LOSGATOS

LOS GATOS
from the left
Oscar Moro = drums, Alfredo Toth = bass,
Félix Francisco "Litto" Nebia=singer guitar, Juan"Ciro" Fogliata= keyboards,
Kay Galiffi (guy with glasses)=guitar.

They were first band which was written on Argntine rock history. In '64 a beat combo called Wild Cats looking for new singer. Litto Nebbia auditioned, but at first the band didn't chose him because  he was too young, teenager,and they thought his high voice did not fit them.. Soon after the band found he was best one, so Litto joined the band.
Young Litto was genious, he could wrote fab original songs in Spanish lyrics. At the time most bands only did cover songs. They also changed the band's name to Los Gatos Salvages which was Spanish translation of Wild Cats.
Los Gatos Salvages released few 45s and an LP.
In '67 the band changed the name as Los Gatos . Now they dropped "Salvage(wild)".In the summer of '67 they released first 45 " La Balsa/Ayer Nomas".This made big hit, and soon after released first album.

in their 3rd album Seremos Amigos, the sound changed to pychedec pop.

English translation of Los Gatos Salvages CD linernotes  written by Litto

The Wild Cats & Los Hurricanes were the two most important teenage rock bands during
the years '63/'64. Rosario has always been a place for musicians of all styles. There were more than one hundred teernge bands at that time.
I was 15 years old when I went for an audition to enter the Wild Cats, as their singer was
going to the military service.Everybddy in the band was five years Older than I, and that was too much for the generation gaps prejudgements that existed at that time (and of course keep on existing today).I sang a couple of songs from their rocker repertoire and I also showed them some of my early songs just composed. They did not accept me. My high pitched little voice and such a weird songs didn't convinced them at all. Afterwards they appear with a new singer but he neither convinced them, so they called me back again.
At that point the band begun to rehearse those early songs of mine and deflnitively changed their name into Los Gatos Salvajes.We also played some popular british songs, we would call it "the beat liverpooliana era" and I was in charge ofwriting its spanish lyrics. Songs by The Hollies, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Dave Clark Five, etc.
Every weekend we used to play at little parties in Rosario or in the rest of the province, until we got an audition at Canal 13 for its Escala Musical TV show, which was the only show that promoted new numbers. They accepted us and we signed a contract for two months. We played at the Saturday
parties they organised, and we sung a couple of songs at its Sunday tv show broadcasted at 13.00p.m. After those two months we signed another contract for eight months more. Between show
and show we were offered to record a single and then an LP. The single feattued "La Respuesta" (The Answer) written by Ciro and I. However it was signed under the pseudonym Nomi, who was no other than the artistic producer of the record company. He had convinced me that as I was under 18 I wouldn't be able to get associated to SADAIC, so he signed the songjust to do me a favour. I was somewhat fool at that time, and what was even worse I was coming from Rosario, which
meant to come farther from what could be considered the interior.
B side of the single featured a Chuck Berry's classic, I wrote an spanish lyrii for it, that way it would be easier for Ciro and I to sing it in duet. Alterwards it came the LP and all the songs in it belonged to me. The present albtm not only features Los Gatos Salvajes LP but it also includes all the B
sides of the singles and a live performance at La Escala Musical TV show. We have digitally remastered this album not only to help strange noises and hisses but also to point out the concept of our sound in the context of the simple and precarious technology of that time (two channels and dreadful instnments). Thus record got no major acknowledgement when it was originally released, as-. people only consumed import music. There was a kind of resistance to local music.
By the end of 1965 La Escala Musical went bankrupt and our band split as it also happened to many other bands. Chango (guitars), Guillermo (bass) and Tito (drms) went back to Rosario, while Ciro and I stayed in Buenos Aires embracing the "crazy ideal" of putting together a new band with the same characteristics.

Litto

LOS GATOS (THE CATS)
Félix Francisco "Littow Nebbia: Vocals, harmonic and percussion Juan "CiroM Fogliata: Keyboards Alfredo Toth: Bass Oscar Moro: Drums Kay Galiffi: Guitar
This band followed Los Gatos Salvajes from Rosario, it was bom ín 1967 and its repertoire includes 50 songs. Once in Buenos Aires they played everyday at La Cueva, the mythical rocker cave . Litio Nebia remembers:
"In order to fíll up all night, from 22.00 to 4.00 we had a repertoire ofmore than 100 songs,
besides all the other stuffwe used to improvised at the moment. We played different kind
ofstyies, like blues, rock and aiso some songs ofmine that we were rehearsing with the
ideal ofbeing able to record them one day".
Their fírst single was "La Balsa"/"Ayer Nomás" and it was an unpredictable success; it
soid more than 200.000 copies. It had been recorded on 06/19/67 and hit the streets on
07/03.
With that same line-up they issued the two fírst LP's "Los Gatos" (1967) and "Volumen T
(1968).
Some time before it was aiso released a '45 in advance oftheír second álbum "Viento Dile
A La Lluvia" (Wind tell the rain) that soid almost 100.000 copies.
This band .although innocently and shyly, was the one who began drawing argentinian
rock own language.
tíNone ofus realized at that moment that we represented the birth ofa movement19, says
Oscar Moro.
"There was a lot of bohemia and our oniy wish wasjust to do what we intended to do. We
never thoughtt hat the song wouid become such a hit and that we wouid become a kind of
stones foundations ofour local rock 'n roll. We didn't realize, wejust live it in another
way; we never thoughtof all that becoming such a big thing".
In september 1968 they went on touring around South América; Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay and the Song Festival ofRio de Janeiro (Brazil). It was there that they officially introduced their new 2nd álbum (1968) which was more modem, almost psychedelic. By the beginning of 1969 the band spiit for a while. During nine months, all Los Gatos members, excepting Nebbia, travelled all across the U.S.A. There they knew the local music, they listened to the "great ones ofthe moment" and they even recorded a single with some north american singer that remained unreleased.
Meanwhile, Nebbia began his solo career, taking part in the "El Extraño de Pelo Largo" (The Long Hair Stanger) film and recording its fírst solo álbum.
Los Gatos wouid be on the road again by the following year with "Beat No 1" with Pappo replacing Kay. This álbum clearly shows the convergence oftwo different styies: Litto's melodic one "Sueña y Corre" (Dream and Run) and the rocker one imposed by Pappo "Hogar" (Home).
"Rock De La Mujer Podrida" (Rock ofThe Rotten Woman) was to be their next álbum titile, but it was changed for "Rock de la Mujer Perdida" (1970) (Rock OfThe Lost Woman) because ofcensorship. This last álbum is obviously more rocker and many people consider it Los Gatos' best one.
By 1970 Pappo quitted the band to form his own band. Nebbia began playing bass and Toth replaced Pappo on guitar. They used to say "We are getting a different sound" But everything was coming to an end; a poor successful single, and a couple ofgigs marked what wouid be the final goodbye for this key band ofour national music. From that time on Litio Nebbia wouid continué his solo career.

They disbanded in '72, after released 5 albums and 8 singles and an EP.