Los Chicos (also known as Los Chicos de Puerto Rico) were a popular boy band in Puerto Rico, South America and in Central America, created to rival Menudo's success.
The band was created by Eric Laboy in 1978 to 1985, with the name Encuentro. Due to a political campaign slogan, the name was changed to Los Chicos, which translates to The Kids. They enjoyed huge success during the early 1980s, particularly in Puerto Rico South America and Central America. A movie (Conexión Caribe) was filmed and a TV show hosted weekly on Puerto Rico's WAPA-TV. Many songs, including Puerto Rico son Los Chicos, Ave María and Mamma Mia sung by Jorge Lopez aka Giro Lopez or Giro became radio favorites, and memorabilia items like posters were mass produced. Los Chicos became national sponsors for Malta Corona and Mahones Savage (Savage Jeans).
In October 1983, three of the original members, Ray, Migue and Chayanne, quit the group, alleging poor working conditions. Chayanne became a solo artist and released his first album in 1984. Carlos Alfonso took over the new group with Tony and three new group members (Tico Santana, Jorge Lopez aka Giro Lopez or Giro, and Alejandro Farinacci). However, this version did not have as much of the acceptance from the public as the first group of boys, and finally the band was dissolved. While it never achieved Menudo's level of popularity, it gave them a run for their money in Puerto Rico and Latin American countries, specially Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panamá.
Read more about Los Chicos: After Break-up, Discography
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