La Bamba: The 1987 Music Biopic That Refused a Happy Ending

A young life races forward while the clock runs out. We dive into La Bamba to trace how Richie Valens’ meteoric rise, complicated family ties, and a culture-rich 1950s Los Angeles collide in a story that still stings—and sings. From the opening shot in the fields to that devastating coin toss, we follow the film’s momentum as it trades the standard “triumph” arc for something more honest: a rush toward an end everyone hopes won’t come.

We unpack the film’s beating heart—the Valenzuela family. Bob’s volatility and tenderness, Connie’s strength, and Richie’s quiet resolve turn fame into a family affair where love and resentment share the same room. Lou Diamond Phillips captures Richie’s warmth and grit, while Isai Morales gives Bob depth far beyond “angry brother.” We talk about cultural authenticity on screen, how Luis Valdez shaped performances with real relatives on set, and why Valdez’s view—Latino as culture, not race—still sparks vital conversations about representation.

Then there’s the music—the reason this biopic breathes. Los Lobos reanimates Richie’s catalog so the performances feel live and kinetic, while nods to rock legends like Bo Diddley, Brian Setzer, and Marshall Crenshaw ground the soundtrack in lineage. We explore why the film’s sound choices matter for more than nostalgia: they connect history, community, and grief. Sleep Walk bookends the film with ache, making the final montage less a farewell than a vow to remember.

We also trace the movie’s road to the screen, from Valdez’s Teatro Campesino roots and Zoot Suit on Broadway to the meticulous recreation of farmworker life with the very people who lived it. That continuity—organizing, theater, cinema—makes La Bamba a rare artifact of cultural memory and the American dream earned the hard way. We close with favorite scenes, the shock of the ending even when you know it’s coming, and why La Bamba still defines what a great music biopic can be.

If this conversation moved you, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves film and music, and leave a quick five-star review to help more listeners find us. Then tell us: which moment from La Bamba lives rent-free in your head?

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Transcript

Joe 0:00

He was Bob was saying, like, you know, have I been to Mexico and they sing songs differently? Right. And uh I love how he's like, well, I've never been to Mexico. Right. Right.

Dylan 0:10

He's like, well.

Joe 0:27

Welcome to Have You Seen the Movie Podcast, where every movie is a premiere.

Dylan 0:33

This week we're diving into a music biopic that helped define the genre. And while Joe has lived with La Bamba for years, I am discovering Richie Vallon's story for the very first time. Fame, family, identity, and one of the most tragic chapters in rock history.

Joe 0:51

This week's movie, La Bamba, 1987, is rated PG 13 for thematic elements, language, and a tragic real world ending.

Dylan 1:02

Yeah, it's definitely one of those that uh it's not just a story about success, but also about what the world lost before it even knew what it had.

Joe 1:12

Yeah, yeah. 17.

Dylan 1:15

So released in 1987, and then it's set to take place in the 50s? Yeah. Okay. Who was the director?

Joe 1:30

Uh Luis Valdez. Um Luis Valdez. I'll probably go into more of it, but um he basically was offered the directing part from the producer, and his brother and him had uh tried to get this movie off the ground for a while. Yeah. And a producer came across it and basically said, have at it.

Dylan 1:59

That's awesome. Yeah. So what's the difference between a director and a producer?

Joe 2:05

Um from my understanding, the director is one who is kind of putting together the vision for the movie, uh, as far as like telling the actors what he wants to see, uh, writers, you know, what what the story is, that kind of stuff. Producers like the big picture person, and also usually the money person. Gotcha. So you can have producers who destroy a movie because they're investing.

Dylan 2:37

Oh, so they're like, I think you should go this way. Yeah.

Joe 2:40

Uh or the or the movie company puts them in charge and and they're, you know, basically have to answer. So Oh man, yeah.

Dylan 2:51

They're like, hey, you answer to us. Gotcha. It's a loose understanding. Hey, you did great. Thank you. Um man, I don't even know where to go with this one. There's just so so much to it. Um plot rundown?

Joe 3:16

Sure. A teenager's meteoric rise to fame collides with personal struggle and tragedy. And pretty much I'll start saying this now because I'm gonna say it more often is this is this is growing. They put in what it was like to grow up in a Hispanic family. Yeah. Yeah. I think that was the biggest thing about this too, is that the family unit was was the central part of it, you know? Right. And yeah.

Dylan 3:53

Yeah, they definitely did a lot to show kind of the the Hispanic kind of identity with it. Yeah. Man, I was so surprised at just how fast the whole movie goes. Oh yeah. I mean, because it's just just never ending. Um you kind of get a I kind of got like a little bit of anxiety, like you know, just knowing that how it ends.

Joe 4:27

Right.

Dylan 4:27

Yeah. And uh, I mean, I am super unfamiliar with the story until we just watched this. Yeah. So um kind of knowing how it's gonna end, but also not knowing how it's gonna end. And like I thought that the like the flashbacks to the plane crash was I thought it was gonna be flash forwards. Okay. Like to the end.

Joe 4:56

Yeah. Um like the visions that he was having was actually what happened to him. Right. Yeah.

Dylan 5:02

Right. Yeah. Um, because he even said while flying on a different plane, yeah, that he always thought that he would die in a plane crash. So watching the movie, like it doesn't it's like the whole movie like builds throughout the whole thing. But it's like you realize that the movie doesn't build towards a future, it's you know, just racing towards an end. Yeah. Yeah. It's like you just don't want it to come.

Joe 5:32

Yeah. Yeah, they they definitely have that in he didn't know, you know. Right. Like he was 17 out of high school, yeah.

Dylan 5:43

Uh had no idea um what was before him, and just something else that I enjoyed there too is how the the family dynamics were played through. And it um it really just goes to show like how much that family dynamic just kind of deepened the tragedy of the whole situation, too.

Joe 6:08

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they definitely solidify the care like every family mare member is a character. And um they I know they sprinkled in plenty of actual family members from the family, yeah, from Richie Ballins' family in there, yeah, as background people and and all that. Um and they wanted to cast, you know, they did cast everybody. I think they were missing maybe a brother or something like that, because he hadn't been born yet or was just born. Yeah. But um, yeah, they definitely did that. And then I think what's more impactful for me, other than him dying in the crash, is just you feel pain for them. Yeah you know, they built uh you know the relationship between Bob and Richie and and the mom and and all this stuff and everybody involved. Like you feel so close to the family when it happens that when it does, you just like empathize with them. It's like more empathy for them than just the crash, you know.

Dylan 7:26

Um so what was it like going and like seeing it for the first time?

Family, Identity, And Empathy

Joe 7:34

So I was like it was 87, depending on the month. I was seven or eight. Yeah. And so I remember seeing it in the theater. I didn't know who Richie Vallance was at the time. Um they uh you know they they promoted it on TV and MTV and all that kind of stuff. So I was like really hyped up to go see it. Yeah, and I didn't realize how it was gonna end. Oh man. So I I was bawling. I just I was so invested in in the movie, and I kind of told you in between um the the mom reminds me of both my grandmothers put together. Yeah, and uh both of them have that like um that sass is if you will, you know, and uh they you know they wouldn't back down from a fight kind of thing, yeah. Right. And uh so watching it, it was just like, you know, you you're I'm like, oh this is cool, like he's so amazing, and then he dies, and I'm like, what? You know, man. So it was yeah, it was uh yeah, it was really hit me, hit me a lot and made me want to be a become a musician. And yeah, yeah.

First Watch Memories And Impact

Dylan 8:56

It's yeah, it definitely just goes to show how powerful of a movie it was. So and I was I was really impressed with how how well it held up, you know, kind of to to today's movies. Yeah. Oh you know, I cracked a joke at the beginning of it of you know turning off the the the film grain. Oh yeah, whatever, you know, but it even so like you just get so pulled into the the story and the colors and every everything that's going on.

Crafting The 1950s On Screen

Joe 9:36

Yeah, yeah, because it starts with that that flashback scene, so there's it's like grainy and and all that, but then it clears up once it gets to the um yeah, and I don't even think they've actually come out with a 4K yet for it. This is the Criterion print, which is like the newest transfer, but yeah, so I like it. It's the colors are great. Um, you really feel like you're in the 50s. That's one thing that they do really good, is they have like just the accuracy of LA, the accuracy of like they you know, they shot in all over Southern California to like Simi Valley to other places to get to where there's like orange groves and um those farms and stuff like that. Because there's even a point where Donna and Richie are driving together and there's orange groves kind of flying behind them. And back in LA, like I remember looking at old yearbooks and where my high school um you know started out, all around it was orange groves and avocados and all that kind of stuff. And slowly as they started to build, build, build, those started to you know be taken away. And so when they went to make the movie, they had to go a little north of everything because they couldn't film. So it's just that kind of stuff, just authentic, you know. So Richie Vallens. So who who played him? So Lou Diamond Phillips uh played Richie Vallens, and he's actually Filipino. Really? Yeah, the I think he's like man, he's he's kind of multiple, you know, things. Um uh has some native maybe and some yeah, but um he just has a whole like you know, uh, but his the you know, he would basically say he's Filipino, yeah. Yeah, and so when he when he auditioned, um this was his first role, like period. Yeah. Um I think he might have done some act, you know, plays and that kind of stuff, but this was his first major role, and he was actually told by the casting director that he was gonna uh that he was gonna audition for Frankie Valley. You know, um like Frankie Valley and the the four seasons. So they thought it was a movie based on Frankie Valley, not on Richie Vallins. Oh so he was like, he's like, okay, interesting. I don't know how I'm gonna fit in to like be an Italian guy. Yeah. So uh he went in, auditioned, um, they did auditions in Texas. Um they had seen over like 600, 500 to 600 people all over the nation.

Dylan 12:44

Yeah.

Casting Lou Diamond Phillips

Joe 12:45

And you know, people who knew Richie Vallins were like, oh, we you know, they they had people who were close to because if you look at a real picture of Richie Vallins, like he looks like me or you, like, you know, he was a big kid, very handsome, that's what you're meaning to say. Exactly, yeah. The chiseled chin. Yes. But uh, yeah, I have cousins that look probably more like Richie Vallance than Divid Phillips, but um there was just when when he auditioned, he just had this fire, and he auditioned for Bob, but they felt like he was there was like it was almost like there was like too much kindness in there, yeah, to to to have that. So they so they they wanted Esi for something, and he was kind of a backup for Richie, but they weren't sure, still sure. Yeah, and uh but uh but yeah, they so they went with him with Blue Demon Phillips, and um he's been in so Young Guns is another movie I want to cover, but that that stars Emilio Esteves, um uh Kiefer Sutherland, who's in uh Stand By Me. Um, but he plays Native American. Philip uh Lou Diamond Phillips plays Native American in that one. So he he plays like multiple characters. Um but a lot of people had a problem with it, um, and you know, told the director, like, why didn't you cast you know Hispanic and why didn't you know he's Mexican and all this stuff? And and the biggest thing, biggest takeaway for for me with um uh Luis Valdez is he says that Latino is a culture, it's not a race, and so um you know you could you could be um you could be white, but you could still be Latino because you grew up in that culture, yeah, you know, and there's a lot of people like that. Like when you grow up in LA, um there's just that that vibe, like it doesn't matter, like you grew up there, you grew up there, and you know, I know who's I know people who are Caucasian and black with like Hispanic accents because you just grew up around it.

Dylan 15:12

So yeah. Yeah. Um so so you mentioned Bob. So who plays Bob there?

Isai Morales And Building Bob

Joe 15:22

So Bob is played by Isai Morellis. Um this was so a lot of these actors they were trying to they were trying to find some no-name actors so that they could keep the budget down. Okay, but they really found up-and-coming actors as they didn't realize. And so he had already done a movie with Sean Penn called Bad Boys. Um, so he was it was it was coming. Like that that movie was like about to pop, and then he's like filming this, and um, and so he he really dug into the character. Um, he hung out with the family. Um, they both hung out with the family. Yeah. Um uh Isai hung out with the actual Bob because he was there on set all the time, and and so he got his mannerisms down and was able to get his you know kind of gestures and stuff. And Isai is Puerto Rican, so he's not Mexican or Hispanic. So he was learning, actually learning more of the slang and more of the, you know, just like so that first when he drops in to the camp and he sees Richie and he kind of puts his head up, you know, like this, and like, you know, kind of saying what's up, you know, yeah. That's like the international, you know, like you do that, like, especially when you flick it like like um like real quick, you know, like that. And you know, it's just like a what's up, you know. So he just picks stuff up like that, and you know, he just embraced the part.

Dylan 16:56

Yeah. I mean he did such a good job of showing all of the complexity of that character and um not just not just being the angry drunk, right, but actual, you know, he's you know, angry because of all of the layers going into, you know, the person.

Joe 17:20

Yeah, yeah. He he definitely yeah, he definitely puts that through like just different layers. I think people perceive it to be just the anger, but there's so much more to it. Yeah. And uh Elizabeth Pinha plays Rosie, um, who starts out as um, which I didn't discover till I was older, but starts out apparently as Richie's girlfriend, and then Bob takes her away.

Dylan 17:50

I I wondered that just since he had his arm around her and was like introducing Bob to her. Yeah, yeah. So I was like, okay, like it was subtle, but it was like because yeah, then just a few short scenes later. Right, right.

Rosie, Connie, And Donna

Joe 18:11

Yeah, because he might as well have said, Hey Bob, she's mine. You know, like that's kind of what he was trying to say, but um so Elizabeth Pain, yeah, she's done so many things, but um, one of the major things that she's done is uh oh, what is her name? The what'd you say, sidekick to um on the incredibles, right? Okay, um the girl who gets a Mr. Incredible to start work working that side job. Oh, Mirage? Mirage. Really? Yeah, she's the voice of Mirage. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Dylan 18:57

Man, I had no idea where you were going with that. Yeah, yeah. I was like, okay, that's awesome.

Joe 19:01

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's why I was like, I don't know if you'd want to call her a sidekick.

Dylan 19:07

I was gonna say assistant to yeah, yeah, right.

Joe 19:11

So she played Mirage, and that was yeah. She had another uh she had some legendary like show that was like um it was it was it got picked up and then got shut down, and so they filmed while they were filming the last show, they found out that they got fired and then they just walked off the set kind of thing, and that's what they aired. So it's like some kind of legendary, yeah. I haven't seen it yet, but uh she plays like a maid, and um she falls in love with the like the guy she's working for and like all this stuff, but yeah. Um yeah, somehow while they were filming they they found out they were fired, so they they like filmed them walking off the set.

Dylan 20:00

Wow, yeah, it's pretty cool. That's yeah, but yeah, uh as her portrayal of Rosie though, I mean she did such an amazing job, yeah.

Joe 20:13

Yeah, yeah. There's uh a lot of Rosies in my family, a lot of uh Connies in my family, yeah.

Dylan 20:20

Um I mean, just from her portraying the the want for something more, yeah, yeah. Um is a good way to put it. Yeah. And uh and then just her the kind of the emotional baggage uh she has. Yeah. Like she just did such she did such an amazing job portraying that.

Joe 20:50

Yeah, it's interesting how they set her character up because at one point she sort of has a choice, you know, and then she chooses Bob. Right. And then in the midst of everything, she tells Richie, like, you know, there's this point where she's like, you know, he he doesn't stay home and blah blah blah, but you do, and he's like, Well, I'm me.

Dylan 21:13

Yeah, and it's like yeah, you had yeah, I loved I loved that scene for that just that is that she's like, Oh, like, you know, well, why doesn't he stay home like you do? And you're like, well, you had the chance, right? You passed up on it. Yeah.

Joe 21:30

So Rosano de Soto played Connie, and she's she's been in Star Trek, Stand and Deliver, um, just like tons of different movies, tons of different shows, yeah, soap operas.

Dylan 21:49

Yeah, um, because she did such a good job of trying to to keep that family together. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Guilt, Faith, And Brotherhood

Joe 22:02

Yeah. That's the part where I think she she you know she got to know Richie's mom and how she was. But again, knowing knowing my grandmothers, she just she that's what she was like. You know, like yeah, I mean, especially some of the like jumping in to tell Richie just like don't get involved, that's not your business, like stay out of it. Um I think partially because it was protecting him from getting beat up from Bob or you know, making it worse. Um but yeah, I remember yeah, a lot of things like that happening in my family where my grandma would step up and just be like, stop it. You know, yeah. She was a very strong, powerful character. Yeah. She was just yeah, the matriarch, you know. It's like when you have the missing father figure, you know, she's just yeah.

Dylan 23:15

Yeah, you have to you have to step up in in so many more ways when there is a parent, you know, out of the picture. So yeah, kudos to anybody who ever had to do that. Yeah, yeah. My mom did, so yeah, she's single mom. Yeah. Um and then you have Donna, the the almost love interest.

Why The Music Makes The Movie

Joe 23:46

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, she was a love interest, and apparently um, you know, the real Donna said, you know, just like they basically wrote things out the way it it played out, yeah, and strung them together. Um, because even going back to Bob, um when he met uh the director, he said, just you know, I was a jerk at the time, be brutal, like yeah, do what you need to do. And so with her, with all the family dynamic and all the stuff that she had to go through, that was a lot of what she, you know, uh had to deal with, you know, and so uh, you know, Danielle von Zernick um, you know, plays this like they were looking for this all-American girl. Right. And and and so, yeah, I mean, I I really feel like she she fits, yeah.

Dylan 24:43

The whole thing with her, like with Donna would be so hard because like, you know, she's feeling one way, but also having that family pressure to, you know, go against your yourself. Yeah. Uh, you know, and you're swimming, swimming against the current. Yeah.

Joe 25:09

Yeah, it's like she genuinely likes this guy who's interested in her, you know, and then all of a sudden he becomes a rock star in between. You know. Yeah. Yeah, I guess I guess apparently uh he had more than one girlfriend, but they just had to focus on the one.

Dylan 25:32

So a true rock star right there. Exactly. The you know, one of the things with the family dynamic is um like that a lot of people go through is the survivor's guilt. Yeah. And you know, you asking what you know, those what ifs, you know, what if it was this or what if it was that?

Joe 26:02

Yeah, what if I did this or what if I did that? Right, right. Yeah. Well, with the brother, the whole um point where he says, I'm gonna kill you, and he pulls that necklace, and that was supposedly helping him. Right. You know, that is a huge thing that I think weighed on the actual Bob for a long time. Yeah.

Dylan 26:24

And I love how they show that moment in the movie of um of S I. Uh-huh. Um, like you know, pausing after it gets pulled off. You know, is you know, he pauses for a moment, is like, oh you know, oh my gosh. Yeah. Like the, you know, this thing that you've believed in. Yeah.

Joe 26:54

You know. And uh Lou said that he intentionally grabbed his side like as if he was being like like stabbed. Um if you if you notice like he grabs one side. And and it it was to show like his ribs hurt, you know, from the fight, but it was also like kind of an indication like you just stab me, kind of thing. So yeah, it was things went like super deep, yeah, which is totally understandable.

Dylan 27:23

Yeah, right. And their whole uh just the their dynamic as a whole is just it really goes to show kind of the the love and also the resentment they have for each other. Yeah. Man, you you feel bad for the guy though. For for Bob. Yeah, because you just it's it's the whole thing of the slippery slope.

Joe 27:49

And yeah, it's hard because one of the biggest things is he comes rolling in with the money, and he had been working for a year. His mom put him in jail, apparently. You know, and so when they're they're they're in the middle of that fight, um, and he's outside super drunk and they won't let him in. And he tell he starts telling his mom, you know, you called the cops on me, you turned me in, blah, blah, blah. So at the beginning of the movie, he's coming back from that. He had gotten out of jail, worked for a full year as a trash man, saved up money so that he can get them out of where they were at the labor camps, and then he got that, you know, trailer house situation that they were all in, which was not like luxury at all, but it was out of where they were. Right. And he did that, and so then you can see how when Richie kind of one-ups him, and not even intentionally, but just like I want to get I want to provide even more for everybody, but then buys a brand new house for his mom, like brand new house for his mom, you know. Um, and how Bob would feel like, hey, I just I did that too, right? You know, but nobody's, you know. So yeah, it's really hard to you know to not uh want to be jealous or have that, you know, uh, you know.

Dylan 29:24

Yeah, definitely that level of animosity.

Soundtrack Legends And Homage

Joe 29:27

Yeah. Yeah, I think one of the biggest things that they that made this movie was the music. Um you can't there have been biopics uh you know after this and maybe even before this that have tried to do biopics of the artist without the m the music. And it's just yeah, I know, right?

Dylan 29:52

Hey, this thing that you're famous for that you're known by. Yeah, we're just gonna leave that out.

Sleepwalk, Openings, And Atmosphere

Joe 29:57

Yeah, we're just gonna leave that out, and we're just gonna talk about this or that and the other. And there's been a lot of pseudo biopics about different people where they'll only show like up until they got famous or whatever, so that they could cover parts of it, but not everything. And with this, it was like the first thing that um the producer did was he got the the rights to the music, he got the catalog, he was like right up, yeah. Um so um he uh he got the rights, he got they had to find a way to they wanted to update the music, and they also wanted the music to feel live because they didn't know whether at the time who they were gonna find as the actor could even sing, um, let alone play that well. And for 17, I mean there's that whole 10,000 hour rule of like if you practice 10,000 hours, then you'll master whatever it is. And I think as seen in Groundhog Day, right? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, that was 10,000 years. Uh an hour a day, yeah, exactly. But uh, you know, so Richie Vellens lived that like he he did, you know, sleep with his guitar and carry it everywhere he went, and so uh you had to find an actor who was at least that good to to cover it, and so they just decided they were um they were at a concert and Los Lobos had opened, and I think it was Taylor Hackford who is the producer, uh the executive producer on it, went behind but went backstage and was like, hey, uh, so we're putting together this movie and it's based on Richie Vallon's. Do you guys want to be a part of it? And they're like, yeah, you know, because in Hispanic culture, and even I would say American culture, but he's the he's like known as the innovator of rock and espanol. Yeah, you know, and for being 17 and then you know, going on to influence uh Santana and Los Lobos and just a lot of different other artists who have you know got successful after that, who were Hispanic or Latino or to J Lo to you know, all those people, even Selena who J-Lo played, like all those without him, they wouldn't have been around. So Los Lobos was like, yeah, we'll do it. And so they did a lot of demos of um Richie Vallon's music from La Bamba, Donna, come on, let's go. Um they did some covers and tried to tried to make more of a they wanted all the artists to sound like um basically what would these 50s artists sound like in the 80s, you know, and so when they got together, um you know, they they're like, okay, let's modernize this stuff. And Los Lobos already had a great sound, so they just used that when it came to um Eddie Cochran. Um, Brian Setzer is the uh you know lead singer, uh, lead guitarist writer of the stray cats. Um, and so it was kind of awesome for me to watch La Bamba and out of nowhere see Brian Setzer because I was a huge like I talked about destroying an Annie tape. I had a best of Stray Cats that I destroyed too. So when I saw him, and he hadn't really like they were kind of in between albums, so they were kind of like kind of like on a break, right? But um, and uh and so him coming out of nowhere playing summertime blues, I was just like, you know, and it's only like a minute or so, but I was just so like like that point that point in the movie for me was like just a high point because you have like um you know with Brian Brian Setzer and then um you know the other guy playing um oh I forgot his name. Let me uh I'm gonna look him up. We'll just edit. I think it's I think it's Howard Huntsberry who who uh who was singing on there. Um and then uh Marshall Crenshaw plays buddy Holly later on, but all of it was just wanting to modernize things so it sounded you know modern but old. And and so I I like the way they did that. Um one of the biggest things that that they did was so Los Lobos did the Richie Valence part of it, and uh for the soundtrack for kind of just all the music behind and in that beginning, that beginning part where you know like it's funny because you have a beginning with Sleepwalk, and you have the air the plane coming in, and then you have Richie, but then like the real beginning is when Bob rolls in, and then you you're hearing that who do you love uh song, and you know, you see him driving on the motorcycle and the snake and all that. It's like this blues, so that was Bo Diddley with Santana, so that was like a huge thing, and I guess they said he came in Bo Diddley flew in uh to a Hollywood studio like unannounced and secretive and recorded that song with Santana, and they said like it seemed like all of Hollywood showed up that night to the recording studio because Bo Diddley is one of the most well-known blues guitarists, you know, like out there. Yeah, and so like I mean, he's just just a modern, you know, amazing blues guy. But uh then recording with Santana, that that mix, um, that first song in the movie just kind of sets the pace, you know. So that's what they wanted. So yeah, they wanted to pay homage to their spiritual godfather. So like you know, Eddie Cochran was a hero of Brian Setzer's, and you know, same thing with uh Marshall Crenshaw and and and all that. So they just they just did their best to do that, pay tribute to that, and um and then you have just a great soundtrack in general. Um one of the things that falls I feel like falls on your music is they included Rick D's, who's a DJ, an LA DJ, and he's the guy who is kind of like hey, yes, you know, and uh uh uh Bob King goes to the DJ and says, Hey, there's you know, you know, talks about Richie and doing all this stuff. And yeah, so he ends up he's on that part. They show him at the end of like kind of announcing his death and stuff, and you can hear his voice on the radio. Um but Rick D's was he's known for uh in the 70s for having a hit called Disco Duck. Literally sounds like Donald Duck, but um he was just an LA uh radio radio DJ that that was so tapped into LA culture that he ended up in that movie. Wow, and um and once the movie came out, it was promoted like daily from like because he was on the radio and it was just like hey, go see La Bamba, you know. Yeah um so they it it's like that was built in, but at the same time it was kind of a happy accident, yeah. There were no expectations, you know.

Dylan 38:14

So yeah. Hey, since we're here, right?

From Labor Camps To Broadway

Joe 38:20

But yeah, they include they include a lot of great oldies from the time. Um, I think the biggest one is the beginning and the end. It's kind of some of the movies that we're covering, you know, how end, beginning, but sleepwalk is one of the most well-known now because of that. And you know, it's like um it's one of those songs like as a guitarist, I just want to learn it and play it because it's just amazing. And as a singer, I want to learn it and play it because I can't sing it because there's no words, you know, and and most of the time when I hear it, most people want to say, Richie, you know, because it's just most people have seen a lot of people have seen this movie, right? So the beginning of this movie starts at in the labor camps. Um so Luis Valdez was a migrant worker in the labor camps, and um he his dad was a migrant worker, his dad apparently appeared in a film, but they ended up being migrant workers. And apparently he had like this family friend or guy named Cece, and um he, you know, his his dad, uh, I forgot what happened with his dad, but he somehow he moved somewhere and he went to find CeCe, and he called his mom and he said, Hey, do you know where Cece's at? And oh yeah, he's working up in here, and he's like, Oh, he's he's in these labor camps, and it's like, Yeah, you know. So come to find out, his family friend that he didn't realize who Cece was was uh Caesar Travis, and Caesar Chavez is known to be one of the biggest like um migrant farm workers. He he had done um multiple uh hunger strikes for for labor. Um he's unionized um the labor farm workers, he was the biggest uh like most well-known person to do that. So he ended up working side by side with him. And when he went and found him, and so Luis Valdez and then his brother Danny uh both were out there. So while they were out there, they were doing they would do like so we saw the labor camps in the movie, and you're kind of like, Why are there tents and things like that? Right. Well, they would live out there while they were working, and sometimes that's where they would live, or sometimes they would live out there while they're working and then go back to their homes when they were done. Yeah. Um, and you know, some of them would get visas, work in America, and go back home, or somewhere in California. Um and so um what they would do to entertain each other is they created something called um uh Teatro Capesino, and it basically means um farm workers' theater, you know. Okay, and so they created this theater, the theatro, so that when they had downtime, they could entertain everybody because there's no TVs or right, you know, not a lot of people had radios and and all that stuff. So while they would go protest or while they were you know working, they would do this theatro. And so they started with like 10-minute skits, and then it'd be 15 and then half an hour, and then Luis started writing these longer plays that became actual stage plays, and the whole theatro cast and everybody broke off and became uh you know this just this own entity on its own. And so then from that, uh kind of moving along, they created a there's actually a song called Zoot Suit Riots, but it was an actual riot in LA. Yeah, and there were some Hispanics who were accused of doing something they didn't basically, and they were Zootsuiters, they would dress up in these nice suits, and they were kind of gang members and stuff, but they they had this big fight with um these naval officers and army, you know, military guys, and so there was this big thing. Yeah um there was this really crazy trial. There was this really crazy trial to where nobody had died, but they were they were being tried for for like basically the the punishment would have been like death. Yeah, right? Yeah, it was like that extreme, and so this whole thing ended up the whole thing ended up getting resolved, but they um Luis decided to write a play based on that situation, yeah um, and and just called the Zootsuit. So um Danny and and Luis uh wrote Zootsuit and put it together, and um Zootsuit was the first Hispanic Latino uh play to be on Broadway.

Dylan 43:48

Yeah.

Joe 43:48

And so while they were they were hanging out, I guess the president of Mexico at the time sent a mariachi band over to congratulate them on. being the first, you know, Latino uh play on Broadway, and they played La Bamba. And so from that became the seed of like they were like, you know, we haven't heard anything about Richie Vallens and you know we we should we should think about doing something like that. Wow. And so at the time it was like I think it was like maybe the 70s or something.

Dylan 44:25

Yeah.

Zoot Suit To La Bamba’s Greenlight

Joe 44:26

But um originally so there's an uncle um in the background called Lalo. He he's driving the ice cream truck. Yeah yeah and yeah so he he kind of he's kind of around so that's Denny um and Danny Valdez uh and he he actually was going to be Richie Vallons at the beginning of it all. Oh really because it take it took so long to to get the movie going he he was too old to do the he aged out of it but he had he had taken the reins to try to get it produced to try to get it to people and Luis had written something so that you know people would know okay this is what we're gonna do and and because of the farm workers and because of the whole teatro he they had influence of people knew who they were and were like oh yeah you you you guys are these guys and um and so it kind of came around to Taylor Hackford um being friends with Danny and them kind of going hey let's let's look at you know what we could do so years went by Luis Valdez was asked to do some kind of uh what do you call it kind of help on a movie like to give to give some advice on would farm workers do this or do that on this movie right and he was like no they would this is totally fake yeah so the director of that movie it was a Richard Pryor movie told him um well why don't you rewrite everything and I know you're an aspiring director so come back to the set we're gonna we're gonna reshoot things he ended up playing a Caesar Travis type character yeah in the movie and brought the rest of the theatro cast to be the farm workers wow so it was like he got an in he ended up staying for the whole rest of the movie and they said just hang out with us look at the process of how we edit how we cast how we do all the stuff so he sat in and then following from that became a move the movie version of Zootsuit and and so Paramount gave him gave them money to create this you know the Broadway play on film. Yeah so then he did one other movie meanwhile Taylor Hackford did a movie I can't remember what the first movie was but he ended up doing a movie called Officer and the gentleman and that ended up being like I think it was nominated for some Oscars and stuff like that. Yeah it had Richard Gere in it. Um but so then Taylor Hackford was able to have enough producing clout to get to where he could do what he wanted and so Danny and Taylor and and Luis got together and then that's when they started to to work on the Bomba and uh the biggest thing that he wanted that Luis wanted to show um out of you know the movie is that it's not just like somebody's dream it's like the American dream. Yeah and it's all of our dream and it's like going from the labor camp to becoming a rock star you know and even even in some sense the working man with Bob you know he like he had he had it hard but he worked his butt off and he was getting somewhere you know so it was just yeah the way things came about just going from being you know in the labor camps because that's kind of his story anyway you know um so something else in the kind of design of the movie is um you really feel how the the fast pace of everything in the movie kind of shows how short his life was yeah yeah how fast it was over.

Speed Of Fame And 10,000 Hours

Dylan 48:53

Right yeah it it feels like in some ways you look back and you feel like wow he he became famous fast but at the same time it's like he did right you know and and not everybody that doesn't happen everybody well and especially then without the without the technology that we have today right you don't have instant access to anything you you you know could ever desire at your fingertips.

Cultural Roots Without Language

Joe 49:28

Right yeah it it that definitely yeah the creativity the all the things that go into it just you know he he was making up songs in his head you know on guitar and it's amazing because there's that point where the funny part where where they're like you know um well well well right you know the the 60 take yeah yeah the 60 take there there's an album out of his kind of of his demos that I have oh really and he does sing some of the songs different and there's like different takes of him singing it differently like that yeah yeah and it's pretty interesting and I and I get where he was Bob was saying like you know I've been to Mexico and they sing songs differently right and and uh I love how he's like well I've never been to Mexico right right he's like well yeah that's the other part of like I feel like grounding to grounding to where I'm at and where I grew up and and stuff is you know I'm one of those Hispanic kids who grew up not knowing Spanish but loving you know Fernand you know uh Vicente Fernandez or or you know even Richie Vellens or like whatever Rock and Espanol uh Caifanes or whatever like I grew up listening to Rock and Espanol without even understanding yeah what it is you know like it's crazy and and that's that's where Richie Vellens was at like he hears La Bamba and he's like oh let's do that like without a thought yeah you know right because he grew up with it and and that's just I mean I grew up around it um my grandparents were musicians and they would have their friends over come to find out later on I didn't know this but they had been doing that they had been like in this circuit of like playing and and uh you know making money basically being musicians and then they all kind of took day jobs and and so occasionally they would get together and all their friends would come over and I just thought these were cousins and whatever but they're jamming and I was like you know I'd be in the pool hearing this music and I'm like wow they really you know and did not know that they were like kind of almost famous kind of thing you know so yeah um so out of like the the movie what would you say would be like your favorite scene could you choose a favorite scene um I think the top one for me is in a highlight is just the the concert uh the first concert um yeah with uh with Eddie Cochran and and you know like that whole that whole thing because it just you still you at that point feel like the rise in fame for Richie you know yeah and then it's you know uh what does he say here's a bit of a here's the bit of a rattlesnake you know and the cool thing is like he's wearing this like snake skin looking jacket too and you know it just yeah that's his like breakout point you know it's like when Superman transforms for the first time or something you know it's like I don't know if you would say it could be categorized as a favorite scene but definitely an impactful scene yeah is when they're all getting onto the airplane at the end. Oh yeah and um the coin toss yeah was that real yeah yeah some some people said it happened in the the coin toss happened in the you know whatever at the concert hall yeah some people said it happened by the bus but it happened the coin toss happened and um the the there were I think there were two other there was tiny Tommy Elsop and Wayland Jennings who were involved in that and I forget how if it like went from Wayland to Tommy and then Tommy did the coin with Richie but they were both like really had that guilt over it because because of that coin toss because it was like yeah yeah um but yeah and then I don't know if it was just kind of a throwaway line or if it you know theoretically actually was sad or not but when uh when Richie is like that's the only only coin toss I've ever won. Yeah yeah that that apparently had been said too yeah yeah one of the sad things about that is when they were filming it the family was there and the sister went up to Richie or went up to Lou Diamond Phillips and said Richie why did you go? Why did you have to get on that plane and and was like and the dire you know Taylor Hackford had to come over and say hey you know we can't do that you know it's you know because she the she just it was like she still had stuff you know right and and so it was like a really hard scene you know it's like we were saying before at the end of it when that whole montage was happening the music does it in right away yeah and and then the whole just seeing because for as tough a guy as Bob is to see him cry like that just kind of breaks you you know and and then to see the mom and see everybody and by then you feel like their family you know and it's just oh it's such a tough scene. Yeah yeah I think there's a lot of one liners and stuff but yeah the I don't think that I don't think the portrayal of the dad was was too far you know I think I think they played it maybe not played it safe but they definitely they definitely um how would you say it they said what they needed to say yeah and and I think like they could have they could have lessened it or they could have went too far but I feel like they were just right on that. Knowing my grandparents and stories that they had from people in the neighborhood and things like that that was that was probably on the soft side. Yeah so but yeah um one of the other things was that Richie's um Richie's mom and family were a part of it and so when he got the part um basically Richie's mom gave her blessing for everything yeah and gave her the blessing for Richie um and uh she went and hugged him and said you're Richie now you know and you know and of course you know they they loved Esa as Bob because they were like yep that's Bob in in the 50s that that's what he looked like you know um if you see old pictures they they look exactly alike so yeah yeah and it's funny because like I said they went for more of the heart of the person than like exactly looking like Richie Vallens. Right um and but I think that especially Lou Diamond Phillips with his with that being his first role like you know when you're on your first thing you're hungry you know and you're you're putting in time and and effort and all this stuff and like there people would ask him like you know how how how do you feel like doing La Bamba affected your career and all this he's like it made my career he's like yeah because it it just and the funny thing is he only got paid six thousand bucks for the whole thing. Wow yeah and he did the same thing as like he helped his mom buy a house and then he said like within six months he was he had no money. Oh man and then so like he gets paid and then you do this movie but then that's it you know and so you have to do all this promotion and all these other things while you're trying to get other jobs and right you know so it's crazy.

Dylan 58:33

So six thousand dollars in the eighties is roughly the same purchasing power as a according to Dr. Google a roughly the same purchasing power as about $23,600.

Favorite Scenes And The Coin Toss

Family On Set And Legacy

Joe 58:52

Wow less than your car yeah wow twenty three thousand six hundred so it's about a two hundred and ninety three percent inflation rate over the years yeah so prices are nearly four times higher today yeah man and that apparently was scale for an actor that was just what you made crazy yeah I mean compared to today where half of the budget is automatically going towards right yeah and and even today you have to think about okay what are the streaming residuals and what are the you know there's just a lot of residual income that you have to you know built into you know so Joe out of ten guitars what would you rate this movie? Hmm I think as far as biopics it's my ten yeah yeah I think I think it really set the pace for for biopics and how you do it with without having like there is a formula there but I think that came after you know right but yeah yeah I was thinking I was thinking of a nine yeah I mean uh it's just it was great yeah I'd I'd go and you know anybody who hasn't watched shit I'd be like go watch it right now yeah I mean just the the way it was able to portray just everything you know the the culture of everything the family dynamic and yeah it just you honestly can't even describe yeah it yeah oh so one last thing so the funny thing about the farm workers at the beginning of the movie is Luis Valdez recreated an actual farm that he worked on and he brought his dad and he's like hey you recruit you recreated this you know well yeah he hired all his farm farm worker friends for the movie okay so they had um what was it um the fruit that was on the on the the trees right they put it on there so they were supposed to act like they were farm working and doing it was apricots they're acting like they were picking the apricots but because they're actual farm workers they just yeah the fruit started to disappear because they were working so fast because they're used to like the hustle right and so they had to like put fruit back on the trees to like so wow yeah just um how do you feel like the kind of the cultural importance of this movie is today yeah I think I think I think for a lot of reasons it's culturally important. One of the biggest things for me is with Lou Diamond Phillips and Isaiah Morales both not being Mexican you know um I think people have lost the idea of what acting is about and kind of I think right now people are overcompensating for that um and instead of going instead of hiring a decent actor to do a good part um they're waiting to hold out for the race or the nationality or whatever and that might not be the best choice. Right. You know um and like I said with with both of them being cast one you know Puerto Rican the other one's Filipino like like you know it just but they did such a great job um and and and again I think like thinking about Robert Rodriguez and directors who came after that uh Robert Rodriguez directed on Mariachi and a lot of Tony uh Antonio Banderas movies um he did um oh I was thinking of what that I'll think of it but Robert Rodriguez and a lot of other Hispanic Latino directors coming out were influenced by Luis and Danny Valdez yeah you know and so to look back at these guys to look at where they came from to where they're at and just as a Hispanic myself just going these guys did it they worked hard they were worked their butts off they worked they worked their butts off in a labor camp first you know so there's no like uh I need a shortcut to get here like there they didn't have any shortcuts right you know so like these guys really speak for how we should be you know just as human beings as Americans and you know just working hard and not waiting for a handout necessarily you know so yeah um something that I had thought of was that I was like I think after watching this we're gonna have to cover Selena too yeah yeah yeah we will maybe next season that'll be well next on have you seen the movie podcast we're gonna go back to where I feel like it all started ET We started talking about whether Dylan had watched ET for at all while we were going getting on the ride. Yeah and I think this is where the podcast started so can't wait to get to do that. Thanks for listening to have you seen the movie podcast make sure to follow the show on your favorite podcast app and if you're enjoying it leave us a five star rating it really helps the show grow.

Dylan 1:04:59

And we want to hear from you text us your name and a movie suggestion using the link in the description you can follow all of our socials in the description as well everything you need is right there. We'll be back next week with another movie premiere Richie Vallance was 17 and the music never stopped missing him. Right still