their drummer Rana that lasts today. I finally got to see Timmy O’Tool play in the US when they toured in 2011.

Dragón Zaga from Mexico City was the second band to submit a track with “Darkness of Greed.” Sadly, they broke up shortly after, and it was a shame to lose them since they were a really intense band. Everyone else on the CD is from the US besides Argentina’s Timmy O’Tool, and Dragón Zaga of CDMX.

Probably our biggest success airplay-wise was from the off-shoot of Viva Malpache, Spigga performing “People of the Sun.” This totally in-the-pocket funk groove rocker sparked interest in the CD through radio play.

 

Al Hernández

 

By this time, I had become close friends with Al Hernández whose family managed the Westchester. Al was in charge of day-to-day operations at the club, including music. Frankly, if Al had never put up the money for us to purchase ‘mechanical license rights’ to the Rage songs on Tributo, the CD and tour might have never become a reality. So that’s one thing among many that I will always owe him a debt of gratitude for. Although during this time I went out frequently to various live music outlets in Southern California to hear bands that I could sign to Verdad y Justicia and to support bands that had put out CDs through us, the Westchester was always ‘home base.’

Juan “Da Bomb” Rodriguez had abdicated his position as the Westchester club booker to concentrate on managing Afixión, who not only had a CD out through V&J, but were also part of the Tributo CD. Viva Malpache had just broken up, so Al appointed their ex-bassist Leo Machado as booker of the now legendary club. Leo is a great guy and a talented musical artist, but he booked the club like a musician would, not as a serious booker like Juan. In other words, he would gather on a bill bands that liked to play together, but not give enough thought to whether the bill could draw. And most of these shows did not. Al knew he had to make a change.

 

Booking the Westchester

 

As for me, my two-year agreement to promote deSoL for Curb had ended, the campaign for Koolarrow’s Don Cikuta finished, and Verdad y Justicia was still too young of a label group to earn royalties from sales. So I was actively looking for a new musical income source. Al offered me the position of booker for the Westchester. At first, I balked: wasn’t quite sure I should be signing bands to a label group and booking the most important venue for rock en español in the US simultaneously. But the more I thought about it, the more my feelings were “why not?” The two really do compliment each other.

It has to be said that Al offered me a very sweet deal to take over the booking of the Westchester. His family owned a building in Inglewood where LIK practiced, and I was offered the front office area as my booking office and new LA headquarters of Verdad y Justicia, with the middle area of this structure as a bedroom and music library, and the back of it being the band’s practice room and Mayo’s living area—and it was only a mile-and-a-half from the club. Cool. Think about this: free rent, free phone and utilities, free high speed internet, and a weekly guaranteed stipend to book artists at the club. Plus I could eat at the Westchester for free any time I wanted to; and I would get to book the most prestigious rock en español club in the US and bring it to new heights! How on earth could I say “no?”

 

Los Burbanks — On Tour

 

In the first year of booking the Westchester, I brought Los Burbanks from Seattle. Previously, I first went to see them at an obscure club in South Gate and they gave me the CD they were promoting. Not only did they have a debut CD to push, but singer German believed in the work ethic of getting out on the road, the way that bands that sing in English do (and yes, Volumen Cero and Pastilla used to, and Making Movies does today). Too many bands in Spanish don’t hop in a van, go out, sleep in it overnight, go to the next market, sleep at someone’s house if they can, have them feed you, and play just to improve your audience.

In fairness it must be said that bands on the Spanish side don’t have the freedom that bands performing in English do, because of the demands of their family. If you grow up in a Latino household, you hear: “What do you mean you’re not going to be at your cousin’s quinceañera? Your sister is getting married, you have to be there! My brother is having his 35th birthday party, and you have to attend! How can you be out of town on the road?” These things are important on the Latino side, those family gatherings. There’s always been pressure on the Latino bands to not go out on the road for an extended period of time, unless they drew a line and said “this is the way I’m going to live my life for my career.” And German from Los Burbanks did that (though his family is in Mexico—that sure helped). And with their second release on Infidel Records, based in New Jersey, we added Los Burbanks to the growing Verdad y Justicia roster.

 

Master List of alternativo bands

 

During my time working as a consultant to Al Borde 2007-2010, I was asked to put together a master list of alternativo bands from SoCal, NoCal, the rest of the US, and other Spanish-speaking countries. From that file, I was able to create a fairly accurate compilation list of the bands the Westchester was proud to present during my tenure booking the club.

 

They included (in alphabetical order):

 

Alma de Jade, Alma En Guerra, Alma Negra, Almalafa, Amargo, Amnesia Fatal, Amon Isis, Andromeda Zero, Anesthesia, Animas, Antenas, Ars Poetria, Asesino, Audio Control, Audio Vital, Aurora, Avionenta, Aztlan Underground, Azur, Ceci Bastida, Javier Batiz, Bexo, Bionico, Blasfemia, B-Side Players, Bye Sami, Cabeza de Gallo, Cábula, Cage 9, Casa de Calacas, Canseco, Castillo, Cellphish, Cerebro Negro, Cero Grado, Chana, Chencha Berrinches, Cinco%, Circuito Vital, Clave, Coatl, Concepto Tabor, Conflicto, Conflicto Urbano, Corazon Atomico, Cubiky, Cuna de Lobos, Curanderos, Dead In Sin, Delirio, Delux, deSoL, Dexentonados, Dezú, Diciembre Gris, Dildo, Disidente, Distorzion, Dr. Hizteria, Dub8, 8Kalacas, El Antigua Sistema, El Guapo, Elixer, El Leon, El Manifesto, Enjambre, Estigma, Euthanazia, Excape, Fatima, Femi Tabu, Fe Red, Fighting With Nancy, Firme, Fitter, Folen, Fosforo, Flor Veneno, Fuga!, FZ-10, Gaudi, German, Go Betty Go, Golpe Avisa, Grito Mutual, Ideas Divergentes, Iguana, Inbox, In-deviant, Innerfire, Insomnia Cronika, Intilusion, Isolated Victims, Jellmunekita, JKB, Jubal, Juan Goma, Kanari, Kill Anniston, Koñorteño, La Banda Skalavera, La Barranca, La Decadencia, La Esquina, La Frequencia, La Gusana Ciega, La Infinita Protesta, La Mala Influencia, La Muerte, La Piel, La Probeska, La Severa Matecera, La Theoria, Las Quince Letras, Legazy, Legion, Ley de Hielo, LIK, Los Abandoned, Los Arambula, Los Hijos de Pancho, Los Hollywood, Los Kung Fu Monkeys, Los Olvidados, Los P2, Los Punks del Norte, Los Radares, Los Rudos, Los Skarnales, Los Tilches, Los Ultras, Low Luster League, Luna de Octubre, Luz de Luna, Leo Machado, Mad Marionettes, Madam, Madera Santa, Mala Decisión, Maldita Miseria, Malku, Manantial de Fuego, Maria Fatal, Maruja, Matamoska, Mayaztek, Menores, Miel, Miseria Total, Mister Equis, Montecristo, Monterosa, Monte Negro, Tommy Mora, Morrison, MULA, Mystery Hangup, My Enemies Hero, Nash, Neblina, Nefalim, NFM, Niña Azufre, Nivel Cielo, NME, Nosis, No Way José, Obscuridad, Octavio Red, Ocupado, Olmeca, Ollin, Operation No One Knows, Orgullo Café, Pachamama, Palenke Soul Tribe, Pancho Villa, Pastilla, Pestilencia, Pet, Plagio, Polos Opuestos, Pro-fé-cia, Puerto Aero, Quattro Folio, Quetzal, Roncovacoco, Rostros Ocultos, Roxing Kafe, Ruido de Fondo, Ruido Masivo, Sangronez, Sebastian Lords, Sectas, Sector Libertad, Sies Pistos, Sendero, Ana Sidel, The Sirens, Skapulario, Sluck, Sombra, Son D’ Palo, Sonido Vago, Sonsoles, South Central Skankers, Soy Disco, Subatomico, Substancia, Super Ego, Superlitio, Supersonico, Tercer Elemento, Tercer Fuego, Titanium, Torino, Transbrutal, Transtorno, Tres Colores, Tribal, The Ladrones, The TV Liars, Toxic, Ultima Caida, Ultimo Azertijo, Umo Verde, Upground, Uztar, Ignacio Val, Vas Deferens, Velorio, Vehemencia, Viernes 13, Very Be Careful, Verzo, Vitál, Volumen Cero, Voz Elemental, Xolmani, Xue, Ynez, Zagal, Zero Nueve, Zimbioziz, Zinema, Zinome, Zhono, Zombification, ZUR.

 

Christian Mejia ‘Intoroq’

 

While booking the Westchester, I got to know Christian Mejia back when he was managing Neblina. He was kind enough to contribute:

 

From Christian Mejia, band manager, show promoter, host of Talking Rock En Español podcast, and producer of LA Scene Docuseries.

 

“I first met Ric in 2006 at the Westchester Bar and Grill when I approached him about getting a show for my English speaking band. At the time he mentioned that he was currently working promoting Rock en Español and he would introduce me to another promoter. That never happened but I was OK. What I noticed about him was how much love and enthusiasm he had (and still has) about talking Rock en Español and about sharing the experiences he has lived. The following year I became involved with the local Latin Alternative/Rock scene and got to know him better. Weeks later I found out he was helping organize what could have been one of the best concerts in Los Angeles Arka Fest.

The vision he had for this event was EPIC! I reached out to him and arranged to have meeting to talk about Neblina being part of the event. We had the meeting at ARKA studios, and Neblina and I were to experience firsthand the love and passion and inspiration that Ric has for making sure that everyone can listen to and appreciate the sounds of Rock en Español. Thank you for the great contribution you have made and for the great advice you provide to the new and upcoming artists.”

 

Christian Mejia is ‘Intoroq’ and the host of Talking Rock en Español podcast (now on YouTube). He is also producing a documentary series called LA Scene, viewable on YouTube. The podcast is to promote and discover new artists within the LA scene and throughout the world; the documentary series is a look back at the legends and highlights of the scene’s past.

 

Liberal Democrat

 

Since my college days, I’ve been an involved Democrat liberal, and this is even truer today than in previous years, as a currently active member of LA County’s Democratic Party. This is despite growing up in a Republican household as a kid. And also, in the early ‘80s, I did work for political polling firm Teichner Associates, and again in the ‘90s with Penn and Schoen. So I’m no stranger to politics and political research.

While never being shy about expressing my political feelings, I never felt it necessary to ram it down the throats of the artists or fans I worked with, or anyone else. If they spoke up and agreed, fine, if they didn’t, so be it. Not everyone has politics as an up-front focus in their life. But it must be said that I’m a huge supporter of Voto Latino, of at least encouraging others to get out and vote.

However, in 2006 many in our community were stressed about the deportation of undocumented individuals, and how brutal enforcement had separated kids from their parents who had been deported, making them orphans. This was just not right!

On May Day 2006, (yes May 1st, the international day of solidarity celebrating workers’ rights), over one million people marched to City Hall in downtown Los Angeles to protest family-wrecking deportations. It was my pleasure to join the guys from Stoic Frame, Mezklah, Afixión, Concepto Tambor, and over one million supporters in a march where I lifted over my head a sign that stated STOP RIPPING FAMILIES APART. This sign still hangs on the wall that is the entrance to my loft. I am proud to have carried it that day, waving it above my head, and equally proud that it greets visitors who come to listen to music at my humble home as they ascend the stairwell to my loft.

Many businesses closed in solidarity with this cause. I am happy to say the Westchester also shut its doors for business on May 1, 2006 in hopes that a fairer immigration and legalization process would be enacted by our government. It still hasn’t happened. That Obama by-passed congress and OKed minor portions of the Dream Act is a welcome start, but only a start. I continue to support all the activities of “Voto Latino,” and you should too.

 

Social Media

 

Once again, I must comment on the importance of Myspace in this period. Sure I would hear about new bands through word of mouth, but more often, it was through doing research on Myspace. In its heyday, you could feature up to forty friends on your page and they could rotate each time the page was reloaded. A single click would take you to a band site where you could find out: (1) their upcoming live dates; (2) new music/videos they may have posted; (3) friend comments; (4) friend icons so you could see which bands they were listening to; (5) and you could write to them.

Myspace was so much more of a music promotional tool than Facebook, that to this day, I don’t understand why bands abandoned Myspace the way they did. Facebook is good for the conversation tool aspect, but Myspace was far more helpful for the opportunity to provide a ROBUST QUANTITY of information on your site; far more than Facebook allows. And don’t even get me started about Twitter, which I feel is a 140-character ego trip. One cannot over-stated the importance Myspace played during 2006-2008 in promoting and publicizing Westchester shows, and finding the next generation of bands. (And it should be added that now that Justin Timberlake and a group of investors have purchased Myspace, they are trying very hard to get that groove back. Hopefully, they will).

 

2006

 

During this whole time, Verdad y Justicia continued to grow. In 2006, Pistolero gave us their second release of Skunk D.F. from Madrid, and an LP from Disidente; Coatl had their debut come out; and my good friend of many years Ginette Pompa owner of the label Ultra Fusión Latina Records released their first CD of Colombian-American artist López. Plus, out of Phoenix, Sarai Rios’ with her label Fractal Records provided us two La Barranca CDs El Fluir, and Denzura, plus a solo recording from José Manuel Aguilera of La Barranca.

And by this point, I had developed a good working relationship with Tomas Cookman who by then had done his 7^th LAMC. We were looking to continue the expansion of VYJ, and offered him a label deal to join us. It turns out he was already negotiating a distribution deal with the indie division of WEA, Red. So his Nacional Records was born and signed through the distribution wing of Warner’s.

In a way, that’s a very good thing. Verdad y Justicia and Nacional Records would not have made a good fit to work together. Tomas and I have both had very different focuses on who should be presented to the alternativo world: I am a lot more rock oriented than he is. And this is something we have locked horns over concerning his choice of artists featured at his LAMC conferences, which these days have degenerated into showcases for his Nacional artists, with just a few others added for good measure. LAMC was once a must-attend, now it’s become so predictable and formulaic, so much of a Nacional promotion vehicle that if I go, it’s to see my music industry friends and virtually no other positive reason (well, maybe also getting back to NY, having spent so many wonderful years living there).

But even though both Verdad y Justicia (and later VYJ2) and Nacional Records were very different labels in our musical focus, the airplay result was pretty much the same: we got attention from public and college radio, but the cold shoulder from commercial Spanish music radio. This is true even up to the present day! I don’t know when the Neandrathals at commercial Spanish radio will realize that within a few years the Latino youth will be over 50% of the under-18 population in the entire US, and many will want to hear something more substantial and rocking than formula-rapper Pitbull.

When we put Verdad y Justicia together, the label group released over 75 CDs covering a four-year period. Some of our releases, a small amount, actually made money, but the majority lost money. And what was owed on the pressing cost on the CD’s of the ones that did not make money, kept us from making money on the few that did. We were still in the red in terms of overall sales. Verdad y Justicia didn’t make money, but nobody else received financial remuneration either. But that’s what happens in a distribution deal. Unless you’re totally in the black, you’re not going to get paid. Plus, even if you are in the black and making a profit—as long as I have been in the music industry—both the distributors and labels always figure out ways to deduct from what is owed to artists or a label group like us, sometimes paying minimum, often paying nothing for “operating expenses.” That’s the way big record companies, and even medium sized distribution companies conduct business. This is why it is so difficult (but not impossible) to make a decent living in the music business without working a side job or two.

 

El Tri

 

So even during this busy period, when my friend Mariluz Gonzalez became Publicity Director of Fonovisa (before they were gobbled up by Universal) and asked me if I wanted to take on radio promotion for the legendary El Trí, of course I said “yes.” Alex had never charted in the US, and I am happy to say, I was able to provide Mr. Lora and his wonderful wife, bandmate (and manager) Chela, their first three top 10 alternativo singles in Radio & Records once they moved from Warner to Fonovisa. A wonderful time working with wonderful people!

It was thrilling to watch singles like “Besame” and “A Talonear” climb the Radio & Records Spanish Alternative chart. However, Alex hit the nail right on the head with “El Muro,” his criticism of the wall being built along the US-México border. Many records are fun to promote just because they are great music; with others like “El Muro” with its powerful message, you feel you are turning fans on to a new anthem.

 

Mariluz Gonzalez

 

Mariluz Gonzalez has been a dear friend since I was first planning my move back to LA in 2000 while still living in San Pancho. From hiring me to promote Bye Sami, to later when she knew I could expand El Tri’s radio audience for Fonovisa, to her current co-hosting radio DJ endeavor “Travel Tips For Aztlan” on KPFK-FM, and efforts with Vesper Public Relations, she has been great. Mariluz offers a contribution, and I thank her for all the opportunities she has provided me:

 

A contribution from Mariluz Gonzalez, President of SourPop Records and Vesper Public Relations:

 

“The Westchester Bar and Grill became an emblematic site for Latin Rock, especially when Ric Fazekas was booking; it was a small venue, cozy, and divvy and had a welcoming feeling to it. I remember having our band Bye Sami perform there, as well as Canseco (which morphed out of Bye Sami)—the Westchester was one of the last venues they performed before breaking up. I remember having many conversations with Ric there about my label SourPop Records, about difficulties, struggles, and milestone achievements (in our eyes), and also discussions about the industry in relation to Latin Rock. I have wonderful memories of going to Ric’s club, and making great friends there including Kary Ram, and Victor who were/are great supporters of the Latin Alternative music scene for years.”

 

Antidoto Festivals

 

And it was also during this time that my friend Ayelet from ACA Marketing was putting together a series of shows backed by serious advertising partners. (Her assistant Sean Valadez encouraged me on Facebook to include this stuff, jajaja, that’s how we instantly add to our agenda in this era, gracias Sean). The period he wanted me to remember was 2006 and 2007 for the two Antidoto Festivals at the Greek Theater.

The 2006 show was hugely successful, with Maldita Vecindad, Fobia, Inspector, Moderatto, and Cage 9. So the stage was set for a follow-up in September 2007. A decent line-up had been set with Julieta Venegas, Los Amigos Invisibles, Jumbo, Allison, Inbox, y mas. Cool line-up. But, originally, Ayelet was negotiating with John Pantle to have Zoé appear on this show as co-headliner. When Ayelet did not meet John’s asking price, in a fit of rage, John had Zoé play on the same day, only blocks away at the John Anson Ford Theater, to spite Ayelet for not agreeing to what he was charging. It hurt both shows. John could be and was a real asset to the movement for the tours and individual shows he booked, but if you pushed his buttons the wrong way, he would maniacally go off and find a way to punish you, even if it was in no one's best interests

 

2007

 

2007 was the year of my 59^th birthday, and whenever possible, it’s my desire to ring in the next year with an outstanding lineup of bands that I love. That year, I was able to put together a two-night, Friday-Saturday celebration with Friday’s show having Mezklah and Fosforo playing a combined-band set as “Foszklah.” The show also featured Kill Aniston from México, Mad Marionettes, and Bionico. Then on Saturday, Tijuanos (formerly Tijuana No) headlined with Montecristo, Ruido Masivo, and Argentina’s Joe Fernandez rounding out the bill. You feel blessed when great musical forces grace a stage to celebrate your birthday. And a wild time was had by all.

 

Arka Studios

 

Over the years, I spent quite some time hanging out at Arka studios in South Gate, going back to when I first met Chencha Berrinches in the early 2000s. Their manager had his office there and the band practiced in a rehearsal room in the complex. Although I tried aggressively to bring Chencha on board as a VYJ band, it never happened. But one thing about ARKA studios: there were always bands renting rehearsal space or recording there—and those recording sessions were always serious parties.

Roberto Corrales (whom I had known from his days with the band Voz de Mano) and Julian Salas from Arka recording studio had this idea about organizing a major two-day rock en español festival at the Pico Rivera Sports Arena, and they wanted me to partner with them. I liked the idea, but from the beginning, felt they were under-funded. And that was a serious worry, whether we could successfully do this event. It turns out that even before they asked me to get involved, they had spent a considerable amount of effort soliciting bands online to see if they wanted to participate. I was sent an email folder of the responders, and it was voluminous! So I agreed to become talent coordinator for the festival.

As someone who was booking the Westchester and also a partner in Verdad y Justicia, there was certainly no shortage of talent that could be called on to be part of this festival, and I certainly would tap into this pool of talent. But exactly because I was a club booker and label manager, I had a unique interest to see what bands had responded to the initial cattle call. Slowly but surely, going through the folder and links, I got to sample each and every one. Many of them were mediocre, some outright sucked, but there were certainly gems to be found.

From El Salvador, there was the hard rock band Pashpak. They had applied for a grant from the cultural ministry of El Salvador to participate in the festival, and were told by the government agency that they would get the grant to come to the US to be part of Arka Fest; however, the money did not come through in time. (Ironically, the principal musicians in this band would become the band Polly Class, and went to play with my other Salvadorian music friends Friguey, and I first met Polly Class when they opened for Frigeuy. A friendship developed and in 2011, I handled the promo on Polly Cass’ self-titled debut CD which was very well received in the US.)

And then there is Peru’s classic garage band Los Fuckin’ Sombreros who also wanted to play the festival, and again, although the the cultural ministry of their country initially promised an artistic grant for them to travel to the US to play Arka, the funds did not come through with the funds in time. But we did establish a friendship once they mailed me their CD. And of course, there was Brazil’s Black Oil, lead by Anassi Addasi, who actually did get to play the festival since by then they were based in Orange County, CA and didn’t have to worry about travel problems.

There were rumors of financial sponsors coming on board Arka Fest, but it didn’t happen. Raul Alberto, formerly of Televisa in México City joined the team, and this was the start of a close friendship. I also recruited my friend Carlos Cabrera who had managed bands I booked at the Westchester and was a show promoter himself. I was also quite pleased that Rafael Salazar would be involved, as his work in Mexican-regional music was respected, and he knew people who could seriously financially back a festival like this to promote it properly. The wheels were starting to roll.

 

Arka Fest

 

It’s a beautiful day at Pico Rivera Sports Arena, we open the doors at 10 a.m. and hope for the best. A modest crowd is pushing through the turnstiles, and we are hopeful. As talent coordinator, I’m pretty proud of the quality collection of talent that would be appearing on stages one and two of the main arena stages, and three and four of the field stages.

Main stage included (in order of appearance): Vatos Locos, Delirio, Toiber, Bionico, Enjambre, Torino, Tijuanos, Fatima, Fitter, Carina Ricco, Cage 9, Los Burbanks, Dildo, Monte Negro, LIK, Maria Fatal, Go Betty Go, Curanderos, Pastilla, La Gusana Ciega, Chencha Berrinches, and Delux. The field stage featured Luna Roja, No Way José, Tercer Elemento, Xolmani, Estados de Union, The TV Liers, Izzy & the Vibe, Crather, Zero Nueve, Sobre, Neblina, Coatl, Marujah, Pro-fe-cia, Black Oil, Guajiro, M-16, German, Gravedad, Animas, Excape, FZ10, Urraka.

As the day progressed, the crowd that was present was having a wonderful time grooving to the bands, and deciding which stage they should be at. However, by mid-afternoon, we had found out about the East LA free concert John Pantle had given the city of LA featuring Molotov gratis to spite us, and that thousands of kids were there for free rather than at our show where there was an admission charge. Bad news indeed! And then we were told by the owners of the facility that day one did not make enough money, so there would be no day two.

 

Soda Stereo

 

Many people question if Soda Stereo should be on the list but they were actually before my time and had just broken up when I got into rock en español. There’s no question that Soda Stereo are the Beatles of Spanish rock. They wrote so many great songs! As a band, they influenced so many groups that are around today. Soda Stereo and Gustavo Cerati solo are cornerstones for the whole alternativo movement up to this point.

I’ve gotten to know their keyboard player Tweety Gonzalez personally over the years because he’s produced a lot of people that I either know or worked with, even if he was a later addition to the band. For a while, Tweety was A&R director of Cielo Music Group and signed Superlitio, and Emaue.

While never getting to meet Gustavo Cerati, the key creative force behind Soda Stereo, I was fortunate enough to see him live at Club Nokia on his last tour right before he had the stroke. A few years ago Gustavo suffered a brain aneurysm, went into a coma and passed away in 2014. We who loved his writing and musical talent, sorely miss him.

When Soda Stereo did their reunion tour, I was on the guest list, but was having a sinus attack, going through incredible sneezing. It was an outdoor show in November so I really couldn’t go (I’m 64 now, I was 62 then, you have to be careful, watch out for your health). To this day, I regret not going to that reunion concert.

 

Héroes del Silencio—Bunbury

 

And close behind are Spain’s Héroes del Silencio (Bunbury). I got an invitation from EMI to see Enrique Bunbury live, as well as meet him at a media party at a West Hollywood boxing gym to follow the theme of his Flamingos CD. Enrique Bunbury is a unique artist. He did the Héroes reunion tour in 2010 (unfortunately I missed it as I was out of town) and they made a lot of money. The problem with Bunbury’s solo work is it’s just so different from what he did to become a star with Héroes del Silencio, much less rock, more cabaret and acoustic. His first solo album was like French-cabaret, which featured the track “El Extraño” that I absolutely loved. Ever since then, he’s never gone back to his rocking roots like when he played with Héroes. I don’t think he wants that metal rock-god thing anymore. At this point, he’s probably satisfied with his current musical muse, which may not be a stadium draw, but a club attraction. However, it’s a big club draw, Bunbury can sell out the House of Blues. He did three shows here recently, one Santa Ana, one in Anaheim, and at HOB West Hollywood. People still care, but not on the same level.

 

El Clasificado

 

My history with Al Borde goes back a long way. As previously mentioned, when I first moved back to California in 1997, every other week I would head down to Ritmo Latino in the Mission District of San Francisco por mi revista, as that was the only place in the city to get the magazine.

Martha De la Torre, the powerful owner of El Clasificado, had purchased 80% ownership of the magazine from Edgardo Ochoa and Alicia Monsalves, the original founders. Once a distribution deal with Navarre for Verdad y Justicia had been set up, we soon negotiated a co-op deal where V&J would get a half page advertisement that would allow ‘tagging’ to any record chain or store in that edition of Al Borde. Note: “tagging” is a music industry term meaning ‘we mention your store in our ad and you display our CD and put it on sale.’ In turn, we would provide them with an expanding list of where our CDs were available, so they could negotiate new record store distribution outlets for the magazine. A good deal for all! And that partnership resulted in a working relationship starting in 2005.

A few years down the road, I felt that since Al Borde was fully now incorporated as a subsidiary of the much larger (and financially solvent) El Clasificado, they could grow not only as a magazine, but an online portal to a greater extent than they had before. And this would help all of us en el movimiento. So I decided to approach Martha about becoming a consultant to Al Borde, and after a power lunch in Chinatown (jajaja, I just had to use the term ‘power lunch’ at least once in this manuscript as it is so ‘80s, and out-of-date today, but still part of our music business history lexicon), a deal was set at the onset of 2008.

 

Gossip Column

 

Previous to my involvement with Al Borde, I had ghost-authored a monthly column as “La Cuca Rockera” (instead of using my name) that was a news-gossip column all about what was happening in the alternativo world (which was done as a favor to my friends Al Hernandez and Josue Rodriguez of rockeros.net.) To this day, Al tells me it was one of the top features on www.rockeros.net. This column was made just to promote the scene. But now that I was being paid as a consultant to Al Borde, they wanted this popular column for both the magazine and website. So the column was moved to Al Borde with a new title: “Las Noticias del Movimiento” and a new author tag: El Padrino. A number of my friends had started referring to me as “El Padrino,” or the godfather of the scene. I appreciated the compliment, and felt it would work as an appellation for my new Al Borde news column. It stuck, and many call me El Padrino even today.

 

To satisfy curious minds, here are the gossip sheets for October and

December of 2010 from my archives:

 

December 2010

 

THE big news is the new Monte Negro double CD Cosmic Twins just released on iTunes and available in physical format from the band. Songs like “Como Quisiera (Pulsar)” and “Faux Power (Unas Por Otras)” demonstrate both the power and tune-smith ability of this LA-based band who are reaffirming their status as the most important alternativo musical unit in the US. Watch for their upcoming December-January-February tour.

Recently, Venezuela’s Sonica were in Los Angeles recording their next CD and played a live appearance in Anaheim. Almost unknown in the US but huge in South America, a small but appreciative crowd cheered on these punk stalwarts. Look for the new Sonica album in spring 2011 and finally a full US tour. And by the time you read this the new Ill Niño CD Dead New World will be available for your listening pleasure.

Both Pastilla and Ocupado are in the studio in LA, putting finishing touches on their new albums. Congratulations to Ely Guerra for winning her alternative Latin Grammy, but word has it that she had trouble fitting her ego in a small enough suitcase to ship it back to Mexico.

Is it true—Son Locuaz huddling about a possible tour of Germany and a few other European stops in 2011? Stay tuned. New single “Mostro” from Dante Spinetta of Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas fame, but will he tour behind the new material outside of Argentina?

Rumors abound about an upcoming LA concert as a tribute to Gustavo Cerati, who is still in a coma from a brain aneurysm. Legendary LA bands are said to be a part of this salute including Voz de Mano, Maria Fatal, Curanderos, and Pastilla. More word as it breaks.

Santos de Los Angeles recently hosted a packed-to-the-walls CD release party in LA (hosted by Melinda and Art of A&M Entertainment) to celebrate their long-anticipated CD The Secret Book of Game, which is now available on iTunes. 

Tongues are wagging about a new alternativo video program premiering soon on broadcast TV in Phoenix. No word on a program title or whether it will be streamed on Internet, but we will provide details as we get them.

Lucha libre y música y arte hit Los Angeles in a big way with Vive La Lucha, combining the popular wrestlers with musical appearances by Pretty Neato (featuring members of Alien Ant Farm), The Pricks, Krazy Race, Divine Intervention Society, The Triggers, Puerto Aero, South Central Skankers, Son Locuaz, Idea Divergentes, Love Star, Miel, Fe Red, Carved Souls, Stereopast, Olmeca, Ocupado, Hy3rid, Niño Perdido, Downtown Union, Sociedad Anonima, Peter Chavez, The Debonaires, Ultimo Azertijo, Cihuatl Ce, Voz Elemental, Broadcasting Sirens, Alto Voltaje, Wildlife, Switchblade 77, Darq Passion, The Frighteners, Roncovacoco and Diego Brown. The event’s success has encouraged the promoter to take this combo of wrestling y música to other US cities in early 2011, with plans for both Chicago and Houston to begin with.

 

Pro-Fe-Cia —Festival Xtremo

 

In early 2008 my day was brightened by a call from Freddie Contreras, the lead singer of Pro-fe-cia, to let me know they had been added to the lineup of Xtremo, a music festival to be held in a Guadalajara in May, and the band wanted to take me with them as a 60th birthday present to me. How sweet of them!

Understand, this was the first Southern California alternativo band I met in the ‘90s when I was living in San Francisco. Over the years, I have attended many of their shows, and had the pleasure of them contributing to my labor-of-love compilation Tributo a Rage Against the Machine, En Español, and they played all of the dates on the promotional tour. I also released Pro-fe-cia’s debut CD.

Although I had never been to Vive Latino (and to this day, it is my dream to finally attend one before passing from this earth), going to Xtremo was almost as good, particularly with great musical friends like Pro-fe-cia who would be performing. Between the three stages and the great lineup of talent, I would be running back and forth to all the showcase areas, catching performances from bands I had never seen, and meeting up with old friends or VYJ label artists (like Dildo, Disidente, Elli Noise, Salón Victória, and Delux).

We met up at the house of a friend of the band in San Diego, left our cars there, and carpooled in two vans to the Tijuana airport, where we caught a flight to Guadalajara. From there, a van was rented so we could head up about 90 miles from Guadalajara to Freddie’s hometown Valle De Juarez, Jalisco. It turns out that the town was having a big festival around the time we arrived, and parties were happening all over the downtown area.

And then the next day was the blessing of the trucks. Honestly, I had heard of the blessing of the animals, but was blown away by this. A priest with a bucket of holy water stood at the side of the road, and there was a line of semi-trucks extending at least three miles down the road, their drivers waiting to have their trucks blessed. As the trucks drove by, the priest splashed holy water on the semis to insure safe travel over the next year. What a trip, to experience the blessing of the trucks, a highlight of México 2008, with the great music of Festival Xtremo still to come.

Then it was on to Guadalajara for Xtremo! We were headquartered at the smallest of the three stages, which featured mostly the metal bands like Transmetal and the US band English-singing Agent Steel who were good friends of Pro-fe-cia, but we had a backstage area to operate out of.

Off to stage two to meet up with Francisco of Dildo (now DLD) and after some brief reminiscing about the Westchester show they did, I was off to the main stage for Bye Sami whose career I had helped jump-start in 2003 with their first CD via SourPop Records. During that day, it amazed me how many bands I spoke with cited Bye Sami as influencing them. Good guys and a great band.

Then back to stage three for Pro-fe-cia’s set, arranged an interview, and went back to stage two to hear Elis Paprika (a band I had read about) and heard some of their music. Briefly, I spoke with Elis Paprika and their manager about the possibility of having a release through Verdad y Justicia in the US. Then chugged on over to the main stage for home-town heroes La Cuca (I have always been a big Cuca fan) who do a great set (or at least the four songs I could catch). Somewhere along the way I got to watch a bit of my friends’ Disidente set, and was soon to call them in panic mode.

Pro-fe-cia, Agent Steel, and Transmetal were scheduled to play a date the next night in Toluca. However, torrential rains had flooded the park where it was to take place, and the show had to be cancelled. Our airline tickets had been for Tijuana-Guadalajara-Toluca-Tijuana, but the damn airline would not change our tickets though we wouldn’t be going to Toluca. Disidente and their then manager Maria, stepped in and saved the day. Not only did they set up a show with Disidente, Pro-fe-cia, Agent Steel, and a few other bands to play the Hard Rock Café in Guadalajara as a way to replace the Toluca festival show, but had some local heavyweights step in and get us airline tickets so we could get back to Tijuana. Plus, they arranged to have us stay at the hotel where many of the bands from Xtremo were headquartered. The next day before departure I swapped crazy stories with Voodoo Glow Skulls, and Union 13, two SoCal bands that had been friends of mine for awhile that had also played Xtremo and were staying at this hotel.

In addition to Xtremo, I’ve attended wonderful music festivals in both Tijuana and Mexicali. Promoters in México are smart enough to realize that major festivals are a good way to introduce up-and-coming bands to the larger audience of the headliners (although I have to shudder at the corruption that sometimes exists with managers buying bill-spots for bands with limited talent—it does happen, but it’s not totally pervasive).

Yet during the time I was in México with Pro-fe-cia, I sampled the music television on the air there, and it was SO much more inclusive than what we get in the US. Both Telehits and MTV-LA are REAL video entertainment channels, playing the classics and also new artists to pay attention to, and they still do so to this day. (I also watched the Simpsons as ‘Los Simpson’ en español, DOH!)

When is Spanish media in the US going to realize how badly they have ignored, or at least incorrectly pigeonholed Latino youth? And why is the media and label power-base in Miami so ignorant of statistics that reveal over 65% of their target audience lives West of the Rocky Mountain States, yet they are still developing tired programming that only appeals to Latinos on the East Coast, particularly Miami? Embrace reality! Hopefully, there will be a wake-up call soon in Latino TV and radio, and it will be about time!

 

Zeth Bastian Lords

 

In this musical world, you get to meet a lot of people you can relate to. But I have to give a special shout out to Zeth Bastian of the Sebastian Lords (they had broken up, but are back together). Of everyone I have gotten to know, the two of us bonded in a special way as best friends. This is why, when my 60th birthday approached, I asked him to put together an all-star band since his own band was not active at that time. Hey, turning 60 in the rock and roll world is quite the milestone, so it was important for this to be a very special night.

Having a good relationship with Edgar Rueda and his DiVa label and management group, and Francisco Familiar the leader of DLD (who had been Dildo until they signed with Universal and were ASKED [!] to change their name), DLD seemed a logical headliner and agreed to come up from México. 

One of my favorite bands when booking headline bands who would draw at the Westchester was Afixión. The band had released a CD through us at Verdad y Justicia, as well as contributed a track to Tributo a Rage Against the Machine. Afixión was broken up, but agreed to get back together for this show to help me celebrate my 60^th.

Also, at this point German of Los Burbanks had moved to LA from Seattle. His bandmates from Los Burbanks decided not to relocate with him to LA, thus breaking up the band. He joined the group Patrona, who I had seen at House of Blues right after he became a member, and they rocked, so I asked them to be part of the show. In addition, I asked “Crash” Barrera to MC the show, and she said yes.

German and Crash are both dear friends of mine, so I don’t think they would mind me letting you know how they got together. When Crash had her variety program on Mun2, I sent her a package of CDs we had out on Verdad y Justicia. While she liked many of the artists I sent her, she absolutely fell in love with Los Burbanks’ Snake CD we had put out. She contacted German right around the time of his relocation to LA, and they became a couple who are still together today. It was fun having been part of that. So yes, it made sense for Patrona and Crash to be key parts of the celebration.

And then there is the great band Zeth Bastian put together to kick things off based on local talent. This included Alma Pérez of Coatl, German Briseño of Patrona and Los Burbanks, Noe from Pro-fe-cia, Adriana Fernandez a member of Grito Mutual, and Dennis of Amargo on drums. Wow, this all-star band of my friends is not only paying tribute to me on my 60th birthday, but delighting the audience as well—nice.

It’s curious that Zeth was at my house in Van Nuys the day of the show. He is someone with a great degree of confidence, but on this day he was starting to doubt if he could deliver with this collection of musicians. I kept building up his resolve before we headed down for the show, and sure enough, Zeth and the all-star band he put together for the event not only RIPPED and made me proud, but they had the capacity audience clamoring for more. A great night!

 

In the words of my dear friend—contributed by Zeth Bastian of Sebastian Lords:

 

“Going back in history, I get a call that made the summer of 2008 (which seemed boring at the time) extremely memorable. Ric Fazekas was on the line. He told me his 60^th birthday was coming up in July and he wanted to do something special: an all-star band to play at his birthday party at the Westchester Sports Bar & Grill. He wanted me to be the musical director and hand pick the rest of the members from other bands in L.A. We ended up doing that together, because I didn’t have connections with other musicians. He provided the numbers—I made the phone calls. [Ric later confessed that he decided to call me, only after Oscar Lorea, guitar player of Chencha Berrinches, had said no to the project. I wanted to say, “nevermind, dude,” so bad, but I had nothing else to do.] [Ric’s historical note: But I did call you first, and your cell phone was not working, so I called Oscar. Glad I called you back a day later, we talked, and you said “yes”]

I was living at Arka Recording & rehearsal studios facility in South Gate at the time and that made it rather easy for me to have access to the rehearsal space we needed to put this all-star band together.

After a few days at Ric’s house in Van Nuys making phone calls and searching for musicians I had a couple of them who were happy to do it “because it’s for Ric.” Alma, soul and singer of the band Coatl agreed. Ric knew her well enough to know that Joan Jett was her idol and advised me that we consider doing “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” as part of the band’s set. German, of Los Burbanks fame, also accepted without questions. He was in a band called Patrona at the time (later he became the singer of Son Locuaz, who have now changed name to Vim Furor). The next ones to join were Adriana, singer of the band Love Star (at that time Grito Mutual) and Noe, keyboard player of Pro-fe-cia. Noe was a real bonus, being that he lived all the way out in the Inland Empire and would have to travel a lot to come to rehearsals. We really appreciated his efforts.

The problems began when calling drummers and guitar players. We called a few and all said, “no, I’m too busy now”, or “not interested”, and this really surprised me, because this wasn’t a permanent band, it was just a one time, one show deal, that’s it!

Time was running out by then. We had three weeks to put the band together and rehearse the songs and still had no guitar player or drummer. I remember Julian from Arka suggested I call Dennis the drummer of the band Amargo, and this seemed to me like a good idea, since I knew who he was and had been in the same lineups in clubs, back when he was playing in the band Senda, which were all friends of mine. I called Dennis and he accepted the challenge.

The last musician to join was a guitar player, whose name no one seems to remember, who had been in quite a few bands and was part of the local scene for the longest with his wife (she was a very active promoter in the late ‘90s and early 2000s). He came in at my personal request.

Rehearsals began with a degree of excitement for me, considering that I had never been in an all-star band, much less put one together or directed one. None of the other musicians had been in an all-star band either, so they were probably excited too.

The whole thing just took off nicely. I remember a lot of people at Arka Studios helping us out in every way possible, especially Julian; he was very cooperative. There was a pleasant atmosphere at the rehearsals and it was also easy to work with the musicians, which was one of my concerns and something I expressed to Ric in the beginning—I didn’t want to deal with ego-trippers, but fortunately we got a good bunch and they all earned my respect and admiration.

The next step was figuring out how I was going to approach leading this great bunch of musicians without coming across as the leader. A thought came to my mind; if I’m going to lead and direct this band successfully I better let these musicians be in control. So I brought in the list of songs Ric and I had chosen, and general ideas about who would sing what songs, and things like that, and the band would work them out together (remember, this was about Ric’s Birthday so we had to play songs he enjoyed).

German would sing “Message in a Bottle” by The Police, and Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff.” Adriana was to sing a song by Cheap Trick called “I Want You to Want Me.” I sang “I Melt with You” by Modern English, Alma did “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” by Joan Jett and the Black Hearts.

Things were going fine, except when we rehearsed “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” with Alma. She was singing without the Joan Jett attitude, and some of the guys were being critical towards her. I realized we were pressuring her too much, afraid we might lose a singer. Something like this should be fun, and she wasn’t having fun. So I began giving her support, not demanding (I really believed she could pull it off). After a few days, she became more relaxed, not just in her singing, but in her attitude, and began giving us more of her opinions and comments.

Dennis was also a concern, but in a different way. He was drinking too much and it reflected in his playing. Some of us thought of getting another drummer, but we were about a week from the show and he basically knew all the songs. I talked with him in private and he said he understood our concern. But he didn’t stop drinking, he just slowed down.

The night before the show I stayed at Ric’s house. We hung out all night talking, drinking, and listening to his awesome collection of vinyl records. The next day was exciting, but intense. I had learned that Dennis had a habit of not showing up the day of the show. I became worried, but didn’t tell anyone because it wasn’t necessary to alarm the others.

By the end of the next morning Ric and I were toasting heavy as we listened to more music. Ric was already celebrating his birthday. I was drinking, because I was a nervous wreck about the show—and Ric just loves mentioning it whenever he tells the story. He thinks it’s funny, because for him there was no reason to be nervous; he went to the band’s last rehearsal and said we sounded great, but I was still concerned about Dennis.

I don’t remember leaving Ric’s house to go to the Westchester or even arriving. I was f*cked up. My memory is foggy, but suddenly, I found myself there, and there were a lot of people there too. I felt I needed something to pick me up and I got it. Then I started meeting up with the band, making sure everyone was okay, helping unload equipment, etc. Dennis was there on time.

The event’s line up was attractive: Dildo, Patrona (which was German’s band at the time), a reunion of Afixión, and the Westchester All-Star Band. The show went smoothly but felt chaotic at the same time; everything was on schedule, just running too fast for my taste, I guess owed to the intensity of the event, the adrenaline rush, mixed with all the drinking and drugs I had done earlier. By the time the All-Star Band went on stage the Westchester was packed. For the most part, our performance was right on the money, but Alma’s rendition of Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” was the highlight of the night. I was proud to share the stage with her. She was fantastic. Everyone was fantastic. A big thank you, to each and every one of the musicians that participated in the Westchester All-Star Band to celebrate Ric Fazekas’ 60^th Birthday.

Now I want to give a few thoughts on the scene in LA. If you and your band, or whatever project you're doing, want to receive support, you have to give a good reason to be supported, and allow the necessary time to grow; there’s not going to be an immediate return. It’s nonsense to expect immediate results. Things take time. Give yourself a reasonable return period. And while the growth process takes place, be consistent, deliver. Half-assed efforts only get half-assed results. Prove to your potential supporters that you’re willing to go the extra mile for them—it is that extra mile that’s going to get you support. 

If there is going to be a healthier rock en Español movement in Los Angeles, it should be everyone’s responsibility to turn it into something where everyone can benefit. Yes, it costs money, time, and effort to put a show together, but it also takes money, time and effort to keep a band together. Both parties are investing, so why should just one come out with all the earnings? Everyone has to work with the same intention in mind: for everyone to benefit. When the intention becomes selfish is when things go wrong. So try giving as well as taking, but keep things in balance, because imbalance is when problems start.

You can follow Sebastian Lords on Facebook, on Twitter, on Myspace, and on YouTube.”

 

Hermano, I say muchas gracias for making my 60^th birthday so special, for your continuing friendship throughout the years, for the wonderful contribution you have made to this book to make people remember and examine priorities, and for finally bringing the Sebastian Lords back.  

  

Koch Entertainment, Select-O-Hits

 

When Verdad y Justicia first signed with Navarre, the management totally understood what we were trying to put forth with rock en español, but unfortunately their sales people did not. While we had enjoyed that management at Navarre loved and understood our mission, the fact that their sales staff never understood the new alternativo en español worried us about their ability to spread it. And this was a serious worry. 

It was the exact opposite situation when Navarre was bought by Koch Entertainment and we were part of the transaction. The salespeople at Koch were head over heels to have a cool alternativo label to sell to the growing Hispanic youth population. Their salespeople TOTALLY understood our music and wanted to promote it with a major effort—but they could not get financial approval from the top. The Koch management, looking at the somewhat small Navarre sales figures, did not make Verdad y Justicia a priority once the takeover took place. Therefore, they would not authorize the budgets requested by their sales reps to promote the CDs we had out and continued to release. Suddenly, the situation had reversed.

Stalled in the water with the new company, and this was not a good thing.

OK, if Koch management doesn’t get it, time to move the distribution train, particularly since Select-O-Hits, the legendary indie distributor from Memphis, wanted to work with us. Were Chris & I excited to move to Select-O-Hits? When at KUCR in the ‘60s they used to send us music from their LA distributor. They were survivors on the indie scene, and I was proud we were aligning our label group with them. Plus, Select-O-Hits is owned by the Phillips family. Yes, Sam Phillips of the legendary Sun Studios early Elvis recordings, and his kids are still based in Memphis.

We gave Select-O-Hits the two killer new bands, Tribal, and Montecristo, although each broke up right after their CD releases. Then we released the second CD from Argentina’s D’Mente (with x-A.N.I.M.A.L. members) based on a proposed US tour, but they never did the US tour because they couldn’t get passports. Not a great way to establish a relationship with your new distributor. And then word started spreading about Tower, Virgin, and Ritmo Latino going out of business. WTF? How can you compete when you no longer have these retailers, and there aren’t enough Latino kids who have made the transition to online buying? Answer is: you can’t. So that signaled the end of us as VYJ2. We still have a deal with Select-O-Hits, but they are just distributing artists we put out through them to recoup existing CD pressing costs, so we and the artists make no money from current sales. We haven’t put out new products since 2010. Sad, but true.

 

Son Loquaz

 

In 2009 I get a call from drummer-excellence Roman López (formerly of Afixión) saying he is playing in a new band Son Locuaz. His band practices in North Hills, which is only a few miles from my new residence in Van Nuys at the time, and he wants me to go over and check them out. Afixión had been one of the biggest draws at the Westchester and Roman had become a good friend of mine, so of course this grabbed my attention.

Hearing Son Locuaz practice at their manager Mike Miller’s house in North Hills, where they have their rehearsals, really blew me away. Mike’s son was their singer but he didn’t feel comfortable as a front man. Eventually, Mike hired me to promote “Enfermal” the first single from this power trio.

Sometime later, Son Loquaz play the Stardust (a club I would later book for once-a-month Padrinofest shows) and they do a killer set. German Briseño and Crash are in attendance, enjoying the performance. German hears me discussing with Mike Miller how his son wants to leave the band and just concentrate on writing for the group. Later that night German asks me if I can get him an audition with Son Loquaz. 

German auditions, and Roman and Rey were impressed with German’s ability, but it took a while before they were convinced he would devote full effort to the band. Once they decided in favor of German joining, a new LA super group was formed, and Son Loquaz became a force on the West Coast. [They recently changed their name to Vim Furor].

However, even before German joined the group, their manager Mike knew I should promote Son Locuaz’ debut single “Enfermal,” and I’m pleased to say, it went up to #8 on the very last Spanish Alternative Rock chart of Radio & Records. That was the last edition of the magazine since it was bought by Billboard. Not good; there was no more Top 20 of the best in alternativo.

By this time, I’d become convinced that if an artist deserved a CD release from our label group, I should do the promo in advance, and not leave it for them to do themselves, because they most likely would not know how to promote properly. This promo activity garnerd me some additional income, and assured me that a band “knew what it took” to be in it for “the long haul” through instructing them and showing them “how it’s done.”

Sure I had done promo campaigns for labels on the alternativo scene, beginning in ‘03 for Bye Sami on SourPop. But at this point, with the way the music business had changed, before agreeing to give a band a US distribution contract, it was necessary to find out what their acceptance-factor was at radio stations.

 

Rikkyroc Promociones

 

This year (2013) will be the 10^th anniversary of Rikkyroc Promociones, my indie promo company that promotes to alternativo radio, and sets up interviews with radio hosts. Personally, it has been an honor to work with and promote a stellar group of bands and solo musicians from all over the Spanish-speaking world to alternativo radio. In that time, we have worked with: 

 

Raskahuele—Los Angeles, CA; Roncovacoco—Los Angeles, CA; Haydn Vitera—Austin, TX; Movimiento Rockeros—Austin, TX; Nacho Cruz—Los Angeles, CA, Fernanda Ulibarri—Mexico City, Mexico/Los Angeles; Gallo—Los Angeles, CA; Cumbia Tokeson—Oakland; CA, Polly Class—San Salvador, El Salvador; Hector Guerra—Madrid, Spain; Santos de Los Angeles—Los Angeles, CA; Espantapajaros—Houston, TX; Kill Aniston—Mexico City, Mexico; Manantial de Fuego—Hesperia, CA; M-16—New York, NY; Xue—Los Angeles, CA; Luis Terreros—New York, NY; Gandhi—San Juan, Costa Rica; Ideas Divergentes—Los Angeles, CA; Love Star—Los Angeles, CA; On The Fly—New York, NY; Claudio Valenzuela—Santiago, Chile; Keith Sanchez—San Francisco, CA; Enemigos del Suelo—New York, NY; Making Movies—Kansas City, MO; Monte Negro—Los Angeles, CA; Una Via—New York, NY; Los Pecados de Maria—Chicago, IL; Marujah—Nashville, TN; Menores—Las Vegas, NV; Son Locuaz—Los Angeles, CA; Los Neuronautas—Fairview, New Jersey; Supersam—Miami, FL; La Theoria—Los Angeles, CA; Panda—Monterrey, NL México (for EMI Latin US); Legión—D.F. México; Malacates Trébol Shop—Guatemala City, Guatemala; Víctimas del Doctor Cerebro—D.F. México; Tribál—Los Angeles, CA; El Tri—D.F. México (for Fonovisa); Montecristo—San Diego, CA; deSoL—Asbury Park, NJ; Don Cikuta—Spain; Bye Sami-Tijuana, BC México.

 

Gandhi

 

Over the years many people have asked “What was your favorite band to work with?” That’s like asking a parent, Which is your favorite kid? It’s hard to answer. But if forced to pick one, it would be Costa Rica’s Gandhi, whose seventh (!) CD I worked promoting in 2009.

In 2004, when I was in D.F. with deSoL and took them to do an interview at Grita Radio, Ricardo and Jorge sent me back to the US with a stack of CDs, and, of all of them, my favorite was Gandhi. The video they recorded for “Sr. Caballero” is probably the most serious indictment I have ever seen of violence against women (if you have never watched it, you can and should on YouTube).

Why is Gandhi one of my favorite all-time bands in Rock en Español? Well, they’re so good, they may even be in my top ten favorite bands in any language!

It hurts me that it has not been possible to do more to bring them to the United States. They’ve opened for everybody in Costa Rica from Maldita Vecindad, to Café Tacuba, Molotov, and even performed at the Costa Rican president’s inauguration! But they’re not kids any more. They signed with Universal for their most recent CD Arigato No. When Universal screwed them, they said “f**k you Universal, we’re pulling our album back,” and they re-issued Arigato No on their own. 

For a while, my friend Sarai Rios out of Phoenix was trying to release Gandhi on Fractal Records through Verdad y Justicia, and also get them a tour. And my friend Carlos Péña from New Jersey also made an attempt to get East Coast tour dates for them. But as much as many of us have tried, Gandhi have still not gotten the break to come play at least a mini-tour (or even one date) on US soil—a major injustice if you ask me. It’s my hope that more people find out about Gandhi, so it can be financially feasible for them to play in the US. Are you listening Coachella? 

Music listening sessions at my home happen quite frequently with bands in the rock en español scene. And I have to say, for each one I have played Gandhi, all have been blown away by the musical dexterity of the songs on Arigato No, by the quality of the production and the writing ability of this outstanding band. It is a crime that Gandhi are not superstars outside of their home country Costa Rica. Let’s start with México appearances, and then maybe it can happen for them in the US too.

Revision Note: Gandhi played Vive Latino for the first time in 2019, and toured the US, as well as China.)

 

Spanish / English

 

As someone who for many years now has handled promo for bands that sing in Spanish, this has become my focus. And if you as a musical entity don’t have at least one or two songs en español, then there is probably nothing my promo company can do for you, since the majority of the programs I deal with play almost exclusively artists who sing in Spanish.

However, I caution bands who are Latino that doing ALL their songs in English may be more of a detriment than a plus. For one, the Latino program hosts I deal with in radio do their shows in Spanish, and prefer to play artists who sing in Spanish. That doesn't mean they boycott anything in English, but the emphasis is definitely on Spanish. There is currently maybe one program on commercial Spanish radio that features alternativo (a kind of ‘dip our toes in the water’ program on LA’s Super Estrella). A band needs to start with what can provide them exposure on public, college or internet radio. And many rock supporters who come to this country to live, prefer Spanish and feel those making an effort only in English, or mostly in English are sell outs.

Secondly, to this date there has never been a band whose native language was Spanish that has gone on to be stars by singing in English in the US—never. Sure in pop there was Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, and Shakira, but not in rock, ska or metal. So beware!

The Prime Ministers from Colombia have made some traction singing totally in English and have been featured at SXSW, and there is Le Butcherettes, a Mexican punk band that also sang totally in English and had enough connections to open a tour for the Deftones. But I think their female lead singer went solo after that tour, without the band making much career traction. 

The bottom line I offer to Latinos in music: If you want to sing totally in English, go try to break on the English side, but for those who feel a connection to their Spanish-language heritage and sing in Spanish, keep honing your craft. With the voluminous growth of people in the Spanish-speaking world, eventually the media will understand that the best of our music must be embraced and played by more than college and public radio, and also on commercial outlets as well.

And here is something to understand: English broadcast media is going to go away sooner than Spanish broadcast media, because of the difference in Latinos having access to the Internet, tablets, smart phones, etc. Those on the Latino side don’t always have the money to get an Iphone5, tablets, or the latest apps in the quantity that Anglos do; so Latinos still going to be listening to radio and watching TV long after their Anglo counterparts have stopped tuning in. Why doesn’t Spanish-language media & business wake up and be smart to realize there’s a whole new generation of kids who want to watch or listen to more than Sabado Gigante, or Wisin & Yandel while there is still time?

 

Crossing Color Lines

 

April 15 is Jackie Robinson day, the celebration of his birthday. Jackie broke the color barrier in baseball (and those of you who know me well are aware I am a huge Los Angeles Angels baseball fan). By doing so he basically broke the color barrier in other sports as well, and that trickled over to music eventually. All of a sudden the shade of your skin was no longer an issue to whether you could participate in sports in the United States. And now you look at baseball and the majority of the players are Latino. You look at football, basketball and the majority of the players are black—with an emerging superstar who is Asian from China in basketball.

There’s a parallel to music in that for many years all that happened in the Top 40s charts was white; if you go back to Hit Parade, even in the ‘50s, everything was totally Caucasian with just a couple of rare exceptions. This started changing as early as the mid ‘50s, when in sports people of color were slowly being included, and in music Nat “King” Cole was given his own network musical/variety show. This parallel is important for all of us to realize.

 

Music Business Cycles

 

We go through cycles, and we're going through a very bad cycle right now. It’s not only in LA but it’s in the rest of the country as well. When the economy is still in recovery mode, people want comfort music, something they know already, something they can dance to or just have fun with. So they’re less open to new bands. When the economy is good, people have money to spend and can be wild and open to taking a risk on something new. This is a proven cycle way back to the ‘50s, maybe even before I was a kid, to even the ‘40s or whatever. I can validate that through the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘00s, ‘10s, that’s the way people react. When music listeners have money to spend, they are open to something new. When they don’t have cash in the wallet, and things are tough, they just want something that will comfort them musically, and often—it’s sad to say—cover bands, or dance music like EDM. It’s true; you can research this and see that anytime there has been a spike in new music and bands being discovered, it was during economic good times—and anytime there has been a downturn in musical discoveries, it’s been during economic tough times. Once again in music, it’s all cyclical.

It would be very hard for someone to come out today and be truly original. Probably to be deemed original today you would have to be unlistenable because there’s so much that’s been accomplished and recorded that someone can compare to and go ‘yeah, there’s a little bit of this in there, there’s a little bit of that in there.’ But where a band can be successful today is taking the right influence or influences combined in a unique way that is fresh and doesn’t sound totally derivative of something else. That’s the challenge for sounding fresh and new.

 

Padrino Fest

 

In early 2011, stellar musician Carlos Lanza, who had assumed booking duties for the Stardust in Downey, asked me to give him one great show per month of rock en español. I had always respected Carlos for his musical dexterity and taste as a guitar player. But the 3+ years I had been involved in putting together live shows at the Westchester certainly made me aware of the work it takes to assemble a lineup of complimentary bands that will draw an audience. I was impressed that Carlos had finally convinced the management of the Stardust to build a new stage and hire a quality sound engineer with a good sound system. Plus, so many people with fond memories of the legendary lineups we had at the Westchester, and bands I knew, were constantly asking me at live shows if I would ever book another club again. Hey, it’s in my blood; I had to say “yes.”

We started out with a bang in February 2011, featuring a lineup that included Ideas Divergentes, La Theoria, Octavio Red, and Love Star. Not only was this a quality band grouping to draw a big crowd, but many folks came out to recapture those special days we shared when the Westchester was presenting this kind of entertainment every week. March featured Zinema, Ocupado, and Vital.

April had not only our regular Padrinofest show of Son Locuaz, Ultimo Azertijo, Fe Red, and the great Sacramento-area band Diciémbre Gris, but also a special show of DLD on their West Coast Tour that also included Ideas Divergentes, Son Locuaz, and Jellmunikita opening for them. Unfortunately, that day we had the heaviest rainstorm that I can ever remember in my lifetime of living in LA, and attendance was sparse because of flooding on the roads.

May and June shows included Velorio, MULA, Luz de Luna, my current housemates’ band Xue, Manantial de Fuego, La Piel, and La Septima Luna. At my LA 63^rd birthday party in July, it was an honor to have Sistema Siete, the Blank Manuscript, Ideas Divergentes, Tommy Mora, and the TV Liers play. For August, we put in place the LA CD release party for Guadalajara’s Aurum, whose music I had grown to love. But one week before it was scheduled to happen, the owner of the Stardust needed to schedule another event for that night. (Fortunately, I got to see Aurum perform a killer set at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, after being disappointed when they were not able to play Sunset Junction the previous year.)

What fun booking an event featuring Urbe Prima, (Miami, FL); Cojoba, (Puerto Rico, now in New Jersey), Espantapajaros, (Houston, TX); [.DESCARGA.] (Chicago, IL) and Don Quixote, (Washington D.C.)! Quality bands from a variety of locales; nice! Kofre was supposed to play, but a couple of their horn players had schedule conflicts, ditto for M-16 whose drummer was unavailable. Plus, for years I have loved attending shows at D’Antigua whenever I was in NY. Diana always treats me as familia. So this was not only a birthday musical celebration, it was also a homecoming.

 

LAMCs

 

There have been 13 LAMCs as of 2012, and I’ve been to 8 of them. In the early days a lot of us had expectations that radio on the Spanish side was going to change, and that concert promotion on the Spanish side was going to evolve to give independent artists a chance. It hasn’t. At LAMC, a lot of the people they feature on their panels have been friends of the organizers who will only say positive things. But in fairness, the panels they had in 2011 were better than the ones they had three years ago or so, because back then, it was only talking heads who were saying nothing important whatsoever. In 2011, they actually had people who were looking at what was happening in Spanish media and saying “Yeah, there is a new young demographic out there that we should recognize and decide how to deal with.” How refreshing!—rather than the old crap that was part of typical LAMC “everything is rosy” panel-chats that had talking heads spewing platitudes about the current state of the industry and merely promoting their own accomplishments.

 

English Music

 

To tell the truth, I don’t really listen much to new music sung in English anymore. There’s so little out there impressive or inventive enough, because so much of what I hear today in English was done better 10, 20, 30 or 40 years ago. My work these days is on the Spanish side—that is my commitment. There are still combinations of musical styles that might seem stale in English being given new twists en español, where it has not been attempted before. Thus my commitment to continue promoting artists who sing in Spanish.

Truthfully, few come to me with new English music that I should listen to anymore. It’s not that I don’t want to hear anything fresh in English that impresses me, but nobody takes care to play anything special in our music listening sessions. And I’m certainly not going to go out to find it on my own because I don’t have the time or the desire to find the one gem among a mountain of mediocrity. This in mind, I am very happy to stick with the best in alternativo.

Rikkyroc Promociónes has made a commitment to make things happen in Spanish rock and this remains my primary focus. Thankfully, musicians search me out and have me do campaigns for them, from all over various Spanish speaking countries, and I reach out and contact them too. So there is a definite commitment to this scene, and, hey if anyone wants to turn me onto something in English, fine, but I certainly don’t go looking for it. For now, Spanish alternativo is the focus of my immediate universe.

 

Chuy & Ivan Michel

 

Maybe my friend Chuy Michel will finally turn me on to something good in English. We have talked so often, whenever we are out at a show about getting together for a music listening session. And I know there is English music and bands he’s listening to (and Spanish as well) that I want to hear.

Chuy has played with a lot of great people; but he’s never been the type of person to put a band together, or be the star; he just wants to play with people and make outstanding music with them—to me that’s extremely admirable. We’re friends on Facebook; when I post music, quite often he’s one of the people who comments positively because he is a music person.

Chuy and his brother Ivan Michel have been very involved in our music scene. They are both graduates of Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA, in Audio Engineering and Drums respectively. I run into them often when out attending shows, since they play (and have played) in a long list of bands, and Chuy’s vast knowledge of music is rather impressive. Taken together, they must be the hardest working duo in alternativo, though they have been known to play with both English and Spanish language musicians.

 

Left Brain, Right Brain

 

One of the things I have told people is about the ‘right brain, left brain’ theory. On the Latino side we have a lot of people who can perform, and do really great stuff, but we don’t have business people out there who really understand the business to break artists and take them worldwide, to make them tour and get them paid.

Recently, I posted on Facebook to alternativo bands, “look, I love you musically. And I’m not saying you should change your career to get in business, but if you have a brother or a sister or a cousin or a friend who knows business, and wants to get into music as business, and this is their burning focus, that’s what we need.” There are not enough people in the business side of music, other than in regional Mexican, who manage, book, and promote shows. We are SO in need of more business minded folks who can handle these functions from the Latino community. Encourage those you know to come forth. 

 

Super Estrella FM

 

Super Estrella is still on the air (although some would say, just barely), and most of their spin-off copy stations around the country have since changed formats (because they were sucked into the reggaeton hype and lost the audience they had built). Happy to report that Super Estrella is experimenting with going back to at least a bit of rock and rehiring people who are more from the rock end from when they first started in ’97, like Alex Tercero. I think one of the reasons for this is they’ve been doing horribly in the ratings. In the early 2000s they bought Y107 (a competing Spanish pop station) thinking they were going to get a big ratings boost in combining the two stations. This is about 2004 or so. They were trying to not only eliminate the competition, but capture that station’s audience as well to get a major ratings surge in LA. That never happened.

 

Ska

 

In the late ‘70s, I became a fan of the ska revival going on in Hollywood which was an off-shoot of ska finally becoming popular in the US, as popularized in London. Many don’t know that ska evolved into reggae—when the players were smoking that ganja, they s-l-o-w-e-d down the tempo and called it reggae. So true: ska made reggae possible!

But in the late ‘70s England there was a huge ska revival that included bands like the Specials, Madness, the Selector, the English Beat, and of course it all spilled over to LA from both Rodney on the Rock and the fact that back then LA was still very attuned to hip trends in Great Britain. I was fortunate to see all four of these bands (on different shows) at the Whisky. And let me insert a tongue-wagging at the Whisky—you are now such a sad parody of how important this club used to be! Witness all the incredible bands mentioned in this manuscript that have played your hallowed stage. And now you do pay-to-play for whoever can BUY your stage? SHAME ON YOU! You are dis-respecting your former glorious tradition. But at least on occasion, shows like Skacore appear at this hallowed musical venue.

When I first moved back to LA in 2001, Javier Castellanos was doing a lot of shows at JC Fandango in Anaheim, and many of them were ska shows (though they also featured great rock music). One of the first ska bands Javier’s shows introduced me to was Chencha Berrinches, who I am happy to say are still around, and my good friend Oscar Lorea, the leader of the band, promises new music very soon. Wow, how we miss JC Fandango!! And of course, there was the music store Pro Rock at the same strip mall, but now active today in another location in Anaheim as a surviving record store, specializing in alternativo! Keep the faith Efrain!

In its heyday, there were some great shows at JC Fandango—many were ska or straight-out rock; it’s where I first saw Panteón Rococó, Victimas del Dr. Cerebro, Salón Victória, and Inspectór from México, as well as one of the reigning champs of the local ska scene, Inland Empire’s La Banda Skalavera. And of course there were the great ska shows Jorge Leal put on at the Roxy on Sundays (mentioned earlier).

On recommendation from my intern Edgar Bautista, in 1999 while still in SF I obtained for El Cohete the CD by Salón Victoria Locos Y Rucas in Retro from Felix Mejorado of Opción Sónica, who was operating the US arm of this legendary Méxican record label, and would soon become a good friend. But by the mid-2000s Opción Sónica went inactive (now they are back!). Since Opción Sónica was entering an inactive period, Salón Victoria became affiliated with Edgar Rueda's DiVa Records for releases through Verdad y Justicia. Salón Victoria’s album '96-05' became one of our biggest sellers and featured "Si Tu Boquita Fuera" whose video received extensive airings on MTV-ES and LATV.

Probably the greatest thing about a band like Salón Victória (besides writing overall quality songs) is that they were/are [questionable whether they are still together] slyly able to sprinkle surf music breaks into their driving ska. Surf breaks! As in both “Sol de la Media Noche” and “Ponzoña’s Surf.” This unique touch made them extremely special.

Ska can be amazing if done well. Finally, there is a new generation of bands in LA that do ska and are really taking their musicianship seriously as well as realizing that if they want to go beyond Los Angeles, they have to be outstanding in many ways—like Raskahuele, and Rocovacoco, both of whom I handled promo campaigns for in 2012.

Why? It’s because they’ve gotten really tight; both Raskahuele, and Rocovacoco have improved significantly since I first booked each of them for all-age Sunday afternoon shows at the Westchester. A big difference between the ska in LA and the ska in Mexico is the quality of the musicianship. It’s always been far better in Mexico but that gap is starting to shrink—a lot of bands here are taking their music more seriously, rather than operating from the idea that all they need to do is get on stage and jam-out (even if it’s off key) and have a bunch of kids go out and skank. Because that’s the way it was for a long time with too many ska bands. Personally, I have been somewhat critical of the ska scene in LA because the audiences have not demanded top quality performances from bands. This resulted in many groups not being challenged and giving mediocre live performances as far as musical competency, but certainly not lacking in energy. It’s been more a movement that kids identified with to be part of a group than it has been musical appreciation of what the bands were doing on stage. For a long time, a ska kid went out and skanked to the bands whether they were good or not. And some played well and some didn’t, but you still had a good time in the mosh pit. However, only musical competence—no, excellence—provides the opportunity to move up to the next level.

Now a lot of the ska bands are finally getting it that if they want to build a bigger audience outside of Los Angeles and be able to open for bands like Panteón Rococó, they’ve got to be good, and they’ve got to be tight. It’s easier for a drum player or a bass player, or a guitar player, to hide a mistake. When horn players make mistakes, it’s like fingers on a black board screech!—so obvious that it rakes on the ears. It’s just a different type of instrument. When you’re playing horns, and most ska bands do have horns, if the horn section is not tight it grates on you. So you MUST have a spot-on horn section.

Roncovaco, and Raskahuele have both become two of the biggest ska bands on the LA scene. They played my 64^th birthday show at the House of Blues opening for Panteón Rococó. This allowed me to smile and say to myself “wow, maturation as bands—you’ve come a long way since those Westchester days!” And it’s exciting that Chencha Berrinches will soon have a new CD finished to delight us all.

 

Curanderos

 

But generally, death has not been a part of my day-to-day life with the people I have dealt with in the rock en español world, until Mario López the lead singer of Curanderos passed away in the summer of 2012. Only a few days before Mario passed, his younger brother Rick Lomar was at my house for a music listening session, something we had tried to put together for years. And then the sad news hit about Mario’s passing just shortly after.

There was a big reaction in our musical community to losing a major talent like Mario. In their prime, Curanderos were a great band. Not only were they impressive in their recordings, but in the band’s live performances as well. A lot of people looked at them as THE GROUP that was going to put LA on the map, and even break wide-open the local alternativo scene to the rest of the world. Another thing: Mario was such a great person. He was personable. Every time he saw you this man gave a big hug, and there was always a joke. He was a real intellectual, and a caring human being who worked with charities.

Mario was just a classic person. And then also, the fact that he was only 38. There really hasn’t been someone in our local scene here in LA that made that kind of impact who we lost so young. It made everyone consider their own mortality. When you put all those things together, I think that’s why there was so much reaction to losing Mario, and it was well deserved.

Ironically, we were in talks to release Curanderos on our label group Verdad y Justicia, but they were also in talks with the four major labels, and someone had put money together behind their recordings. We never put out their CDs, and they never signed to one of the majors either. These orphan recordings came out, which they sold at their shows, but the band never reached its full potential.

Mario had a great voice. He also wrote some great songs. Both he and his brother were incredible guitar players. When Rick was here at my house listening to music a week before Mario died, the meeting came after two years of talking on the phone and online about getting together to have a music listening session; we could never get our schedules coordinated, but we finally set a date.

And we got together a week before Mario passed away. Rick was telling me that night when he was here, how he really wanted to get Curanderos together for a final show, to give closure to their fans. He was talking to the ex-members about a reunion, including his brother, but it never happened.

 

Alarma

 

How to express pride that my housemates Pedro and Pablo from the band Xue recently appeared on Good Day LA on Channel 11. I’m happy for the success they have so far achieved, and looking forward to their new CD, which they will provide us in mid-2013 with their new name Alarma. For years, people had trouble correctly pronouncing their previous name Xue. Good move guys, it was overdue!

The great thing about sharing a house with people who have a band is they don’t mind if friends come over to listen to music, as long as we stop at a reasonable hour. They put up with noise when I play music for my friends (including them) and I put up with their decibels when they practice with Alarma—noise bleeding-through from the basement. And fortunately we have neighbors who don’t mind either! But, quite frankly, being in my 60s, those all-night music listening sessions don’t happen anymore like in my younger days. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen at all (wink, wink!).

 

Haydn Vitera

 

In 2012, I had the pleasure of doing the radio promotion for the Subete album from world-class musician Haydn Vitera out of Austin, as well for the totally rocking compilation he put together comprised of Texas musical groups titled Movimiento Rockeros 2012. He produced the Vitera album with Omar Vallejo, one of the brothers in the band Vallejo, who were signed to Crescent Moon, Emilio Esteves’ label through Sony in the early 2000s. Hailing from Texas, Vallejo has been around for a long time and do both English and Spanish. I remember meeting Vallejo at the second LAMC in New York in 2001, and seeing them play, amazed at how good they were. Once Vallejo left Crescent Moon, I briefly tried to sign them to Verdad y Justicia, but it didn’t happen.

Haydn was recently planning to come to Los Angeles to tape an interview. If I have learned one thing about the Austin music scene, musicians there love to jam. So when Haydn came to LA, not only were my housemates Pedro and Pablo up for a jam session with him, but also my good buddies from Sistema Siete: Arturo, Saul, and Angello. It was an awesome jam coalition of wonderful musical players—fun things like this keep me young. Having a basement where this can happen is also a blessing.             

Here is housemate Alessandro “Pablo” with his assessment of that special night:

 

From Alessandro Morosin, Alarma guitarist

 

“Of the many fond memories I've shared with Ric, this past December of 2012 was the most exciting. Haydn Vitera, the virtuoso guitarist and electric violinist out of Austin, Texas, was going to be in L.A. doing a private show. Ric invited him and the dudes from Sistema Siete over to the house we share for a jam session. The night got started with Sistema debuting some of their new album for us live in our practice room. These guys shred like a Latin Mars Volta, and they live right down the 10 Freeway from us in Baldwin Park. The energy was amazing as we jammed classics like “Voodoo Child” and “Foxy Lady” (to top it off, this took place on Jimi Hendrix's birthday). I put down a few guitar leads and Pedro added some congas (Pedro and I live with Ric and the two of us play in the band Alarma.)

Once Haydn arrived, things got really intense. He was using his electric violin to sail over a very long jam we had of Zep’s “Kashmere,” among others. There is a song on Alarma's new album that needed a Middle-Eastern sounding, snake-charmer intro, and we hadn't found anything that fit the part that made us satisfied thus far. When Pedro invited Haydn to play on the track right from our little home studio, we all loved what we were hearing, and we ended up recording him right then and there. These are some of the many friendships made thanks to Ric Fazekas, and they show the potential of the cross-cultural music scene he has worked so hard to nurture.”

 

At this point in my life, one of the things that provides the most pleasure is music listening sessions at my house in Lincoln Heights. It is great to have get-togethers with good friends like Dévika, Sistema Siete, my dear friend Zeth Bastian of the Sebastian Lords, or metal rocker and neighbor Giorgio (plus touring bands). However, that doesn’t mean the rest of you can’t be invited. Contact me, and together, we will dig into my music collection and have a great listening experience.

 

TriTone Festival

 

As someone who is a champion of the movement and tried my best to put together an outstanding talent lineup for Arka Fest in 2007, naturally I was enthusiastic when plans were announced to present the TriTone Festival in the Chino Hills in 2012. As soon as possible, I sent emails expressing my interest in contributing, but got no response. This was the first warning sign.

The story behind the TriTone Festival is some rich Latino kid, who isn’t even fluent in Spanish (from what we now understand), asked his dad, who also is not fluent in Spanish, for money to organize his own festival because he went to Coachella the last two years and wanted to produce his own Spanish-rock festival. And dad gave him a million dollars to do it. A million dollars is not something to be laughed at. But if you don’t know what you’re doing, it can be spent foolishly rather than wisely on a festival and that’s exactly what this kid did.

Initially, the organizers announced an impressive lineup of bands. But because they did not know how to properly promote (and did not ask help from those who do know), advanced sales were way below expectations, and the originally planned headliners could not be paid their guarantee before the show. The initial million dollars of daddy’s money was blown in all the wrong ways. But, this cartel had already advertised that top-tier bands would be playing the festival.

When they couldn’t pay the advance money for the big names that would draw people, word immediately got out on the internet (hey, we live in an instant communication age—you f*ck up, and it will be out there for the world to see in seconds) and doubtful postings signaled there was little chance for TriTone to recover and be a significant festival.

Arte and I went for the first night, but didn’t go back there for the second, which didn’t happen ayway (echoes of Arka Fest?). There were less than 100 people in front of the stage, with a sprinkling more spread around the grounds, which was far fewer than our Arka attendance. We didn’t stay for the later part of the show (the small turnout was too discouraging) which was to feature Inspector, and Ozomatli as headliners—and neither of them played when the Chino police shut it down for some unknown reason.

Once again, it doesn’t mean a festival like this cannot be successful, because they continue to be profitable on the Anglo side all over the US, as well as all over México, when promoted and financed properly. And with the growing Latino population that we have in the US there’s no reason it can’t be done correctly and profitably on the Latino side, but the organizers have to know how to do it right with proper financing spent in correct directions coupled with sensible booking. Quite frankly, I’m getting tired of inexperienced people doing things wrong and setting back what we are trying to accomplish in el movimiento. Outside promoters are good if you want to try, but seek out those of us with experience for proper advice to help festivals be successful. By the time TriTone brought on quality promoter Melinda Torres of A&M to help fix the damage, it was too late to prevent a disaster. There was some good local talent on the show like Sonsoles, Ratasan, Vispera, Forever Farewell, and Pro-fe-cia, but not enough to ensure a big crowd.

 

18 & Over

 

For many years recently when going out to see bands, I constantly heard “Hey Ric, when are you gonna do another big show at the Westchester?” After continually explaining that the Westchester was closed for good and there would be no more shows, they always said “We need another place like the Westchester again,” and I would agree.

In 2012, The Airliner right down the street from my current residence in Lincoln Heights asked me to give them one show a month. I told the club what I did at the Westchester in the 3+ years spent booking there, and that I’d be happy to do the same for them, but not unless they altered their admission policy. I knew they served food, so are able to admit 18 and up (and ironically sometimes do). They wouldn’t do it. They said “we just want to make money on the 21 year olds drinking alcohol.” I tried to explain to them that “there are a lot of guys between 21 and 25 who date girls 18, 19, or 20. The girls might only buy a coke, but they might go with their boyfriends who’ll buy alcoholic drinks. Without this, you’re basically killing off much of your 21 to 25-year-old audience male drinkers who want to support your club. This is the core audience that goes out to support quality new bands.” They didn’t get it, so I said, “If you’re not willing to do that, I’m not interested in booking dates at your club. This is the only way to make money as a booker in the alternativo scene.” So the collaboration never happened. We went through something similar at the Westchester, but at least they listened to logic.

Flashing back to those Westchester years, I worked really hard to put together four bands per night that fit well on a bill. Plus, as a booker at that time, I had at least 20 bands of headline quality that could be rotated as a top of the marquee to draw 100-150 guaranteed, and at least 10 more I developed into headline status during my booking tenure. And they could draw even more with the right opening acts that complemented their talents. In our alternativo scene today, there is not the same quantity of headliners who are guaranteed draws. And yes, this is an impediment on making money for promoters to do alternativo showcases. There are still great bands, but fewer ‘A’ list headliners are performing, and fewer promoters are grooming the next generation. This is a must do for us to continue to move forward!

 

Frank Barsalona—Talent Development

 

One of the great things about knowing and working with a legend like Frank Barsalona of Premier Talent in the ‘60s and ‘70s (who we recently lost), and his right-hand lady Barbara Skydel was his and Barbara’s foresight in always developing the next generation of talent. Frank very carefully picked support bands (mostly from England) and teamed them with the right headliners, knowing that coupled with the right exposure, they would soon be headlining their own shows. It was a lesson I learned well from the master himself.

With a great sense of pride, it is possible to look back at those Westchester years with a feeling of having given deserving and talented bands proper opening act spots with bigger artists, that helped develop the next wave of headliners, which included bands like Velorio, Montecristo, Monte Negro, Mundo Aparte, Sombra, Upground and so many others. Mr. Barcelona would be proud that his tradition was being carried on.

 

Advice from El Padrino

 

So there is hope for this new millennium in the crazy and uncertain music business. When given a knick-name like El Padrino, it is often that I’m asked for advice, and there are things I can recommend to grow el movimiento. And when many consider you the godfather, you have to take that honor and role seriously. This is what I recommend:

Write great songs. Even if you have a song you think is hot, go back and re-examine it. Chances are you could make it even better. The world of music revolves around not just good songs, but memorable and hummable ones. Network your solo or band’s material on any social network you can in a reflective, positive presentation. But don’t extend it with too many Tweets or Facebook postings until you get an initial level of supportive feedback and a live audience for your shows. Temper your promo so it builds as it deserves a build. Don’t over-do your promo, yet at the same time don’t be lax—just continue steady expansion.

If you have great live recordings that include video, by all means post them on YouTube. But be cautious, if it’s less than stellar, it can hurt you more than help you. Be smart and self-critical; if your content is great, go ahead and post, if less than outstanding be cautious enough to wait until you have a spectacular presentation of your talent. If you want to be a successful artist, you must have at least some ego-driven confidence in your ability. But that ego cannot be overriding: it must be logically tempered. If in doubt-ASK YOUR CLOSE FRIENDS FIRST! Is this good enough? Then respect their advice.

When you have a new song that is finished and have a deal with iTunes or other online music sellers, post it right away. We live in an instant gratification society that wants what it wants when it wants, so make your music available when it is polished and finished. But make sure it is completed to your best ability. At the same time, don’t over-saturate the market. A series of posted “teaser” singles is a good way to promote your eventual physical CD that you will sell at shows.

But in today’s plethora of online music, it is still important for people to discover a band playing live, and continue to support them because fans love their music. So scheduling live shows is important. However, please, be smart about it. Although it should be obvious, I’ll say it again here: you as a band are not big enough to do two shows in the same week in your market without diluting the draw for both (with rare exceptions if you get offered opening for two major bands—only exception). And this is even true when you go on the road. Sure it’s tempting if you get two paying show offers in the same city the same week. But by playing both (even if you are paid for both), won’t it dilute your drawing power?—resulting in neither promoter inviting you back again?? Think seriously about this.

And actually, it’s probably not a good idea to do more than two shows per month in your market—go play out-lying towns if you love to play! Number one, you want promoters to know you will draw, and you won’t draw if you are over-exposed. Number two, your fans want to have a good time with other people when they come out, and will do so if the turnout is large as they will run into more of their friends and make new ones. And number three, if it draws a large crowd, the fans, the promoter and the other bands will be Tweeting and Facebooking showing how great it was, which will get even more people there for the next show.

Team up with the bands you like to play with for more shows in your local market. If you like each other, chances are audiences will too. Book package multiple-dates, then get in the SUVs and go play surrounding markets together! Build a territorial following.

We need more media outlets for alternativo music. The census has shown a tremendous increase in the population of Latino youth in the US (and a parallel worldwide with internet access). Yet since the whole late ‘90s, the number of hosts providing a weekly program of alternativo music has slightly decreased a bit, not increased on broadcast media in both radio and television. With the growth of the Hispanic population, this is inexcusable. If you are in college, and your campus has a college radio station AND you love music, volunteer to be part of it. You don’t have to be the greatest announcer on planet earth, you just have to appreciate outstanding music. I know there are lots of you who have said to yourself: “Should I do it, can I do it?” And of course the answer is “Yes, please try; probably you will be pleasantly surprised.” And who knows, it could turn into a professional broadcasting career.

However, even though it is easy to do, don’t start your own online radio station. Chances are, you don’t have the skills to promote it properly. But what you can do is make a demo program of what you would like to present, and then send a copy to established online portals like www.rockeros.net, www.GritaRadio.com, or radiotoxiko.com. If it’s a good mix of music along with you providing interesting insights about the music you are playing, they may ask you to do a weekly show for them. And, most importantly, they have music fans that come to their webpage in droves to hear good music, so there is a built-in audience. This is a far better than totally doing it on your own. But either Internet or broadcast, we need more of both.

And then there is the business end of our industry. Sadly, we’ve got a long way to go on this side, but it CAN be done. On a strictly local level, we in alternativo need more quality managers, booking agents, show promoters and online viral marketers in every major city. After all, this is a business, and we have need people who dedicated and knowledgeable to make it work. Whatever you can do to encourage friends and relatives to go into these important entertainment industry roles should be done. I just can’t over-emphasize this!

And what cannot be more emphasized is the importance of publishing your songs! Since you should be publishing, both Delia Orjuela and Marissa López do a great job at BMI assisting artists when they form their own publishing company, providing showcases (including SXSW and CMJ), and exposing music to those who may consider it for a TV show or movie. ASCAP and SESAC do a credible job as well, but having known Delia and Marissa for so many years, I know they will give your music that “special care.” Copyright and publish your songs so you start earning income when they are used in any media and/or advertisement, or covered by another artist, and the song becomes a hit. Don’t shut yourself out of this source of revenue, while this also doubles as a copyright protection.

Recently I read that the Canadian band Katrina and the Waves, who only had one big national hit “Walking On Sunshine,” earn ONE MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR on publishing royalties for this song, between airplay royalties and use in commercials. For the four band members who equally share publishing, this is $250,000 every year for co-writing one outstanding song. This could happen to you if you get lucky with a killer musical composition.

These days, two companies control the majority of the concert business in the US: Live Nation and AEG. Yet because both are public companies with stockholders, they are not always willing to take chances on new upcoming artists. How do you get their attention? How do you get your band included on a local bill, or a tour or multiple shows on a tour? First you need to send them an EPK (yes, this is the electronic age) including bio, recorded songs, videos, press releases and reviews. But secondly, they should also know you have fan support in one of two ways: either have your fans email them directly requesting presence on a show, or (with permission) send them the email addresses of those following you who want to see you open for a name artist and are willing to buy tickets to see you do that. But don’t be shy about letting Live Nation, and to a lesser extent AEG know you deserve to be an opening act.

Some have said it’s the end of an era of record company dominance. I don’t quite believe that yet. Even though Universal has just completed a purchase of EMI, taking us down to three majors: Universal, Sony, and Warners, these companies still control most of what happens in the Latino music world, not just here in the US, but worldwide. The internet provides a possibility of becoming well known without them, but it is a long shot. Yet throughout this last decade, the major labels have stopped having a person in charge of alternativo (all four did have such a position when I came back to LA to promote El Cohete, and I met with them and recieved CDs from them on a regular basis in the early 2000s). Someone, one of you, needs to infiltrate a major label, maybe first as an intern, and then work up to a paid position of influence, and convince the powers-that-be that there is a major place for alternativo music among Latino youth. In just ten more years, over 50% of kids under-18 in the entire United States will be Latino, and if trends continue, they will not have given up their ties to Spanish language or culture, truly bi-lingual. Sure, a significant portion are into rap, and others regional Mexican, and bands who sing in English, but there are still a lot who want to rock (in Spanish and in English), and they are being underserved.

And part of the reason for this is with internet communications, so many musicians today are playing in multiple musical groups and projects. While this may satisfy your musical muse, it is JUST SO WRONG for establishing your band as deserving stardom. For a musician, trying to break your primary band should be a full time job (even if you are working a regular job to pay the rent). Writing music, rehearsing, booking shows, promoting online is almost a full time job in itself, and then also holding down a day job, and maybe a relationship too? Don’t try to squeeze in a second or third band, unless you just want to play, and not necessarily get huge, because you are spreading yourself thin, and major recognition will not happen if you pursue this route. I can’t emphasize this enough, because so many musicians do not understand it: CONCENTRATE ON ONE MUSICAL PROJECT WHILE ATTEMPTING TO MAKE IT. The opportunity to spread out to other musical projects will be far more rewarding once you have achieved a following and stardom, or at least semi-stardom.

 

Lincoln Heights

 

Today, looking out of my bedroom window at the green the hillside after the morning rainstorm, there is a realization of how lucky I am to be living at my current residence in a picturesque canyon nestled in one of Ciudad de Los Ángeles' oldest, but most beautiful neighborhoods, Lincoln Heights! Gazing around my attic loft with the shelves of LPs and stacks of CDs, just smiling, musing, wondering: ‘who’s gonna be next to come over and share listening to music with me?’ ‘When is the next great CD going to arrive in my mailbox?’ making each day special in anticipation. Also, if I could leave a one sentence legacy, it would be “he got some things done, but keeps on trying and encourages others to push ahead.” Continue striving, hijos y hijas. Gente, you know I will, and you should too. Lots of great music will continue to come out for us to rock to. We’ll do it together.