Los Naufragos

Los Naufragos (The Castaways) was am Argentine beat group, originally named Los Hippies with Gustavo Ernesto Alessio, Carlos Guillermo Cimadevilla, Freddy Zorogastúa in drums, Quique Villanueva and Claudio Gabis. They used to hang out on Billy Bond (2)'s La Cueva and play on many pubs and theaters. On 1968 they got a recording deal with CBS and changed their name on petition of the producer. The name was inspired by all the time they hanged out on La Cueva. The single La Leyenda de Xanadu was released. The B side Sutilmente, a Susana was originally composed by Tanguito when he was 16, making it the first Spanish rock song ever composed. The single was a failure, selling less than 650 copies. The group was at the point of disbanding when they remembered they had a second single arranged for the deal. CBS puts them in contact with Francis Smith, a new producer, and they record Eloise. The B-side, written by Smith, was called Vuelvo a Náufragar. Quique Villanueva does not appear on the single, vocals being performed by Alejandro Arzoumanian because Francis didn't like his voice. When it hit the radio, the single sold more than 60000 copies and kick-started the band into popularity. On 1969, for their first LP, Otra Vez en la Via, Quique suffers a car crash has to temporally leave the band. Francis puts Pajarito Zaguri on his place, however he and the band didn't agree on many aspect and he left the group as soon as Quique was recovered. However they admit that the best songs on the LP were written by Quique. Los Naufragos is considered one of South America's most popular pop and beat bands, totaling over one million sold copies by the mid 70s. On 1976 the group disbands and Gustavo Alessio forms Jazz y Pop on 1978.