Intocable Members Killed In Car Crash

SAN ANTONIO‹Members of the Tejano music community reacted with shock and sadness at the news that two members of the popular Tejano group Intocable, as well as the group's road manager were killed Jan. 31 in a car crash in Mexico.
According to executives at the band's record label, EMI Latin, those killed were Jose Angel "Pepe" Farias, 23, the band's onstage MC, of Monterrey, Mexico; bassist Silvestre Rodriguez Jr., 26, of McAllen, Texas; and the band's road manager, Joe Angel Gonzales, age unknown, of Houston. Gonzales had previously worked as a road manager for La Mafia and Fama.
Injured were singer/accordionist Ricky Munoz, bajo sexto player Danny Sanchez, drummer Rene Martinez, and conga player Sergio Serna. They were taken to Monterrey hospitals and later released.
The men were killed early in the afternoon of Jan. 31 when the car they were in blew a tire and veered off the road just outside Monterrey. The band had performed in McAllen the night before, according to band manager Nikki Sandoval, and was en route to Monterrey's airport to catch a flight to Mexico City for a series of concerts and promotions.
Since 1995, Intocable has been one of Tejano's hottest outfits, parlaying a mixture of Tejano and norte˜o rhythms into the top-selling albums "Intocable IV," "Otro Mundo," and "Fuego Eterno."
Last October, the band was honored by EMI Latin for aggregate sales of 1 million units in the U.S. of its six albums. Last year, Intocable opened for La Mafia at the Astrodome for the Houston Rodeo, drawing 50,000-plus people.
"We have been getting calls all day, people just asking if it was true about the deaths," says Danny Garcia, PD of Tejano/contemporary Mexican station KLEY San Antonio. "It's just been a day of sadness."
In Houston, Robin Flores, PD of local Tejano station KQQK, says a vigil was held Feb. 1 at the new T-Town 2000 nightclub.
"Since we heard the news Sunday, we opened the phone lines and we've been playing tributes to the band," Flores says.
Like many Tejano stations, KLEY began playing several of the group's songs, including "Huracan," "Y Se Acabo El Amor," and "La Mentira," in tribute to Intocable.
The band's latest eponymous album peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot Latin 50 chart last year.
Intocable was founded in 1993 in the tiny border town of Zapata, Texas, and rose quickly with a hybrid sound that mixed Tejano polkas and norte˜o boleros.
Bajo sexto/singer/songwriter Johnny Lee Rosas and accordionist Albert Ramirez Jr. were part of the original Intocable lineup but left in 1997 to form Masizzo.
None of the group members were available for interviews, and officials at EMI Latin say it is too early to ask if the band has plans to continue.