film The Decline of Western Civilization (1981), and his recordings with them appear on the film's soundtrack album and on their posthumous compilation album Underground Babylon (2004). In subsequent years Lopez worked at the Continental Hyatt House hotel on the Sunset Strip; there, he frequently brought room service orders to rock and roll legend Little Richard, a longtime resident of the hotel. "He was a nice guy and a good tipper", recalled Lopez in 2014. Developing El Vez (1988–1990) For much of the 1980s Lopez channeled his creative energies toward art. In 1988 he was curating La Luz de Jesus, a folk art gallery where he showcased campy religious art imported from Mexico and Central America. The gallery presented a show of Elvis Presley-themed works; Lopez hired an Elvis impersonator to appear at the opening, and dressed himself up as Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker. He was unimpressed with the impersonator's performance, however, and felt that he could do better. "I kept critiquing him. 'Swing your hips more, he later recalled. Conceiving the idea for a cultural mash-up between Elvis and Chicano culture, he traveled to Memphis, Tennessee that August for "Elvis Week", an annual event commemorating Presley's death, purchased karaoke cassettes of Elvis songs at Graceland, and performed a set as "El Vez, the Mexican Elvis" at a roadhouse specializing in Elvis impersonators. Wearing gold lamé pants and an oversize gold sombrero, he sang along to the cassettes while giving the lyrics a Hispanic twist: "That's All Right Mama" became "Esta Bien Mamacita", "Blue Suede Shoes" became "Huaraches Azules", "Hound Dog" became "You Ain't Nothing But a Chihuahua", and so on. "I just dared myself to go," he recalled, "and I said, okay, I can make a fool of myself since I don't know anyone there. I rewrote some words on the plane, and practiced my dance moves in the hotel room." The performance was well-received, and Lopez brought the act back to Los Angeles. "I had meant to do it just once, and it kind of backfired", he later recalled. "It got a mention in the Los Angeles Times. And then I got a call from an NBC TV show called 2 Hip 4 TV. So I was doing national TV before I'd even done my first show in L.A. Then my very first show in L.A. got pick-of-the-week in both papers, and no one had even seen