Richard Steven Valenzuela, known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens was killed in a plane crash eight months into his music career.
La Bamba is a 1987 American biographical film written and directed by Luis Valdez that follows the life and career of Chicano rock 'n' roll star Ritchie Valens. The film stars Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, Elizabeth Peña, Danielle von Zerneck, and Joe Pantoliano. The film also covers the effect that Valens' career had on the lives of his half-brother Bob Morales, his girlfriend Donna Ludwig, and the rest of his family. In 2017, La Bamba was included in the annual selection of 25 motion pictures added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and recommended for preservation.
"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. Valens's version is ranked number 345 on Rolling Stone magazine′s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It is the only song on the list sung in a language other than English.
Shlock Rock is an American-Israeli Jewish rock band, put together in December 1985, and officially founded in 1986, and led by, singer Lenny Solomon, which parodies popular secular songs, substituting new, Jewish religious-themed lyrics for the music. To date they have released 39 albums. Shlock Rock continues to record albums and perform live as of 2015, and to date has sold more than 200,000 CD’s, tapes and DVDs in the contemporary Jewish rock arena. Their music is a mix of pop-rock song parodies and original rock songs in English and Hebrew. The stated purpose of the band is to spread Jewish pride, identity and awareness throughout the Jewish community, for Jewish continuity. Solomon and Shlock Rock tour around the world, playing at concerts, schools, and Jewish events. They are the only Jewish music band to play a concert in all 50 states.
Everybody's Rockin' is the 13th studio album by Canadian / American musician Neil Young, released on August 1, 1983. The album was recorded with the Shocking Pinks, and features a selection of rockabilly songs. Running 25 minutes, it is Young's shortest album. Everybody's Rockin' is typical of his 1980s period in that it bears little or no resemblance to the album released before it, nor the one released after it.
Brown-eyed soul, also referred to as Chicano soul, is soul music performed in the United States mainly by Latinos in Southern California, East Los Angeles, and San Antonio (Texas) during the 1960s, continuing through to the early 1980s. The trend of Latinos started with Latino rock and roll and rock musicians. "Brown eyed soul" contrasts with blue-eyed soul, soul music performed by non-Hispanic white artists.
Bob Keane, born Robert Verrill Kuhn, and also sometimes known as Bob Keene, was an American musician, producer and owner of the record label Del-Fi Records. He was the producer and manager of Ritchie Valens and Pinoy star Josephine Roberto, aka Banig.
On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II is the first greatest hits album by American singer Donna Summer, released on October 15, 1979. It was her fourth consecutive double album, and also made her the first person ever to take three consecutive double albums to the number one spot on the U.S. album chart. This would become Summer's third multi-platinum album to date.
"We Belong Together" is a 1958 American rhythm and blues hit written and recorded by Robert & Johnny, with a co-writing credit to Hy Weiss. It reached #12 on the R&B charts and #32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Del-Fi Records was an American record label based in Hollywood, California and owned by Bob Keane. The label's first single released was "Caravan" by Henri Rose released in 1958, but the label was most famous for signing Ritchie Valens. Valens' first single for the label was "Come On Let's Go", which was a hit. His next single, "Donna"/"La Bamba", was an even bigger hit, and brought national notoriety to the label. Johnny Crawford, the co-star of the television series The Rifleman, was the Del-Fi artist who recorded the most hit singles.
"Donna" is a song written by Ritchie Valens, featuring the '50s progression. The song was released in 1958 on Del-Fi Records. Written as a tribute to his high school sweetheart Donna Ludwig, it was Valens' highest-charting single, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the following year.
Ritchie Valens is the self-titled debut album by Ritchie Valens, posthumously released by Del-Fi Records in March 1959, one month after his death in a plane crash. It is his only studio album entirely composed of master tracks recorded at Gold Star Studios. The album peaked at #23 on the Billboard album chart.
"Lonely Teardrops" is a song written by Berry Gordy Jr., Gwen Gordy and Roquel "Billy" Davis, first recorded and released as a single in 1958 by R&B singer Jackie Wilson on the Brunswick label. It is a 1999 Grammy Hall of Fame Inductee. The recording became an across-the-board national Top 10 Pop smash, a # 1 hit on the R&B charts, and is ranked #315 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It is ranked as the 57th biggest U.S. hit of 1959. "Lonely Teardrops" is also listed on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of "The 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".
Ritchie was the second of three posthumously released "original" albums by Ritchie Valens. It includes his remaining unissued masters from Gold Star Studios plus demos he recorded at manager Robert Keane's home studio. Also featured is Valens' last charted single, "Little Girl", which reached #92 on the Billboard charts in July 1959.
Ritchie Valens Memorial Album is the first greatest hits compilation by Ritchie Valens, featuring his first three charted hits plus tracks from the previous three albums, released three years following his death in a plane crash. The original album was issued with a black album cover and the same photo of Valens from his second album Ritchie. A few months later, the album was retitled Ritchie Valens, His Greatest Hits and repackaged with a white album cover and a photo of Ritchie taken from his Del-Fi EP Ritchie Valens Sings (DFEP-1111). Both issues include the same back cover and album contents.
History of Ritchie Valens is a 3-record box set by Ritchie Valens, featuring his three original Del-Fi albums plus a booklet with biography and photos.
The Best of Ritchie Valens is a greatest hits package by Ritchie Valens.
Very Best of the Relix Years is an album by the country rock band the New Riders of the Purple Sage. It was released in England on the Retro World label on June 2, 2009. It contains previously released songs from five Relix Records albums.
The Epic Masters is a box set compilation comprising ten remastered albums by Shakin' Stevens. Released on 16 November 2009, the set contains nine albums originally released by Epic Records between 1980 and 1990, plus an exclusive CD of 12" extended mixes. The set was also made available as a download through iTunes.
La Bamba is the original motion picture soundtrack album to the 1987 American biographical film of the same name and was released on June 30, 1987 on Warner Bros. Records. The album contained 12 tracks. In 1988, a second soundtrack album was released, titled "La Bamba Volume 2 - More Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". La Bamba Volume 2 consists of 12 songs by the original artists portrayed in the film.
