Puerto Rican singer, Charlie Massó left Menudo in 1986 but returned as a special guest for Menudo’s Summer In The Streets tour in 1987. Quickly after that, he headed to Mexico where he signed a contract with Melody Records and recorded his solo self-titled album.
Charlie Massó was released in 1988. This was the same time that Menudo released Somos Los Hijos Del Rock and the two parties often toured the country together for the promotion of the albums. Charlie didn’t seem to be one of the former members that ran far away from the band when they left. Instead, Charlie allowed the Menudo crew to produce this album. Edgardo Diaz, Mary Lynne Pagan, and Papo Gely took Charlie’s career under their wing for this album.
By far one of Charlie’s best albums, the songs fit the singer’s vocal style and allow him to show off both his pop side and his romantic side. The romantic side was what made him popular during his four years with the group. When Charlie debuted his album on television, including the iconic show Siempre En Domingo, he promoted the single, “Hemos Madurado”. He also sang the song “Tira Para Arriba,” which I knew from Miguel Mateos. The song was one of him. Oddly enough, or a planned strategic move but Menudo recorded three songs from Miguel Mateos’ discography in the same year.
To this point in history, Charlie became one of the group’s most successful soloists. Fernando, Rene, Johnny, and Miguel all had solo careers but did not make have much success outside of Puerto Rico. Charlie’s success from this album and again, riding on the coattails of Menudo’s success, allowed him to travel to the Phillippines. He recorded an English version of this album for release in the Phillippines. Some fans were lucky enough to get this album as for a short time it was available at the New York Menudo store, Menuditis.
Charlie Massó is currently available to stream on Apple Music but it seems to go off and on with availability. The quality of the stream seems quite hollow and doesn’t have a clear and crisp sound. Makes me think that it might not be official or that the master of the recordings was lost. Including the last 4 seconds of “Tira Para Arriba” is cut off and you miss the finale of that song.
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.
- REVIEW: Los Claxons – Caminando En Fuego (2022) - November 6, 2022
- Review: Airbag – Siempre Tropical (2022) - November 6, 2022
- Debut: Thalia – Psycho Bitch - November 6, 2022