The Plugz
Encyclopedia
The Plugz were a Mexican-American punk rock
band from Los Angeles, California
that formed in 1977. They and The Zeros
were among the first Chicano
punk bands, although several Latino
garage rock
bands, such as Thee Midniters
and Question Mark & the Mysterians, predated them. The Plugz melded the spirit of punk and Mexican music.
This lineup recorded the band's first album, Electrify Me (1979).
After McBride left (sometime in 1979-80), he was replaced by John Curry from The Flyboys , but left to form Choir Invisible less than a year later. Larriva and Curry wrote the title track to the second album Better Luck. The musicians on the band's second album, Better Luck (1981), were:
Guests:
Tony Marsico joined the band in late 1980.
The band was formed in 1977 and was a contemporary of the bands featured in The Decline of Western Civilization
. Their songs reflected the anger and angst of growing up Chicano, and this was reflected in their sardonic hi-speed version of Ritchie Valens
' "La Bamba
". The Plugz are generally acknowledged as being the first D.I.Y. punk
band in L.A., having started their own PLUGZ RECORDS and later Fatima records.
The Plugz also feature prominently on the soundtrack to the movie Repo Man. They composed original instrumental music for the film, and performed "Hombre Secreto," a Spanish version of Johnny Rivers'
"Secret Agent Man
".
The Plugz accompanied Bob Dylan
on his appearance on "Late Night With David Letterman
" on 22 March 1984 for three songs: "Don't Start Me Talkin'" (by Sonny Boy Williamson
), "Jokerman", and "Licence to Kill".
In 1984, The Plugz name was retired and the three members formed the Cruzados with Steven Hufsteter.
The Plugz reunited the three founding members for The Masque 30th Anniversary Party and Book Release show on November 11, 2007 at The Echoplex in the Echo Park district of Los Angeles, California.
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band from Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
that formed in 1977. They and The Zeros
The Zeros
The Zeros were an American punk rock band, formed in 1976 in Chula Vista, California. The band was composed of Javier Escovedo on vocals/guitar and Robert Lopez on guitar, who were both attending Chula Vista High School; Hector Penalosa, , and Baba Chenelle, , who...
were among the first Chicano
Chicano
The terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...
punk bands, although several Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
bands, such as Thee Midniters
Thee Midniters
Thee Midniters were an American group, amongst the first Chicano rock bands to have a major hit in the United States. Also they were and one of the best known acts to come out of East Los Angeles in the 1960s, with a cover of "Land of a Thousand Dances", and the instrumental track, "Whittier...
and Question Mark & the Mysterians, predated them. The Plugz melded the spirit of punk and Mexican music.
Line up
The band was initially composed of:- Tito LarrivaTito Larriva-Early life:Larriva was born in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska, and El Paso, Texas. As a child he played the violin in the school orchestra and sang in the church and school choirs where he met his wife Janet Carroll. In 1972 Larriva snuck into Yale University for a full...
(Lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
/guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
) - Charlie QuintanaCharlie QuintanaCharlie Quintana was born in 1962, in El Paso, TX. Quintana was A drummer for the old school punk band Social Distortion, who joined in 2000 as the replacement of Chuck Biscuits , following the death of the band's former guitarist Dennis Danell...
(drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
) - Barry McBride (BassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
/Backing vocals)
This lineup recorded the band's first album, Electrify Me (1979).
After McBride left (sometime in 1979-80), he was replaced by John Curry from The Flyboys , but left to form Choir Invisible less than a year later. Larriva and Curry wrote the title track to the second album Better Luck. The musicians on the band's second album, Better Luck (1981), were:
- Tito LarrivaTito Larriva-Early life:Larriva was born in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska, and El Paso, Texas. As a child he played the violin in the school orchestra and sang in the church and school choirs where he met his wife Janet Carroll. In 1972 Larriva snuck into Yale University for a full...
(Lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
/guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
) - Charlie QuintanaCharlie QuintanaCharlie Quintana was born in 1962, in El Paso, TX. Quintana was A drummer for the old school punk band Social Distortion, who joined in 2000 as the replacement of Chuck Biscuits , following the death of the band's former guitarist Dennis Danell...
(drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
) (credited as "Chalo Quintana")
Guests:
- Gustavo SantaolallaGustavo SantaolallaGustavo Alfredo Santaolalla is an Argentine musician, film composer and producer. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score in two consecutive years, for Brokeback Mountain in 2005 and Babel in 2006.-Life and career:...
(BassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
/guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s/CharangoCharangoThe charango is a small Andean stringed instrument of the lute family, 66 cm long, traditionally made with the shell of the back of an armadillo. Primarily played in traditional Andean music, and is sometimes used by other Latin American musicians. Many contemporary charangos are now made with...
/Backing vocals) - Anibal Kerpel (keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
) - Steve BerlinSteve BerlinSteve Berlin is an American saxophonist, keyboardist and record producer, best known as a member of the rock group Los Lobos and, before that, Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs, The Blasters, and The Flesh Eaters...
(SaxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
) - Bruce FowlerBruce FowlerBruce Lambourne Fowler is a prominent American trombone player and composer. He notably played trombone on many Frank Zappa records, as well as with Captain Beefheart, and in the Fowler Brothers Band...
(TromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
) - Steve FowlerSteve FowlerSteve Fowler is currently group editor of What Car? which includes the magazines What Car?, What Car? New Car Guide, What Car? Price Guide and the website ....
(SaxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
) - Brian Qualls (PianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
)
Tony Marsico joined the band in late 1980.
The band was formed in 1977 and was a contemporary of the bands featured in The Decline of Western Civilization
The Decline of Western Civilization
The soundtrack was released in December 1980 by Slash Records on LP. In the late 1990s it was released on CD as well. It is currently out of print. Germs singer Darby Crash appears on the soundtrack album cover. He died shortly before the film was released, though the promotional images for the...
. Their songs reflected the anger and angst of growing up Chicano, and this was reflected in their sardonic hi-speed version of Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
' "La Bamba
La Bamba (song)
"La Bamba" is a Mexican folk song, originally from the state of Veracruz, best known from a 1958 adaptation by Ritchie Valens, a top 40 hit in the U.S. charts and one of early rock and roll's best-known songs...
". The Plugz are generally acknowledged as being the first D.I.Y. punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band in L.A., having started their own PLUGZ RECORDS and later Fatima records.
The Plugz also feature prominently on the soundtrack to the movie Repo Man. They composed original instrumental music for the film, and performed "Hombre Secreto," a Spanish version of Johnny Rivers'
Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers is an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. His styles include folk songs, blues, and revivals of old-time rock 'n' roll songs and some original material...
"Secret Agent Man
Secret Agent Man (song)
"Secret Agent Man" is a song written by Steve Barri and P. F. Sloan. The most famous recording of the song was made by Johnny Rivers for the opening titles of the American broadcast of the British spy series Danger Man, which aired in the U.S. as "Secret Agent" from 1964 to 1966...
".
The Plugz accompanied Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
on his appearance on "Late Night With David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
" on 22 March 1984 for three songs: "Don't Start Me Talkin'" (by Sonny Boy Williamson
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Willie "Sonny Boy" Williamson was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, from Mississippi. He is acknowledged as one of the most charismatic and influential blues musicians, with considerable prowess on the harmonica and highly creative songwriting skills...
), "Jokerman", and "Licence to Kill".
In 1984, The Plugz name was retired and the three members formed the Cruzados with Steven Hufsteter.
The Plugz reunited the three founding members for The Masque 30th Anniversary Party and Book Release show on November 11, 2007 at The Echoplex in the Echo Park district of Los Angeles, California.
Discography
- "Move // Mindless Contentment / Let Go" single on Slash Records (1978)
- Electrify Me (1979) PLUGZ RECORDS
- "Achin' / La Bamba" single on Fatima Records (1981)
- Better Luck (1981)
- Los Angelinos - the eastside renaissance (compilation) (1983)
- Repo Man soundtrack (1984)
- Bob Dylan & The Plugz (1984)
- New Wave Hookers soundtrackNew Wave HookersNew Wave Hookers is a popular 1985 pornographic film featuring a cast of established performers from the era and followed by several sequels and a remake. The movie starred Ginger Lynn, Desiree Lane, Kristara Barrington, Kimberly Carson, Brooke Fields, Gina Carrera, Jamie Gillis, Jack Baker, Tom...
- Electrify Me (1985)
Track listing - Electrify Me (1979)
- "A Gain - A Loss" (Tito Larriva)
- "The Cause" (Tito Larriva)
- "Electrify Me" (Tito Larriva)
- "Satisfied Die" (Tito Larriva/Barry McBride)
- "La Bamba" (public domain)
- "Adolescent" (Tito Larriva)
- "Braintime" (Tito Larriva)
- "Wordless" (Tito Larriva)
- "Let Go" (Tito Larriva/Barry McBride)
- "Infection" (Tito Larriva)
- "Berserktown" (Tito Larriva)
Track listing - Better Luck (1981)
- "Better Luck" (Tito Larriva/Curry)
- "Red Eye #9" (Tito Larriva)
- "Achin'" (Tito Larriva)
- "American" (Tito Larriva)
- "In The Wait" (Tito Larriva)
- "El Clavo Y La Cruz" (Tito Larriva)
- "Blue Sofa" (Tito Larriva)
- "Touch For Cash" (Tito Larriva)
- "Gas Line" (Tito Larriva)
- "Cesar's Song" (Tito Larriva)
- "Shifting Heart" (Tito Larriva)
- "No Love" (Tito Larriva)
Trivia
- The Plugz' song Adolescent was used in the film ScarredScarred (1984 film)-Cast and crew:Directed by: Rose Marie TurkoStarring: Jennifer Mayo, Jackie Berryman, David Dean, Rico L. Richardson-Synopsis:Shot in a cinema verite style, perhaps because this film about teenage prostitution began as a project while director Rose-Marie Turko was a student at UCLA, the format...
(1984). - The Plugz' songs El Clavo Y La Cruz and Hombre Secreto (Secret Agent Man) were used in the film Repo Man (1984) and appear on the soundtrack LP. The Plugz also composed the instrumental score for the movie, part of which appears on the soundtrack as Reel Ten.
- The Plugz' song Electrify Me was used in the adult film New Wave HookersNew Wave HookersNew Wave Hookers is a popular 1985 pornographic film featuring a cast of established performers from the era and followed by several sequels and a remake. The movie starred Ginger Lynn, Desiree Lane, Kristara Barrington, Kimberly Carson, Brooke Fields, Gina Carrera, Jamie Gillis, Jack Baker, Tom...
(1985).
External links
- "The Plugz – Biography and pictures", The ModPopPunk Archives (website), 2006.