of Tony Varano for some of his live shows at the time, and he became a member of "The Lyons" when the Argentine rock legend, lead singer Peter Rock, left the band. His interests, however, remained in being a successful solo singer, and he left The Lyons within months of joining that band. Ortega met songwriter Dino Ramos in 1962; this would prove important in Ortega's career as Ramos would write a large number of Ortega's hits. By 1963, in the midst of Argentina's own "new wave" (La nueva ola) movement (similar to those in the United States and many other countries), Ortega began to become a television regular, as he was featured multiple times on a popular Canal 11 show of the time, Club del Clan ("The Clan Club") along with Cachita Galán; the word clan in Spanish has nothing to do with racist groups; "clan" has the same meaning as "group" in Spanish. In 1963, he signed with RCA Records, and began recording immediately. His television appearances led to a career in cinema. Ortega recorded 27 albums, and starred in 26 films at the time, becoming a teen idol as a consequence. He acted and sang in those films, and shared the big screen with many of Argentina's most important actors and actresses of the time. His fame acquainted him with Evangelina Salazar, a television actress known for her role as a country schoolteacher; the couple were married in 1967, and had six children. Palito Ortega would travel extensively through the rest of the 1960s and the 1970s. He went on to record for RCA in Mexico, Italy, England, and Nashville, Tennessee. In 1966 while in Nashville, Palito Ortega recorded the hit song "Sombras" by music composer and visual artist Gil Veda. Ortega's status as a teen idol declined during that period, and he reduced his television and movie appearances, as well as his album recordings. He did, however, become a successful music promoter, and in August 1981, produced a show for Frank Sinatra in Argentina. The sharp devaluation of the peso following the collapse of Economy Minister José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz's exchange rate timetable made his US dollar-denominated contractual obligations unaffordable, however. Ortega reportedly lost one million dollars after paying the legendary crooner for his Luna Park Stadium show, and was forced to sell a significant portion of his estate. Ortega relocated with his wife and