 The rights to the whole catalog had been sold in perpetuity to Vicor Music from the very beginning of the band, a practice that might today be regarded as exploitative, but was apparently commonplace during the era.The band members were paid monthly stipends and other fees for live appearances and recording dates.Smith and the late Fortuno were lifelong friends and frequent bandmates; in fact, Smith's other nickname was "Kalabog" from "Kalabog en Bosyo", the long-running Larry Alcala comic strip (1947–1995) about two dimwitted detectives, one tall, the other short, like Smith and Fortuno.