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August 22nd, 2003
REMEMBERING MENUDOMANIA
(OR NOT REMEMBERING IT AS THE
CASE MAY BE)
 Hey everybody! Check out this great Menudo fan
site I found on the web today! It's not updated at all, nor is it
nearly complete, but I swear there is everything you'd ever want (or more than
you'd ever want) to know about 80's teen sensations Menudo!
For those who
don't remember what Menudo is, let me refresh your memories. Menudo was the boy
band that bridged the gap between the Bay City Rollers and the New Kids on the
Block in the early 1980's. However, the unique thing about Menudo was once one
of their members voice began to change as a result of puberty they were thrown
out of the band and a new kid was recruited. As a result, there were a great
number of kids in Menudo. According to the fan that put this site up, she
actually didn't include all of the kids ever to be in the band Menudo for what
she states are "personal reasons".
Now, I hardly remember Menudo. The
problem with Menudo was the fact that they had kind of a regional popularity due
to ethnicity.
During t he early 1980's there was a short lived
fascination with Spanish culture. At that time everything on television was
giving into this Spanish fad. However, this was a fad based primarily within the
United States. Since we had very little Spanish culture in Canada we didn't seem
to embrace it up here the same way. Thus, while Menudo was gaining media
attention in the US, in Canada they were no more than a blip. It seemed that
Canadian teenage girls had a hard time finding any common ground with this
Spanish band.
As a result I always think of Menudo as the band that never
was. Now my only recollection of Menudo when they were in their prime was a ten
minute spot that they were given on Saturday mornings on ABC. You couldn't
really call it a show. It was more a period of time between two cartoons where
Menudo sang a song about something or other in Spanish and then in English and I
think the point was to teach American children some Spanish words. The only
little song/video I remember involved Menudo eating and singing about fruit,
and I remember one of them holding a giant watermelon for some reason. The
opening of this little spot had scenes of Menudo in concert with swarms of
teenaged girls freaking out over them. This confused me as a kid. I was confused
about exactly who or what Menudo was, where they came from and why they were so
popular. I had no idea who they were and, to tell the truth, I didn't want to
learn the names of different fruit in Spanish. I wanted to watch Spiderman and
his Amazing Friends.
So that's it. That's the only memory I have of
Menudo. That's why I find them rather interesting. I feel that as a phenomena in
the 1980's I should have been far more aware of them but, for some reason, I
wasn't. I also have never actually seen a Menudo album and can not name any of
their songs. It is sort of odd that a band which is embedded so deep in both
pop musi c and 1980's lore would pass me by.
So, now we have
this wonderful Menudo web site. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Make sure
to listen to the sound bites of commercial spots featuring Menudo. The Crest
toothpaste and Scope mouthwash ones are priceless! You can not live a whole and
meaningful life without hearing the Crest commercial - believe me! What would
have been even better is if they had the video for them. That would have been
fantastic.
Oh - it also says on the site that there is a Menudo reunion
band traveling across North America called Reundo (Reunion squished with Menudo
- get it?) How crazy is that? Those poor boys must need the money. Can you
imagine being in your mid to late thirties and still being a Menudo kid - even
if it's a reunion band? Shudder. Truth be told though - if they ever come to
this area (which I doubt they will considering my point that they never hit it
big in Canada) I know that I'll travel to see them. That would be a
scream!
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