SMITS: By the late 1980s, Mexican-American music

was enjoying unprecedented popularity.

♪ Para bailar la bamba

♪ Para bailar la bamba se necesita... ♪

And when Los Lobos recorded "La Bamba"

for a movie about the life of Ritchie Valens,

a whole new generation fell in love with Chicano rock.

LOUIE PEREZ: It became a huge, huge hit,

and, uh, I guess most people expected us

to do "La Bamba" number two.

But we just decided, um,

we want to take all that focus and put it on

what we were really about for those first ten years,

playing traditional Mexican music.

(playing "La Pistola y El Corazon")

♪ No se como decirte

♪ No se como explicarte

♪ Que aqui no hay remedio

♪ De lo que siento yo

♪ De lo que siento yo

SMITS: Ignoring conventional music-business wisdom,

Los Lobos followed "La Bamba" not with more rock and roll,

but with an all-acoustic album of Mexican folk songs,

La Pistola y El Corazon-- "The Pistol and the Heart."

PEREZ: Everybody from coast to coast

said, "Hey, Los Lobos committed commercial suicide."

But for us, it was a proud moment.

It was cool that, that some kid in Tokyo

was going to be able to listen to a huapango.

It was cool that somebody in Helsinki, Finland,

was going to be listening to, uh, a son jarocho.

♪ Con mi pistola, mi corazon

♪ Y aqui siempre paso...

And then, you know, we got complimented for,

for our suicidal tendencies by, uh, getting a Grammy award.

♪

♪ Con la pistola y el corazon. ♪

(crowd cheering)

Thank you!