2021 marks the 35th anniversary of the release of Mexican pop singer, Tatiana’s Chicas De Hoy. The album followed the singer’s debut self-titled album in 1984. While Tatiana’s first album did very well, her sophomore album elevated her to a household name. And there were many reasons for that.
One of which is that it is a damn good album. Maybe I review a lot of music and say that about a ton of music, but this album came at the right time for her and the music industry. Tatiana had a dream team behind her with the production of the album. With writers, José Ramón García Flórez and Jean Pietro Felisatti, you couldn’t go wrong. These were the writers that were creating the hits. Then add your producer, Miguel Blasco, they were making stars in the ’80s.
With a great team behind her, the next reason the album was a hit was because of Tatiana. She was the cute girl next door that everyone either wanted to date or wanted to be like. The title track, “Chicas De Hoy” became an anthem to the female fan population. These were the same girls that were out buying every Menudo album and magazine that came out. When Tatiana arrived on stage with that song, they finally had someone to look up to and admire.
My history with Tatiana started here, just like many others. Tatiana wasn’t trying to be sexy. She wasn’t acting older than she really was. Everything about Tatiana was real and that was what fans loved about her. It helped that the album contained two songs that featured Johnny Losada, who had just departed from Menudo.
The album features twelve songs, two of which she sings with Johnny. Those songs were both controversial and needed at the time. Most pop songs talked about first love, first break-ups. Put the girl next door and the sexy playboy together and talk about NOT having sex. The two songs, both hits on the radio, were part of a campaign for Planned Parenthood. When the songs came out, Mexican culture really frowned on sex talk and girls didn’t have anyone to talk to about the pressures of sex. This led to a culture of unprotected sex and teenage parenthood. When Tatiana and Johnny sang about waiting to have sex, this gave teenagers hope and someone like them who said it was okay to wait.
These songs help make Tatiana real and approachable. She is one of the few singers that I met along my journey into Latin pop that actually took time to talk to fans, one on one. To this day, I find her to be one of the most accessible and REAL artists out there.
“Chicas De Hoy” became Tatiana’s theme song and to this date is one of her most popular songs. It will stand the test of time but I find that it is not the best song on the album. Hands down, the song that makes this album is “Mario.” Other great songs that don’t get enough credit are: “Maldito Telefono” (Damn Telephone) and “Eres El Héroe” (You Are The Hero).
It’s been 35 years since the release of Chicas De Hoy, and still today, it is an album that is critically acclaimed. It may sound very dated but what ’80s music doesn’t? The album in full is not available on Apple Music or Spotify. It is a real waste that EMI doesn’t release this album. If you want to listen to it, you might have to piece it together but you won’t get every song. Should we start a petition to get this album released?
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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