She loves latin music, but she also loves oldies. Seeing these images really brought me back to hearing stories of my mom, of my family,” Maryann says.ĭelia Aguirre, Maryann’s mom, is an immigrant from Jalisco. “When I saw the images on the East Side Story records, the images really spoke to me. ESS were some of the first records she started collecting. Maryann Aguirre, aka Que Madre, is a vinyl DJ from Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. He had no idea ESS would take on a legacy of its own. On the back of the cover he printed a statement: “the East Side Story volumes are destined to be collectors items that will live on forever, because the very nature of the songs goes to the essence of the way of life of the Low Rider.” Boosalis, wasn’t Chicano, nor a low rider, how did he know? The truth is, he didn’t. Using the most in-demand titles he created a bootleg oldies compilation - East Side Story. In the fall of 1978 he followed the suggestion of another person, fellow swap meet vendor Rand Isbel. But instead of a flute he had Billy Stewart’s “Sitting in the Park” (a top request, according to Boosalis). Over time he got to know the market so well he became a swap meet Pied Piper of sorts. Within a year Boosalis was vending vinyl exclusively. Boosalis’s older sister Dorothy had an idea, why didn’t they just sell oldies music instead? Psychedelic home decor wasn’t exactly in hot demand with the primarily Latino customers. This was 1969 and Boosalis was selling black-light posters. When he was 25 he took over his father’s stall at the Starlite swap meet in El Monte. He wanted his son to learn to “work for himself”- so Boosalis did. His father was a Greek immigrant who quit school during the Great Depression to work. As he recalls, his family “was always selling something.” In December it was trees, in July it was fireworks. Anthony Boosalis spent his early birthdays on Christmas tree lots.

Eastside story vol 8 zip