Selena (album)

Selena is the first studio album by American singer Selena. It was released on October 17, 1989 by EMI Latin. The album was recorded in San Antonio and Houston, Texas. The album was Selena's first album to be released by EMI Latin. She signed a record deal with them earlier in the year. Selena got to number seven on the US Regional Mexican Albums chart. By 1996, 24,000 copies had been sold. The album helped Selena to win "Female Vocalist of the Year" and "Female Entertainer of the Year" at the 1990 Tejano Music Awards.

Selena's brother, A.B. Quintanilla III was the music producer and songwriter for the album. Selena wrote "My Love" on her own. "Sukiyaki" was translated from Japanese to Spanish. This was done by Selena's father and manager Abraham Quintanilla, Jr. and Pete Astudillo. The lead single, "Contigo Quiero Estar" got to number eight on the Hot Latin Tracks chart in 1989.

Production 
José Behar, president of EMI Latin, went to the 1989 Tejano Music Awards. He was looking for new musicians. After Selena sang, Behar called his boss and told him about Selena. Behar thought he found the next Gloria Estefan. His boss told him that he was "crazy". He said this because Behar was only in Texas for a week. Selena later signed with EMI Latin later that year. She was the first artist to sign with them. Recording started in late 1988 and went on until early 1989. Selena recorded most of the songs in San Antonio, Texas at AMEN Studios. "Sukiyaki" and "My Love" were recorded in Houston, Texas at Sunrise Studios. Selena wrote "My Love" by herself. She wanted the song to be in the album. Her brother A.B. Quintanilla III was the music producer and main songwriter. Their father and manager Abraham Quintanilla, Jr. gave the job to A.B. He believed A.B. was good at producing music.

The only songs A.B. did not write were "Sukiyaki", "Contigo Quiero Estar", and "No Te Vayas". The original "Sukiyaki" was in Japanese. Selena's lyrics were a Spanish version of an English version of the song by Janice Marie Johnson. "Sukiyaki" had been one of Abraham's favorite songs when he was growing up. "Contigo Quiero Estar" was written by Mexican songwriter Alejandro Montealegre. "No Te Vayas" was written by Reinaldo Ornelas. A.B. wanted "No Te Vayas" on the album because of its reggae sounds. He thought it would make the album "exotic" (different) from other Spanish-language albums. He believed this because of the different music genres they had produced.

Release 
Selena was released on October 17, 1989 by EMI Latin. In its first week on the US Regional Mexican Albums chart (December 2, 1989), it was at number 17. It got to its highest place on the chart, number 7, on March 24, 1990. It was on the chart for another three weeks. On May 5, 1990, it was on the chart again, at number 14. That was after the release of Ven Conmigo (1990). However, it left the charts. It was on the chart again two times in August 1990. "Contigo Quiero Estar", "Mentiras", and "Sukiyaki" were released as singles. The lead single, "Contigo Quiero Estar" got to number eight on the Hot Latin Tracks chart.

At the 1990 Tejano Music Awards, Selena won "Female Vocalist of the Year" and "Female Entertainer of the Year". Her album Selena did better than albums from other female singers. As of 1996, 24,000 copies of Selena have been sold in the United States. 30,000 copies of Selena were shipped. On August 27, 2002, Selena was released again. It was part of the 20 Years of Music series. It had one bonus track ("La Bamba"). It also had commentaries for each track. Selena's family and friends talked about what happened during recordings and choosing songs for the album.

Track listing

Credits 
Credits were taken from the album's booklet.

Selena — vocals
Pete Astudillo — backing vocals
Ricky Vela — keyboardist
Jose "Pepe" Ojeda — keyboardist
Suzette Quintanilla — drums
Roger Garcia — guitarist
A.B. Quintanilla III — bass guitar, backing vocalist, music producer, songwriter, music arranger
Manny Rodriguez Guerra — recording engineer
Brian "Red" Moore — co-producer
Lisette Lorenzo — cover designer

Related pages 
Selena albums discography

References

Books 

1989 albums
Debut albums
Selena albums
Pop albums