One of the premier merengue acts of the 1990s, Grupo Manía rode the top of the charts during the style’s mid-’90s heyday, and even though their star power dimmed steadily over the years, they continued recording albums for their core fan base and were regularly nominated for Latin Grammys. Formed in 1993 in Puerto Rico, Grupo Manía (aka GrupoManía or Grupomanía) were originally comprised of three brothers — Héctor (aka Banchy), Edwin, and Oscar Serrano — and Alfred Cotto. Banchy had previously participated in bands led by Willie Berríos and Leny Pérez, while Oscar had also been in a band led by Pérez, Grupo Uno.
Billing themselves as Grupo Manía, the Serrano brothers made their recording debut with A Bombazo…Si! The album sold well in Puerto Rico, thanks to ample radio airplay, and the group’s career was off to a solid start. At this point, one of the brothers, Edwin, was replaced by Elvis Crespo, who like Banchy was an alumnus of bands led by Berríos and Pérez, and the group proceeded to record Explotó el Bombazo(1994), which went on to sell over 50,000 copies. While that was impressive for an independently released album, Grupo Manía’s next album, Dance Manía (1995), sold twice as much. Moreover, the album featured their biggest hit yet, “Como Me Haces Falta,” and for the third year in a row, the group won a Tambora de Oro prize. Consequently, Sony Discos came knocking, and the guys agreed to sign to the label’s Sony Tropical subsidiary.
