The glory days of Mexican 80's candy pop

We all knew the words to Menudo's "Subete a mi moto" (not to mention the popular parody version with the foul-language lyrics), but besides boy bands and their famous graduates, Latin American pop music in the 80's was heaven for girls with big hair and thick ankle socks. These groups flourished in Mexico, and found their shimmering trailblazer in Yuri, seen here taking Spain by storm with an army of slinky menbots:

Groups like Flans made Mexican bubble-gum pop the soundtrack of our lives -- as long as they didn't actually have to sing live. With pants and moves like this, though, who cares if you're even holding a mic?

But the undisputed sparklers of this sound were the girls of Timbiriche, who -- long before the Spice Girls came around -- turned loud clothes, simple choreography, and mid-range-heavy back-up music into pop gold. This is the group in which future superstar Paulina Rubio came close to permanently frizzing out her hair. Really, blue Amish skirt girl, how awesome are you guys?!

Any groups I'm missing? And a more pressing question arises: did this sort of Latin-galactic pop machine ever ... really ... leave? Didn't think so, L.A.

Comments

[Jennifer Woodard Maderazo]

Thanks for the memories...but I have to stand my ground and say that any comparison of Flans to RBD is pure blasphemy in my world! :)

[cindylu]

Thankfully, I missed out on the whole Mexican phenomenon and didn't even know Flans existed until last summer when I was hanging out with some aunts and cousins in Guanajuato.

[Diego Rentería]

What about Magneto? They count, too.

[notoriouslig]

Only group missing seems to be Pandora and the addition of some recognition of that panda song Yuri sang. But how about some recognition of the individuals that shaped our 80s--Miguel Bose (who I always thought should be in a Flock of Seagulls), Emanuel, and Maria Conchita Alonso (to this day her "La Loca" is my theme song and before I die I hope to hear her sing again, because in my mind, she will always be a singer and not an actress).

[Daniel H.]

Thanks for the comments, gente! I didn't mean this post to a definitive take on anything. Just some random clips that I dug up and thought I'd poke a little fun at. I appreciate the tips and will do more digging for the future!

P.S. Panda song link: http://www.kiddiematinee.com/l-littlepanda.html

Brilliant.

[reinito]

fresas con crema (viviendo de noche), fandango (autos, moda y rock n' roll, todos quieren bailar conmigo), lucía méndez (corazón de piedra), pablito ruiz, luismiguel (specially his duos with lucerito) and the whole transition from hi-nrg to trashpop (my all time favorite: the click - dury dury, which has tragically been removed from youtube).

[Alberto]

You know which is the name of the group back in the 80's that sang "Ingrato Amor". 4 persons: 2 guy & 2 girls