Back in the '60s, American groups sometimes recorded their hits in foreign languages in an attempt to expand their reach. (That was before labels realized kids around the world really preferred to hear the songs in English.) But recording in Spanish was somewhat natural for ? and the Mysterians, a group of young Chicanos from Texas whose parents were migrant farm workers who went to Michigan every year to pick strawberries and then settled there after getting jobs in auto plants. I recently came across this Spanish version of "96 Tears," their 1966 hit that critic Dave Marsh has called the first punk rock song. But the singer doesn't sound like Rudy Martinez (aka Question Mark). Maybe his Spanish was a little too pocho.
Also just learned that "96 Tears" was originally released on a label based in San Antonio. The band's manager in Michigan was a woman named Lilly Gonzales, whose brother-in-law was Rudy "Tee" Gonzales, a prominent San Antonio musician who owned the Pa-Go-Go label. Also made me wonder if the Mysterians' use of the Vox organ was inspired by San Antonio's Sir Douglas Quintet, whose breakout hit, "She's About a Mover," was released a year before "96 Tears."