Your professional name.
From now on it's Richie with a
TRITCHIEI got a new last name for you too.
Balance with an S Ritchie Valens.
As I grab you. I don't like it,
but Ritchie Valens accepted that as a
fact of life in the 50s to sell records,
a name like Valenzuela just wouldn't cut it.
He was forced to play down his Mexican
heritage to make it big and make it big.
He did before being killed in
a plane crash at the age of 17.
A movie about Valens life La Bamba is
performed by a group that in 1987 doesn't
have to swallow its cultural identity.
The band Los Lobos, their music,
rock and roll, and a lot of Espanol.
Los Lobos have been together for 13 years.
They've gone from a popular East LA band
to win critical acclaim nationally,
but it took the remake of Valens's
biggest hit La Bamba, to bring them their
first Top 40 single.
All the situation surrounding the
recording of this song and his
success has more more or less.
It's a lot more integrity than it
being just a novelty sort of song.
The band is at its best performing
in intimate clubs like the coach
House in San Juan Capistrano and
loyal fans appreciate the fact that
success hasn't spoiled Los Lobos.
They're going to stay the same
and that's what got him here,
and that's how they're going to say.
Could be the guys from East LA, always
East LA better known as the barrio.
It's where Los Lobos started
playing at weddings and parties.
The band is hoping its popularity
can help improve the negative image.
Many people have about Mexican Americans
switch plans and bandanas and
killing each other sort of thing to
to to be out there and kind of redefining
those things and letting people know
that we're just regular people and
we feel the same as everybody else.
And and we're showing a little
bit of concern for for one.
Another I think it's that that's a nice
thing, aside from just a musical part.
Los Lobos are true to their musical
roots South of the border and their
Mexican songs get at least as much
audience reaction as the rock numbers.
What makes the band different from
so many other Chicano groups is
its crossover appeal.
They do a good Mexican
music do rock and roll.
They do Blues, they you know
they're just a fun group too.
There's no denying Los Lobos have a good
time, but unlike most rock musicians,
you're looking at a band where four of the
five members are married with children.
It helps keep the. White lights and focus
family seems to keep everything in
perspective, that sort of thing,
so it's something that that
it just comes natural to us.
And if it comes across positive to
people, well, that's great too.
It was important to Los Lobos that
they get to know the Valenzuela
family when doing Ritchie Valens
music and La Bamba isn't the first
Vallon song the group has recorded.
Though Vallance wasn't a
direct influence on the band,
Los Lobos say they feel a spiritual
connection continuing the musical
legacy cut short by his death.
Will the wolf survive a question that
takes on more than just a musical
meaning since Los Lobos
means the wolves. This
is 1 Wolf Pack with its
survival instinct intact.
Jody Hammond News 8 San Juan Capistrano.