Previous developments in Argentine rock hits, the band was an important influence in the development of an Argentine scene. Between 1955 and 1957, the
porteño youth was introduced to
rock 'n' roll music through films like
Blackboard Jungle,
Rock Around the Clock, ''
Don't Knock the Rock and Rock, Rock Rock''; becoming acquainted with American artists such as
Bill Haley & His Comets,
Little Richard,
Jerry Lee Lewis and
Elvis Presley. Mr. Roll y sus Rockers, a band led by
Eddie Pequenino, recorded the first rock 'n' roll music of the country, covering various songs by Bill Haley and also writing original compositions in English. Like Billy Cafaro, another of the first Argentine rock 'n' roll musicians, Pequenino limited himself to imitating foreign artists. As it grew in popularity, rock 'n' roll music began to be embraced by young people, who began to veer away from
tango,
jazz, and the
dance halls that until then they shared with their parents. According to Yanko González, "this initial rock represents, basically, a space of youthful fun that expresses itself through a
dance with very provocative corporal movements for the time. There its transgression is established: in the audacity of its movements, in the expressive use of the body". Until the release of "La balsa", singing rock music with Spanish lyrics was generally frowned upon, being considered "
tacky" and "
uncool", as the style was strongly associated with the
English-speaking world. More transgressive than the singers from
El club del clan,
Sandro rose to stardom with the debut of his band Los de Fuego in 1963, which covered foreign rock 'n' roll songs in Spanish. With obvious inspiration from Elvis Presley, his popular performances on television caused accusations of immorality. Sandro abandoned rock 'n' roll in 1967 and turned to romantic ballads, although he had already established himself as a pioneer of Argentine rock. By 1964, after
The Beatles' performances in the United States,
Beatlemania also reached Argentina, generating the appearance of several bands that imitated their sound and fashion. Local groups began to move away from the American and Mexican rock 'n' roll model in favour of a
Beatlesque style and, gradually, Spanish-language songs. Billy Bond's band Los Guantes Negros, continuation of the Bobby Cats, is an example of this transition, featuring a new name and lyrics in Spanish and a sound inspired by the Beatles.
Hugo Fattoruso of Los Shakers later stated: "It never occurred to us that we could make lyrics in Spanish. That was an Argentine invention." The TV show
Escala musical "monopolized the whole beat music movement." It became the only program in the region to feature obscure local bands, and helped popularize the South American
garage rock movement that had emerged in response to the Beatles, among them
Los Gatos Salvajes, Los Larkins (predecessor of
Almendra), and the Uruguayan Invasion bands. These groups could not find their place in
El club del clan, which focused on a much more "sweetened and light" style than the new rock that emerged from London and the United States.
Counterculture, La Cueva and La Perla In June 1966, the self-proclaimed
Argentine Revolution overthrew
Arturo Umberto Illia and established
Juan Carlos Onganía as the
de facto president. The military dictatorship aligned with the United States' National Security Doctrine, and began to control universities, trade unions and cultural events. In this context, the Argentine
middle class youth was deeply impacted by Beatlemania, the international
non-violence and
anti-authoritarian movements, and the
sexual revolution; symbolizing their identity with rock music and a
unisex point of view, with
long hair on men as one of its most prominent exteriorizations. The years leading to the 1960s had been characterized by an increase in the cultural activity of the city. For instance, the
Buenos Aires Museum of Modern Art was founded in 1956; while 1958 saw the creation of the National Institute of Cinematography, the
Fondo Nacional de las Artes and the
Torcuato di Tella Institute, while the construction of the
Teatro General San Martín advanced, which would be inaugurated in 1960. This, coupled with the high quality of university education at that time, left an enduring imprint on the artistic and intellectual development of the country during the following years. A
generation gap begun to be evident, characterized by young people's rejection of tango and the
double standards of their parents' traditional
sexual morality. An
underground youth subculture began to appear in Buenos Aires, with its epicenter in the triangle formed by a precarious musical bar called La Cueva in
Avenida Pueyrredón, the Torcuato di Tella Institute in
Florida Street, and
Plaza Francia. Today considered the first hippies of the country (although they did not use that name themselves), they adhered to the youth-led
counterculture of the decade, which was spreading throughout much of the
Western world. Deemed immoral and suspicious, these people — especially long-haired young men — suffered frequent police
detention, media criticism, and the rejection of the
intelligentsia and the mostly conservative population. Pipo Lernoud stated in 1996: "That is the particular thing that Argentine rock has. Not only was it a musical style but it was a culture that always faced repression by the system." The area also "served as a human showcase of the latest fashions and styles". On the other hand, the rock music scene mostly met in La Cueva or gathered in parks such as Plaza Francia to play their guitars, Among the group were musicians such as Los Gatos (led by
Litto Nebbia),
Moris (leader of
Los Beatniks), Javier Martínez, Billy Bond (leader of Los Guantes Negros), Los Búhos, Las Sombras (which covered the
instrumental rock of
the Shadows), Tanguito,
Miguel Abuelo, Pajarito Zaguri; writers like Miguel Grinberg, Juan Carlos Kreimer and Pipo Lernoud, and other
bohemian artists and poets. In 1966, this generation created a new style of urban youth music, which tried to reflect an everyday reality absent from popular music since the tango era. It was initially known as "beat music" and later "progressive music", and is now considered the origin of
rock nacional (
Spanish for "national rock"). They mostly emulated the Beatles and
the Rolling Stones, although there were also influences from Los Teen Tops,
Bob Dylan,
Joan Baez,
Jimi Hendrix,
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and
Frank Zappa. They were also influenced by the
Beat Generation writers. La Cueva was very popular among
porteño bohemians, and its existence even came to be known in
Paris, prompting
Juliette Gréco to visit the bar while in Buenos Aires. It has been compared to
The Cavern Club of
Liverpool, England. In 2005, Lernoud reflected: It was in La Cueva where
rock nacional really started. Without La Cueva's ferment, that mixture of musical, literary and ideological influences, [Argentine] rock would have been one more on the continent, another pale reflection of English ideas. [...] There is no history of rock, poetry, and struggle in the continent, with the exception of
Brazil, as in Argentina, nor in Europe outside England. Because the cultural isolation imposed by the successive dictatorships and the multiplicity of rock influences, produced an original hybrid that was born there, in the late 1965 and early 1966... Basilio "Turco" Adjaydie, Guillermo Romero and Juan Carlos "Chango" Pueblas had decided to leave the band and return to hometown
Rosario, following the cancellation of TV show
Escala musical in 1966, where the band performed, as well as the commercial failure of their 1965 debut album, which led to the record company going broke. In Rosario, Nebbia had become acquainted with foreign rock and pop through his admiration of
the Beatles and
Neil Sedaka. With Rosario being a port city, the group also had access to recordings by English bands such as
the Kinks,
the Zombies and
the Hollies, as well as the magazine
Melody Maker. Los Gatos became the
house band of La Cueva, performing every night from ten in the evening until four in the morning, and receiving a small salary with which they could pay a crowded
pension in
Once and barely eat. "La balsa" co-writer Tanguito, born José Alberto Iglesias de Caseros, was one of the most influential figures within the La Cueva underground. He made his musical debut in the spring of 1963 as the fronmant of Los Dukes. After leaving the band and aborting a solo project under the
stage name Ramsés VII, Tanguito came to know La Cueva through friend Horacio Martínez, and throughout the following years became a fixture of Buenos Aires' rock scene. Tanguito was an admirer of
Donovan and Bob Dylan, and his musical style was rooted in Mexican artists like the Teen Tops and
Enrique Guzmán. The city also became a "
cinephile capital". In particular, the Lorraine cinema became popular among college students for its
art film cycles, which included
French New Wave and
Ingmar Bergman movies. Another place of interest for film culture was Núcleo
film society, created in 1954 and led by Salvador Samaritano and Héctor Vena; they also published the
film magazine Tiempo de cine since 1960. This diffusion of foreign cinema's new trends led to the emergence of the Generation of the 60s (Spanish:
Generación del 60), a new wave of young directors who created
Modernist films. The movement included
Manuel Antín,
Fernando Birri,
Leopoldo Torre Nilsson and
Rodolfo Kuhn. The latter's 1963 film
Los inconstantes was filmed in
Villa Gesell, and its depiction of young, modern people with a free lifestyle prompted many teenagers to go the coastal city. Several members of La Cueva headed to Villa Gesell, where Los Beatniks were formed and recorded their 1966 debut single, "Rebelde". The
rebellious,
antimilitarist song failed to make an impact, but became the first Argentine rock release. ==Writing and recording==