The Plugz

The Plugz are an excellent and exciting Mexican-American punk band from Los Angeles, California. The group first formed in 1977. The original members were: Tito Larriva (guitar/vocals), Charlie Quintana (drums), and Barry McBride (bass/backing vocals). The Plugz have the distinction of being one of the initial Chicano punk outfits. Not surprisingly, their music often reflected the anger and angst of growing up Chicano in the City of Angels, as confirmed by their sardonic sped-up cover of Ritchie Valens' signature hit "La Bamba." They were also one of the first Do-It-Yourself Los Angeles punk bands who released their albums on their own label called Plugz Records. The group played live gigs at the famous Los Angeles punk clubs the Masque and Madame Wong's. The band released their debut album "Electrify Me" in 1979. Their second album "Better Luck" was issued in 1981. The Plugz contributed three songs which include an inspired rapid-fire Spanish cover of Johnny Rivers' smash hit "Secret Agent Man" called "Hombre Secreto" to the soundtrack of the marvelously outré sci-fi punk black comedy cult favorite "Repo Man." Moreover, the group's song "Electrify Me" was featured on the soundtrack to the hugely successful porno classic "New Wave Hookers" and its first sequel "New Wave Hookers 2." In addition, the song "Adolescent" was featured on the soundtrack to the movie "Scarred." On March 22, 1984 the Plugz appeared with legendary singer/songwriter Bob Dylan on an episode of the popular talk show "Late Night With David Letterman." The group broke up in the mid 80s. On November 11, 2007 the three founding members of the Plugz reunited for the Masque 30th Anniversary Party and Book Release show at the Echoplex in the Echo Park district of Los Angeles.