Goofs

When Bob takes Ritchie to the brothel, Ritchie chooses to relish the music rather than the women. Bob is left with the women and, as Ritchie approaches the stage, you can see Bob in the background putting his arms around a woman. In the next shot, Bob is just approaching the same woman.

When Connie goes to tell Ritchie she was leaving for work, she opens the door and steps down into the basement to stand on the top step. When the camera angle changes to where Ritchie was in the basement, her foot isn't on the top step.

When Richie and his brother Bob get into a shoving match, Bob pulls on Richie's sweater and yanks his tie out of kilter. A few seconds later, Richie's tie is tucked in and his sweater is smoothed down, but not enough time has elapsed for him to have done this to himself.

When Ritchie is showing his mother the new house, the shadows are halfway up the walls. When Bob pulls into the driveway with his two sisters, the shadows are totally gone and, when Ritchie opens the door into the house, the shadows are there again.

Ritchie and Bob walk into the back door of the Cowboy Palace but, in the next shot, they are walking from the front door to the stage.

While the scene is true about the coin toss between Ritchie and a member of Buddy's band, Ritchie Valens was not sick as seen in the movie. The Big Bopper was. He begged Holly's band mate (and future country music star) Waylon Jennings for the chance to ride on the plane because he was coming down with the flu. The coin toss took place between Ritchie Valens and Tommy Allsup.

The real Bob did not find Woody Woodpecker cels. Bob actually found Disney cels at Walt Disney Studios.

When Ritchie Valens appeared on Episode #2.26 (1958) of American Bandstand in October 1958, he sang "Come On, Let's Go", not "Donna" as shown in the movie.

There was never a 'love triangle' between Ritchie, Bob, and Rosie. This was actually based on a situation involving the director, Luis Valdez and a brother of his.

When Ritchie and Donna are sitting in Ritchie's car outside the high school, he signs autographs with his right hand. Ritchie Valens was left-handed.

It has been claimed that the radio announcing the death of the passengers must have been just for movie dramatic effect, because usually family gets notified of a death before media is allowed to publish the names of casualties. So at the very least, Ritchie's mom would have known already before it came on the radio.

It was after this incident that authorities developed policies of delaying name releases until families were notified. Famously, Buddy Holly's wife and mother found out about his death from the TV and radio, respectively.

"Sleep Walk" by Santo & Johnny was not released until July 1959, five months after Ritchie's death. However, nothing in the film actually suggests that this song may have been popular at the time - it's merely played as appropriately melancholy background music at the end of the film. (Similarly, George Thorogood's cover of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love" was used over the opening credits, even though Thorogood's version of the song wasn't recorded until 1978).

Right when Bob (Esai Morales) finds the cels, the other garbage man calls him by the actor's last name: Morales. However, it's just coincidental that this is also the character's last name.

As Bob is tearing down all his artwork after coming home drunk, he bumps into the concrete wall of the basement which bends and shakes from his body weight.

Buddy Holly was not wearing a black coat on the plane but, as seen in the photos taken the next morning, a gray houndstooth overcoat.

As Ritchie is making a call from a glass and wood phone booth, you can see 1980s cars in the reflection.

When Ritchie and Donna are riding in Donna's red '49 Ford convertible, on the radio is "This I Swear" by The Skyliners. The song was not released until May 1959, three months after Ritchie Valens' death.

When Bob shows up at Ritchie's performance at the VFW and starts a fight in the crowd, two girls soon begin fighting with each other shortly before the scene changes. They have mid-1980s hairstyles, not late-1950s hairstyles.

Some of the extras at the Valens' home are drinking Miller Genuine Draft which was not produced until 1986 nearly 30 years later.

On the plane trip to Philadelphia, drinks are served in clear plastic glasses not manufactured until the mid-1970s. In fact, airlines of the 1950s used the real thing, usually etched with their logo. Even the dinnerware was real then.

At the Tijuana brothel, a heavy set woman approaches Bob and Ritchie and asks, "Hey, mijo, traes ganas?" Her mouth is not moving.

When Bob says, "You had me locked out," when he is locked outside his house, his lips aren't moving.

At the Welcome Home Party Donna hugs Ritchie and says "Merry Christmas Hi Tone!". She adds "Hmmm I missed you!" but then her lips are not moving.

Bob finds drawings of Woody Woodpecker in a trash bin on the Columbia Pictures studio lot. The Woody cartoons were produced at the Walter Lantz studio at Universal.

In the early scene where Bob is shown riding through Pacheco Pass, he passes a road sign that has 3 errors. First of all, Pacheco Pass is in Santa Clara County not Santa Clarita County. Second, there is actually no Santa Clarita County: there is the city of Santa Clarita in Los Angeles County. And third, it says the elevation is 3500 but the highest point of Pacheco Pass is only 1368 feet.

Rudy, the leader of the Silhouettes, has the ligature on his saxophone upside-down.

The coin toss between Ritchie and Tommy Allsup did not take place at the airport. It occurred in a dressing room at the Surf Ballroom.