Onda Latina

The KUT Longhorn Radio Network Presents: Mexican American Experience Collection

Audio recordings including interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community and their concerns in the series "The Mexican American Experience" and "A esta hora conversamos" from the Longhorn Radio Network, 1976-1982.

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PROGRAM INFO

Title:
TIERRA
Program #
1981-14
Theme:
Culture

Series:
Music
Host:
Alma Díaz
Guests:
Joey Guerra, Robert Navarrete, Rudy Salas, Steve Salas
Date:
Feb 25, 1981

TIERRA

Reporter Alma Diaz and Linda Fregoso interview members of the Chicano musical group, Tierra, in San Antonio. The group, made up of six Chicanos and one Filipino, formed in East Los Angeles in 1971. They discuss how they became involved in politics and mention their involvement in the Anti-War Movement and MEChA. The band members link their popularity, their politics, their music and their communities. They also discuss the impact of their cross-over appeal on other American communities.

They assess their popularity among Mexican American and say that they are one of the first popular mainstream groups with which Mexican Americans could identify. Their stage presence reflects their links to the community, as they perform in Zoot Suits, sing about low-riders and speak in Caló, the language spoken by Pachucos on the streets of L.A. and elsewhere. They also discuss their musical influences, including blues, rock and Latin beats, and their struggles with the recording industry who did not believe there was a market for Chicano music. They discuss how they produced and distributed their first album. Once that album proved successful, the recording industry came to the group with record deals. Finally, they ponder the importance of oldies to Chicano culture.

KEYWORDS

American Bandstand
Black Aesthetic
Business
Caló
Car Shows
Carnegie Hall
Chicano Labels
Chicano Moratorium
Chicano Movement
Crossover Music
Cultural Rebellion
East Los Angeles
Edward James Olmos
El Chicano
Ethnic Pride
Hybridity
Joey Guerra
Language
Latin Disco
Latino Market
Lowrider
Mainstream Recording Industry
Mariachi
Masculinity
MEChA
Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan
Music
Music Industry
musical influences
Neighborhoods
New York
Nostalgia
Oldies
Puerto Ricans
Recording Industry
Robert Navarrete
Rudy Salas
Salsa
San Antonio
Sarape
Saxophone
Steve Salas
Student Movement
Style
Syncretism
Tierra
Together
Vietnam
Zoot suit
 

Center for Mexican American Studies | Department of History | The Benson Latin American Collection

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