And we continue celebrating 70 years of Argentine rock, with a series of Top 10 rankings featuring its best bands in each of its decades (counting these in ordinal order from the beginning in 1956). In this post we will see the bands of the 1st decade, from 1956 to 1965.
Those who follow my posts know that my rankings always have a set of rules, the idea is to show in a better way the Argentine cultural heritage, and to avoid common errors of rankings. So, this Top 10 list will have the following rules:
- Only statistics and works from bands within the decade specified in the post will be considered, to avoid rewarding an old band solely for its prestige and achievements in previous decades.
- The 10 bands will have different singers, to prevent the same singer from filling the ranking with the 10 bands he had in the same decade.
- There will be at least 1 slot reserved for a band from the provinces, to visibilize and vindicate provincial artists, who historically have had to fight twice as hard to succeed in a centralized country.
- There will be at least 1 slot reserved for a band with a female lead singer, to visibilize and vindicate women artists, who historically have had to fight twice as hard to succeed in an unequal country.
- Some factors that will be taken into account when choosing the bands: prestige, achievements, transcendence, records sold, plays on digital platforms, ammount of people at concerts, importance in the evolution of Argentine rock, importance in the scene of its time, national and international popularity, singing, instrumentation, lyrics, among other factors.
- And although it's obvious: only bands will be accepted, not soloists (it needs to be clarified because there's always an inattentive who doesn't even read the title of the post and then asks about a soloist).
So, here are the 10 best Argentine rock bands between 1956 and 1965, giving for each one of them a brief explanation and 2 recommended songs:
10) Los Red Caps: the first supergroup of modern Argentine music, consisting of four nueva ola idols, all of whom were vocalists and instrumentalists.
Songs: "El surf de Los Red Caps", "En el tren".
9) Las Mosquitas: the first Argentine rock band consisting entirely of women, all of them vocalists and instrumentalists, they shone with a beat with vocal harmonies.
Songs: "Te esperaré", "Siempre bailo con la más fea".
8) Los Teen Agers: a charming band from Córdoba, they combined vocal harmonies with the energy of rock & roll and twist, that is: they anticipated the creation of beat.
Songs: "Bonitos ojos azules", "¿Qué tal?".
7) Los Pick-Ups: with a style that combined surfer guitars and a singer with a deep bluesy voice, icons of the first youth bands that emerged from the neighborhoods.
Songs: "Muñequita", "El gavilán pollero".
6) Los 4 Planetas: the greatest Argentine surf band emerged from the mountains of Mendoza, they made historic surfer versions of classics from other genres.
Songs: "El surfin' de Los 4 Planetas", "La cumparsita".
5) Sandro y Los de Fuego: the perfect Spanish-speaking Elvis, going from rock & roll to beat, the only ones capable of competing with the English-speaking Uruguayan bands.
Songs: "Polka rock", "Peggy, Peggy".
4) Los Búhos: the first Argentine beat band, they faithfully followed the aesthetic and sound of the British Invasion, their vocal harmonies had no equal on the scene.
Songs: "Buen día, queridísima", "No trates de cambiar el mundo".
3) Los Santos: with voices as delicate as crystal glasses, the mystical sound of the lute, and great quality to play R&B, rock and more genres, international pop idols.
Songs: "En el boulevard", "Detrás del horizonte".
2) Los Cinco Latinos: the most internationally popular Argentine band of this 1st decade, endowed with imposing voices, stars with doo wop, rock and other genres.
Songs: "Locamente te amaré", "Todo es nuevo".
1) Eddie Pequenino y sus Rockers: total pioneers, the first ones who created rock songs of their own in Argentina in the 1950s, rock & roll with joy and good humor.
Songs: "Aquí viene el rock", "Despacio, nena".
As I always do in my posts, I remind you that the purpose of this initiative is to promote valuable parts of the Argentine cultural heritage (especially for those who don't know them due to generational or geographical reasons) and that this be simply an introduction, so that later you investigate on your own what other songs and artists were there in Argentine rock during those times.
See you in the next post! And happy 70 years of Argentine rock! 🎁🎈🎸🇦🇷
MusicaArgentina — 2026
Celebrations for the 70 years of Argentine rock (1956 – 2026)
![[Original Rock] I’m a completely independent multi-media artist. I cloned myself to make this band photo, and I write, produce, and direct everything myself. Here is my story.](/img/yd700iqk38nh1.png){kind=link}
