September 18, 1998
Tejano music has been around for a long time, but unless you live in the State of Texas it is not likely you hear any Tex/Mex music on you local radio station. Except for the rare exception of a breakthrough artist, Freddie Fender comes to mind, TexMex/Tejano music was confined to the Lone Star State. That was until Selena, and her subsequent death, came along. With the tragic death of Selena, the national media attention and follow up movie, Tejano music was on the verge of breaking out.
That was in 1993 and Tejano music is still looking for a national audience. With the dismantling of Arista/Latin (one of the larger producers of Tejano music) and the perceptive dip in radio ratings, the search for a national audience is slowly fading away.
According to vice president and general manager of Arista/Austin, Cameron Randle—the labels gathered under the Arista/Texas imprint—the budget allocated was simply not enough to grow an audience that would be sufficient to make Arista/Latin artists competitive at the major-labor level.
Armando Lichtenberger, Jr., a producer in both the international Latin and the Tejano markets, offered his own analysis. "In Tejano, the most you can expect to sell is 50,000 units, maybe 100,000, but that's only if you hit a home run. As an artist, you can't retire on numbers like that." Lichtenberger suggested that the financial outlays required at the major-label level do not justify the market's limited returns.
While the Arbitron ratings may be down for Tejano music, Selena's star continues to shine. Three years after her death Selena Quintanilla's dream of designing and marketing a signature line of clothing apparel has been realized. Selena's name adorns ready-to-wear clothes available at more than 200 Sears and JC Penney stores across the country.
"This line is for everybody," says Suzette Quintanilla-Arriaga, Selena's older sister, former drummer in the band and now president of the Selena clothing line. "Its very hip, very sexy, very fun."
"The response was phenomenal," says Linda Blakley, a Sears spokeswoman. "We found [the Selena line] moving three times faster than some of our previous fast-moving items. Jarell Inc., the Dallas-based manufacturer producing Selena wear, expects to sell about $5 million at wholesale this year.
Selena designed and made many of her own stage outfits, and had dreamed of producing a line of clothes. When she died, she left a number of sketches of clothes she thought reflected her personality and the lifestyle of her fans.
Maná's "Sueños Liquidos" Goes Gold
While Tejano music may be back sliding, Latin Rock is booming.
Mexico's Rock en Español superstars Maná recently made history when their Sueños Liquidos (Liquid Dreams) was certified gold by the R.I.A.A. for U.S. sales of over 500,000 copies. Already the only Latin rock band to ever achieve gold status in the States, the certification actually marked the second time that Maná had seen one of their albums go gold. (1996's ¿Donde Jugaran Las Niñas? has now sold over 700,000 unites). With the certification, Maná's career U.S. sales have exceeded 2.5 million copies, with total worldwide album sales of 10 million units.
Bloque
to Release Debut AlbumFusing the best of Colombian music with the regency of rock and roll, Bogotá's Bloque will be releasing their critically acclaimed debut album on Oct. 6. Songwriters Ivan Benavides and Teto Ocampo were instrumental to the chart-tipping hits of Latin megastar Carlos Vives; with Bloque, they build on that success, invigorating Colombian traditional music with rock, jazz and hip-hop.
By hailing from Colombia, a nation that does not yet possess the years of rock tradition that Mexico and Argentina, have, Bloque holds a unique advantage - the ability to proudly retain their musical culture while at the same time rocking hearts, minds and bodies with a fusion of the past and present.
Outlandos Damericas Pays Tribute to the Police, Brings a Rock-Español Beat to `White Reggae'
Outlandos d'Americas is the third installment in a continuing series of compilations paying homage to one of the most respected band of all time The Police. Some of the most well known names in Latin Rock including Saul Hernandez, (ex-Caifanes), Plastilina, Mosh, Gustavo Cerati (ex-Soda Stereo), Control Machete and many more, recorded exclusive tracks for Outlandos D'Americas. To further compliment this tribute, ex-Police members Andy summers and Stewart Copeland make appearances on Outlandos.
Released September 8th, Outlandos D'Americas boasts a virtual who's who of the Latin Rock community who are, quite literally, from all over the globe. The diversity that this record boasts in scope is most certainly its strong point.
La carrera de Edith Márquez empezó como cantante cuando apenas era una niña de once años. Participó en México en el festival Juguemos a cantar y gracías a su distintivo talento se colocó entre las primeras finalistas. Así su voz quedó plasmada por primera vez en un disco, ya que los organizadores del festival produjeron un álbum donde se escuchó la voz privilegiada de Edith.
A pasado el tiempo y Edith no ha dejado de cantar ni de crecer como profesional. Ademas de tener en sus manos una interesante labor musical cantando con el popular grupo Timbiriche por varios años, también se ha desempeñado como actriz, primero en la obra musical Vaselina, y más tarde en telenovelas para Televisa, donde actuó en una occasion junto al conocido actor César Costa.
Ahora nos trae un álbum donde demuestra en cada nota su alto caudal interpretativo. Se titula Fente a ti y del mismo se desprende como primer sencillo la canción Me error, mi fantasía, compuesta por Bruno Danzza, un tema para escuchar con detenimiento ya que Edith es una cantante especial, con un timbre muy peculiar y con una firme propuesta bajo el brazo: hacer buena música.
In the six years since he release his debut album Viviendo Deprisa, (Living Fast) Alejandro Sanz's career has been a commercial whirlwind. With Mas, his most ambitious and full accomplished record to date, Sanz has watched the album go on the become the best-selling record in the history of Spain (#1 album for 23 weeks straight), while also reaching gold or platinum status in countries as far apart as the United States, Thailand and Chile.
Four years ago, the members of Vélas came together for the first time to create a vocal group called Porto Latino. Influenced by the culture of their native Puerto Rico, this fresh young talent produced to two records of melodious ballads and one Christmas album. Today, under their new moniker, the versatile female quartet has recorded No Stoppin' an exciting potpourri of tropical rhythms, Motown-inspired harmonies and sweet ballads.
The four members, Eileen, Laura, Widays and Aemir, offer the Latin music world a unique and refreshing alternative; a female quartet harmonizing tropical music. In short, Vélas tread both traditional Latin rhythms and citing edge pop, pioneering a new era of Latin music.
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