Los Roller

Los Roller were born in the mid 60s in Murcia (south-east of Spain). Five guys that were absolutely mad about The Beatles dreamt about playing as their scouser idols. And for five years they made this dream real. Pepe Silvente Alonso (vocals) and Fernando González Lasheras (bass) started this project in 1965. They were neighbours and friends, and spent lots of afternoons drinking, listening to music and dancing in ‘guateques’ (the parties for young people in Spain). It was their favourite -and funniest- hobby in a country that suffered a dictatorship. The next step for Pepe and Fernando was to play their own songs and covers of their fav ones. Their first band was called Los Quién (The Who), alongside with Juan Bernal, Cristóbal Susarte and Pepe ‘el de la perfumaría’. Some weeks later joined them Mariano Montoya Bernabéu (guitar), Rafael Párraga Luna (rythm guitar) and Juan García Guzmán (drums). The drummer proposed to rename the band: Los Roller instead of Los Quién. Los Roller became very popular in their region, specially in Murcia, where they made lots of gigs in clubs such as: el Club Remo, el Taplo, el Casino Carmelitano, Pepe’s Club, el Club Real Murcia. They shared the stage with Los Capicúas, Los Mengües, Los Musicales, Siglo XX, Los Zeros, Momentos, Los Jaguars… It wasn’t easy for neither of them. Cheap instruments and equipment, few watts and low sound… But they had tons of passion for the music and kept pushing. Los Roller won the contest ‘Musical Superpop’, hosted by Radio Juventud, and became the best band in Murcia, beating Los Ases, Los Sixfer’s and Los Kabiros. The prize was awesome: to record four songs in Barcelona and release a single with Belter in 1969. The owners of the label chose ‘Touch me’ (a cover of The Doors) and ‘Una chica que no conviene’, and the sales were very poor. Surely, if they had chosen ‘Camino cortado’ (a cover of ‘Crossroads’ by Cream), and ‘Un consejo’, their future would had been brighter. But, who knows? The military service was the last station for a band that deserved much more success.