Growing up, I always thought Yuri’s first album was the album with her on roller skates, but one day I found an album earlier than that on eBay. $100 later, I owned the album. While I don’t own it anymore, I still have the digital files of this album, but it isn’t something that gets rotation on my iPod. It is very dated and I am really not much of a fan of 70’s music. Give me 80’s music any day.
As I sit and listen to this music, I am trying to be objective by comparing it to other music in the ’70s, but it is hard because I really don’t know how Mexico compared to the rest of the world.
Yuri was only 14 years old when she recorded the title track “Tu Iluminas Mi Vida”, which is a cover of Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life”. She was touring under the name “Yuri Y La Manzana Electrica” when an executive from Gamma Records noticed her and wanted to sign her. They recorded a single for “Tu Iluminas My Vida” with a second track called, “La Balada del Vagabundo”, a song that never made it to the final full album, making the single very sought-after.
The album featured four covers of English songs, with no much change to the music, just sung in Spanish. Some of the other songs featured on the album remind me of songs that might have been on a soundtrack from a movie or Anime music from the ’70s. They are very upbeat and cute, I hear a European sound to the music. During this time, disco music was hitting big but I don’t hear a lot of that sound, but it is definitely pop music. There is almost a childish sound to her music. Yes, she was only 14 so it makes sense. It is what it is, especially because it is so old and there is not much to compare it with.
Overall, it is fun and Yuri’s voice isn’t much different than it is during her most popular days.
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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