Album of the Day

Though he was only 17 when he died (in the same plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper), Ritchie Valens was an inspiration for Latino rockers, particularly in his native Los Angeles. So it's only fitting that when producers of a Valens biopic needed to recreate eight of his songs, they turned to L.A.'s own Los Lobos. While the film includes some fine period music, the new recordings on the LA BAMBA original motion picture soundtrack are truly something special; Los Lobos' versions of “Come On, Let's Go” and the title track became two of the band's biggest hits (Marshall Crenshaw and Brian Setzer also offer wonderful covers of Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran classics, respectively). A feel-good look at the early days of rock 'n' roll, both the movie and its music were successful – the chart-topping LA BAMBA soundtrack was released on this day in 1987.