Cannibal & the Headhunters

Cannibal & The Headhunters were a U.S. band originating from East Los Angeles, that is known for being one of the first Mexican-American groups to have a nationalhit record, "Land of a Thousand Dances", recorded on the RAMPART label. They were also the opening act for The Beatles' second American tour, backed up by the King Curtis band. They were the discovery of RAMPART Records label owner & founder, Eddie Davis, and were part of a unique collection of young Mexican American musicians & singers in the 1960's who pioneered the legendary "East Side Sound" music of Los Angeles, a brief musical phenomena of the time that attracted international attention.

"Land of a Thousand Dances" reached #30 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the Spring of 1965, which was a remake of the original Kris Kenner tune. The "na,na,na,na.." lyric roll was an original "mistake" performed by Frankie "Cannibal" Garcia during a performance in Fullerton in which he forgot the lyrics in mid-song and simply improvised the best way he knew how, and the "na, na,na,na," lyric is now known World wide more than 45 years later. Soul singer Wilson Picket re-did the song into a national hit for himself in 1967, using the "na, na,na,na" lyric to whip his audiences into a fenzy.

There is a virtual myth and music legend among East L.A. music historians surrounding the controversy of another recording of the song "Land of 1000 Dances" at the same time by another popular East los Angeles group, Thee Midniters, but the "na,na,na,na" lyric belongs soley to Garcia and his Headhunters.

The original group was founded by Frankie "Cannibal" Garcia in 1964. The other group members were Joe "YoYo" Jaramillo, Bobby "Rabbit" Jaramillo, and Richard "Scar" Lopez. Barely out of high school, these young men came from the Ramona Gardens and Estrada Courts Housing Projects of East Los Angeles, and were inspired by the African American doo-wop groups in their neighborhoods. This group toured, recorded, and performed together for only 18 months before they went their separate ways.

A few years later, a secondary group, consisting of Frankie Garcia and other singers & musicians re-emerged as Cannibal & The Hunters, but never reached the commercial popularity or success the original group attained.

Shortly after singer Frankie Garcia's death, drummer Robert Zapata unsuccessfully attempted to tour unauthorized as Cannibal & The Headhunters for a short while, and still attempts to bill himself and his band as Cannibal & The Headhunters, although he was never a member of the original group.

Frankie "Cannibal" Garcia and Joe "Yo-Yo" Jaramillo are both deceased. The 2 remaining original members, Bobby "Rabbit" Jaramillo and Richard "Scar" Lopez did get together for a brief reunion tour and re-issue of the original RAMPART label recordings in 2003 until 2005, performing at the 40th Anniversary of the West Coast "East Side Sound" Concerts throughout Southern California colleges in 2004.

46 years after it's release, "Land of 1000 Dances" by Cannibal & The Headhunters is still heard on Oldies but Goodies radio stations across the country, has been in the soundtracks of movies, and is a testament to 4 young Mexican American men from the housing projects of Los Angeles who wanted to sing rock and roll at a time when that was ananomaly in America.