Talk:Ritchie Valens
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Valen's legacy is far,far more than just being one of those who perished in the Day the Music Died. He is without a doubt the father of Latin Rock/Alternative. Before Charly Garcia and Alex Lora he brought Latin Rock to the mainstream. What Enrique Guzman et al. where doing was merely translating English langauge songs into Spanish. Yes, Valens's best known song is a cover but La Bamba is one of the most influential recordings ever made. Blending traditional Latin American music is something that would prove to be what sets Latin Rock apart as a seperate genre and not just rock sung in Spanish with nothing new to add.
When Valens was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ricky Martin was chosen to sing some of his songs in his honor. Now I have absolutely nothing against Ricky Martin or his music (in fact I like the guy) but this was an incorrect decision. Martin was obviously chosen because he is Latino but other than that he and Valens have nothing in common. Ricky Martin is pop, Ritchie Valens was rock. Were Gustavo Cerati, Los Lobos, Julieta Venegas, the former members of Los Prisioneros,and La Ley all busy that night? Let's honor Valen's legacy by rembering his music for what is was. Thank you Ritchie.- User:Mymelody 16:52, 17 November 2006)
lets also honor him by using his real name which is Ricardo Venezuela. 71.149.244.74
Additional information about Ritchie's mom & dad, siblings should be added to his bio. Pedianut 04:00, 9 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Question about Valens manager
I noted the following in the segment about his manager:
Similarly, it was Keane who decided to shorten his surname to Valens from Valenzuela, with the intention that a Latino name would make the DJs think that it was Latino music for a Latino audience - Keane wanted Ritchie's appeal to audiences of all kinds to be in the songs themselves. He was also a pimp.
While I'm no expert on Valens, I have never heard that his manager was a pimp. It's not on the Wikipage for his manager either. However, I thought I would make sure there is some basis for this before deleting it. If it's not true, then it is certainly defamation and should be removed. JimZDP 00:46, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
