Los Cheyenes were four teenagers from the Poble Sec neighbourhood in Barcelona: brothers Roberto (singer and lead guitar) and Joselin Vercher (bass, backing vocals) plus Jose Maria Garces (rhythm guitar, backing vocals) and drummer Ramon Colom (ex- Flaming Stars and the only one with previous musical experience). They had a cocky, defiant look. They were angry young men with a repertoire of their own influenced by British white R&B. They debuted in 1965 with ‘Valgame la Macarena’ (written by the famous Spanish songwriter Jorge Domingo), a song with an obvious Spanish flair in the style of Los Brincos’ ‘Flamenco’ and the closest they ever got to a hit. It was the main track on their first EP, completed by a cover of Los Kinks’ ‘Come On Now’ (“Ven ahora”), another title by Jorge Domingo (‘No Me esperes’) and a self-written song (‘Llore por ti’). You could sense there was something great in those grooves, although the lack of resources and the rush to find a place for them within the “industry” didn’t help much. Neither did their indomitable attitude. They tried to use the censorship incident that banned them from appearing on TVE (Spanish public TV broadcaster) after refusing to get their hair cut, staging a parody of it in Madrid’s Gran Via which caused a traffic jam outside the Radio Madrid studios. That same year they released their second and fantastic EP where, right away from the cover, with a black and white picture of their faces looking like drugged up zombies, it was obvious they were different from everyone else. Two self-written compositions (‘Conoces el final’ and ‘¿Por que te fuiste?’) along with a Guess Who cover via The Hollies (‘Y olvidame’) plus another song by Jorge Domingo (‘Devuelveme el corazon’) confirmed the perfection of their immediacy, energy and rage. They started the following year with the single ‘He perdido este juego’ / ‘Tu no llegaste a mi’. The former, punk before punk, is pure teenage adrenaline: R&B with sharp riffs, a tight rhythm and the surprise of a mischievous harmonica towards the end. The latter, featuring refined guitars, mixes melancholic folk rock with what is known today as “popsike”. A third EP rounded up their magical 1966. All the songs were written by the band, and the record was the most honest representation of who they really were. The last breath of an unrepeatable moment that lasted almost two years. The sum of coherence, rigor, talent and stubbornness that only happens during brief moments of life. And perhaps they should have left it there. Compulsory military duties, disenchantment, people leaving the band… They still released a last single, half-hearted and improper of their own legend: ‘Borrachera’ / ‘Siguiendo el sol’, without Roberto, who was replaced by a new lead guitarist and a new singer. He would come back in 1968 but by then the demise of Los Cheyenes was inevitable.