Colombia's countercultures: Bogota's rock and roll gangs

[Judi Lynn]

1. 'People were put in jail for music': a brief history of Latin American rock

Jim Farber
Wed 16 Dec 2020 03.11 EST

In the Netflix docuseries Break It All, the fascinating and under-reported legacy of rock music in Latin America is finally given its due


In most British or American documentaries about rock bands, the bad guys are the managers or record executives who steal the group’s money or force them to compromise their art. In the new Netflix docuseries Break It All, which covers the sprawling history of rock bands in Latin America, the bad guys far exceed that level of evil. “With the military junta in Argentina, we were facing real enemies,” said Nicolas Entel, who wrote the series. “In Chile, they were standing up to Pinochet. You can’t get a character that’s more evil than Pinochet.”

“People were put in jail for being musicians,” said Gustavo Santaolalla, a seminal figure in the Latin rock scene who served as a producer on the project. “So there’s tremendous context for this music.”

The result has given Break It All (or Rompan Todo in Spanish) a level of drama, depth and consequence few rock docs can match. Amid its dense, six-episode expanse, the show tells of “missing” or murdered musicians during the fascist regimes of the 60s, 70s and 80s, including Victor Jara in Chile; widespread censorship, including a decade-long ban on rock in Mexico in the 70s; and a steady characterization in the press of the bands as depraved subversives. At the same time, Latin America has managed to produce a virtual goldmine of guitar-driven bands since the 60s that, in Santaolalla’s view, “sometimes surpassed the content of rock that has been produced in the Anglo world”.

Yet, many of those groups have little or no profile outside Latin America – especially the foundational ones in the first two decades. Given the hundreds of great bands the region has produced, it’s no surprise that the creators of the series had to leave many out. According to Santaolalla, they concentrated on “bands that influenced other bands, not only in their own country but in others”.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/dec/16/people-were-put-in-jail-for-music-a-brief-history-of-latin-american-rock#:~:text='People%20were%20put%20in%20jail%20for%20music'%3A%20a%20brief,history%20of%20Latin%20American%20rock&text=%E2%80%9CPeople%20were%20put%20in%20jail,tremendous%20context%20for%20this%20music.%E2%80%9D

In case there is any question about what country supported these fascist governments and their atrocities with boatloads of financial aid, financed by taxpayers' hard earned money, take a moment to do quick research to find out which enormous country was their absolute, staunch, close supporter throughout their time in power, always, every time.