Fifty years after the military coup of March 24, 1976, the rock scene in Argentina has grown to a dimension that nobody could have ever foreseen. Nowadays, both local and international acts have sold-out shows in huge football stadiums, and pioneer artists have become cultural icons with dozens of songs that reach four generations of fans.

Back in the mid-70s, things were quite different. Argentine rock artists only attracted a small crowd of devoted music lovers in dingy clubs and posh theaters that featured them on unusual dates, even Sunday mornings. 

Bands rarely enjoyed airplay, and promotion was based almost entirely on word of mouth, with two rock magazines and a handful of radio programs spreading information about the new sounds that were being created. 

Argentine rock seemed relegated to a cult following and was even resisted by tango and folklore acts that criticized the American and English origins of rock and roll hits. 

During the civil-military dictatorship, which lasted till 1983, the police raided concerts many times, and both artists and audience were taken into custody for background checks, sometimes spending a whole weekend in jail, where long hair was usually turned into a crew cut.

However, the local rock scene, which had only just been born a decade earlier, would play a key part in the cultural resistance to the dictatorship.

In 2026 Argentina not only commemorates 50 years since the coup that ushered in the last military regime. It also celebrates 60 years of rock history, a history that encompasses inspired artists, anonymous heroes, rich anecdotes, an assorted slew of landmark albums and shows, plus an enormous playlist of songs that have become classics. 

It all began in the mid-Sixties, when the powerful wave of Beatlemania and Beat literature hit many teenagers, and a handful of young composers decided to write their own songs in Spanish with lyrics focused on their dreams and worries, always with a distinctly Argentine flavor and point of view. 

In this Argentina was a trailblazer: in other Hispanic countries, the first rockers sang simple........

© Buenos Aires Herald