Movie-A-Day #34: La Bamba (1987).

As immortalized in Don McLean’s song “American Pie,” Feb. 3, 1959, is the Day the Music Died, when a plane crash killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper Richardson. While they weren’t the first popular entertainers to die at the height of their fame, they were the first of the rock ‘n’ roll era, which made it all the more shocking to their fans. Holly’s career was covered in 1978’s “The Buddy Holly Story” while Valens was the focus of the even better “La Bamba.” Unfortunately the Big Bopper hasn’t gotten the biopic treatment yet to complete the trilogy. (There was an independent project in production that was supposed to be released last year, but it hasn’t seen the light of day yet.)