Fuego (Menudo album)

Fuego
Studio album by
Menudo
Released1981
StudioEstudio Torres Sonido (Madrid, Spain)
GenreLatin Pop
LabelColibri
ProducerEdgardo Diaz
Menudo chronology
Es Navidad
(1980) 		Fuego
(1981) 		Xanadu
(1981)

Fuego (previously released as Menudo), is the seventh studio album by the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, released in 1981 by the Padosa record label.[1] The first release was titled Menudo features brothers Oscar and Ricky Meléndez, along with René Farrait, Johnny Lozada and Xavier Serbiá. This is the second album that this line-up recorded together. This was the last album Oscar would appear on, as he reached the group's age limit of 15 in early 1981, and was replaced by Miguel Cancel. The second release was titled Fuego and had a new cover with Cancel on it.[1]

To promote the album, the group made appearances on television programs, such as Siempre en Domingo in Mexico with Raúl Velasco, as well as their own program on Channel 52 in California.[1] In Venezuela, they received the "Meridiano de Oro" award for being the most popular singers on Channel 81.[1] A tour was held, covering countries such as the United States (Washington, Los Angeles), Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Argentina, and Uruguay.[1]

Commercially, the album became a success,[2] reaching the top positions on music charts in the United States[3][4][5][6] and Argentina.[7] In Venezuela, sales reached 143,000 copies.[8] According to a 1981 report from Record World, each Menudo album released in Mexico until that date (the other being Quiero Ser, also from 1981) managed to sell half a million copies across LPs and cassettes.[9] In 1998, the album was released on compact disc (CD) format.[10]

According to Billboard magazine, the combined sales of this album along with the CDs of Quiero Ser, Por Amor, and Una Aventura Llamada Menudo reached 10,000 units just in the first week.[10]

  1. ^ a b c d e "El juvenil "Menudo" viene a Los Angeles, en diciembre". La Opinión (44 ed.). Retrieved October 25, 2024.
  2. ^ "Latin America - Album peaks" (PDF). Record World (in Spanish). December 5, 1981. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference PRTLPs-3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference PRTLPs-23 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference costaleste1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference costaoeste1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "International best sellers: Argentina" (PDF). Cashbox. August 29, 1981. p. 33. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
  8. ^ "In Venezuela We obtain this results!" (PDF). Cash Box. October 13, 1984. p. 32. Retrieved October 25, 2024. Instead of the album name, the report uses the catalog number of the album released in Venezuela.
  9. ^ Silva, Vilo Arias (December 5, 1981). "Record World en Mexico" (PDF). Record World. p. 48. Retrieved October 25, 2024. (...) ya que las yentas, en todos los casos antesmencionados, superaron facilmente mas de medio millón de unidades vendidas entre elepes y cassettes en cada lanzamiento (...)
  10. ^ a b "Notas". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 9. February 28, 1998. p. 44. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 29, 2024.