The Challenger’s came from Puerto Rico. I’ve seen the band name also listed as The Challengers without the apostrophe.
I know very little about the group, but members included Reno Haliff (aka Moreno Habif – lead vocals), Alex Rodriguez (rhythm guitar and vocals) and Jorge Casas (aka George Casas – bass) as well as a few I only know by anglicized first names: Eric, Joe, Kenny and Jose.
For this release (Mariel 5012) I prefer the b-side, “Emily” written by Reno Haliff. It’s an interesting mix of psychedelic, soul and latin influences, and dates to either 1968 or 1969.
The softer A-side “Martha Does” was written by Alex Rodriguez.
They had at least one earlier 45 (Mariel 5009): a version of Lennon-McCartney’s “It’s For You” that sounds nothing like the original, along with a more pedestrian version of “Needles and Pins”. Like “Martha Does” / “Emily”, both sides are also on their LP. Their album has other good songs with a similar jamming style as these, along with an excruciatingly long version of “Blowing in the Wind”!
Some additional info on the band is available at Tony Alicea’s site.
Were any other rock groups on the Mariel label?
mi nombre es alfredo de santurce,no se si lo sabia pero ahora esta surgiendo un revival de garage y rockandroll 60’s en puerto rico yo y unos amigo somos djs de esta musica y estamos tirando bailables de rockandroll para educar y enfiebrar a la juventud con esta etapa tan importante y salvaje del genero.por esto han surgido bandas de jovenes como davila 666,los vigilantes y otras q son influenciadas y simulan este sonido de los 60’s.si tu o alguien q conoces nos podria ayudar a tratar de compilar en un disco algunas de las bandas de garage de puerto rico que existieron en los 60.esto nos ayudaria a nosotros y en esta nueva y maravillosa fiebre.
Would like more information on you’re progect. I was part of that scene from 62 to 68 people forget that Puerto rico has a bigger history of rock not just in the metro area and some band did form out side of the metropolitean area some of them played in a place called Fonsville if I am not wrong ,Bayamon had a place called’ Casual aire Friday nights and saturdays. Thank for you’re time
Yep, I use to play in Casual Aire with The Apaches – 1967
Hola,
Fui el organista 1968 . 1969.
Me agrada ver que aun pasado el tiempo se nos recuerde.
Tato Guzman
Hola Tato, soy Wilfredo Gonzalez, no si te acuerdas de mi, me decian jibarito ,hacia las luces con Gino, simple recuerdo la Musica, jamas se me olvida, vivo en Hamburg, Pennsylvania, cuando Mario Rafi?
Cuidate mucho, 👋
Le dabas duro al órgano era lo que más sobresalía en cada canción. Te felicito
The challengers,The thunders,Los bandoleros
Los challengers practicamente en la Marquesina de la calle 8 de Montecarlo,Rio Piedras Puerto Rico.El director era Rafael Marquez.No entiendo como el nombre de el no aparece en ninguna reseña..Inclusive tocaron en el centro communal de esta urbanizacion.Puedo dar fe de los escrito,por que yo estarà presente en las practicas,en Baile y en Hiram Bithorn,cuando a brier on para The Who
Hola,
Fui el organista 1968 . 1969, quizas un poco mas tiempo.
Me agrada saber que aun nos recuerden.
Rafi era quien manejaba los contratos, Wiso Velez era quien dirigia la parte musical.
Gracias,
Tato Guzman
the los sonset-discoteca lp is pretty good. they were also in a movie of which the name escapes me at the moment. anybody got any info on los x-5?
Yes, I mention again that I’m Puerto Rican, in case anyone forgot. But I know just a little bit more than you do about Los Challenger’s. They weren’t as big as Los Sonsets who were The Young Rascals/Rolling Stones/ Beatles of Puerto Rico.
The Challenger’s most likely recorded in 1970 since their obvious Afro-Cuban touch would remind anybody of Santana (Carlos was a Mexican, though). Contrary to general opinion, most Puerto Rican rock groups (and Latin American groups generally)were not trying to display any obvious non-Anglo touches as their bag was basically being just like the American and British groups. If they were progressive rock or folk rock then maybe yes, but if they were beat or hard rock, then no.
Afro-Cuban and Brown Power were not part of any Latin American rock scene until after Santana, Cesar Chavez, Black Power. Speaking of that and Brown Power, most rock groups in Latin America were composed of members of the mostly white elites who if they went on to embrace Brown Powere it was simply a revolutionary bag or a national identity bag as opposed to a personal identity bag.
The Young Rascals were the only big name beat combo that played in Puerto Rico and that was a few years before the only rock festival held in Puerto Rico, Mar y Sol(Sea & Sun)in April 1972, a rather criminal disaster. The Supremes were the only big name vocal group – black or white- who performed in Puerto Rico, and I can assume that if a Puerto Rican group backed them up it most likely were Los Sonsets.
Also, a bearded blonde Anglo-Rican cat named Alfred D. Herger (no Spanish name, just like me)was the main promoter man on what was known as either the a-go-go or ye-ye scene with radio shows, TV programs, and small time movies. Unfortunately, nice pop solo singers like Chucho Avellanet (Avehyanet), Lucecita Benitez and Jose Jose (Spanish verion of This Diamond Ring) dominated this scene while all-out rock bands like The Challenger’s and quite a few others (complete with longish hair and mod suits and an ability to be just like the mainland (U.S.) groups )were relegated to a second tier. But Los Sonsets were THEE GROUP in Puerto Rico.
Chucho and Lucecita remained stars in Puerto Rico throughout the 70s along with many other fairly nice pop singers, some of whom embraced political stances and Puerto Rican folk music such as Danny Rivera (who started off in a Beatle type group). Organ-driven sad and moody ballads (think And I Love Her, Tell Me, When A Man Loves A Woman) dominated Latin American radio in the 70s (along with forms of Afro-Cuban/Rican music) and one of the main international stars and masters of this genre were Venezuela’s Los Terricolas (earthlings).
A Puerto Rican friend of mine named Julio was the drummer in a early 70s Christian themed heavy metal group (Black Sabbath style) called Holocausto, and needless to say they were nowhere near the Puerto Rican Top 40 charts. At least one of the Sonsets took a similar route, and Julio has been friends with most of the various fluctuating members. Julio still plays drums and congas.
Please post as this is rather informative. If anyone finds any errors please address them with corrections. I’d love to “hear” from anyone else who’s hip to what went down on the Puerto Rican rock scenes of the 60s and 70s.
Hi!
Thanks for the great info about Holocausto! I am really fascinated by this band! I was wondering if you have their recording? I can only find the 5 songs on YouTube but am desperately searching for the others. Do you have them?
Please contact me at
timXXhen@gmail.com
(please remove the “XX” – it’s just “timhen”.
Thank you!
Tim
I saw the Challengers open for the Grass Roots in San Juan–I’ll guess around 1970. They were very good. I was living in Ponce at the time, and I remember a local Ponce band that I thought was very good, called Garabato. Anyone remember them?
I was surfing and looking around for 60s bands from Puerto Rico. I’m from Ponce and remember the band Garabato. Great band it was a power trio if I remember correctly.
Bass player was amazing player!!
Hope someone has some audio somewhere. Thanks!!
Take care!
THe Young Rascals were not the only big name beat combo to played in Puerto Rico during that era. There was the amazing show by the Vanilla Fudge in San Juan circa 68-69. This power trio had a monster keyboard player ( i always had a feeling that the Sonset’s keyboardist, Indio wanted to sound just like this..Dino the bass player of the Sonsets, this is where he was coming from, pure Vanilla Fudge)
When they came to Puerto Rico, their organ broke down, they almost had to cancel the show…but somehow a touring group from latin american, a lounge group happened to had had a similar keyboard, that is how the show went down!…their poster pic in EL Mundo Newspaper was a great pic that I used to have in my room.
http://youtu.be/s2z8TpFV748
The Byrds, The Dave Clark 5, Vanilla Fudge also played in Puerto Rico during those days (1960s) in addition to The Young Rascals. My band (1964-69) was The Stokes (Puerto Rico Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, 2014).
The Sunset band were as good as the challenger and the bandoleros and Los Diamantes.
Jose, me acuerdo muy Bien de Los “X5”, pues yo vivia en la Tapia#67, y los veia practical mucho en casa de “Golun”. Nosotros tambien teniamos un grupo llamado, “The InCrowd”. Tocamos con uds en El salon de la Iglesia Santa Teresita Al frente del Willies, Cuando uds tocaron Help, de Los Beatles, sonando igualitos. Saludos.
There’s some inaccurate information in this comments, which I would like to address at another time. But, for example, at WBMJ, one of Puerto Rico’s top Radio Stations at the time, The Challengers first single, “It’s For You”, occupied the No. 1 position for 7 weeks in a row, and the second single, “Emily”, right after, for 5 weeks in a row. That’s 12 weeks in row, total. The Challengers had their own TV Shows in PR, ads at movie theaters, featured shows at local hotels, etc. Also, we played just about every gig in sight!
About the congas, we always had one in the band, even before Santana. Being from PR, and given that Salsa ruled, we were just expressing a bit of our culture.
I am not saying that this band was better or worse, musically speaking, than any other band in the Island at that time. But for whatever reason, it was the biggest commercial success ever for a rock band at the moment. We were even offered a record deal with Roulette Records (remember “Crimson & Clover by Tommy James and The Shondells?), that unfortunately didn’t came through. And on and on!
We were just another garage band inspired by The Beatles, CSN, and other vocal oriented bands (congas and latin influence came with the turf). We were around the ages of 18-21 and had no formal musical training. Just our desire of playing some rock and write our own tunes.
Let it be clear that I’m doing this just for the record. I’m alive and still active in Show Business in Puerto Rico, Life has been great to me!
Also, I’ve had a very succesful party, Top 40 band, for the last 25 years. It’s called Extasis Band (in Puerto Rico), Website is down for the moment but you can see us, and write to us, at Facebook.com/extasismusic.
Anyway, hope everyone stays safe and God bless you all! Peace & Love. ✌🏽
To be continued!
I used to be a fan of the Challengers and I think you were great! Wish I could listen to your music again. My favorite one is “It’s for you”. If anyone knows where to find it, please let me know.
At http://www.imdb.com I searched for Alfred D Herger, Chucho Avellanet, Lucecita Benitez, Los Sonsets. A few movies came up, such as Milionario A-Go-Go, Curandera Del Pueblo. The former is close to what we’d like. But nothing came up with Los Sonsets.
This cat, El Jibaro?, who now only plays Puerto Rican mountain folk music started out as a rocker in the early 60s and was in fact a member of Los Sonsets in the late 60s when they were in a movie with Chucho (and Lucecita?) and I’m afraid the movie isn’t listed at imdb or Los Sonsets aren’t included in any cast list. Unfornunately, his info is no longer online.
I think The X-5 and The Challenger’s were on the same website.
FROM http://WWW.WIKIPEDIA.ORG
50s and 60s
The 50s mark the introduction of the genre in the island. With the Elvis Presley hype in the USA, some of it reached the island. Puerto Rican Alfred D. Herger started bringing rock acts into the island motivating the local audience to embrace it. This input, and Herger’s tutelage, ignited some young artists to start a movement that was labeled as “La Nueva Ola” (The New Wave). This movement included artists like:
Chucho Avellanet
Lissette, and others.
Herger also led several television night shows where he showcased rock music from the island and the USA.
Late 60s and 70s
In the mid to late 60s, several Puerto Rican bands started surfacing with some mainstream success. Most of these performed in English. Some of these were:
The Teen Sounds
The Sonsets (IN MEMORY OF MUSICAL DIRECTOR: JUAN REYES (KAKO)
The Night Walkers
Abram Shoo
The Living End
X-5
The Stokes
The Challengers
The Thunders
The Telstars
The We Know You
The Cromagnons
In the early 70s, other bands like Bandolero, and La Banda del K-rajo had some underground success. In the late 70’s another number of bands emerged from San Juan area bars like Shannan’s Pub and Donna Face. The most popular bands at this time where Taíno, Pelican in Flight;Spoiler;Albatross;East Side Band;and many more.
At the same time, a movement of Nova trova musicians was growing in the island led by singers like Roy Brown and Noel Hernández. During this time, the local radio station AlfaRock starts broadcasting rock music in the island.
Those were good times .
The Cat is Don Jibaro, me… Orly. I’m working on a page to document my time there. See me here http://www.jibaros.com
Los Challengers originales de Sumitt Hills eran Kercado,bateria,Jorge Casa quitarra,Toñito y Cesar Castro quitarra y Edwin Quinones cantante 1965.
yup thats the moive millionaire a go go. i have a few lps by the nightwalkers. the are ok.
My band (The Stokes) was very good friends with the Challengers since 1965 San Juan, Puerto Rico.
This is a page I made about their new (as of May 2007 album: http://loschallengers.com
And I helped with the Wikipedia article…
Hola Tony: Soy primo de Walter, el bajista. Los Stokes fue una de las grandes bandas: Caparra Country Club, Casino de P.R. , hasta la Iglesia de Torrimar…y no acabamos. Yo tocaba teclados con Juaco… después en “Gramma”, la banda de Gary Núñez. Recuerdo tu casa bajando para Caparra Shopping. Una vez nos prestaste creo que tu Jazzmaster para un baile en una casa en Garden Hills. Sólo grabamos un 45 “Girlie” en Caribbean Recording en la Roosevelt en Caparra, al lado donde estaba la agencia Badillo. Ahora estoy incursionando un poco en el Jazz… otro lenguaje, pero el rock es lo que entiendo de nacimiento.
Espero estés bien. Saludos
hola alfredo,
estoy interesado en tu idea de hacer una recopilacion de garage-psicodelia de puerto rico 60s70s.
ponte en contacto y hablamos: maitreya.kali @ gmail.com (quita los espacios)
saludos
The movie was called “Virgenes De La Nueva Ola”… I joined the band after Billy Soto left, when they were at the top of their game in 1967-68… lucky me. I saw it for the 1st time in LA television many years later… I got paid $60 for being in it, eventhough I was in quite a few scenes, yet I loved the chums. After me, they had one more lead guitar… Harry? …
is there anyway i can get a digital copy of an Los Sonset or Nightwalkers album ?
My father was a member of “The Night Walkers” and I would love to surprise him with video footage of them playing on TV. Of course back when the band was togther there were no VCR or DVD players where their presentation could have been recorded. The Night Walkers played on the Iris Chacon show and with Chucho Avellanet. Do you know how I might find video footage of them performing? I would really love to provide him with this as a gift. I greatly appreciate any help or direction you can give. Thank you.
Really enjoyed the site. Lots of great memories of grownig up in San Juan in the 60’s. BTW, The Byrds played @ Hiram Bithorn Stadium in 1967 – incredible concert!
I was the lead guitar for Holoausto, the christian band. I’m asuming that the reference to one Julio as the band’s drummer means Julio (Zorri) Berríos, but he was not. Julio was a good friend & he made the art for the cover of Holocausto’s only recording. The actual drummer (and vocalist) was Jim Rivera. We played all original progresive rock. We didn’t consider ou music to be heavy metal, although it did have metal overtones. Our influences lean to the progresive bands of the early 70’s like Genesis, Uriah Heep, ELP, Deep Purple, Utopia with a touch of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. We made one record and have reunited twice to play together again. The other members were Frank Silva (bass & vocals) and José Rivera on keyboards.
Holocausto has been called “the islands’ (Puerto Rico) all time best progressive rock Christian band” in the Croos Fire Ministries web page, http://www.firecrossministry.org
Che!
I have been tracking links down all over the web trying to find Holocausto’s music! I LOVE the 5 songs that are on YouTube but cannot find the others anywhere!
Would you please contact me at
timhenXX@gmail.com?
(remove the “XX” – it’s just “timhen”)
don’t want to get automated spam in my email!
Tim
____________
Yes, they played at HB and it was my first concert!! The Young Rascals also played around the same time. And, of course, who can forget the infamous concert in 71 featuring The Sly and Family Stone that was sponsored by Gillette were they were giving free razors at the door and ended in a riot with many people getting cut by the razors…. los muchachitos de Canales acabaron ….. At that concert my buddy Enrique “Goose”, and I met Grace I., from Floral Park…… what an evening…..
Oh I remember that concert!!!! Who came up with the idea to pass out razor blades anyway? Some of my friends were discussing this again the other day.
yea a gringo from fajardo made it to see sly midnite or later before coming on me sister and pregnant wife. hold up with the sound i was loaded and helped wire it up (worked at elec stereo store) showed appreciation by shoving me off front of stage. we still talk about that nite here in dallas
And don’t forget Los Vagabonds, El Pero, Efrain El Puerco, y los demas…… Musica Guevo y Gufeo el disquito que grabaron. “…Musica, Guevo y Gufeo traigo pa’ ti, palo, maltrato y trabajo tienes pa’ mi”….
Orly, I remember you and Los Sonsets, en el Miramar Center, la Hofner hollow body roja de 3 pick-ups (I still have a 65 model of that guitar…..), el Lito, los “pelus” en los Elks en Condado para los tea dance sans, Victor el pelu loco bajista de los Telstars, Pura, Pipe y la morena (no me acuerdo el nombre) cantante de los Living End, los B-3 con las Leslies….. Wow…. good times, man…..
Desearia saber si tienes videos o discos de los Sonsets. A mi se me extraviaron hace mucho tiempo
En Youtube se pueden encontrar algunos de sus numeros musicales.
Do you remember the X-Strangers and Los Tropicales. Los Tropicales played a lot at la casa de espana on sundays. The x-strangers had a 45 record with a song called ‘bonita’ 9in english0
My first EVER concert….my mom asked me how I liked it…I told her it was o.k. except people were screaming SO much I coul not stand that.
So much so that on more than one occasion they had to stop playing and both Mc Guinn and Crosby had to ask the audience to tone it down – great concert otherwise!
BTW, if you haven’t yet, you HAVE to check out the 2007 CD “Los Challengers” by some members of the original group plus other incredibly talented musicians. There are also a couple of videos on YouTube by them.
The Byrds and the Grassroots were also here in Puerto Rico.
The Carpetbaggers were a much better band but never achieved public recognition.
Iwant to thank you for mentioning my band,Pelican In Flight, We were the main band @ Shannons Pub for awhile,but what some people forget is that we came as a result of the break-up of 2 bands,which were popular at the time:Arrasa and Taino,and we were the house band at The Hippopotamus in Condado.We also opened for concerts at Hiram Bithorn and Roberto Clemente,we alos did The Iris Chacon Show,Made a record(45)and Played all over my precious island.It was a hell of a ride and we still keep in contact w/each other to this day.I am in Seattle right now and seeing our name on this page was a surprise caise after all these years i didn’t think anybody still remembered us. Thank you very much and keep up the great work.DANNY(LEAD SINGER FOR PELICAN AND ARRASA)
Danny
hello
saw Pelican at Shannons pubs, Rincon, all the times opening in Hiram Birthorn, Coliseo Roberto Clemente and Coliseo Guaynabo for the 1st Saga concert.
also purchased the 45rpm with “714” & “vision and games”. for some reason after 30 years that 45 misplaced and looking to replace it. any idea who might have a copy I can purchase?
thanks,David
XXXXsiete_veces_77@hotmail.comXXXX
please remove XXXX from front, back of email to reply
I am very interested in this band.. Does anyone know if they have some single, ep or Lp?
Thank very much
Was that Grace Iguina, by any chance?
My nombre is Frank Colon
Soy nativo the Cayey y tocaba guitarra con People of Time.
Jimmy Rivera en Drums, Yuyo Rivera en Organo, Kenny en Bajo, Edgard Rivera, Cantante y yo..
Parece que nadie se acuerda the People of Time
Esta banda toco desde 1965 hasta el 1969 o 70.
Yuyo, Jimmy, Edgard, Frankie
Tocaron en THE TRIP SAN JUAN y DOWN UNDER, Santurce.
Yo todavia toco un poquito y tengo una pagina in http://myspace.com/voricua21
Los que se acuerdan the esta banda pueden enviar mesnages at ceo@boricua21.com
Si alguien tiene retratos, se apreciaria si los pudieran enviar.
Before they were Holocoust they were PEOPLE OF TIME.
JOSE RIVERA / JIM RIVERA / EDGARD RIVERA / KENNY LEBRON / FRANK COLON
The Dave Clark Five, Vanilla Fudge, Sam The Sham and Pharaos also. Emerson Lake and Palmer in Mar y Sol Festival.
Hi World and Puerto Rico my name is Javier “Payer” F. Ayala Estrada and im a drummer , an a DAMN GOOD ONE. Is great to know that people remember rock bands from the 60’s because my father was the bass player from THE NIGHT WALKERS , to bad he passed away and didnt see us playing ,cause my recent and main project is THE BROTHERS BAND and the members are us hi’s three son’s wich are Fernando 3 , Ingrid Tatiana and Me(Javier F. Ayala).We will love to make a tribute to those bands(THE NIGHT WALKERS and the others)there’s an idea for a great party. My uncle Felix Ayala it’s alive(thank GOD) an he was the guitar player from the band(THE NIGHT WALKERS)and I know he’ll like the idea of a reunion and I’ll be honored to do so. PLEASE REPLY SOON and send a link to see photoes and videos of my family playing(father and uncle). THANKS payerdrummer@gmail.com
Hola Michelle Quien seras ? Mi papa tambien fue miembro de la banda , el era Fernando y tocaba el bajo y mi tio Felix la guitarra. Mi tio por parte de madre tiene LP’s y sencillos de ellos. me encantaria saber de tu papa para que me cuente del mio ya que fallecio. Soy de Mayaguez , mi cel. num. es 449-4544 , me gustaria saber de ti pronto ATT. Javier Ayala(y mis dos hermanos y yo somos musicos tambien) e-mail payerdrummer@gmail.com porfa escribeme pronto al e-mail o por facebook por Javier Payer
dont know where you were in the 60’s 70’s,but puerto rico had a great rock music leaders plus spanish bands that came from spain.The biggest bein “La formula 5ta”.From puerto rico we had a lot but the two biggest were “the challengers” and bandolero”,bandolero being the biggest that came from puerto rico.The hits “love me tonight” and together” were number one in puerto rico for weeks,there was a big concer in san juan that was also the battle of the bands between bandolero and the grass roots,sold out and guess who won.The challengers had a 15 minute show at 12 midday in puerto rico for 6 months.We also had another band from ponce that had a hit called.amor propio”.There was a local band in ponce that played at the discoteca called “el cid”,the band was called “garabato”.El k-rajo and cielito lindo bands came from the break up of bandolero.By the way the first hispanic hit in the us was made by ray barretto and was called el watusi in the 60’s.About carlos santana,i have been a santana follower since 69 and let me tell you that since he went to puerto rico in the 70’s he fell in love maybe you havent heard his latin song or spanish songs all speak about puerto rico.In new york in the 70’s we had also latin rock bands the two being “toro” and “seguida”,also an all female band called “lat from her husbanin fever”,the leader was larry harlows wife and shes puerto rican.Then in the disco era we had celines soto known as “celibee” and the rice and beans orchestra from her husband pepe luis soto,in the 60;s they were with la nueva ola in puerto rico,I still got my original album from bandolero but not in great shape than god i found the album in a bittorrent file.If you have heard of jose noguers then you know part of bandolero and at one time he had a page with the puerto rican rock scene history and mp3;s from the challengers and bandolero for free.Dont know if it still up.I guess im getting old but if i remember any more ill write it here.
if you want to hear the original songs and download them and find the hidtory of the challengers from the horses mouth alicea and see where you can buy the las talbum they did in 1991 go to this website
http://loschallengers.com/
have fun
by the way the biggest latin rockero that has come from puerto rico has been arcelio garcia he has sold the most albums here in the us and puerto rico.That whos arcelio garcia you ask,none other than the leader of malo.And yes they are still playing juntos.Malo was not george santanas band,it was arcelio garcias ban.
In 1970’s Puerto Rican music legend Rafael Cortijo recorded “Time Machine”(Maquina del Tiempo) album. Wiso Velez Participated. It was released from Harvey Averne’s Coco records. Many DJ spun it in my country during 1990’s.
You mentioned the Hippopotamus… the same person was owner of the Playmate Club nearby… do you remember who the house band was for that club?
What else can you share about the late 1960s / early 1970s music scene in Puerto Rico, as well as the nightclubs and discotheques.
I worked at Gatsby’s Cage, Latin Q (above the Red Rooster Restaurant), Corky’s Discotheque, and the Playmate Club.
I was going steady with and/or married to musician Gonchi Sifre during part of that era. Among his bands was the We Know You and Abram Shoo.
Be sure to do a search and read Tony Alicea’s web pages about the music scene during this period.
Someone mentioned that The Young Rascals came to PR for a concert, but don’t forget to mention the concert of THE BYRDS!
http://tony-alicea.site.aplus.net/alicea/bio2.html
http://tony-alicea.site.aplus.net/trapiche/
Hey Penny,
I think my great-grandfather owned the playmate club which sadly caught on fire back in the 1970s and took my great-grandmother with it. Would love any information you have!!
Jena
HEY! SEGUIDA IS STILL ALIVE AND MAKIN MUSIC…. CHECK IT OUT!
http://www.reverbnation.com/store/store/artist_160397?item_type=music
i have this record and have tried every where to find out info on it. pretty amazing front and back cover and a very good prog record. i cringed too, when i heard the metal comment. the credits for players list julio(zorri)berrios,osvaldo budet and duncan gonzalez the only other name mentioned is jonatan castro. the lp is on Discos RoKa LP-7418. It has the christian references on it but ive never been sure that it was. assumed that at first but listening to it(i dont know spanish period) theres really no hint of xian to it. just good progressive hard rock. well written songs and very competent playing. any more info would be cool. if you’d like photos of it, id be glad to send em. i cant do sound clips yet , so i cant add that to things. very glad this showed up.maybe jose ramos used a different name, or members changed. i’ll check out the croos fire ministries and see where that can take me on my quest to find out about this pretty cool piece oh wax and paper.
I remember Pelican!! Didn’t Taino play guitar for that group? I also remember Gilberto Alomar & Mana Peniel, Los Catacumbas as well as Holocausto. These were all christian rock bands from the 70’s. Anybvody remember Top Banana???
Hi. I am 57 years old. I remember La Discoteca Pepsi, and Marianito Artau saying: Dino, Indio,Orly & Cuco, los fabulosos, The Sonsets!!!
Glad you liked the album. I was the drummer and vocalist.
Jim Rivera
Yessss….that’s as her. Did you know her? Always wonder what happened ot her or is she is around. If you know please contact me……..
Considerando que mencionaron el Rock en español la Formula 5 fue un grupo posterior a la hola de rock fuerte en España. LOs Brincos,Los Diablos y otros tuvieron una contundencia fuerte en europa tano que los Brincos fueron considerados LOs Beatles españoles..de ese grupo salio Juan y Juan famoso duo y luego Formula5ta
Fui parte de esa era ya que aunque nuestra banda era mas baldas (tipo Tempo 70, Peanuts Mini band) Los Selectos tuvimos aportunidad de hacer un trabajo discografico y fui su guitarrista, y director vocal..soy rockero tadavia paro “sufri “el embate de la Invasion Britanica de la A a la Z y siempre digo no hay epoca como los 60
You forgot about Santana who I saw twice at the Hiram Bithon Stadium, I also saw two other major rock groups there, but because of the ” haze ” I’ve forgotten who they were.
Aunque yo vivia en Aguirre y no se me hacia facil viajar a San Juan para ver los espectaculos,logre ver a The Dave Clark Five en el verano de 1967 en el viejo Comandante. Tambien me logre a the Rascals,la segunda vez que vienieron al Bithorn,Sly and the Family Stone y The Grassroots,tambien en el Bithorn.Dos de los primeros grupos que vinieron a Puerto Rico fueron The Animals y The Byrds,ambos en el Bithorn y Booker T con Priscilla.
Anyone know where I can get a copy of Holocausto on vinyl ? I will pay the price ! The l.p. with the colorful cover art of what looks like a dead sheep on a sacrificial altar. Thanks for any help !!!
I played bass with Los X-5. We started as a simple group, never thinking of becoming professionals. Just a bunch of friends, having a good time on weekends. I started with Jorge Vazquez, playing latin “boleros” at home. Then came Carlos Rivera, aka Golun, who brought Daniel Cabrera. Eventually, Daniel brought his brother, Luis Cabrera, as a singer.
This happened in the late 1962. The X-5 were, unknowingly, organized, thus:
Luis Cabrera (RIP) lead singer
Daniel Cabrera lead guitar
Jorge Vazquez second guitar
Jose Ocasio Bass and vocals
Carlos Rivera (RIP) drums and singer
Jorge was inducted into the army, so he was replaced with David, aka “El Pelu”, since he was the only long-haired member of the group, and with whom the long playing was recorded by Kubaney Records. It must’ve been 1966 then.
Two of our members have passed away; Jorge lives in Arkansas with his wife; Daniel became a Biologist, and is actually retired; David lives in Florida and I became a Family Physician, still living in Puerto Rico, in the same house where the X-5 originally began.
Jose, me acuerdo muy Bien de Los “X5”, pues yo vivia en la Tapia#67, y los veia practical mucho en casa de “Golun”. Nosotros tambien teniamos un grupo llamado, “The InCrowd”. Tocamos con uds en El salon de la Iglesia Santa Teresita Al frente del Willies, Cuando uds tocaron Help, de Los Beatles, sonando igualitos. Saludos.
I remember the Sundays at La Casa de España. Los Tropicales played together with a rock group called The Jetsons….if I remember well.
Holocausto l.p.
I wrote a book abou the History of Rock N’ Roll in PR that covers 50 years, from 1960-2009. I would like to know it’s possible to promote it in your site. This book has 954 pages and include everything about the Rock genre not only in Pr, but also around the word. The book also includes the most important facts in politics, tecnology, sports, religion and social events.
I wil be able to send a briefly description about the sixties, that include the foreign bands that performed at the island in that time, as weel as the local bands, including photos and memories from musician. If you are interested, please send me an email to edgardo99@yahoo.com. Thanks in advance to still promote the Rock in the island.
Little Anthony and the Imperials
What do you have about The Teen Sounds. They were a band of the ’60s and new all of them. Personally they were great!
As i remember, Santana and his band came to P.R. on 1970/1971, just before his third album. His concert was at the Hiram Bithorn baseball park and was kind of violent. There were lots of rock bands during late sixties and early seventies. The most memorable were Los Sonset and Los Challengers. Most of Los Challengers first L.P. songs were hits and had a very distinctive sound. Most garage bands had what it takes to be famous indeed, each with its own sound. I think that the lack of bussiness savy played against them. I think radio stations here in P.R. should play those records for the new generations. Hey, i think Alberto Carrion was in some way related to Los Challengers.
The discotheque movement from the 70’s included Othello, El Circo, Rashids, El Boquete, Jezebel, Warehouse, El Inodoro, Mirage, and in San German, La Cueva de Luis Candela. For me, the best were Othello, Mirage and La Cueva de Luis Candela.
I would like to connect with some of the guys from the original Teen Sounds?
How fortunate that I found this article…..”In the early 70s, other bands like Bandolero, and La Banda del K-rajo had some underground success. In the late 70’s another number of bands emerged from San Juan area bars like Shannan’s Pub and Donna Face. The most popular bands at this time where Taíno, Pelican in Flight;Spoiler;Albatross;East Side Band;and many more.
Hello there>>>>My name is Rafael Marrero, known as “Beto” I was the lead guitar for “EAST SIDE BAND”. I am currently 56 years “young” and I have not lost the passion for rock music and playing even more. I remember playing in Shannons Calle Loíza in Santurce, PR. Also performed at El Morro,Old San Juan, a concert produced by Joe Vasquez. That day many rock bands played. From 1973 to 1977/78 played almost every weekend at Navy Base Roosevelt Roads-Ceiba, Fort Allen- Juana Dias, Fort Buchannan, Guanabo, Sabana Seca Army Base, Toa baja. In 1975, the Navy hired EAST SIDE BAND to play in Guantanamo, Cuba.
Currently I live in Caguas, PR, where I “jam” with local musicians. I am rehearsing expecting to have a new band soon.
Regards,
BETO 787-775-7517
I used to be the drummer for the “Hungry Men”, we used to play at “Centro Miramar” I remember the “Living Ends” playing “help” for the first time in PR, Pura had a Grey Gretsch…they sounded just alike. I also watched the Sunsets practice in Barrio Obrero the song “Thunderball” from “007”, we were the first group to play “We got to get out of this place” by the Animals in Centro Miramar…..Tomás, the lead guitar for the Sunsets became our lead guitar at the “Hungrymen” what can I help you with? Take care….I remember “The travellers” with Manuel Sastre…..lead…
Debes ser del Barrio Obrero como yo,pues detras de mi casa ensayaban Los Sunsets y me acuerdo cuando practicaban Thunderball. Yo era el bajista de los Kingbirds en el 67. Tambien tocaban por ahi Los Starlights.
Soy de Puerta de Tierra, yo trabajaba en el San Geronimo Hilton en el Condado, con el tio de Cuco…..(Cajeros)….sabes algo de los “Hungry Men”?
Yo soy de Puerta de Tierra, pero visitaba a Barrio Obrero mucho ….saludos…alguien tiene información o fotos de los “Hungry Men”?
Gilberto Alomar was the lead guitarrist for the LAST version of Los Sonsets
I remember my 1st concert Shooting Star, Kangaroo and Pelican in Flight at Hiram Bithorn in Puerto Rico…I was 14 at the time!!!! They all rocked…I also had that 45″ with 714 and Visions and Games. I would love to gat my hands on those songs.
Hi Roberto. Thanks for your comments about the band. We have been active in the past year. You can find us in Facebook as Banda Holocausto. Also there are 5 remastered songs posted in YouTube, including one that was nor in the vinyl record. Search in YouTube for holocaustogroup. Plesae contact us if you have pictures, videos or sound clips. Become a friend in Facebook to get updated info about us. God bless you!!
The movie that the Sonsets appeared was “Jibaro”. There were variosu other groups, in particular “The Bounets” which is where “Cuco” (Jose Gonzalez), the drummer of the Sonsets, started. This was a group during the 62 through 64 in Santurce. It’s members were Rafy, Cusin, Paquito, Cuco and Carlos (me). We played in varios local joints in Isla Verde, Old San Juan and TV programs like “Teen Time” and Channel 30. We participated in most of the local teen activities at the Star and Paradise Bowling alleys. Dino, Indio, Gullun and Cuco (later Tito Allen) were the mebers of the Sonsets. Prevoiously, groups like the Rocking Chairs and the Moondogs were also participating but, the fact of the matter is that Alfred D’Herger catapulted The Sonsets as the leading Rock Band of Puerto Rico. If interested, I have photos of these bands for your enjoyment. Carlos J
Hey Carlos, I think I know who you are. I used to live in Bo. Obrero around the the time you are refering to. I used to play in a small band called The Kingbirds,up in the 4th floor of El Pocito Dulce.
I would like very much to see all the band’s photos that you mentioned. Take care..
Ese web site no es honesto, puesto que no contiene la realidad.
En mi opinioon es que Tony quiere codearse con musicos como jorge casas, entre otros.
La verdad es que The Challnegers, fue el grupo preferido por la mayoria de los jovenes de aquella epoca, y estba integrada por Moreno Habiff, Rafi Marquez, Alex Rodriguex, Jose L Kerkado, Luis Veles, y este servidor, Tato Guzman. En muchas ocasiones nos acompanaba Hernan Cortes con sus congas.
Asi que de ese website, no vale la pena, no contiene nada util.
Tato Guzman
correction: the young rascals were not the only top band of those days to visit Puerto Rico ..The most memorable one was The Vanilla Fudge. They came for a monster concert. The heavy duty bands in those days always had an “organ” sound. Their organ broke down, and they had to rent one from a popular latin band, I forgot now what was their name…El Mundo, the “Times” of Puerto Rico published a full page poster of the band ..I used to have it on my wall…The Sonsets were “thee band”, no doubt about it, ( along with Los Diamantes ) but that was because they came on prime TV everyday ( los diamantes at 12:15 pm y los sonsets at 6pm.) with this type of exposure, they were Thee bands. but they cover bands, no trail blazers… The two groups to take the alternative, indie route, were Challenger’s and Bandolero. Challenger’s were big time with their hits , its for you ( a cover from the Three Dog nights…I never understood how they did that, because ITs for you was already a big hit in the States during the same period, dont know what the legal consequence was for recording a hit that belonged to another band) their other hit I don’t recall. But Challengers did not tour as well as Bandolero ( my fave band of that period) Bandolero had a single ‘Come together” an original tune, they toured the island a lot and that was appreciated, they never wore shoes, they were always barefoot and that was a big anti-establishment statement in those days!..After Bandolero and Challenger’s set their tone with 2 hits in the local radio stations, the Sonsets and los Diamantes were gone from the scene, never to be heard from again..Bandolero and Challengers were the new sound of the early 70s and the Sonset were basically a 60s band doing cover. at that point Salsa took over big with Willie Colon che che cole and the bass player of the Sonsets joined The Apollo sound (Roberto Roena) as back vocalist, during prime time TV ( apollo sound a salsa band replaced the sonsets!..that was another big blow for the rock scene of the island…that was the end of the Sonsets. The lead singer of bandolero, then joined the ‘back to nature’ movement and his music became very creole..he survived as a typical-progessive folk singer composer until recently…
The member of the sunset who went criollo was Dino, their bass player…He left the sonsets in ’69 to join the apollo sound with Roberto Roena ( a group that became the response to the New York invasion of Willie Colon. When Dino joined the Apollo sound, the Sonsets broke up and so did Los Diamantes, who were the counter group to the Sonsets
The Stokes and the Telstar were popular , but many of the other mentioned groups in Wikipedia are not so accurate
habia olvidado eso!..Los Byrds y the Vanilla Fudge also….Los Byrds eran el grupo americano favorito de los Beatles
Me alegro mucho ver que alguien recordara a este grupo. Los Carpet baggers were an underground band from the mid 60s, from Caguas Puerto Rico. I was around 8 or 9 ( iam 58 now) when I first saw “madamo”, (the leadsinger of the Carpet baggers) walked along the sidewalk of my school, with his super long hair and safari jacket ( circa 1963-64) they were a legend without playing at all. Madamo was the Eric Burdon-of puerto Rico, except that he was tall.
They did covers mostly by the Animals. By the time the Hippie movement caught up around 1969, The Carpet baggers did a rare come-back( yes come back already in ’69) and Madamo had cut his hair short . He wore pink bell bottom pants and that was some courage to do so in ’69. That was a memorable moment for me, because it was the first time I went out as a teen ager, to see the legendary Carpetbaggers in Caguas…I was 15 by then..I still recall Madamo singing “Hotel Hell” by the Animals…it has been a moment that has haunted my life ever since..it seems like it was yesterday..It was also my first dance, my first bolero and the girl I danced with was cross-eyed, can’t forget that….By 1970, The Challengers and Bandolero were creating a new scene and doing their own music influenced by a heavier sound , the late 60s sound, The Carpetbagger dropped out of sight. Madamo got into weight lifting and would not hang out with the new hipsters in Caguas. he would sit in a corner alone, looking cool, just like people began to do 40 years later, with the body building craze and short hair look… Madamo had been there done that 4 decades ahead of his time. The Group carpet bagger merged into another legendary band with a long hair bass player named Lito, I forgot their name now, they came on TV once or twice…they broke up in drug related issues and the police pressure in those days…another memorable band from the Carpet bagger generation were the Peacemakers , a friend of mine was the lead singer, they did covers of the Doors…My cousing had a band in the early 60s doing covers of the Dave Clark five and Animals..they were the Head Hunters ( from Caguas)…I inherited their Silvertone guitar….
Carpetbaggers from Caquas, founding members where Alfonso (Fonsi) drums, Madamo singer, Anibal (first guitar), Lito (bass) who’s idol was Bill Wyman and Amilcar (rythym guitar). These were Phenomenal. I watched them rehearse in Caquas close to my home. I recall one day going to a rehearsal and they had customized their Fender Amps totally. Their were great, covers from The Byrds, Four Tops ( Madamos favorite). A lot of great bands in PR, a lot of fun and good music.
Hola, ahora estoy un poco confuso…mientras guiaba me paso por la mente que Habia un grupo de Caguas llamado los Peace Lovers…creo que estos era algunos de los miembros de los Carpetbaggers ( minus the lead singer “madamo”, who had retired from the scene by 1969…He was”underground” and the “hippie movement of the Woodsctock years was a turned off to him…In a way his example helped me understand the Rock revival of the 80s ( New wave)..it was the same concept of the New wave of Puerto Rico…so i was able to follow the movement from its inception in 1974 in New York, through my own experience with Puerto Rico’s Rock history…it was a question of “undergroundness” . Now my confusion is that I do not recall who came first, Peace Lovers or Carpetbaggers…It is possibly that the peace lovers was the band that merged from the carpetbaggers, judging by the name itself “peace lovers” which was a signature “thing” with the hippies…around 1969-70 ( at least in PR)..not sure though one thing I remember both groups were related..
Formula 5ta came from Spain to Puerto Rico in 69 and bandolero opened for them. In a club name La Roux …I was told Bandolero blew them away . Bandoleros arrived barefoot to the club as usual in those days, and play their heavy Organ-influenced -Rock..Formula 5ta were too clean cut and they spoke no english. In those days “Spanish”, was the main stream and those outside of the mainstream, the hipsters and marginal thinkers were the English speaker clique, because they were the minority at the time…so when Formula 5ta began singing in Spanish with the “conserva” outfits, they sounded and looked lamed for the PR freaks…(BTW I was not there in the show, I was 14 at the time and was not allowed to travel to San Juan alone…but I rely on what older friends at the time told me, as they were in the concert and saw what happened.I did not get to see Bandolero until they came to Caguas in 1969..the only San Juan ‘s group to come to our turf..besides Los Diamantes..
Habia un grupo super importantisimo de Caguas, Los Mundos, el guitarrista era un melenu taino, con una melena de pelo que le llegaba a la cintura..ellos hacian covers the Blind faith y controlaba todo los bailes de Rock desde que los peacemakers y los peace lovers ya no tocaban…los carpetbaggers eran una leyenda pero tal y como las leyendas, nunca se confirmaban dando bailes, ( creo que Lito el bajista de los carpetbaggers vivia en Mayaguez)
El “melenu” que mencionas es Reimundo Cotto, que vino a formar parte de el grupo Mana Peniel
Hello, I stumbled upon this website and was surprised to hear about the Teen Sounds. My dad was the drummer for The Teen Sounds…Carlito Morales. He was also the original drummer for the Telstars before joining the Teen Sounds. Rod and my dad were good friends at Osuna High School. If you could send me your info I would love to pass it on to my dad.
Hey Orlando! you probably lived in the same neighborhood as I, since I remember listening the Sunsets rehearsing Thunderball from my house. I’d love to get in touch with you and interchange memories and info from that rock era.Here is my info in case you want to get contact with me:
Nestor Alvarez – From Orlando, Florida)
nesrok1@hotmail.com
(407) 276-3652
Carlos, Ithink I know you and woud like to get in touch with you!
407 276-3652
Dino Guy was probably the best rock band’s vocalist in the 60’s in P.R., not only did he have a very high voice, but it was very clear and mellow, when it needed to be. He was also the bass player and lead vocal, a task that proves to be rather difficult when it comes to singing rock, specially from those years. Ask me if you will, I have been doing just exactly the same for most of my life, and of course, Dino was my inspiration for doing so!!
I’d like to ask anyone reading this, if it is known where Dino is now and if he is still somehow conected with music. I followed all his wonderful musical trajectory(rock+salsa) throughout the years but not his whereabouts. I would really like to one day talk with him and let him know how he positively influenced my musical career. (407) 276-3652
Just for the record: I had a small band in PR for about 3 years then I left for NY in 67 and that was the end of that. The name of it was The Kingbirds, and we played mainly in Santurce, specially around the Barrio Obrero area.
Los integrantes: Nestor Alvarez * bass and vocals
Luis Oppenheimer * Lead guitar and vocals
Jaime Rodriguez * Drums
Jose Luis ? * lead vocal in the very begining
Ahora vivo en Florida,USA y todavia toco aunque no profesionalmente,solo ‘jamming’.
To let you long-time players/pickers know….Dino is at home in Nashville, TN with Hospice. He’s been quietyly battling cancer now for about a year….it has spread over his body. He cannot walk, but he can see texts, emails and so forth. He is also on Facebook as Dennis Dino Zimmerman. His children Penny and Brian, his ex-wife Beverly, and we of his extended family/friends are craving your prayers now. And? Would you please let others of the Picker Bretheren/Bossier Strip Refugees know? Many, many thanks.
Re: Sleeve “It’s For You”/”Needles And Pins”
Left to right (front):
Reno Habiff, Wiso Velez(co-author Emily), Tato Guzman, Rafy Marquez
Left to right (back)
Alexy Rodriguez, Jose Luis Kerkado (R.I.P.)
This was the recording band and the one that turned out to be the most popular
at that time.
“It’s For You” was number one on the hit parade charts in Puerto Rico for 7 consecutive weeks. Song came out on a Monday and
by Thursday it was already number one. A note about this achievement came out on Billboard Magazine. “Emily” came immediately after
and stayed in the number one position for five consecutive weeks. So, The Challengers stayed on top of the hit parade in PR for
12 consecutive weeks.
The Grassroots concert was at Hiram Bithorn Stadium and The Challengers were the opening act.
Encontre un LP raro de un nene de 9 años llamado Pachito (no last name mention) canta boogaloo, ye-ye- Au-go-go y es acompañado por 2 rupos que ciertamente son de los mid 60s (studio bands)Los Marlins (lead: Alberto Vadi) y Max y su grupo (Max Abril) sello La Flor #127….informacion please!…Email: cafsoto@gmail.com o tel. 813-472-9660
I rwemember them too…….I have some pictures of Los Tropicales……several of them went to my school Academia Santa Teresita
Not to forget: Kaleidoscope…!
One of the very best Psychedelic Bands ever and partly from Puerto Rico…
Here´s their story…
http://estroncio90.typepad.com/blog/2010/09/kaleidoscope-breve-rese%C3%B1a.html
Saludo desde Alemania…Miguel
Saludos! en el area de Mayaguez en 1963 al 1965, habia un grupo llamado ‘The Panthers’, quienes eran sanjuaneros universitarios en el Colegio de Agricultura de Mayaguez. ( CAAM ). Para el 1964 ya habian otros grupos de rock llamados “The They And I” y “The Imitations”, que tocaban constantemente en la Base Ramey de Aguadilla porque la audiencia eran los norteamericanos que vivian en la base. Esos grupos duraron hasta cerca del 1970. Del 1970 en adelante, se acabaron los grupos de Rock en Mayaguez y los grupos empezaron a combinar musica latina y rock-suave para propositos de amenizar bailes. Yo tengo 2 discos de “Los Sonset” si alguien los quiere comprar, que me hagan una oferta. El hit de Los Sonset en PR fue “Dulce Ayer”, que no era ni siquiera una cancion de rock sino una balada (bolero)!
You are in for a treat! We had a mini-reunion of many of the 60s musicians and their fans in Lake Worth, Florida, in early summer 2012. It was awesome beyond words! Here is a blog-video I took:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaBtvezbyjU
(Videos are not in the order in which they were filmed.)
Some of the stars: Adrian Montijo (at whose house we partied), Alberto Carrion, Reno Habif, Marilina, Roberto Puras, Tony Alicea, Joey (Lindin), Erika, Cuco, Chris Esperson, and a whole bunch of other folks you may recognize despite their being many, many years older now!! Many of them had not seen each other in dozens of years, and certainly not played together since.
We rocked the house down, lol. In fact, neighbors eventually called the police so we had so quiet down in the evening!
I have been trying to track down Dino (from The former Sunsets) for a quite a while,already spoke with El Indio and I more or less know about Tommy Huertas, but nothing about the elisive and great Dino Guy. Also, I would love to hear from their drummer ‘Cuco’,who used to live across from my house in Barrio Oberro.
Check out below this web site where you will find loads of information about the early P.R. rock bands of the 1960’s. It’s a continuous work in progress so bookmark it because I add more information, pictures and videos as I get them. The main goal is to have a place with accurate information (or as accurate as the brain memories allow jaja) where the band members themselves send me their stories and pictures.
http://www.rockinpr.net
Email me at erikarock60@gmail.com if you had a band and want to add your info or pics to the web site.
I have many unique original recordings of 1960s-70s Puerto Rico Rock bands. I used some of them for videos that I assembled and uploaded to two of my You Tube channels: jucopr and jucogld.
The Thunders. http://youtu.be/hwtG6na5sys
The Spiders. http://youtu.be/V0d2Qa7NXZs
Kaleidoscope. http://youtu.be/D4vZNKkZFnI
Ralph Yunque, Michael J. Felicie, Juan Correa. http://youtu.be/5RWNOcL9oiY
http://youtu.be/4qs0AjL7oWU
Treat. http://youtu.be/6sF5qx7U4fI
http://youtu.be/neowKZSjKRY
http://youtu.be/i6s02xz2Q44
Nestor, I am in contact with Cuco. What is your last name so I can let him know who you are.
Hey Erika gracias for contestar. Mi nombre es Nestor Alvarez y aunque Cuco no me conoce por mi nombre,yo vivia en el Pocito Dulce del Barrio Obrero y oia Los Sunsets practicar a cada rato. Por si acaso Cuco me quiere hablar ,este es mi nuevo numero: (407) 276-3652. Gracias.
Mi nombre es Carlos J Nieves. Soy nacido y criado en Barrio Obrero y fuí integrante y co-fundador del grupo “The Bonets” (Rafy, Cusin, Paquito, Cuco (sí; el de los Sonsets) y este servidor). Fue con nosotros que Cuco (José Gonzalez) se inició. Eramos nosotros quienes primero ensayabamos detrás del Pocito Dulce, en los altos de la esquina Buenos Aires, en Barrio Obrero. Fue con nosotros con quien, por primera vez , tocó en la TV (la primera vez terminó la canción antes de tiempo).
Eramos el grupo de la Einstein y competiamos con los “Rockingchair”,
Fuimos el primer grupo en tocar musica de Los Beatles en PR en 1962 y 1963. Luego, surgieron Los Sonsets (Indio, Dino, Gulun, Tito Allen, etc.).
Si es cierto que tienen contacto con Cuco Gonzalez, denle un abrazo de mi parte y corroboren si lo que aqui les narro es cierto.
Me recuerdo hace algun tiempo en Ponce Puerto Rico cuando vi su grupo amenizando en la tienda Barker y tocaban la cancion It’s For You. Tienen buen ritmo y se escuchaban como en el 45 o major. Los Felicito.
Salvador, me gustaria saber si esa cancion a la que te refieres era una original o tal vez un cover de una banda americana.
A Erika o a cualquiera que este en contacto con Cuco o Dino de los Sunsets : pueden llamarme al (407) 276-3652. Tambien, si solo quieren hablar para recordar o hablar de esos tiempos, adelante!
Soy un bajista quien vivió en el Barrio Obrero durante los años 60s. Ahora resido en Orlando,Fl. Later alligators!
Favor de dejar un mensaje si no contesto, chill… ☻
Favor de llamar a mi cell, en vez de usar mi e mail,pues este no esta vigente en la actualidad.. Gracias.
Mi nombre es Carlos J Nieves. Soy nacido y criado en Barrio Obrero y fuí integrante y co-fundador del grupo “The Bonets” (Rafy, Cusin, Paquito, Cuco (sí; el de los Sonsets) y este servidor). Fue con nosotros que Cuco (José Gonzalez) se inició. Eramos nosotros quienes primero ensayabamos detrás del Pocito Dulce, en los altos de la esquina Buenos Aires, en Barrio Obrero. Fue con nosotros con quien, por primera vez , tocó en la TV (la primera vez terminó la canción antes de tiempo).
Eramos el grupo de la Einstein y competiamos con los “Rockingchair”,
Fuimos el primer grupo en tocar musica de Los Beatles en PR en 1962 y 1963. Luego, surgieron Los Sonsets (Indio, Dino, Gulun, Tito Allen, etc.).
Si es cierto que tienen contacto con Cuco Gonzalez, denle un abrazo de mi parte y corroboren si lo que aqui les narro es cierto.
¿Dónde dices que vivias? ¿En el, o cerca del, Pocito Dulce? Los ensayos eran en la Calle Buenos Aires, Esq., Lima, altos, en la casa de Cuco (José Gonzalez), quien era miembro de nuestro grupo, antes de unirse a Los Sunsets (despues Sonsets).
Ah, olvidé mencionarles que nuestra cancion tema era “What did I Say”
y “La Bamba”. Iniciamos en el Show de Myrta Silva y nos pagaron $300.00. Interpretamos “Let It Be Me” (cantando este servidor) y “And I Love Her”.
El hermano de Cuco, Rafy, y su Tio Miguel, nos ayudaban en todo. Hoy tengo 65 años y recuerdo cada minuto como si fuera hoy.
Orginalmente la banda se llamaba BSM “Back sStreet Minority” Donald, Roberto, Pedro, y Pepito eran los integrante. Luego Pedro Riera junto a su hermano Tito formaron “Los Excels” on Garofalo en la bateria, Tito, primera guitarra, Pedro en el bajo, y un servidor Salvador Bayron, segunda guitarra y cantante. Tocabamos musica de Grandfunk, y Beatles. La Rue, El Trip fueron 2 de los clubs donde tocamos.
¿Quien conoce las canciones de la banda de Rock de Puerto Rico Pelican in Flight; Visions and Games y 714? Si hay alguien que las tiene me encantaria que se comunicase conmigo para ver si puedo obtenerlas en mp3. Joe Taino, el guitarrista de Pelicans in Flight no tiene las canciones, yo me comuniqué con él via instagram.