Peruvian rock
From Freepedia
Contents |
The beginning
Rock entered the Peruvian scene in the mid- to late-1950s, through listening to performers like Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Bill Haley, who popularized rockabilly in the United States. The first Peruvian rock bands appeared during this time; they included Los Stars, Conjunto Astoria, Los Alfiles, Los Incas Modernos, Los Zodiacs and Los Atomos.
The 60s:
New trends like British merseybeat and American surf became popular. A few Peruvian bands like Los Saicos built a loyal audience. Their music was a fusion of psychedelic rock, garage rock and surf; they were followed by bands like Los Yorks and Los Jaguares, Los Silvertons, The Belkings,Los Doltons, Los Shain and finally Traffic Sound (the latter the first Peruvian supergroup, merging the core players from both Los Hang Ten`s and Los Mads).
The 70s:
During the military dictatorship of the late 60s and 70s, rock was outcast as an alienating phenomenon by the government of General Juan Velasco Alvarado in various ways: banning concerts in key venues, banning the import of "alienating and Yankee" American rock music, and even banning a highly anticipated Carlos Santana concert. Despise this, some bands that left their mark where those like Traffic Sound, Pax, We All Together, Telegraph Avenue and Fragil, the best band from this era, who still plays to this day. Slowly but surely, Peruvian rock descended into its most obscure era during the mid 70s, losing the momentum it had laboriously gained. Disco music and Salsa dominated the airwaves for the remainder of the decade.
The 80s:
During the late 70s and early 80s, rock was confined to the underground; with no radio and very few rock LPs to import, the current state of rock music, and the deep crisis that the country was suffering, Peruvian rockers looked for a way to channel their frustrations. In this environment, it is no surprise that British Punk Rock became a major influence to the young Peruvians rockers of this era, and quickly an "underground" scene started brewing parallel to the free-again 'mainstream' scene. Bands like Leusemia, Narcosis, Zcuela Cerrada formed part of the first group - contestatary groups and with members mostly from poor neighborhoods. Bands like Fragil, Rio, Miki Gonzales came from upper and middle-class backgrounds, showing some of the divide of Peruvian society. The 'underground' scene was by far the richer in creativity, so quickly several bands started appearing and creating subgenres within the umbrella 'underground' scene. The radio or TV support was nonexistent(the mainstream bands barely had any), poverty and lack of technlogy prevented most bands from recording any moderate-quality material. Despite all this, the present and future looked much brighter than in the 70s.
The 90s:
The further growth of the underground scene and the liberalization of Peruvian society and economy (thanks to president Alberto Fujimori) allowed different rockers to split and form their subcircuits, and rock became very diversified and varied. The best (but not necessarily best known) rock bands from Peru came out during this decade. Leusemia became the leaders of not only the 'underground' faction, but of all Peruvian rock, undergoing a change from very basic rock band to a prolific and influential group that included rock anthems, ballads and symphonic, almost progressive rock. For those who liked the 80s post-punk, Dolores Delirio, Voz Propia and Cardenales were the best of the 'goth' sound. Huelga De Hambre was Peru's grunge-influenced group. G3, Radio Criminal, Los Mojarras, Mar De Copas, La Liga Del Sueño, Rafo Raez where very solid bands of diverse genres that soon were followed in the late 90s by other great bands like La Sarita, Ni Voz Ni Voto, Cementerio Club, D'Mente Comun and Líbido that expanded Peru's rock universe. Due to financial difficulties and lack of support from promoters most bands from different backgrounds had to end up playing the same few venues, which allowed the forming of a solid, knowledgeable and loyal fanbase. Although the concerts were very small at the beginning (50 people, average), as the decade progressed, more young people started to notice these bands and fill bigger venues with 500, 1000, 2000 people. Towards the end of the decade megaconcerts like "Agustirock", "El Niño Malo", "Antimiseria" and "Inrockuptibles" brought in at least 10,000 fans each. Peruvian media continued to largely ignore these bands, but started to slowly open up in the late 90s. The few Peruvian acts that got exposure where of a decidely more upper-class and 'safer' sounding rock. The best bands of 'mainstream 90s' rock were Los Nosequien y Los Nosecuantos, Miki Gonzales and Arena Hash, from where member Pedro Suarez Vertiz became the most commercially successful Peruvian rocker of the decade as he went on a solo career.
The 00s:
With a mature and prolific rock scene, what was needed was exposure to all of Peru and also to all of Latin America. Due in thanks to the improved economic presence of the country as as whole in the region, this came soon. Amazingly, Peruvian TV and the Latin American division of MTV was quicker to notice and bring in Peruvian bands in their shows than the own Peruvian mainstream radio. Suddenly, Peruvian band videos were in normal rotation alongside regionally known acts like Soda Stereo, Shakira and Jaguares. Peru's most successful band ever became Líbido, selling hundreds of thousands of discs worldwide and receiving Grammy nominations and several Latin MTV awards. Soon other commercially oriented bands like Zen and TK encountered similar success. This doesn't mean that rock stopped developing at the local level. Inyectores, Los Fuckin Sombreros (both made up of ex-G3 members), Campo De Almas, 6 Voltios, DaleVuelta are but a few of the dozens of new groups that are coming out these days, and most of the 90s bands are still playing and have greatly improved the quality of their offerings. Radio stations are currently much more receptive of Peruvian Rock, given its recent relative commercial success. Even given all this, Peruvian Rock is still aways from reaching the levels of popularity, commercial success and international recognition as Spanish rock, Argentine rock or Mexican rock. In a country like Peru where Salsa will always remain dominant, the future of Rock n' Roll is exciting and promising, nonetheless.
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