Memo Aguirre
Juan Guillermo Aguirre (born 1951), better known as Memo Aguirre and also as Captain Memo, is a famous Chilean singer and musician whose voice has been heard all over Latin America, particularly during the opening acts of superhero cartoon shows and anime during the 1970s and 1980s. He is famous for creating the lyrics and singing the Latin American He-Man theme song for the animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
Background
When Memo Aguirre was a teen in Chile, he participated in a musical band named "Los Sacros". The group did not enjoy much success, and Aguirre moved to the United States in 1971, setting in San Francisco.
Aguirre arrived at the States with dreams of becoming a very famous singer. He struggled for a long period there, sometimes even singing on street corners to live off passers by's donations. He would later on debut on the somewhat better scenario of San Francisco bars, becoming a regular there and earning better money for his work.
Cartoon and animation work
Aguirre's luck really changed for the better, however, when he was signed by a company named Sound Connection Studios during the mid 70s/early 80s. Superhero cartoon shows were becoming increasingly popular in Latin America, and cartoon producers needed someone to voice over, at least, some of the most popular superhero television series and their intro songs in Spanish.
Aguirre sang the Spanish language versions of opening songs for cartoon and anime shows such as Spider-Man, Captain America, Captain Future, Steel Jeeg, Hana no Ko Lunlun, Little Lulu, and Spider-Woman. During the early to middle 1980s, some of these shows went to have tremendous success in Latin America and Aguirre's voice intimately identified with them. He also sang for Filmation's Sport Billy and the He-Man theme song in Latin America.
Aguirre at that time was living well, collecting money from each country that showed the aforementioned shows. But despite his success he was not as well known as his voice, even in his home country of Chile.
Because those cartoon shows were shown in such different countries like Chile, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and many other Latin American regions, many children and young adults of those areas could identify his voice, but not his name nor his face.
Recent activities
In 2004, under the artistic name of "Capitán Memo" (Captain Memo) he released "El Regreso de los Robots" (The Return of the Robots), a CD which contains many old songs that were composed by him. Although aged, these themes provided a new experience to the general public, as he had never had a chance to perform them in front of a large audience. These were rearranged versions of the old songs, updating them with the latest music technology.
That year also, he met former Miss Universe Alicia Machado during a Chilean television show. The former beauty queen expressed her admiration towards Aguirre, even singing a few lines from the "Capitan Futuro" song, to show him that she remembered that particular contribution of Captain Memo to her and many other people's childhoods.
The following year he released a second album "Grand Prix" with additional songs not covered in the first album. These seem to be a departure of the old style of song even more than the first album, but kept the essence and lyrics of the songs intact.