Los Pacaminos

The U.K.'s Los Pacaminos, led by '80s pop phenom Paul Young, played Tex-Mex/Southwestern country-rock. A rollicking outfit that included Jaime Moses, Matt Irving, Drew Barfield, Steve Cheetham, Melvin Duffy, and Jim Russell, Los Pacaminos started in the mid '90s, after Young left his label and wanted to play live while writing songs and shopping for another record deal. He decided to focus on Tex-Mex music, a sound he loved, and gathered a group of musicians who could play in that style. The intention was to pop up in small venues, even bars, in the spirit of fun. His band took as its name a phrase that actually meant nothing but sounded like "pack 'em in." Inspired by the sounds of such forbears as Ry Cooder, Flaco Jiminez, Doug Sahm, and Los Lobos, they produced original material while adding covers ("Along the Borderline," "Speedy Gonzales") during live shows. They remained together for several years and released a self-titled album on Tornado in 2002. Young contributed vocals, guitar, and bajo (not banjo), and co-wrote most of the songs.