Fandango became a household name when the five-member all-girl group burst on the stage in bright-colored outfits that represented the members’ personalities.
EMI knew they had a hit with “Autos, Moda y Rock and Roll.” It was the summer of 1987 and what a way to start off their newest artist. The song became the group’s anthem and a way of life. Cars. Fashion. Rock and Roll. They were the party group of the year and EMI was celebrating the success.
Rocio, Evalinda, and Moña continued from the early days of being a small local pop group. They were joined by two new members, Alexa and Liliana. This would be the group that the country would grow to love.
When the group hit the scene, EMI wanted to bury the past. If you find early articles of the group in magazines they talked about being a new group with an awesome debut album. This was definitely a lie, but let’s go with it.
Autos, Moda Y Rock and Roll was an awesome album. Right out of the gate, you are dancing along with the title track and that was the first single from the album. The group hit every television show they could find and were a regular on “Siempre En Domingo” to promote the album.
No longer was the music recorded out of a garage, the production was grade A quality with EMI’s star producers Loris Ceroni, J.R. Florez, and Miguel Blasco. They had tons of hits with artists such as Yuri and Tatiana, that they were perfect in creating the right sound for this unique group. Mexico had seen all boy groups like Menudo and Chamos having success but not female pop groups. Flans and Pandora were the first to break the ice, Fandango was right behind them.
Listening to the album thirty-three years later for this review, you can look back at the album from a different perspective. No longer am I bias over the fact that I was seriously in love with Rocio. She was one of my 80’s crushes. Big crush. Okay… let’s move along.
Musically, I am comparing the album with others released around the same time. I can hear the classic 80’s sounds of J.R. Florez and Loris Ceroni. They had a distinct sound that made you feel comforted. Thinking back, I remember the girls on television performing and I never remembered a song that I didn’t like.
The first seven tracks of the album are the perfect balance of a great pop album. The only track I would change would be, “Niebla.” As a music snob, this track doesn’t fit and brings the album down from a 10 to an 8. WHY???? It is just a bad song. If we can get past that, the album is nearly perfect for classic pop.
Since that day, I have been study Latin pop and rock music and have become a Latin pop music historian through the publishing of articles, fanzine, and websites. My goal is to teach people about Latin pop music and the history behind it with my website, Siempre En Domingo.
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