This month the Lost and Found turns 3 years old, and I can’t believe it. I started writing this article every month because I wanted to expose practically unknown records from El Paso (mainly from the 60’s) along with some of my favorite soul, power-pop, psych, garage and Chicano soul records.
My weekend trips to the swap meet and all the little word of mouth spots in town have led me to treasures and sometimes nothing at all, but the journey itself in the ongoing search for good music has also been about trying to find my reflection in this environment. I wanted to find that connection. My whole life I’ve heard all the whining and griping about how much this town sucks and how nothing ever happens here. How could that be? I knew that couldn’t be true. I wanted to find out for myself. I knew this town always had a pulse but somewhere along the line, many people gave up and even turned their backs. I didn’t want to give up so easily. Something must have happened here, right?
Listening to music has always been a big part of my life, as it is to many of us. When I was a kid, my mom would blast Rocio Durcal on the stereo and sing along in perfect pitch, and my pops had an oldies stack of records that were always on heavy rotation. Dancing in the living room and listening to music was a norm around the house. My parents had already started me out with kid records by Cepillin, Cri Cri and Los Pitufos, but now I was interested in the music that was coming out of my little boom-box radio.
The first record I bought with my own money was Prince, “Around the World in a Day”. I was about 8 years old and my parents took me to Casa de Musica de Luxe in Juarez. I was hooked. I went home and put the record on and listened to it over and over. I wanted to have that same connection and passion my folks had with their music. I wanted to feel how I saw them feeling.
Digging through dusty records for years, turns out El Paso has tons of great music. Juarez bands have influenced me just as much as the bands from El Paso. I’ll never part with my records by Los Seventeens, Los Chijuas or Los Silver. There’s even stuff that came out of Las Cruces like the Four Frogs and The Weeds, even Mesilla is deep in the obscure record game with the Goldust label. Some of the local legends that have graced the pages of the Lost and Found have included The Triangle, The Jives, Bobby and The Premiers, Danny and The Counts and the Suemi records compilation I Love You Gorgo.
The history of this town is heard in grooves of the vinyl. The experiences of our surroundings are shared with those who lived here before us. Our isolated reality has always existed, and artist of the past have dealt with it, and that didn’t stop them from being creative. The DIY ethic embedded in the El Paso music scene can go as far back (maybe even further) as Bobby Fuller (of “I Fought The Law” fame) creating his own label, Exeter records. In the 90’s when I was playing in punk bands, there were no record labels around to sign the talent. The bands invented their labels and released their records themselves. Labels like Yucky Bus, Western Breed and Oofas! were born, and El Paso punkers of the 90s like Chinese Love Beads, The Sicteens and Out of Hand are now immortalized on wax. Even bands today like Ralpheene or a few years back Buckeye released stuff on their own, and one day will be rediscovered in a crate of records by someone.
The Lost and Found has always been about sharing music and creating a link between ourselves. As Marshall Mcluhan coined phrase “the medium is the message”, the Lost and Found is intended to spark an optimistic perception. You don’t have to shop on Ebay or itunes for all of your music; it’s ok to turn your computer off and leave your house to find good music down the street. Along the way, I have met people and heard their stories and I also have shared mine. From the Jives’ funky dance floor filler “El Segundo”, a song dedicated to one of the most famous neighborhoods in El Paso, to the rocking surf sounds of Los Seventeens’ song the “Juarez Twist”, no other music can come closer to the heart.
TEXT: Daniel Salas
