Renegade (band) - Discrimination

Discrimination

Being from Mexican origin proved to be a barrier for the members of Renegade during their early years. The band's manager and producer, Kim Richards, is a music industry veteran (Pink Floyd, Queen, America, Mike Pinera, Iron Butterfly and Kevin DuBrow of Quiet Riot). Richards was unable to get the band booked at local Los Angeles clubs as a result of their skin color and a perception that a group of "Mexicans" would bring in spray cans and knives. Richards told Performance Magazine:

"here used to be a place called Flippers Roller Disco in West Hollywood that booked bands and had a lot of industry people hanging out. I played Renegade’s demo tape for the booker, and he said, ‘great, sure, your guys are booked for next Wednesday. Got a picture? "Well, I gave him a group photo and he looks at it and says, ‘Oh... Latino, huh? Let me just check the book here a second. Oh, I made a mistake, we already had a booking for that night .. sorry.’ "I said cut the jive. I know what’s happening. He finally admitted he didn’t want the spray paint and knife carriers coming in to see the group. I was truly surprised by this, especially in this so-called enlightened age. I found that another very key club owner in town had the same attitude about us. But this increased my determination to make Renegade work. If they didn’t make it, it wasn’t going to be because of discrimination.." said Richards. He finally went to Bill Gazzarri, a longtime friend of Richards and owner of a teen dance club that helped establish "video go-go dancing" in the 60’s on the Sunset Strip. "I said Bill, you’re the only one left. I want this band booked. Bill said, ‘You can put em on every Wednesday night. This is my joint, and I do what I want with it.’" Said Richards... "They SRO business every Wednesday night ... Suddenly, that big club owner who’d turned me down contacted me about booking the band. I decided if Renegade was to play a club that turned the group down when we needed the club, the group was going to get 100 percent of the door plus 20 percent of the bar. I eventually got 100 percent of the door and 10 percent of the bar.

Renegade's original record label wanted the band members to change their names to more "Americanized" names, but Richards supported their refusal, ultimately prevailing. Richards opted to go the opposite direction and promoted the band's ethnicity, persuading then Warner / Electra / Atlantic Distribution (WEA) head Nesuhi Ertegün to release the band's single, Girls, Girls, Girls in Latin-America. The single shot to the top of the charts effectively forcing a worldwide release of the band's first album, Rock N' Roll Crazy!. Los Renegados, as the band is known throughout Latin-America, became a household name based on a combination of the band's teen idol appearance and the fact they were Latin.