Release: 07-04-2023<\/p>\n
On 12 February 1949 an angry mob stormed into the centre of the Ecuadorian capital of Quito, burning the offices of the city\u2019s main newspaper and its oldest radio station to the ground.
\nOn that tragic day Radio Quito had just broadcast a local adaptation of H.G. Wells\u2019s The War of the Worlds. The novel \u2013 first published in 1898 and famously adapted into a radio series by Orson Welles \u2013 is one of the earliest stories to depict a conflict between mankind and a hostile race of extra-terrestrials. The large audience – not understanding that it was pure fiction – believed that intergalactic intelligence had invaded the country as all hell broke loose. Thousands began running the streets of Quito looking for shelter, chaos broke out, causing a deadly stampede. People blamed the broadcaster for the tragedy, formed a dense crowd and stormed Radio Quito, setting it ablaze. Several musicians, who were there performing, were killed.<\/p>\n
Years after WWII while budding Ecuadorian UFOlogy lead to widespread extraterrestrial sightings, Ecuadorian musicians began released various albums consisting of traditional music combined with synthesisers in order to bring their traditional music into the space age. One of these musicians is Polibio Mayorga who had travelled 160km from his hometown of Chisalata to Quito where he showcased his talent as he championed the art of modernising his region\u2019s ancestral rhythms – Huaynito, Sanjuanito, Albazo and many others – using the latest in electronic instruments.<\/p>\n