Soul Station Feature: Cannibal & The Headhunters

Get It On Up (Get Up The Courage)

East L.A. was a hot bed of hybrid rock, soul and boogaloo in the 1960s. Mexican American bands like Sunny and the Sunliners and Thee Midnighters were wildly popular and had hits, too. Thee Midniters caught on with a cover of Chris Kenner's Land of 1000 Dances at the end of 1964 and Cannibal and the Headhunters followed in a month. The Frankie Garcia (he was Cannibal) version did a little better and has certainly been remembered much more so than the one by Thee Midniters. Kind of a shame as Thee Midniters were an incredible band and they outlasted Cannibal and his group, too. Garcia and company were done by the beginning of 1969 when they had their farewell, a hot dance number that owes a lot to older dance grooves by the Isley Brothers and the Righteous Brothers.

DJ Pi a.k.a. Paul Yamada