Nostalgia: Ricky Martin

Hello Lovies!

Today is the first installment in the series of Nostalgia posts. What are Nostalgia posts, you ask? They are what happens after you and your friends sit around talking and someone says, "Hey, remember...?" Then all of a sudden you're hurling down memory lane being pummeled with all sorts of good and bad memories as well as thoughts of 'what the fuck was I thinking when I wore that?' (Denim hat with the big ass sunflower on it a la Blossom, I'm looking at you!!! Whoa!).

Anyletstalkhotsexylatinmen, the subject of today's post is Ricky Martin. Let me first say that I am too young to know Menudo (liar) but my first vivid memory of Ricky Martin was when he performed The Cup Of Life at the 1999 Grammy Awards. Holy Fuck! That man was fuckhotsexy!

We were in my living room having our annual Grammy Viewing party and when we heard the horns and the drums started beating, we were like wha...salsa on the Grammys? Then cut to the fuckhotsexy man in his black leather (okay probably pleather) pants swiveling his hips to this sultry beat...HOLA! Seriously, by the time he reached the refrain "Do You Really Want It?" we all answered "Yeah!" If you need a refresher of that performance, I found a relatively clear version on the YT see below.

Isn't he pretty?! Did you see the standing ovation? Okay true confession time, we taped the Grammys that year and as soon as it was over we rewound the tape and watched Ricky's performance over and over again dancing to the song and yelling out "Do You Really Want It? Yeah!" and then counting in English, Spanish and French. #TrueFax. Ah Good Times.

The next day all anyone could talk about was Ricky Martin. How sexy he was, how he moved those hips, how he looked like he was genuinely having such a good time performing and just how totally unexpectedly awesome his performance was. He got a fucking standing ovation!

Who could have known that there were bigger and better things to come from him now that he had successfully crossed over into the 'English-speaking' market? Another confession, I was a member of the BMG CD Club and that right there is how I satisfied my Ricky Martin addiction. I started ordering his shit in Spanish...which I couldn't speak that well then (not much better today, sadly) but I didn't care, because I discovered that apart from being fuckhotsexy, Ricky Martin had an awesome voice...especially in those ballads. Dear God. I think I had one of my very first orgasms to a Ricky Martin song...not going to tell you which one. #TMFIOvershare.

Listen to the longing in his voice...guh. Beautiful.

Listen to the passion in his voice:

That brings us to the zenith of Ricky's career. Three of the best songs ever:

She Bangs (please ignore the feathered side-swept bangs)

Shake Your Bon Bon: Best lyric ever "Up in the Himalayas, Come on I wanna lay ya"

Livin' La Vida Loca: Seriously, you CANNOT listen to this song without swiveling your hips and thinking that you have become an honorary latina shaking your ass all over the place. Sadly, this was me, back in the day. (and right now as I write this post) #Sadface. One of my all time favorite songs.

So, thank you Ricky Martin for introducing me to Latin music. It was because of you that I broadened my musical horizons. That lead to world music appreciation. That lead to Enrique Iglesias (pre-mole removal...yeah I'm bitter about that). It also lead to JLo, and THAT I'm holding against you.

I love Ricky Martin.

Nostalgia; it's a beautiful thing.

Dazz