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Menudo's encampment in New York last week was well timed. They arrived within 24 hours of the huge Puerto Rican Day parade down Fifth Avenue and so rode the crest of local ethnic pride. Indeed, many Hispanic American parents encourage their daughters' enthusiasm for a pop group that sings in the mother tongue. And the lads are nice. Onstage, in tight pants and glitzy tunics, the five do attempt a few sexy gyrations, but their lyrics tend to be wholesome odes to wind surfing, pretty hair, love of country and respect for elders.
Liza Lopez, 16, is president of the 225-member City Girls Rockin' with Menudo fan club chapter in New York. Hers is one of several dozen groups in the city and 700 in the world. "They send you rules for a fan club," Lopez says. "You must visit hospitals and churches. There must be no gossip or fighting among the girls."
That is Díaz's message. He chaperones the boys everywhere. "From our example," he notes, "kids see that if you work hard you can get what you desire." Menudo's members, mostly sons of the middle class, do seem to work hard, and they get a lot. "I'll give you an idea of what they make," says Diaz. "One kid paid $60,000 in income taxes this year."
Ricky Meléndez is the boss's cousin and the only original member of the group remaining. He is also just five months short of 16, and so by contract his Menudo days are numbered. "When their voices change, that changes the sound of the music and that changes everything," explains Díaz. Six earlier members have been sloughed off, and two of the current personnel, Johnny Lozada (a member since 1980) and Miguel Cancel (1981), won't be around much longer. The others are Charlie Rivera, who turned 14 last Monday, and Ray Reyes, 13, who just this year was transformed from a Menudo fan into the real thing.
Curiously, a lot of fans like all the coming and going. Tony Torres, at 19 pretty much over the hill himself, is president of a large fan club in New York. "Some groups get tired and burned out." But with Menudo, he says, "Each time a new guy comes in, it's like a new group." Menudo, the disposable pop group, stays forever young.
—By Kurt Andersen.
Reported by Janice C. Simpson/New York