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LP
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MR 445LP
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The story of Telegraph Avenue, the Peruvian band whose name takes us back to the countercultural San Francisco of the sixties, began with guitarist, vocalist and composer Bo Ichikawa's journey of initiation to the United States in 1969. After attending many live shows of rock stars, including the emerging Latin artist Carlos Santana, Bo returned to Peru at the end of 1969 to form Telegraph Avenue with friends. They performed a repertoire that mixed the main branches of psychedelia with the novel Latin sounds of Santana. Thanks to their performances in discotheques, parties, school celebrations, festivals and across different regions of the country, including the historic Pop Festival in Lima where they played alongside Traffic Sound and El Polen in the style of the Woodstock movie, they quickly gained a devoted audience. This success led them to the MAG record label, where they began to record the eight songs on their debut album with lyrics in English, but which fans were very familiar with as they were part of the band's usual repertoire at gigs. Delays in MAG's production probably led to Manuel Guerrero, owner of the label, rushing the final mixing which was completed without the band's approval while they traveled to play in Cusco. In fact, they only found out about the release when they heard "Something Going" playing on the radio back in Lima. Their 1971 debut LP sold out in days thanks to the band's constant touring outside Lima and the LP's striking cover design. All the songs on the album are so strong that were released as singles and several more were left on the back burner, forming part of Telegraph Avenue's next LP. Despite the success of the album the group disbanded soon after.
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LP
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MR 428LP
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Munster Records present a first-time vinyl reissue of Telegraph Avenue's Vol. 2, originally released in 1975. The story of Telegraph Avenue, the Peruvian band whose name takes you back to the countercultural San Francisco of the sixties, began with guitarist, vocalist, and composer Bo Ichikawa's journey of initiation to the United States in 1969. After attending many live shows of rock stars, including the emerging Latin artist Carlos Santana, Bo returned to Peru at the end of 1969 to form Telegraph Avenue with friends. They performed a repertoire that mixed the main branches of psychedelia with the novel Latin sounds of Santana. Thanks to their performances in discotheques, parties, school celebrations, festivals and across different regions of the country, they quickly gained a devoted audience and their 1971 debut LP: Volumen 1 (MAG) sold out in days. Despite the success of the album the group disbanded soon after. They reunited again in 1974, adding another guitarist to the band who also contributed his own songs to the repertoire. In their second LP, on the MAG label too, they returned to the sophisticated vocal interplay and polished compositions of the first album. It was released in 1975. Bad timing. Political instability prevented it from being distributed properly. Volumen 2 is considered the last album of the golden age of Peruvian rock spanning the decade 1965 to 1975, starting with Los Saicos' early recordings and ending with Volumen 2 by Telegraph Avenue. It's the swan song of a young generation, which like all youth was misunderstood and found redemption and transcendence in music. First time vinyl reissue, including a bonus track and liner notes.
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