Hispanics On TV - Nixons Revenge (1980)

Originally titled "Mexicans On TV" this screed on television public interest programming is as timely today as when it was written all the way back during the Jimmy Carter administration.

Back in the days before rampant government deregulation, broadcast stations, both TV and radio, were required to air a certain amount of "public interest" programming in order to successfully renew their FCC licenses. "Public interest" in this case usually meant programs that held little to no actually viewer interest, like educational programming, ethnic programming or local politically-oriented programs, so the idea was to bury these programs in "dead" time slots where TV ratings were not a factor. Generally these times were on weekends, usually during the wee morning hours.

One night, an Easter Sunday, Mr. P was watching a very spirited panel discussion involving the local Hispanic community. Most of the panelists were upset with the way the government had treated or mistreated them, and there was lots of shouting and wild accusations abounding. It was the type of program that would cause a major stir - if only it was shown at a time when anybody would be watching! But the TV station had managed to dump it into the worst possible time slot, after the late local news on an Easter Sunday, when only cranks like a Mr. P would be watching.

Though perhaps the panelists best interests were not being served, the show inspired Mr. P to write his first (and possibly only) "political" song, "Hispanics On TV". With a funky dance backdrop and a very palpable Norman Whitfield-era Temptations influence (on the "get down" parts), it was one of the few songs that Alan Waddington played drums on in Nixons Revenge.

The song was debuted at the San Dimas backyard party and it is generally conceded that it's one of the very few Nixon's Revenge songs that garnered positive crowd response (at least from the "mainstream" crowd). However it, like all other NR songs (except for one notable exception), was played only once at an original Nixon's Revenge gig. But the influence of "Hispanics On TV" reverberated for years, and is the first direct link to the concept of a "D-Squad".

The reason for this is that "Hispanics On TV" was the song that brought a 16-year old guitar prodigy named Jeff Nixon (nee Hayes) into the fold. An acquaintance of Alan, Jeff was recruited to play on this one single song, although he quickly branched out into other songs, including Brian's "James Garner's A Puss" and the rehearsed but never played live "Cheerleaders and Beer". Jeff endured much confusion and misery as a teenage accomplice to the more deranged musings of the ever-expanding NR universe, but he became a mainstay on all of the songs written by Mr. P, which continues into the present day.

The most intriguing thing about the song today is that if you change the lyric "Let's watch the game show" with "Let's watch the infomercial" you will see that almost nothing has changed in close to 25 years since the song was written! Backing up this assertion is this CBS News report on the (continued) paucity of Hispanics on TV!

Truly a prophetic song!

Historical Notes: Though only played live once by Nixon's Revenge, there are at least four definitive versions of the song that have survived: the "live" version, the "rehearsal" version, the "studio" version, and the "live" version found on D-Squad's "Live at Oscar's Cornhusker - 1984" (additional note: by 1984 the line "Talkin' about Jimmy Carter" had been changed to "Talkin' about El Presidente" as Jimmy Carter references at that time had become extremely arcane). Also, "Hispanics On TV" was also played live by The Blortemus, the initial Mr. P/Hayes independent venture that surfaced briefly in 1981. It has also been covered by Wckr Spgt . Though rarely played in the present day, it has found its way into the D-Squad play list on random occasions.

Linguist Alert!: Students of linguistics and American slang should note the inclusion of the line: "Getting awesome, look at them go!" Though "awesome" is perhaps the most overused and most devalued word being used today (Ex: "He just went out for pizza" "Wow, that's awesome!" Note: Going out for pizza is not exactly awe-inspiring), it has only been a slang staple for the last 10 years or so. However, trend-setters like Nixons Revenge were using this term as far back as the late 70s and it can be argued that, in fact, Nixons Revenge and their forebears in real life, The Gorillas (from Diamond Bar), were the pioneers of this particular catchphrase. If someone can cite an earlier example, please let the band know and we will happily document it!

The Lyrics

Hispanics on TV
Hispanics on TV
Gettin' down
Talkin' about
Their community