Los Amis

Los Amis was a Basque band that released three records between 1967 and 1970. Eduardo Moreno (guitar), José Jaime Ortúzar (singer and guitar), Luis Escalante (drums) and Paco Vicente (guitar) became friends at the university Estudios Universitarios y Técnicos de Guipúzcoa (EUTG), in San Sebastián. They were absolutely mad about The Kinks, The Beatles, The Beach Boys and the Creedence Clearwater Revival. They began composing music for the catholic mass that was celebrated every fortnight in their college. It was called ‘Misa de los jóvenes’, also the title of their first 7” in 1968. One year later was the time for a single that included two songs: ‘Oración por Vietnam’ and ‘Calles para olvidar’. The censor’s office (dictator Francisco Franco was still alive) banned ‘Oda a Martin Luther King’, causing anger in the band. The next –and last- step was a great forward artistic leap. ‘Sueños en Fa’, written by Eduardo Moreno (music) and Juan José Legarda (lyrics), won several contests in 1970 and was played on the national radio. ‘What have you seen?’, a song by Luis Escalante, is a brilliant masterpiece, very influenced by his summer holidays in London and, of course, The Beatles. After they finished the bachelor’s degree, the band split and Los Amis became legends. Also played Carlos Subijana among another amateur musicians.