Discouraged from using his Latino name as a pop star, Minneapolis barber never stopped making music

On July 6, 1959, Billboard, the music and entertainment magazine, ran a short story about Skip and Flip. The early rock and roll duo had a hit single that was climbing the charts, along with Johnny Horton's "The Battle of New Orleans," Frankie Avalon's "Bobby Sox to Stockings" and Elvis Presley's "A Big Hunk O' Love."

Their teen ballad "It Was I" peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, the same position that another Skip and Flip hit, "Cherry Pie," would later reach.

Billboard revealed that the Flip side of the duo was a 19-year-old University of Arizona student named Chuck Mendell. But Chuck Mendell wasn't his real name. It was actually Carlos Mendoza.

"Like many Latino artists at the time — e.g. Richard Valenzuela (Ritchie Valens) — the music industry didn't like my Dad's Latino last name," according to Mendoza's son, Tony Mendoza. "For a man who took deep pride in his last name, Dad was soured by his experience in the music industry," Tony wrote in a blog post.

Carlos Mendoza quit the duo and enlisted. He served in Vietnam, but he didn't give up music. In the Marines, he was a saxophone-playing lance corporal, performing in bands to entertain fellow Marines.

After being discharged, he moved to Minnesota, went to barber school, and cut hair for more than 30 years at a shop he owned in Bloomington called the Barber Nook. He moonlighted in bands in the Twin Cities night club scene. Although he was OK with his nickname, Chuck, he always used his last name, Mendoza.

Mendoza, a Bloomington resident, died on Feb. 6 following a stroke. He was 83.

Mendoza was born in Mesa, Ariz., and his father was a grocer and mayor of the town of Eloy, Ariz. He studied music at the University of Arizona. In addition to being part of Skip and Flip, he recorded instrumental singles for Warner Brothers with a band named Johnny Zorro.

In Minnesota, he played with the Frank Wagamon Sextet, an inductee into the Mid-America Music Hall of Fame. He also played with his son Tony's band, called Frank Brownstone and Associates, at venues like First Avenue and the Fine Line.

"When Dad and I had the opportunity to perform and play together, it was magical," Tony Mendoza posted.

Tony said his dad moved to Minnesota because a friend was going to school at the University of Minnesota, but fell in love with the state.

"He took to Minnesota like a walleye takes to Lake Mille Lacs," Tony said.

He also loved working, and continued to cut hair until just a few years ago, when he became physically unable to do so any longer. At his barber shop, he kept a wall of fame that featured photos of customers who had served in the military.

Bloomington resident Phil Larson went to Mendoza for decades for weekly $20 trims. "He was just an all around great guy," Larson said.

Mendoza is survived by his wife, Tina; brother Roy, of Tucson, Ariz.; sister Sylvia Platt, of Chandler, Ariz.; children Tony of St. Paul, Valerie of Farmington, Laura Erickson of Williston, N.D., and Scott Kewley of New Prague; and eight grandchildren. Services have been held.