Dulce Amor

***Dulce Amor*** () is the fifth and last independent LP record by Selena. The album became the final album to be released from RP Records. Selena's brother, A.B. Quintanilla III had became the main songwriter. Selena recorded fourteen songs but only released ten. All the songs were recorded in three different recording studios. _Dulce Amor_ helped Selena to be noticed at the 1989 Tejano Music Awards. She was then signed by EMI Latin. The album had only sold over 30,000 copies. It was ordered to be removed from stores by EMI Records.

Most of the songs produced were Tejano music mixed with Cumbia and Jazz fusion. _Dulce Amor_ was nominated for "Album of the Year" while the song of the same name was nominated for "Song of the Year". Selena had won "Female Vocalist of the Year" and "Female Entertainer of the Year". Selena had promoted the album during her Dulce Amor Tour which had only lasted for less than a year. The album had mixed to negative reviews from music critics. The album was re-released in 2007 as "Classic Series Vol. 5".

## Production and development

After Selena's sixth LP record _Preciosa_ (1988) sold only 25,000 copies, the company had wanted Selena to record another record. The success from _Preciosa_ had the company believing that Selena would sell more copies with her next album. In July 1988, Selena was in the recording studio and began recording songs. Her brother, A.B. Quintanilla III had became the main songwriter for Selena. Juan Gabriel, a Mexican songwriter, had given Selena the rights to record "Costumbres". Ricky Vela, a Selena y Los Dinos member, had written the song "Quisiera Darte". The song "Qué" was written by Manny Guerra, the record manager for RP Records and GP Productions. The songs "Tú Solamente Tú" and "La Puerta Se Cerro" were written by unknown writers. On the liner notes, the writing credits are given to "Pendiente" which means "Pending" in Spanish.

It had took Selena three weeks to record fourteen songs. However, the record company only had wanted ten songs to be on the album. The others remained unreleased. Selena had recorded the songs "Dulce Amor", "Tú Solamente Tú", "La Puerta Se Cerro", "Costumbres", and "Dime" at RP Records studios in San Antonio, Texas. The songs "Always Mine", "No Llores Más Corazón" and "Cariño, Cariño Mio" were recorded in Houston, Texas. "Quisiera Darte" and the unreleased tracks were recorded in Hollywood, California. The song "Tú Solamente Tú" was originally recorded by Selena for her debut album _Selena y Los Dinos_ (1984).

While Selena was performing at the 1989 Tejano Music Awards, Jose Behar (who was the former head of Sony Music Latin) was among the audience that night. He instantly wanted Selena to sign with EMI. Behar called his boss stating that he believe he had found the next Gloria Estefan. His boss told him that he was crazy, because Behar only had been in South Texas for only a week. Selena was later signed with EMI Latin the following year. _Dulce Amor_ became her last independent LP record.

## Release

_Dulce Amor_ was released on December 24, 1988. The album was supposed to be released in the summer of 1989. However, Manny Guerra had wanted the album to be released real quick. Guerra believed that if the album would have been released in the summer, that not too many Tejano fans would buy the album. He said, because popular music albums are released in that period. When the album was released, it had sold only 2,000 copies the first day. _Preciosa_ (1988) had sold 3,600 copies on its first day. Guerra was not happy about the sales of the album. However, within a month the album sold 10,000 copies. It outperformed all of Selena's previous records. By August 1989, the album sold 33,206 copies. It was then pulled off shelves because of Selena's upcoming debut album with EMI Latin. EMI Latin bought all the original copies of the album. Only 50,000 copies of the album were shipped in Texas alone.

In 1995, Selena's father Abraham Quintanilla Jr had bought the rights to Selena's albums (1984-1989 period) from EMI Latin. Since then, he has released the songs in compilation albums. The songs "Always Mine", "No Llores Mas Corazon" and "La Puerta Se Cerro" were selected to be remixed for _Anthology_ (1998).

On September 7, 2007, Quintanilla Jr re-released the album as part of the "Classic Series" collection. "Dulce Amor" was then re-titled "Classic Series Vol. 5". All the songs were remastered.

## Composition

"Dulce Amor" ("Sweet Love") was the lead single from _Dulce Amor_. The song was written by A.B. Quintanilla III. It was produced by Timothy Muniz. "Dulce Amor" was nominated for "Song of the Year" at the 1989 Tejano Music Awards. The song had its key signature in common time. It was performed on G minor with 106 beats per minute. The songs lyrics are about a girl expressing her emotions about a guy she really love. The song was mixed with Cumbia music and Jazz fusion.

"Qué" ("What") was the second single released from _Dulce Amor_. The song's writer is unknown. It was produced by Manny Guerra. The song was performed on G minor with 147 beats per minute. The songs lyrics are about a girl who has been tricked into believing that a guy really loved her. She feels a sense of loneliness and doubts herself. The songs' message is that, you can't always trust someone until you get to know them for who they really are. The song was mixed with Ranchera music and Mariachi.

"Always Mine" was the third single released from _Dulce Amor_. The song was written by A.B. Quintanilla III. It was produced by Roger Garcia, who was the former back-up guitarist for Selena y Los Dinos. "Always Mine" was selected to be remixed for _Anthology_ (1998). The remixed version peaked at number four on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart and number 94 on the Canadian Hot 100. The song describes a teen romance. A young girl who is under peer pressure by her friends must decide who she wants to be with. She struggles with low self-esteem. The song had its key signature in common time. It was performed on B minor with 100 beats per minute. The song was mixed with Polka, Pop and Contemporary R&B.

"Cariño, Cariño Mio" ("Sweetheart, Sweetheart of Mine") was the fourth single released from _Dulce Amor_. The song was written by A.B. Quintanilla III. It was produced by Lauren and Carlos Diaz. The songs lyrics are about a girl who is in love with a guy. She sings about giving anything to him, just to be with him. The song had its key signature in common time. It was performed on D major with 103 beats per minute. The song was mixed with Polka and Jazz.

"Quisiera Darte" ("I Give") was the fifth and last single released from _Dulce Amor_. The song was written by Ricky Vela, who was the lead keyboardist for Selena y Los Dinos. The song was produced by Manny Guerra. The songs lyrics are about a girl asking her boyfriend if their relationship is "love". She tells him that she would do anything for him, and feels that their relationship is love. The song had its key signature in common time. It was performed on C minor with 93 beats per minute. The song was mixed with Jazz and Cumbia music.

## Promotion

Selena had promoted _Dulce Amor_ during her Dulce Amor Tour. Selena also promoted _Preciosa_ (1988) along with her Dulce Amor Tour. This was because the two albums were released in the same year. Selena had performed songs from _Dulce Amor_ on the Johnny Canales Show in South Texas, she also had done live concerts across Texas. Selena earned $20,000 from the Dulce Amor Tour, which was double the amount she had made for her Preciosa Tour.

## Critical reception

Norberto Garcia of _Texas Monthly_ stated that _Dulce Amor_ was one of Selena's "strongest" LP record because it "showcase her exotic voice and expanded her talents[...]". Domingo Rivera of _Tejano Nation_ believed every song on _Dulce Amor_ was horrible. Rivera stated that he did not like not even one song. He also stated that Selena could have done better with modern styles of Tejano music instead of mixing 1960s music into her songs. Rivera then stated the album was "out of date" even when it was released in 1988. Sophia Vargas of _Tejano Weekly_ believed that "Dulce Amor" was not Selena's best of work. Vargas believed that RP Records did not put their "all" for Selena.

## Awards and nominations

|style="text-align:center; width:30px;"|Year|style="text-align:center;"|Awards ceremony|style="text-align:center;"|Award|style="text-align:center;"|Results|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1989|Tejano Music Awards|Song of the Year||||||
|1989|Tejano Music Awards|Album of the Year||||||
|1989|Tejano Music Awards|Female Vocalist of the Year||||||
|1989|Tejano Music Awards|Female Entertainer of the year||||||

## Personnel

Credits are taken from the album's liner notes.

- Managerial

- Producer - Manny Guerra
- Executive producer – Timothy Muniz

- Marketing – Manny Guerra

- Performance credits

- Vocals – Selena

- Background vocals – Selena, Roger Garcia, A.B. Quintanilla III, Lavonne Rodriguez

- Visuals and imagery

- Art direction – Yvette Zabala
- Clothing design – Selena

- Make-up – Barbra Moore
- Photography – William Carmona
- Stylist – Barbra Moore

- Instruments

- Drums – Suzette Quintanilla
- Guitar- Roger Garcia, A.B. Quintanilla III, Henry Gomez
- Keyboards – Ricky Vela

- Technical and production

- Songwriters – A.B. Quintanilla III, Ricky Vela, Juan Gabriel
- Engineering – Brian "Red" Moore
- Engineering assistants – Abraham Quintanilla Jr

- Executive producers – Lauren Diaz, Carlos Diaz
- Mixing – Manny Guerra
- Mixing assistants – A.B. Quintanilla III

## Other websites

- Official Website

## Infobox (album)

- **name**: Dulce Amor
- **type**: studio
- **artist**: Selena Selena y Los Dinos, y Los Dinos
- **released**: December 24, 1988 <small>(United States, US)</small>
- **recorded**: 1987–1988
- **genre**: Tejano music, Tejano, Jazz fusion, Cumbia music
- **label**: RP Records
- **producer**: Manny Guerra, Timothy Muniz, Lauren Diaz, Carlos Diaz
- **prev title**: Preciosa
(1988)
- **next title**: Selena (album), Selena
(1989)