By Paola Velasco
The San Miguel de Allende Fair opened with the Los Ángeles Azules, a Mexican musical group from the San Lucas neighborhood in Iztapalapa, Mexico City. It is a sonidera cumbia group, founded by four of eight brothers in 1976, then known as the Mejía Avante Family.
They began to make themselves known by playing at neighborhood parties, baptisms, weddings, anniversaries of community markets, and delegations of the then-called Federal District. By the mid-1980s, the group’s success was indisputable. The Mejía Avante was known nationally and internationally. In 1986, the group released its first collection of hits, Los Príncipes de México. A year later came its “Cumbia de las Chispitas with Virgen De Guadalupe,”. “Cumbia De Mis Encantos,” and “el Regreso de Damasco.”
In 1988 they launched “Los Angeles Azules, Vol 6,” and in 1989, “And It Was Worth Waiting for.” In the 90s, the group experienced the beginning of its golden age, thanks to the albums “Deliverance of Love” (1993), “Sin Pecado” (1996),“ ”Unforgettable” (1996), and “Una Lluvia de Rosas” (1999). Among the most famous songs included in these albums were:” 17 years,” “Delivery of Love,” “My Girl Woman,” “Ay Love,” “Without you I don’t know how to live,” “El Listón de Tu Pelo,” and the classic” Las Maravillas de la Vida.”
New versions of their greatest hits were released in 2020, in collaboration with other artists such as Vicentico, Fabulosos Cadillacs, Caifanes, Zoé, Julieta Venegas, Natalia Lafourcade, Café Tacuba, Ximena Sariñana, Esteman, and others. These collaborations pleased the public and made everybody dance. “From Iztapalapa to the world” is the war cry of Los Angeles Azules, a group that has been the icon of cumbia in Mexico for more than 40 years. Despite the passage of time, they remain relevant and keep up with the public’s tastes.
