Manic Hispanic

The Menudo Incident (Doctor Dream)
by Scott Hefflon

It began in a car wash… El Hoakie, Logo, Chino, Ogo, and Mad Ralphie dried cars under the supervision of El Hefe (whose Uncle Chato managed the place). While drying a rich record exec’s BMW, they decided to form a band. After playing numerous weddings and low-rider parties, they added Mo-Grease to the line-up so they could play Mo’s sister’s quincenaras. Then they added Tio, the security guard at the laundromat where they washed their mariachi outfits. Suddenly, all the kids were into punk. They burned their uniforms and changed their name to Manic Hispanic.

If the songs sound familiar, it’s because they’re covers. Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Clash, Sex Pistols… If the musicians sound familiar, it’s because the vocalist and bassist are formerly of The Cadillac Tramps, the drummer and guitarist are from The Grabbers, and the other guitarist is from Joyride (formerly of The Adolescents and Agent Orange).

Not as cute as Menudo (choose your favorite pin-up boy from the back of specially marked boxes of Pop Tarts™), more convincing than Learning English, Lesson One..., Manic Hispanic makes a novel contribution to any CD collection.