This clip from American Bandstand is so old everyone is in black and white, including a 20-something Dick Clark. Dick presents a gold record (1,000,000 45 RPM singles sold) and introduces The Champs and their hit Tequila.
We featured the back story on this tune in our series Unsung Heroes of Hispanic History Month:
Jesus “Chucho” Perales, a founding member and guitarist with Mando & the Chili Peppers, a band considered to be among the very first of the Chicano rock ‘n’ rollers in the mid-1950s, died Sunday. He was 78.
The Chili Peppers were the first Mexican-American group to appear on American Bandstand. The group toured the country, played Las Vegas and performed with Ritchie Valens, the Champs and Duane Eddy. The band’s album, On the Road with Rock N Roll, recorded in 1958, is a collector’s item.
He received his first guitar, a Gene Autry model, when he was 8 from Alfred Flores Sr., owner of Alamo Music. By 14, Perales was playing rough joints with pioneering conjunto musician Valerio Longoria.
Jesus “Chucho” Perales was born on Christmas Day 1935.
Mas…RIP Jesus ‘Chucho’ Perales, Chicano rock pioneer (video)
The Premiers were an American garage band in the 1960s, best known for their 1964 hit, Farmer John.
The band was formed in 1962 in San Gabriel, CA by brothers Lawrence Perez (guitar) and John Perez (drums), and neighbors George Delgado (guitar) and Frank Zuniga (bass).
They practiced in the Perez brothers back yard, encouraged by their mother, and soon started drawing crowds to their rehearsals. They were discovered by Billy Cardenas, who managed and produced other Chicano bands in the East Los Angeles area and won the group slots supporting artists such as Johnny “Guitar” Watson and Chris Montez.
Mas…Great pochos in rock history: The Premiers ‘Farmer John’ (video)