Sunny and the Sunliners
Sunny and the Sunliners or Sunny and the Sunglows were an American Tex-Mex and rhythm and blues band of the 1950s and early 1960s.
The band was formed in 1957 by Mexican teenagers Sunny Ozuna ( vocals ) and Rudy Guerra ( saxophone ) as Sunny and the Sunglows in San Antonio , Texas . Other members were Norwood Perry ( electric bass ), Al Conde ( guitar ) and George Strickland ( drums ). The Sunglow's music was initially based on the R&B and country hits from US radio. Their single Golly Gee , which was published on the Okeh Records label , became a regional hit in 1962. In 1963, Huey Meaux produced their single Talk To Me , a cover version of a 1958 hit by Little Willie John. The single reached number 11 on the Billboard pop charts and number 12 on the R&B charts and remained the band's only major hit.
Another career highlight was an appearance on Dick Clark's television show American Bandstand in 1962 . There Sunny and the Sunglows were the first band that consisted exclusively of musicians of Mexican descent.
After a few line-up changes, the band was called Sunny and the Sunliners from 1963 . In addition to Ozuna, Alfred Luna, Tony Tostado, Gilbert Fernandez as well as Jesse, Oscar and Ray Villanueva now played in the band. At the suggestion of the now largely Mexican-born audience, concerts and recordings were increasingly being held in Spanish.
Sunny Ozuna, who is still in the music business today, later worked as a solo artist. For the album ¿Qué Es Música Tejana? the group The Legends , of which he belonged alongside Carlos Guzman, Freddie Martínez Sr. and Augustin Ramirez, Ozuna was awarded the Grammy in 2000 for the best Tejano album category.