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FROM
CUBA
The
day the music died; the story of a rock
band in Cuba
The courtroom was
adjourned
No verdict was returned
And while Lenin read a book of Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died
American Pie - Don
McLean
HAVANA, October (www.cubanet.org) - When
Gorki Águila's rock band became too
uncomfortable for Cuban cultural authorities,
Águila found himself accused of drug
trafficking and the band in need of a new
leader.
That the band may have been seen as an
inconvenience by the Communist Party's powers-that-be
should have come as no surprise. First,
there is its name: Porno for Ricardo, usually
Porno for short among its young fans.
And that's problem number two: a growing
following among the young in spite of its
irreverent lyrics, provocative behavior,
and lack of promotional support. The band's
first recording went begging for a year
before finding a label, in Mexico. One of
the tracks tells of "a man sitting
on a throne, who perpetuates himself as
an executioner, promising everyone a future
full of happiness."
In early April this year, cultural authorities
called them to account: they had to toe
the line. They would have to change the
name of the band, tame down the lyrics,
and their behavior at concerts.
After which, Gorki and his sidemen figured,
not much would remain that anyone would
want to call a rock band.
So they decided to stay the course, or
maybe they didn't have time to decide. Their
next gig was a concert a few days later
at a rock festival in Pinar del Río,
a provincial capital west of Havana. The
band did its thing. Police came up with
a fan who would testify Gorki had sold her
"a pill."
Next stop for Gorki, the Provincial Pinar
del Río Prison, maximum security,
no bail. Four months later, on August 6,
a quick trial. No evidence presented, none
needed. Gorki will not see another stage
for at least four years.
His present experience is limited to an
eight-by-five-foot cell and a cellmate.
He can take the sun two hours per week.
No phone, no papers, no running water. His
closest relatives can visit him once every
three months.
Porno itself is foundering. Gorki was its
composer, its arranger, its brains, its
soul.
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