Thee Midnighters, In Thee Midnite Hour!!!!
One of 1960s LA's best and most raucous rock and roll bands.
"Whittier Boulevard," a 1965 single by East Los Angeles 'Chicano rockers Thee Midniters, welcomes one and all: "Let's take a trip down Whittier Boulevard!!!" the band shouts in unison, to catcalls of "Arriba! Arriba!" and screeches of ecstasy. These are the song's only words: the remaining two-minute tour swells with blaring horns, skittering guitars, nervous tambourines, an adventurous bass line and mind-clearing blasts of organ. Basically, Whittier Boulevard sounds like the greatest street ever.
Thee Midniters have many claims to history: they were one of the first Chicano rock groups to score in the American charts; they were early adopters of the horn as a rock-and-roll instrument; and they were vanguards in the singing of Cesar Chavez and Chicano Power in the late 1960s, as well as in adding the extra "e" to "The" (see: Thee Headcoats and Thee Hypnotics). But beyond all this they were simply one of Los Angeles 'best bands of the 1960s, capable of moving comfortably from British Invasion rock to stomp-along R 'n 'B to make-out session ballads. Their covers of "Money" and "Gloria" are among the most raucous ever, and check out the freaky "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" or the neck-snapping soul of "Hey Little Girl."
