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Ricky Martin (about 10-years-old), in blue shirt at front. Mike Rogers, left, white shirt.

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“Upside inside out,

She’s livin’ la vida loca,

She’ll push and pull you down,

Livin’ la vida loca”

– Ricky Martin (Lyrics from ‘Livin’ Da Vida Loca.’

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The other day, I posted that article about Jack White of the White Stripes. It got a fantastic reaction! Thanks so much. If you want to read that story (when you read it, you’ll also see that it is, indeed, a true story) then click here:　The White Stripes Jack White and Me (A True Story) – (robot55.jp/blog/jack-white-and-me-a-true-story/）There’s also photo of me with Jack and Meg White of the White Stripes and that was well before they ever became famous.

Actually, folks, may I brag? I have tons of photos like that with me and the rich and famous. I went looking through a bunch of them and saw a few names that I’d like to drop: Yoko Ono, Paul Weller, Arnold Schwarneggar, former US President George Bush… But which story would impress you, dear reader the most today?

Well, the hint came from an alert reader and friend Jimbo who wrote: “Wow, Placebo, Linkin Park, and Elvis Costello are all very impressive, but I doubt many people can claim to have a photo with Menudo. That is a gem. :)”

So, today I am going to show you proof of me with Menudo and Ricky Martin when he was a 10-year-old boy.

No kidding.

First off, “Who is Menudo?” You ask? Here’s what Wikipedia says: “Menudo was a Puerto Rican boy band that was was one of the biggest Latin boy bands in history. The band achieved much success, especially during the 1980s, becoming the most popular Latin American teen musical group of the era. The band was a starting point for superstars like Ricky Martin and Draco Rosa, who were members around the mid 1980s during their youth.”

Actually, they were so popular they toured Japan in 1985. I was there.

Here’s the official release story for the mass media after I left Menudo:

Mike Rogers, was the sixth, most handsome and eldest member of Menudo. He wrote all the hit songs and played all the instruments. He also was director of choreography for all the stage shows. During Menudo’s Japan tour, things came to a head when the other five members complained that Mike was getting all the action with the hot and sexy Japanese babes (who were just dying to meet him) while the other Menudo members couldn’t run around with girls because they still hadn’t reached puberty and all had to be in bed by 8:00 pm.

During their Japan tour, Mike was having so much fun with sex-starved Japanese girls that he said “Goodbye” to Menudo and quit the group.

It was a mistake that Mike Rogers would always regret. If Mike had stayed, it would have been him, and not Ricky Martin would would be living in massive homes in the Caribbean, yachting on his yacht and flying around the world in his own private jet.

But he left, and the rest is, as they say history….

Mike would be quoted as saying later: “Sure, I regret it. But I just couldn’t live with myself having all that money and all those women trying to get into my pants all the time!… So I decided to take a $7.42 an hour job teaching English to Japanese businessmen.” 

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Well, OK…. the above is a bit of a stretch… That’s not exactly how it happened. What really happened was I was a regular on a kid’s show named “Ohayo Studio” on TV Tokyo in the mid eighties and Menudo came on my show. After the show ended, I asked if I could take my photo with them so I could claim, years later, that I was the eldest member of the group…

See? I have always been a guy who planned ahead! (But the fake story is much more fun, isn’t it?)

Chuckle!

Have a great weekend!