Monday, May 22, 2017

Who Knows Los Javaloyas?

Well, I put the question to you. Do you know who Los Javaloyas were/are? If not, then I can tell you that they have existed since 1952, they being a pop group who now occasionally get wheeled out (more or less literally) to perform at the odd fiesta. They are, despite the fact that you probably won't have heard of them, pretty famous.

Originally from Valencia, they came to Mallorca in time for the tourism boom. Their heyday was in the 1960s, when they were one of the numerous pop acts which conformed with the sanitised version of pop that the regime was prepared to tolerate. As such, and like other groups, their oeuvre was a mix of Spanish tunes and British/American covers, such as Hippy Hippy Shake and Barbara Ann, while an EP, Buenas Vibraciones, mysteriously included Spencer Davis covers as well as The Beach Boys. There was also the Los Javaloyas Vamos a San Francisco, taken from the Flowerpot Men.

Anyway, it would seem that in Palma town hall there is no one who has ever heard of them. This is the conclusion being drawn from the fact they have had a street named after them but a highly inconsequential street - a short, dead-end street stuck between two schools. Representatives of Mallorca's musical fraternity are mightily offended. Los Javaloyas deserve much more.

But who makes decisions on this at the town hall? Is it soon-to-be-mayor Antoni Noguera, in charge of urban planning? Perhaps he could find them a better street and rename the one they've been given calle José Hila.

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