How much better can it get? Will the Wolf Survive? is the 1984 music video that exploded East Los homies Los Lobos into stardom. And don’t the guys look young⁈ Released 35 ago years today! Yikes.
How Will the Wolf Survive? is the major label debut album of Los Lobos. In 1989, it was ranked #30 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. In 2003, the album was ranked number 461 on the magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
I live in NYC, and I have to admit, it had been a long time since I spent time in L.A., close to a decade.
In 2008, I visited my tía abuela who lived in Orange County. She drove me up to L.A. to see Olvera Street and a quick drive through Boyle Heights. It’s been a decade since then, and this summer I had a few days and a rental car, so I saw some things. I had some taco literacy work to do, but more than that, I wanted to learn more about the gente, to visit some places that have been mythologized for me, a Chicano from rural Arizona.
Califas, as I heard y’all refer to yourselves, I had come to get to know you better.
Mas…NYC profe visits East Los, eats tacos, takes photos, buys Doyers shirt
East Los pocha Hope Sandoval and her group Mazzy Star’s Quiet, the Winter Harbor — their latest release — is both lovely and disturbing. As always, Sandoval shines with the most distinctive and memorable voice in rock music today, and the atmospheric production makes the melody soar. Mazzy Star is on Facebook.
PREVIOUSLY ON HOPE SANDOVAL:
Mas…Hope Sandoval and Mazzy Star: ‘Quiet, the Winter Harbor’ (video)
My mother, Carmen, often sent me to La Paloma Market, while my brother Salomon watched I Love Lucy re-runs. We lived in East Los Angeles’ Ramona Gardens housing project, where I had to be selective about the routes I took.
Since I feared the barking dogs along the alley, I always took a shortcut through the hill that was controlled by a local gang, the Hill Boys. The homeboys never bothered me on my daily trip for groceries, especially since we attended Murchison Elementary School at the same time.
Mas…This is true story of my fight to earn the right to be Smiley #1
La Quirky Nancy’s Cousin Becky from the Bay Area moves in with Nancy, but when they grab some METRO shared bicycles and tour the new hood, things don’t turn out exactly like Nancy expected.
PREVIOUSLY ON LA QUIRKY:
Mas…La Quirky Nancy visits a ‘gentrified’ East Los coffee shop (video)
Tacos y Trifecta‘s official horse and taco lover Jose Contreras stops by one of the famous King Taco restaurants and says the carne asada is a solid 8.4. And the red salsa? Aiyee!
PREVIOUSLY ON KING TACO:
Mas…East Los Angeles iconic chain King Taco gets an 8.4 (video)
In 1964, East Los Angeles pochos The Blendells had a hit with a Latin-tinged cover of Stevie Wonder’s La La La La La.
East Los Homies Cambalache takes the traditional son jarocho sound, adds futuristic costumes and settings for the stunning new video Butaquito Lindo.
What’s it all about? The YouTube page explains:
Mas…Cambalache’s new video: Son jarocho in another dimension
In Mujer Soy, by Las Cafeteras, we see a day in the real life of Maryann Aguirre, a woman from East Los Angeles. Happy International Women’s Day! (Remixed by YUKICITO.)
Mas…This One Goes Out for International Women’s Day: Las Cafeteras ‘Mujer Soy’ (video)
East Los musicians Las Cafeteras have long made political progress a signature element of their sound and the band’s new single continues the tradition.
If I Was President — released on Monday, Presidents Day — starts with the son jarocho song Señor Presidente and “then flows into a bilingual hip hop-folk fusion, with lyrics that make you dream, think, come up with alternatives.”
Today is the big game — Roosevelt vs Garfield — the Boyle Heights East/Los Angeles high school football rivalry that has lasted generations. The Roughriders meet the Bulldogs this evening at Weingart Stadium on Avenida César Chávez in Monterey Park.
In this 2013 poetry video, David A. Romero supplied the play by play.
They were ordinary people living ordinary lives, until one singular sensation of circumstance conspired with fate to make them UNSUNG HEROES OF HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH.
In 1978, a young Chicano actor from Montebello, CA went to tailor Yossi F. Berkowitz to try on a new suit custom-made for his starring role in a Los Angeles play. Right away, he noticed that the coat sleeves were too long.
“No problem,” said Berkowitz, a long-time shop owner in nearby Boyle Heights. “Just bend them at the elbow and hold them out in front of you. See, now it’s fine.”
Mas…Unsung Heroes of Hispanic Heritage Month: Berkowitz the tailor
Our favorite East Los singer, Hope Sandoval, teams up with Massive Attack in this release of The Spoils. The new music is officially available via the band’s smartphone app.
Sandoval and Massive Attack also collaborated on this 2010 song, Paradise Circus:
In this moody, black and white 2 minute study : Mariachi, video creator Kimo Easterwood hangs out at Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights, on Los Angeles’ Eastside.
East Los homies Las Cafeteras are back with another rebellious La Bamba Rebelde, this one a danceable remix.
Here’s the original 2012 video:
East Los band Quetzal dedicates this video to the street vendors of L.A., the only major U.S. city where street vending is illegal. To learn more about the efforts to help hard-working families like the ones in this video, check out the Los Angeles Street Vendor Campaign on Facebook. Quetzal is the collaborative project of Quetzal Flores (guitar), Martha González (lead vocals, percussion), Tylana Enomoto (violin), Juan Pérez (bass), Peter Jacobson (cello), and Alberto Lopez (percussion).
Mas…Quetzal tells a tale of urban survival in ‘The Coyote Hustle’ (video)
La Quirky Nancy discovers mangos in East LA and lives to tell about it. #laQuirky #Columbusing
PREVIOUSLY ON DISCOVERING MEXICAN MANGOS:
Quirky food video blogger katie q discovered this totally delicious new healthy food treat LOL OMG. Latino-style people eat this all the time, I’m so sure! It’s a fruit they call a “mango” and they squeeze lime juice on it and add hot sauce, just like you put mousse on your hair when you go out clubbing. Srsly, is this quirky or what?
Mas…Food blogger La Quirky discovers the joys of Mexican mangos (video)
In the Great Video Game of Life, a little love from (plus tortillas, cumbia y nopales) can help you escape the zombies and crush the bullies. A true story from Los Cenzontles.
PREVIOUSLY ON LOS CENZONTLES:
Mas…When life is a video game, love is your secret weapon (video)
In Mujer Soy, by Las Cafeteras, we see a day in the real life of Maryann Aguirre, a woman from East Los Angeles. Happy Women’s History Month! (Remixed by YUKICITO.)
Mas…A Day in the Life of a Woman: Las Cafeteras: ‘Mujer Soy’ (video)
When BuzzFeed served some Taco Bell specialties to L.A. Mexicans, reactions were — let us say — mixed. We know it’s L.A. because they mention King Taco in East Los. Try it, you’ll like it. We also recommend Guisado on Cesar Chavez. And Eastside Luv right by Mariachi Plaza offers a great selection of refreshing beverages for an 80°March day like today.
Mas…Watch: BuzzFeed serves Taco Bell to L.A. Mexicans + @RoValderrama
It’s the fall football classic — Garfield versus Roosevelt — the East Los high school football rivalry that has lasted generations; David A. Romero supplies the play by play.
Public affairs documentary producer Charles Cahill presents Street Gangs: Challenge to Law Enforcement a 1970s training movie digitized from a 16mm film purchased on eBay, according to YouTube uploader GuilfordGhost.
Who are the OG’s in the video? Recognize anyone? Has anything changed?
Mas…Las Clikas de L.A. according to El Popo (1970s docuvideo)
The competition is set for the parking lot behind the bleachers in hot and windy El Monte, East Los, Califas. Can tattooed veterano Rizer put down his mocoso and beat hipster Ben, even if Ben is wearing his magic $3 thrift shore shirt? It’s a thrill-packed race up to the chain link fence and back again and there’s a hyna standing by with prizes. Skip Ventura of Varsity Punks reports.
East Los homies Las Cafeteras are back with a son jarocho version of the Woody Guthrie’s classic This Land Is Your land with acoustic aplomb and some updated Spanglish lyrics:
Mas…Las Cafeteras: This Land Is Your Land (music video + lyrics)
(PNS reporting from EAST LOS) “It’s a sad day, ese,” said Ray “Code Boy” Santos, OG founder of area hacker clika MS2 (MS.DOS). “I saw the Windows XP Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) so often, he was mi hermano.”
“We used the XP version of Excel to tweak the hydraulics of Felipe’s ranfla. And I used to have weird dreams about the 3D pipes screensaver,” he told PNS Thursday. “All we had for music in those days was pinche Winamp, carnal, and we liked it!”
Mas…Local PC user laments passing of Windows XP: ‘RIP, BSOD!’
A lanky British guy got lost driving in L.A. because Google Maps; lucky for him, he ended up in friendly East Los Angeles.
PREVIOUSLY ON LOST IN TRANSLATION:
(PNS reporting from the EAST LOS ANGELES) Pocholandia security officials issued a terrorist alert this morning prompted by the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370 over the Gulf of Thailand or the Strait of Malacca or wherever that shit happened, yo.
“I am alerting you terrorist pendejos. Stay the hell out of East Los!“ said spokesman Gustavo “Little Lalo” Madrigal of the Minivan Crips, a volunteer neighborhood watch group.
“The AMERICAN ME ORANGE ALERT is the second highest alert classification used by the Pocholandia Security Advisory System, bitches, so watchale!” he added.
Graphics by Victor Payan via Hollywood Sign Generator and Personal Threat Level.
PREVIOUSLY ON TERRORIST THEATRE:
From Latino USA: Little Julian Herrera was a heartthrob singer in East L.A.’s rock and R&B music scene. But one day, he disappeared, taking with him the secrets behind his identity and his fate. A fascinating story from Alex Schmidt.
Mas…Missing: Little Julian Herrera, East Los Chicano Rock ‘Bigfoot’ (audio)
The band is Thee Commons from East Los and they debut officially on BrotherScienceTV’s Rewind on YouTube today. Since you asked, it’s Lion on guitar, Monkey on drums and Wolf on bass.
They were ordinary people living ordinary lives, until one singular sensation of circumstance conspired with fate to make them UNSUNG HEROES OF HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH.
In 1978, a young Chicano actor from Montebello, CA went to tailor Yossi F. Berkowitz to try on a new suit custom-made for his starring role in a Los Angeles play. Right away, he noticed that the coat sleeves were too long.
“No problem,” said Berkowitz, a long-time shop owner on Whittier Boulevard in nearby Boyle Heights. “Just bend them at the elbow and hold them out in front of you. See, now it’s fine.”
Mas…Unsung Heroes of Hispanic Heritage Month: Yossi F. Berkowitz
Dorian Wood is a Los Angeles-based avant garde (“alternative” is not a big enough word) composer and performer who publishes his own compositions via a company called Why Are You Doing This Music which maybe gives you a hint of what to expect from his self-produced album Rattle Rattle. This version of the Echo Park homie’s original song La Cara Infinta (on the album) was recorded live on July 5 at the MorYork Gallery in L.A. That’s Ms. Eddika Organista on guest vocals. Just wow.
You want more, right? Here’s the complete audio for Rattle Rattle:
Mas…[Chamber music for chipsters] Dorian Wood: ‘La Cara Infinita’ (video)
