Beyond Santana: Malo And The Forgotten Wave Of ’70s Latin Rock Bands

YouTube Morning Edition ‘s series called One-Hit Wonders / Second-Best Songs focuses on musicians or bands whose careers in the United States are defined by a single monster hit, and explains why their catalogs have much more to offer. In this installment, NPR’s Felix Contrares, the host of Alt.Latino , argues that the band Malo, known primarily for its 1972 Top 20 hit “Suavecito,” deserves to be remembered alongside other ’70s Latin rock bands like Santanta. (In fact, Carlos Santana’s brother, Jorge, played guitar for Malo.) Read Felix in his own words below, and hear the radio version at the audio link. Malo was part of a Latin rock movement in the early ’70s that included, of course, Santana , but there were other bands — like El Chicano , Azteca and even War — that were combining rock and roll and Latin influences. ” Suavecito ” was the breakout hit on the first album, principally because it was so radio-friendly. It was in English and it really dug deep into the mixture of African