"El Toro Relajo" was an unreleased Spanish-language mariachi-ballad. It was written by Felipe Bermejo and produced by Jose Hernandez. It became the sixth single to be released from "Dreaming of You". Its lyrics are about a woman warning a man, during a bullfighting competition, that the bull is not tame. She then tries to tame the bull before her lover rides it. The band Mariachi Sol de Mexico were the backup singers for the song. "El Toro Relajo" was also recorded for the "Don Juan DeMarco" soundtrack. The "Daily Vault" believed the song was the "most impressive track" on "Dreaming of You". The "Daily Vault" also stated that it was "short, amusing, and dedicated". After Selena's death, the song became a traditional Cinco de Mayo celebration song. Brennan told "Time" magazine that he believes the company who dropped "El Toro Relajo" from the "Don Juan DeMarco" soundtrack, regrets ever doing so. "Tú Sólo Tú" became the seventh single released from "Dreaming of You". John Lannert of "Billboard" called it a "classic emotive (emotional) ballad". Christopher John Farley of "Time" said that "Tú Sólo Tú" is a "spirited mariachi song".
"Dreaming of You" was scheduled to be released sometime in 1994. However, following "Amor Prohibido", Selena's last Spanish studio album, the album was delayed. Selena told in an interview on January 20, 1995 that the album would be released in July. EMI Records and EMI Latin released "Dreaming of You" on July 18, 1995. It debuted at number one on the US "Billboard" 200 chart. "Dreaming of You" replaced the "Pocahontas" soundtrack spot as the number one album on the "Billboard" 200. "Dreaming of You" was among the ten best-selling debuts ever, and was the best-selling debut by a female artist. Selena fans in Dallas, Texas, began lining up to buy the album hours before stores were open. "Dreaming of You" sold 331,000 copies in its first week. It became the biggest first-week seller by a female artist. It also became the first album by a Hispanic artist to debut at number one. EMI believed that "Dreaming of You" sold more than 400,000 copies because SoundScan did not track copies sold in small stores.
"Dreaming of You" also debuted at number one on the "Billboard" Top Latin Albums and "Billboard" Latin Pop Albums charts. It remained on the charts for nearly two-hundred weeks. In Austin, stores were sold out of "Dreaming of You" within minutes on the day it was released. Throughout the entire city, Austin stores only allowed two copies per costumer. Fans in Corpus Christi began celebrating the release of "Dreaming of You" the day before the album was released, at music stores across the city. "Dreaming of You" was sold in approximately fifteen countries, and in the months following its release, Selena became more famous. "I Could Fall in Love" and "Dreaming of You" were played on English speaking radio stations, mostly on Adult contemporary radios. In Texas alone, "Dreaming of You" sold half a million copies.
Within ten months of release, "Dreaming of You" was nearing triple-platinum status. It was certified 3.5 time platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipping more than 3,500,000 copies in its first year. "Billboard" named "I Could Fall in Love" and "Dreaming of You" the number one and two spots, in the "Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits". "Dreaming of You" sold over 2,000,000 copies its first year. EMI Latin was backed up with orders of 500,000 copies from retail stores. "Dreaming of You" was considered the "highest selling Latin album" since Julio Iglesias recorded his first English-language record "110 Bel Air Place" (1984). "Dreaming of You" was certified Gold in Canada, for shipments of 50,000 copies.
In the same month of its release, "Dreaming of You" joined five of Selena's studio albums that were in the top ten on the "Billboard" Top 50 Latin Albums. The album peaked at number one, two years later "Dreaming of You" and "Siempre Selena" (1996) continued to chart on the "Billboard" Latin 50. "Dreaming of You" became the first album by a Hispanic singer to debut at number one. Some Texas stores believed that the sale figures for "Dreaming of You" in their state were wrong because the album had sold poorly at their music stores.
The Crossover Tour was a scheduled world tour. It was supposed to help promote "Dreaming of You" worldwide. The tour was scheduled to begin in mid-1995, after the album was released. The Crossover Tour was also going to promote Selena in countries where she was not well known in.
There were several commercials released in the US, Mexico and South America. Behar said that promotion "... will be on the superstar scale" and that "[We] didn't put this marketing campaign behind it because there was a tragedy. ... We put this marketing campaign behind it because we believed that this was going to be a huge album because of the music. This is a record that we're going to work over the next 10 months."
In Texas and Mexico, bootleggers sold copies of "Dreaming of You". A bootlegger is a person who takes the music of an album and copy's it to a blank CD and make profit by selling the blank CDs to people on the streets. One, in Corpus Christi, tried selling a bootleg to Selena's father, without knowing who he was. Quintanilla Jr, took all the copies and reported the man to local police. There are no known reports of the public bootleggers, although Quintanilla Jr reported any he found to police. "TVyNovelas" believed that 50,000 copies of "Dreaming of You" bootlegs were sold, at five dollars each.
Stephen Erlewine of Allmusic wrote that most Americans first learned about Selena because of her murder, and "Dreaming of You" was the first record of Selena's that they heard. He wrote: ""Dreaming of You" would have been a stronger album if she had lived, but it still stands as a powerful – and touching – testament to her talents." "Billboard" stated that Selena recorded songs that were "pop" and not "Tejano" music. "Vibe" editor Ed Morales called the album a "cumbia" and "Tex-Mex" (Tejano) album. James Hunter, also from "Vibe", believed it was hard to listen to the album because Selena's death was recent.
The "Chicago Tribune"s Achy Obejas wrote that "Dreaming of You" was an "incomplete" album that has a lot of mistakes in the selection of songs Selena recorded. Christopher John Farley of "Time" believed "Dreaming of You" helped Selena to become more popular in America. Enrique Lopetegui of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that "Dreaming of You" was Selena's most "satisfying" album. Mary Talbot of the "New York Daily News" believed the album was able to reveal what Selena's career would have been like if she was alive.
Credits are taken from the album's liner notes.
Selena Live!
Selena Live! is a Grammy Award–winning live album released by Tejano singer Selena on May 4, 1993.
Note: Certifications are based on the number of units shipped and not the number of copies sold.
Muñequito de Trapo
Muñequito de Trapo (English: "Doll Rag") is the fourth LP record released by Mexican-American Tejano pop band Selena y Los Dinos.
This album was re-released entitled "Classic Series Vol. 2" in 2007.
And the Winner Is...
And the Winner Is (Originally released as Female Vocalist of the Year and The Winner Is... Selena & Los Dinos) is the fifth LP record release from Mexican-American Tejano pop band Selena y Los Dinos.
This album was re-released entitled "Classic Series, Vol. 3" in 2007.
Lauren Faust