Nau Ninny Nay Cannibal & The Headhunters '1965 Rampart 644

The story of Cannibal & the Headhunters is nothing short of a Cinderella story. Four teenage Chicanos from public housing projects form a group and within a year have a national hit record and are touring with the greatest pop group in history, The Beatles. It all started in 1963 with Robert "Rabbit" Jaramillo and Richard "Scar" Lopez singing together at Rabbit's house in the Ramona Gardens housing projects. His brother Joe "Yo Yo" Jaramillo was taking out the trash and spontaneously put on a third harmony. They became Bobby & the Classics. Meanwhile, Frankie "Cannibal" Garcia, who had been singing around East L.A. with various groups, was looking to form his own group. He heard about Scar and the Jaramillo brothers and went to see them. When they first sang together, they knew they had something special. Cannibal, who got his nickname from his older brother Art's gang placa (nickname), became the front man because of his flamboyant personality and showmanship. Their music of choice was R&B and doo wop and their role models were black groups such as, The Temptations and The Olympics. After passing an audition with Rampart Records' owner Eddie Davis, they changed their name to Cannibal & the Headhunters at Mr. Davis' suggestion.

The song that became Cannibal & the Headhunters' ticket to the big time was "Land of a Thousand Dances." It was an obscure record by Chris Kenner, who had previously had a national hit with "I Like It Like That." "Land of a Thousand Dances," which was written by Fats Domino and Chris Kenner, was very popular in East L.A. and was performed by many local bands. The Midniters, perhaps the most popular Eastside group at the time, beat them to the punch by recording it first, but it was Cannibal & the Headhunters who hit the national charts with it. Their recording of the song is a story in itself. The band that was going to provide the backing tracks was Cannibal's former band, The Rhythm Playboys, but there was a disagreement between Eddie Davis and the band's manager, Billy Cardenas. According to most accounts, Billy left the studio with the band, which left Eddie with his vocal group and running studio time. He called up The Blendells, who had scored a hit with "La La La La La." It was eleven o'clock at night and The Blendells were rehearsing for a Dick Clark tour when they got the call. They packed up and went down to the studio and in four takes cut the track, which was influenced by the beat of Stevie Wonder's "Fingertips." "Land of a Thousand Dances" by Cannibal & the Headhunters reached number 30 on the Billboard charts in April of 1965.