Chicano rock

And Ritchie Valens, Sunny & the Sunglows, The Sir Douglas Quintet, Cannibal & the Headhunters, The Premiers, Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs and Thee Midniters,[2] all have made music that is heavily based on 1950s R&B, even when general trends moved away from the original sound of rock as time went by.

DJ Dick Hugg (aka Huggie Boy) and radio station KRLA 1110 played a big role in promoting this music.

Chicano rock music was also influenced by the Doo-wop genre, an example being the song "Angel Baby" by the Chicana fronted group Rosie and the Originals.

"[10] In the early to mid-1960s, the American audience was probably more open to Latin sounds than even today because of the popularity of bossa nova, bugalú, mambo, and other forms.

[12] Another group to appear on American Bandstand as well as open for The Rolling Stones, was The Premiers with their hit rendition of a Don and Dewey song called "Farmer John".

Leading the way in music was the band Cannibal & the Headhunters, composed of five young men from the projects who recorded a national hit, "Land of a Thousand Dances," and almost overnight found themselves opening for the Beatles on the British superstars' 1965 tour.

That same year, Thee Midniters hit the charts with "Whittier Blvd.," an anthem to East L.A.'s most famous street, the home of a late-night cruising scene that expressed the California car culture that Mexican Americans were making their own.

Penned by frontman Domingo "Sam" Samudio, it holds the distinction of being the first American record to sell a million copies during the British Invasion era.

[8] Along with visual artists, activists, and audiences, the musicians of the East Los Angeles chicano rock scene form an emergent cultural movement that speaks powerfully to present conditions.

The musical practices of the East L.A. scene bring to the discussion the dislocations and displacements of people of color in urban California, but they also reflect the emergence of new forms of resistance that find counterhegemonic possibilities within contradictions.

Ronstadt holds dear the memory of childhood serenades by "The Father of Chicano Rock," Lalo Guerrero, a close family friend.

Among the most popular female pop singers, Ronstadt is one of the most influential Chicana musicians ever, as evident in her extensive discography and four-decades long career.

Maldita Vecindad is a rock en Español band whose music is a mixture of punk, rap, ska, funk, and Latin.

With the successful tours and concerts alongside Los Lobos, Ozomatli, Taj Mahal and Michelle Shocked, Quetzal has played intimate clubs and large arenas alike.

The band combines rock, Afro-Cuban, country blues, and jazz elements to support the wide-ranging, bilingual vocals of Martha González.

[26] Robert Lopez AKA El Vez started operating an art gallery called "La Luz de Jesus" and created a show dedicated to Elvis.

and the Mysterians, made up of Hispanic American musicians from Bay City and Saginaw, Michigan, was the first band to be described as "punk rock."

Proceeds from the album, titled Evil Stig (Gits Live spelled backwards) went to fund an investigator into Zapata's death, which had become a cold case.

Her music reflects an accumulated rage evolved from being made fun of for not speaking proper English and having to witness domestic violence at a young age.

[33] Alice and the Bags are known to be responsible for "co-creating the first wave of California punk alongside the likes of Black Flag, X, the Germs, Phranc (then in Catholic Discipline), and women that came to be known as the Go-Go's.

"[32] Many popular Chicano and Chicano-led rock bands began to emerge during the mid and late 90s such as P.O.D., Los Lonely Boys, MxPx, Adema, Downset, Spineshank, At the Drive-In, Fenix TX, Ünloco, Union 13, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Ozomatli, The Latin Soul Syndicate, and El Vez, the "Mexican Elvis."

Although they claim that they do not consider themselves to be a Latin rock group due to their lack of Spanish speaking fluency, it can't be denied that they are a reflection of the Chicana experience.

Girl in a Coma are the modern Chicana punkeras that have already picked up quite the large audience since their 2007 debut with their "all-American" punk rock feel.

[35] Chicano rock music is being led by a wave of socially and politically active Latin-fusion bands that emerged and gained popularity in the 1990s such as Aztlan Underground, Ozomatli, Lysa Flores, Quinto Sol and more.

Their music in general pulls from other genres (soul, samba, reggae, and rap) and utilizes multilingual lyrics (in Spanish, English and Nahuatl) and takes themes like urban exile, indigenous identity and multiracial unity and layers them in order to put into the spotlight important social issues.

One of the larger purposes of the music is to draw attention to "present conditions of oppression and disenfranchisement" in the East L.A. scene, and to provide a form of political possibility to those who are less powerful (financially, socially, etc.).

[37] Chicano rock's origins in diverse places like Los Angeles and San Francisco requires us to consider the many cultures that went into its creation.

"[38] A shared experience in America amongst members of Lipsitz's "historical bloc" led to cultural, and musical, fusion that transcends national borders.

It's undeniable that Chicano rock helped create a distinct Mexican-American identity, but this includes elements of other Latin American nations.

Loza writes, "Latin America must be considered a cultural entity much like that of other continental areas––for example, the United States, Europe and East Asia––where intercultural expression ultimately signifies various national identities and 'characters'.