Rock music - whether in English or Spanish or somewhere in between - had as much right to be a part of Latin American youth culture as any other import.Įric Zolov is Associate Professor in the Department of History at Franklin and Marshall College, author of Refried Elvis: The Rise Of The Mexican Counterculture (University of California Press) and Rockin' Las Americas: The Global Politics of Rock in Latin/o America, co-edited with Deborah Pacini Hernandez and Hector Fernandez L'Hoeste (University of Pittsburgh Press). Latin America was already a hybrid of cultures and modernizing sensibilities. America was in Vietnam, and Che Guevara was rallying youth of all stripes to defend a "true" Latin American identity, one in which any traces of "foreignness" must be purged.īut purity exists only in a lab. Given the time period, it's not difficult to comprehend why. To sing in English was an even worse sin. Here's Alex Lora singing "Lenon Blues."ĭuring the 1960s, rock was regarded by many on the left as the music of imperialism. But before El Tri became famous as Mexico's premier original rock band - a label they've long claimed based on the band's Spanish-language lyrics - they sang and wrote exclusively in English. The fact that this shortening of their name also playfully mocked El PRI, the ruling party at the time, only added to the band's appeal. (Trying saying "Three Souls in My Mind" three times fast you'll pretty quickly get "The Three" or, if you're a native Spanish speaker, "El Tri.") Sound familiar? No? Well, how about El Tri, the iconic Mexican rock band? Yes, they're one and the same.
One of the most important this was The Three Souls in My Mind. Here's Apple Pie's "La Respuesta de Nadie."īut in Mexico, the shift away from covers toward original rock stuck with English. Singing in English didn't make them any less Guatemalan, since the sheer act of being a rocker then was nothing short of heroic. Still, this was no guarantee: After a rock festival in 1969, the police tortured members of S.O.S.Įnglish was also possibly a means of escape, not just from the forces of the right (who were out to kill), but also those on the left (out to recruit).
QUINTAESENCIA LABORATORIOS CODE
So writing in English became a form of code - a way of resisting authority without danger of being branded as guerrillas. When groups like Apple Pie, S.O.S., Caballo Loco and others were performing, any form of political expression was extremely hazardous to your health. The Guatemalan authorities were on the lookout for subversives.
The country was wracked by political violence, and the word desparecido ("disappeared," as applied to political prisoners) was heard in Guatemala more than a decade before Argentina became infamous for its legions of desparecidos. Is there anything as Guatemalan as Apple Pie?Īlmost all the rock bands in Guatemala were writing original material in English during the mid '60s.
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