Billy Bond y la Pesada - Volumen 3 - Tontos (Argentina 1972)

"Argentina's rock scene remained fairly underground and didn't thrive a whole lot in terms of homeland awareness until after the Falklands War in the 1980's when the government banned English-speaking music from radio, causing the focus to shift on the country's own scene, finally getting some musicians paid. But the British influence had already seeped in to its foundation via the assorted Beatles-worshippers and burgeoning 1960's Beat scenes in Buenos Aires and also Uruguay (whose Los Shakers were a huge influence around South America). As time progressed, the hard rock/psych scene was throwing down fully in the early 1970's: groups like Pescado Rabioso, Almendra and Kubero Diaz getting into prog realm while keeping it still primitive and powerful. Early records by Billy Bond y la Pesada del Rock and Roll (translated: "the heavy guys of rock and roll"!) sported some especially killer jams, with violinist Jorge Pinchevsky (who'd later play with Gong) jumping on board for their second album. When Bond played an outdoor Buenos Aires festival in 1972, police harrassed audience members who were moving up from the cheaper seats to the empty closer seats (at Bond's urging) and the band motivated the fans to smash the place up. The musical result of this experience was a weird, experimental opera called Tontos (1973)." (via WFMU)

"This event was the basis of the following La Pesada album: Tontos released later that year (1972). The foldout red cover (meaning blood) only read "Tontos (operita). 20 de octubre de 1972 + por Billy Bond y la Pesada del Rock - Volúmen 3. Había una vez..." ("Fools (little opera). October 20th, 1972 + by Billy Bond and the Heavy Guys of Rock - Volume 3. Once upon a time..."). Once again, Billy was showing off his ironic sense of humour! But the record, an uninspired experimental piece of nonsense, had only one real song -the superb angry rocker "Tontos"- surrounded by noises and tape effects.

The group was immortalised performing an even wilder version of "Tontos" on the movie Rock hasta que se ponga el Sol, filmed live during the BARock Festival. Bond was savage at the vocals and Gabis at his best. Unfortunately, being on a different label, the song was not included on the movie soundtrack LP." (via Magicland)

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