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Manic Hispanic | |
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 Manic Hispanic at theWarped Tour | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Orange County,California |
| Genres | Punk rock |
| Years active | 1992 (1992)–presentLast Show: Still playing |
| Labels | BYO Records |
| Members | Ruben "Chino" Rivera Oso Maurice "Mo Grease" Torres Efrem "Chuey Luis" Martinez Schulz, Elvis Cortez, Gilbert "Dreamer" Pichardo, Louie "Juan Solo" Perez El Tercero III |
| Past members | Sonny "Tio" Lucas Mad Ralphie Ray "Bones" Rodriguez Steve "Hoakie" Soto (deceased) Mike "Gabby" Gaborno (deceased) |
| Website | Official Site |
Manic Hispanic is an AmericanChicanopunk rock band from Orange County and Los Angeles, California, United States. They are acomedy act that playscover versions of punk rock "standards" by slightly renaming songs and adjusting lyrics with humorous references to Chicano culture. The band's members are all Mexican[1] and usestage names further marking the Mexican/Chicano image of the band. Manic Hispanic is asupergroup made up of former and/or current members ofThe Adolescents, The Grabbers, Punk Rock Karaoke, The X-Members,22 Jacks,Final Conflict,Agent Orange,Death by Stereo and The Cadillac Tramps.[2]
Manic Hispanic was originally started in 1992 by Mike "Gabby" Gaborno (a.k.a. Jefe) fromThe Cadillac Tramps andSteve Soto (a.k.a. El Hoakie Loco) fromThe Adolescents/22 Jacks, originally with the intent to performdoo-wop versions of punk songs.[1] Members later recruited are: Chino and Mo Grease (members of The Grabbers), Oso (from The Cadillac Tramps), Mad Ralphie (a.k.a. Steve "Ace" Acevedo a Sound Engineer and tour manager), and Sonny Lucas (a.k.a. Tio).[1] According to their Myspace page, the band members have changed since their first album.[3]
The name of the band keeps with their habit of mashing up Latin/Cholo culture with punk culture, the name being a play onManic Panic, a brand of hair dye popular in the punk scene.
Their first album was released in 1995 on Doctor Dream records.[4][2] EntitledThe Menudo Incident, a reference to Guns N' Roses'The Spaghetti Incident, it featured cover versions of songs byThe Buzzcocks,The Damned,X,Black Flag,Wire,The Clash, and others. These cover versions featured rewritten lyrics humorously reflecting the Chicano identity of the band and Chicano/Mexican culture as a whole. Tracks commonly include lyrics sung in Spanish, English, and Chicano "slang" a.k.a.Caló. Examples include songs such as The Damned's "New Rose" retitled "New Rosa", andEddie and the Subtitles' "American Society" retitled "Mexican Society."The Menudo Incident also contains a version ofTejano/country musicianFreddy Fender's "Before the Next Teardrop Falls", a bilingual hit when released by Fender in the 1970s.[5] The cover art mimicked theGuns N' Roses release, showing a bowl ofmenudo, the traditional Mexicantripe specialty.
The band returned with a second album in 2001,The Recline of Mexican Civilization (spoofing the punk filmThe Decline of Western Civilization) forBYO Records. BYO also releasedMijo Goes to Jr. College (apingThe Descendents'Milo Goes To College) in 2003, andGrupo Sexo (spoofing theCircle Jerks'Group Sex) in 2005. These albums modify the original cover art of the albums they are playing off of. The band's out-of-print debut album,The Menudo Incident, was reissued by BYO in 2003.
The band has also released T-shirts based on theRamones logo,Dead Kennedys' graphics, and theSocial Distortion logo.[6]
The band's biography information from BYO Records is written in a humorous style, alleging in jest that forming the band was suggestion by one of their parole officers. Although this may be interpreted as tongue-in-cheek, the band has declared in an interview for InMusicWeTrust.com that, "we're notcholos or gangsters, but we come from that heritage and we're proud of it."
While most of the band's material is delivered with a sense of humor, political undertones do occasionally appear in their music, such as "Poem" fromThe Menudo Incident, tells a first-hand account of fearing a potentialdrive-by shooting, told over a doo-wop backing. In addition, their cover ofIggy & The Stooges' "I Got A Right" includes the lyric, "I got a right, got a right to speak/any language I want, yeah." The band also traditionally plays live in California onCinco de Mayo.[7]
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