Richie Valens

Richie Valens was only 17 years old when he died. Born Richard Steven Valenzuela in southern California, he learned to play guitar at age eleven. Valens was influenced by Mexican folk songs, country music on the radio, and singing cowboy movies. He played for school assemblies and parties in high school. Valens joined a band called The Silhouettes and had locally steady work.

Valens’ followup single was “Donna”, a song written for his girlfriend, with a Mexican folk song called “La Bamba” on the flip side. Both songs were riding high on the charts when Valens signed on for a tour with Buddy Holly and two other acts. Valens life was the subject of the 1987 movie La Bamba.

“Ritchie Valens really was the first Mexican-American rock star. No one had reached the popularity that he did,” says New York-based filmmaker John J. Valadez, whose documentary “La Onda Chicana” will screen at next month’s 31st Annual CineFestival de San Antonio he who was remarkably young enjoyed a remarkably short career and also had remarkable musical influence.

Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly has inspired me in other ways, not just musical ones. When we made our early demos, I wanted good things for the others in the band. And sometimes I felt when I wrote something like Daddy's Gone that I might be holding them back. I thought, "Who would want to listen to these songs? With these kind of lyrics?" But when I found out more about Buddy Holly, through books and films, I realised how courageous he was.

I knew the song Everyday from watching the film Stand By Me. We watched it all the time and could recite it word for word. At the time I just loved the movie and the music, I didn't even know it was Buddy Holly singing. But years later, it was that song that led me to find out more about him. I think I actually bought my first Buddy Holly record in Asda! But that's often where you find a lot of music like that. And once I started to delve even deeper, I just fell in love with the songs.

A song like Maybe Baby has a timeless sound. You've got the sound and the voice – that was all he needed. A lot of his songs might sound sweet and sugary now, but at that time for an artist to write his own songs and have the charm and vision to be able to execute all the moves and sing on all those records … that was pretty revolutionary.