THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,153) Los Cuatro Monedas — “Mira de Frente”/“Look Straight”
First “Groovin’”, then “Groovy”, and now just an irresistible groove. This ‘71 B-side is “one of the[] best” (liner notes to the CD comp Fading Yellow, Vol. 14: Spanish Popsike and Other Delights) from Venezuela’s Los Cuatro Monedas/The Four Coins, who “explored the sounds of Northern soul, Motown, sunshine pop, popsike and groove.” (liner notes to Fading Yellow, Vol. 14)
Gabi_isea tells us (courtesy of Google Translate):
This group . . . was made up of the children of pianist Pat O’Brien. They started in 1963 as “Los Hermanos O’Brien” and recorded hits like “ El Patito ” or “ La Mamma ” by Charles Aznavour . . . . [In] 1968 . . . they changed their name . . . to “ Las Cuatro Monedas ” . . . . [They] are considered the first group to record . . . Reggae in [Venezuela] 1969 . . . . That same year they won at the II Barcelona International Song Festival in Spain . . . . In 1973, the youngest of the Gregory brothers entered and in 1975 they triumphed at the 10th Venezuelan Song Festival . . . . In 1976 they obtained second place at the VI OTI Festival in Mexico . . . . In 1981 they separated and each one went their separate ways.
https://web.archive.org/web/20120928143811/http://www.salvavinilos.org/2008/04/11/las-cuatro-monedas-a-go-go-el-palacio-de-la-musica-1968/
Diana Hernández adds (courtesy of Google Translate):
The Cuatro Monedas . . . were the children of Pat O Brien, renowned pianist of the Billo’s Caracas Boys Orchestra. . . . Marlene, Brenda, Kenny and Gary O’Brien, later Gregory O’Brien would join. They were among the first interpreters of Jamaican rhythms (ska, and reggae) and soul in Venezuela. . . . [and] constitute[] one of the most important exponents [in] Latin America[] . . . of Ska YeYé (“Vintage Ska Spanish” the style in Latin America), the name given to that movement that was created in the mid-sixties simultaneously in countries such as Argentina, Spain, Mexico and of course Venezuela, which was nothing other than the free interpretation in Spanish of the Jamaican classics by Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker, etc. Produced by maestro Hugo Blanco, the Cuatro Monedas become the first group to venture with Jamaican rhythms in Venezuela and in countries like Mexico and Spain . . . . Hugo Blanco, well-known Venezuelan composer and producer, . . . during his travels through the Caribbean islands, c[ame] across LPs by artists such as Byron Lee and the Dragoniers, Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker, among others. . . . [H]e was fascinated with this style and swore that upon arriving in Venezuela he would look for local performers to perform it . . . . The O’Brien brothers . . . changed their name to Four Coins, which for many represented “a native version of the Jackson 5[“] . . . . At the time, the name “Four Coins” turned out to be a media strategy to be played on the radio. Finally they translate the name into Spanish . . . . It is from the O’Brien brothers that we can speak of the genesis of the presence of reggae and ska in Venezuela . . . .
https://www.last.fm/es/music/Las+Cuatro+Monedas/+wiki
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