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:
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)