Memo Aguirre
Juan Guillermo Aguirre (born 1951), better known as Memo Aguirre, is a famous Chilean singer whose voice has been heard all over Latin America, particularly during the opening acts of superhero cartoon shows during the 1980s. He is famous for singing the Latin American He-Man theme song for the animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
When Memo Aguirre was a teen, he participated in a group 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 suffered 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.
Aguirre's luck really changed for the better, however, when he was signed by a company named Sound Connection Studios during the middle 1970s. 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.
Aguirre sang the Spanish language versions of opening songs for shows such as Spider-Man, Captain America, Captain Future, 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 above mentioned shows. But, ironically, he was not as well known as his voice, not even in home country of Chile.
Because those cartoon shows were shown in such countries like Chile, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and many other Latin American countries, many children and young adults of those areas could identify his voice, but not his name or his face.
During 2004, under the name of "Capitán Memo" (Captain Memo) he released "El Regreso de los Robots" (The Return of the Robots) CD which contains many old songs that were composed by him. Although aged, these songs will be new to the general public, as he had never had a chance to perform them in front of a large audience.
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 remembers that particular contribution of his.
