THE PLUGZ "HOMBRE SECRETO" ['REPO MAN' SOUNDTRACK 1984] . . . . A BAND OF UTMOST SIGNIFICANCE OFTEN OVERLOOKED, NOT ONLY FOR BEING PART OF THE ORIGINAL L.A PUNK SCENE . . . . THEY WERE FIERCELY PROUD CHICANOS AND THE BAND'S MUSIC DISLPLAYED THEIR CULTURE . . . . FROM THE PUNKED UP 'LA BAMBA' AND JOHNNY RIVERS 'SECRET AGENT MAN' IN THEIR ETHNIC LINGO, THEY WERE MEXICAN AMERICAN.

The guys went from the dawn of the '77 L.A punk movement, helping spearhead it, to releasing the fucking wicked, 1979 'Electrify Me' album, featuring 'La Bamba' on speed cover and single, through to soundtrack duties for the cult classic 'Repo Man' . . . . all the while proclaiming their cultural roots and heritage, they weren't the only band with Chicano origins but they sure were the ones leading the charge at the time.

Even all the way across the pacific in Oz we knew them and were digging on it by the turn of the decade, 1980, there was a definite link to skateboarding a la the Dogtown crew and their multi ethnic makeup  . . . . and, oddly enough, the 1979 released Cheech and Chong gem 'Up in Smoke' drew it all together in my mind, this was hardcore cool shit, 'Hold Fast' certainly applied to The Plugz.

Not long after 'Repo Man' came out the band finished up, as many bands of their type did, but this was not to be the last we heard of Tito Larriva and company, they would resurface in the not too distant future . . . . the clip that accompanies this, my favourite version even including those wacky Akron lads, of 'Secret Agent Man' was obviously done in more recent times but I reckon it's fucking te numero uno . . . . just like the band.