AZÙCAR MORENO: 20 Años - Grandes Éxitos 1984-2006 + (20 Years - Greatest Hits 1984-2006 +) [320 kbps]

Codec: mp3.
Description: MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3.
Bit rate: CBR 320 kbps.
Sample rate: 44100 Hz joint stereo.
Tags: ID3V1 & ID3V2.
Source formats: CD (AAD/ADD).
Number of tracks: 111 + 2.

Biography in Spanish: totally unnecessary, these ladies are superstars and need no introduction whatsoever. "El mítico dúo Azúcar Moreno, todos sus grandes éxitos y todas mis remezclas preferidas". There.

Biography in English: "Azúcar Moreno (Spanish for "brown sugar") is a famous Spanish music duo who have sold more than 3 million albums and singles since 1985 domestically. They became famous in Europe, the United States, Latin America, the Eastern Bloc, the Middle East and Japan in the early 1990s, with approximately 10 million albums sold worldwide to date.

Composed by sisters Antonia (Toñi) and Encarnación (Encarna) Salazar, the singing duo comes from Badajoz, Extremadura. They are part of a large family of performers: their grandfather was a musician, their father a singer and author, their brothers members of classic flamenco group Los Chunguitos and their uncle the famous singer Porrina de Badajoz. Both influenced by disco divas Donna Summer and Gloria Gaynor, the Azúcar Moreno sisters began their careers as back-up vocalists to their brothers, but in 1982 they were discovered and signed by record label EMI Spain, resulting in two albums with moderate commercial success released in 1984 and 1986. In 1988 they however signed with CBS-Epic and relaunched their music with a bolder production style and matching sexier image and released the album 'Carne De Melocotón'. They then became one of the first Spanish acts to combine their Romani heritage and traditional 'cantaora' vocal style with urban Anglosaxon dance rhythms like disco, R & B, funk, hip hop, rap, trance and techno. Their proper breakthrough single in Spain was for example a house music remix of the track "Aunque Me Falte El Aire", released in 1988. A full-length remix album, entitled 'Mix In Spain', was released in 1989 and the follow-up single "Debajo Del Olivo" also became a minor club hit in Continental Europe.

Azúcar Moreno had their commercial breakthrough in Europe and Latin America after singing their song "Bandido", written and produced by prolific Spanish dance producer Raul Orellana, at the Eurovision Song Contest 1990. Unfortunately, the start of their performance was marred by serious sound problems at the arena in Zagreb, former Yugoslavia. "Bandido" went out as entry number one of twenty-two participating countries. The contest was broadcast live to an audience of approximately 500 million viewers - but due to a tape technician not starting the pre-recorded backing track in time both the singers, their band, the musical conductor and the live orchestra missed their cues. Two minutes of absolute silence ensued with much confusion both on and off stage, with the duo and their musicians staring blankly into the TV cameras, then a sudden false start of the backing track, then embarrassed applauds from the audience and legendary BBC commentator Terry Wogan dryly saying "Let's hope it doesn't go on like this or we're in for a very long night, ladies and gentlemen". This resulted in the sisters finally having to walk off stage, make a second entrance and start the song and their dance routine all over, making it one of the most memorable - or notorious - moments in the 50 year long history of the contest. In his book 'The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History', British Eurovision historian John Kennedy O'Connor describes the incident as "every artist's worst nightmare". Despite this very unfortunate debacle "Bandido" finished an honourable fifth and the song and its accompanying album, also including their signature tune "Ven Devórame Otra Vez", became the starting point of the duo's international career.
 
During the following years, Encarna and Toñi Salazar had the opportunity to work with top composers and producers Emilio Estefan and Ricardo "Eddy" Martinez (Gloria Estefan, Miami Sound Machine, Chayanne), Estéfano (Jon Secada, Shakira, Paulina Rubio, Thalía, Ricky Martin) and Nick Patrick (Salif Keita, Gypsy Kings, Mory Kante, Youssou N'Dour), duetting with Mexican superstar Luis Miguel, collaborating with Spanish singer/composer Miguel Gallardo and remixers like Pablo Flores and Pumpin' Dolls, recording in both the United Kingdom and the United States, achieving a Billboard Music Award for Best Latin Group, touring the world and becoming one of the top-selling artists in the Hispanic pop scene. 1991's 'Mambo' established them in the Japanese market and the title track of their 1994 album 'El Amor' was featured in Luis Llosa's Hollywood movie 'The Specialist', starring Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone and James Woods.

On their subsequent albums Azúcar Moreno widened their repertoire as they combined original material with traditional folk songs like the Chilean "Yo Vendos Unos Ojos Negros", the Italian "O Sole Mio" and the Hebrew "Hava Nagila", and influences from other Latin and Caribbean genres like rhumba, mambo, bolero, merengue, reggaeton, salsa and dancehall, alongside Spanish language versions of rock and pop classics like the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black", Jackie Wilson's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" and The Animals' "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood".

As of 2006, Azúcar Moreno have released 13 studio albums and some 50 singles, most of which also have been remixed for the dance floor, as well as a large number of hits compilations. Their greatest hit to date is "Sólo Se Vive Una Vez" ("You Only Live Once"), which topped the charts in Spain and throughout Latin America in 1996. In the 2000s the track went on to be included on the very first Spanish language versions of karaoke video game SingStar. Azúcar Moreno are one of the best-selling acts in the history of Spanish popular music, with combined sales of approximately 3 million albums in their native Spain and 10 million worldwide and it also makes them one of the most commercially successful acts alongside Sweden's ABBA and Canada's Céline Dion to have their international breakthrough via the Eurovision Song Contest - this despite of the fact that they didn't win the actual contest.

The Salazar sisters have been the target of much gossip and the duo has been prominently featured on the covers of Spanish tabloid magazines since the early 1990's. Some of their best-known songs have also been slightly controversial in their homeland, with both fans and music critics interpreting their lyrics as having liberated, feminist content. The sisters also have a strong LGBT following in Spain and Latin America; their 2000 album 'Amén' included "Amigo Mío", an affecting ode of support encouraging a gay friend to not be ashamed of his sexuality. Furthermore, the video for "Sólo Se Vive Una Vez" features a male dancer in drag and the sisters themselves in genderswapping male attire. They subsequently also recorded high camp songs like "Divina De La Muerte" ("Deadly Divine") and "Sobreviviré", the latter in fact a flamenco flavoured take on Gloria Gaynor's gay anthem "I Will Survive".

In 2006, Azúcar Moreno returned to EMI after 18 years with CBS-Sony and were considered one of the top artists to represent Spain again in the Eurovision Song Contest. Ultimately RTVE's choice fell upon Las Ketchup, feeling the sisters' tribute to legendary Spanish singer, dancer, and actress Lola Flores, "Bailando con Lola" ("Dancing with Lola"), was too flamenco-flavoured for the contest. Nevertheless, as Toñi and Encarna sing in the opening song "20 Años" on the 'Bailando Con Lola' album: "It's been 20 years / Nothing else / 20 years of singing / And we've still got so much to give..."

Amid much media speculation it was officially announced in 2008 that the duo had been "temporarily disbanded" and both sisters have since launched solo careers."


Personal comment from uploader: can you believe it? 20 years since that historic performance in Zagreb and I remember it as if it were yesterday. 

In 1989 I'd heard some record somewhere, probably in a club, with some female singers with the strangest vibratos, screeching and belting slightly off-key (as it sounded to my then sadly ignorant Scandinavian ears...) what I assumed was a Spanish folk song over some sort of heavy house/hip hop beat with samples from James Brown's "Funky Drummer" and that spoken "I knoooow you're gonna dig this" line that was on just about every dance and rap record around that time, M.A.R.R.S.' "Pump Up the Volume", Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full", Climie Fisher's "Rise to the Occasion" etc. Back in 1989 it was still such an unusual combination of ethnic / world / contemporary, progressive dance music that I must have registered that information and kept it somewhere back in my mind. 

About three months later I'm in a record shop looking through a rack of second-hand 12" singles as usual. And.... Hold on. Azúcar Moreno? "Debajo Del Olivo"? "Mix In Spain"? Two Spanish girls? Dance remix? Could that be the one I heard? It was a promo copy, I bought it for a pittance, came home, put it on and it was them alright! I'd never heard anything like it! Crikey! Are they really supposed to sing like that? Is the record really on the right speed? Flamenco and "cantaoras" was then completely unchartered musical territory for me; yes they were supposed to sound like that, not only does it take a hell of a lot of physical strength, training and technique to sing with that kind of raw power, it's part of a long tradition within the flamenco genre, as I learnt later. Still, there's no denying that their singing was something of an acquired taste for me, but boy did I play that record once I got over that first, clearly uneducated impression. First impressions are thankfully not necessarily the right impressions.

Fast forward a couple of months to Spring 1990 and I happen to hear that the Spanish entry for this year's Eurovision Song Contest is called "Bandido" and it's going to be sung by... Azúcar Moreno! Really? Again, what a coincidence - and how odd. Those voices, that musical juxtaposition - and now in that medium? " - Really? Is it true?" Yes it was. And then comes Eurovision night and anybody who watched that particular contest most likely has vivid memories of it too. Out they come on stage, raring to go and then..... "What the f*** is happening"?!?!" "What are they doing?!?" "Oh noooooo....!" Two whole minutes of "WTF?!", "OMG!!!" and "Oh noooooooooo........!" to be precise. If that happened to me in front of half a billion people I would have walked off that stage and I would never have set my foot on _any_ kind of stage again. Ever! Not to mention what I'd done to that Croatian tape technician if I'd got hold of him... But what did they do? After some wild gesticulating and what seemed like a pretty heated discussion including quite a few Spanish expletives too, they re-appear on stage and what do they do then? They sing the sh*t out of "Bandido", that's what they do! These girls are fierce! Christ almighty! Check out the look in their eyes, you don't mess with these ladies, that's for sure!
 
...and that was the beginning of my twenty year long love affair with Toñi and Encarna Salazar from Badajoz, Spain's two fiercest and finest disco divas - ever!

Enjoy!



TRACK LISTING

20 Años - Grandes Éxitos [1984-1993]
======================================
01. 20 Años
02. Azúcar Moreno
03. Estimúlame
04. Carne De Melocotón
05. Aunque Me Falte El Aire [Lerele 7" Mix]
06. Debajo Del Olivo [Mix In Spain 7" Mix] 
07. Bandido [Remix]
08. Ven Devórame Otra Vez
09. Oye Como Va / Guajira
10. A Caballo
11. Torero! [LP Version]
12. Mambo
13. Tú Quieres Más (Porque Te Amo)
14. Ahora O Nunca
15. Lujuria
16. Paint It Black
17. Tus Besos Me Matan
18. Moliendo Café
19. Azucarero [Album Version]
20. Yo Vendo Unos Ojos Negros
21. Hazme El Amor
22. Hechizo De Luna
23. Mirame [Azúcar Moreno & Luis Miguel]
24. En Tu Calle Sin Salida
25. Veneno



20 Años - Grandes Éxitos [1994-1999]
======================================
01. El Amor
02. Ando Buscando Un Amor
03. No Será Facíl
04. Hay Que Saber Perder
05. De Lo Que Te Has Perdido
06. Desnúdate, Desnúdame
07. Ladron De Amores
08. Sólo Se Vive Una Vez
09. Bandolero
10. Esclava De Tu Piel
11. La Cita
12. Hoy Tengo Ganas De Ti
13. Tiritando
14. Amame Toda La Noche
15. Hava Naguila
16. Tapame
17. Muévete Salvaje
18. Olé [Album Version]
19. Cumbaya
20. ¡Mecachis! [Alabim-Bom-Ba Radio Version]
21. Ese Beso
22. Agua Que No Has De Beber
23. Cómeme La Piel A Besos
24. Ande Yo Caliente
25. Dime Que Me Quieres



20 Años - Grandes Éxitos [2000-2006]
======================================
01. Mamma Mia
02. Ay Amor
03. Amén
04. Abracadabra
05. Tururú
06. Dale Que Dale
07. Amigo Mio
08. Bésame [Album Version]
09. Volvería A Nacer
10. Tequila [Single Remix]
11. Habibi Te Quiero
12. Hay Que Matar A La Muerte
13. Que Me Quiten Lo Bailao
14. Tú Eres Para Mí (You're My Destiny)
15. Divina De La Muerte
16. Mi Ritmo
17. Nadie Mi Comprende Como Tú (Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood)
18. Él
19. O Sole Mio
20. Se Me Va
21. Sobreviviré (I Will Survive)
22. Bailando Con Lola
23. Clavame
24. Mil Velas
25. Ven Devórame Otra Vez [Versión 2006]



20 Años - The Sugar Mix Collection [1988-2006]
===============================================
01. Torero! [12" Remix]
02. Sólo Se Vive Una Vez [Extended Original Mix]
03. A Caballo [Dance Mix]
04. Olé [The Fiesta Extended Mix]
05. Debajo Del Olivo [Mix In Spain 12" Mix]
06. Hoy Tengo Ganas De Ti [Extended Dream Mix]
07. Bandido [Deep Mix]
08. Bésame [Latin Pressure Extended Remix]
09. Aunque Me Falte El Aire [Lerele 12" Mix]
10. Mambo [Extended Club Mambo Mix]
11. Esclava De Tu Piel [House Xtudio Extended Mix]
12. El Amor [12" Mix]
13. Oye Como Va / Guajira [Puerto Rico Mix]
14. Hava Naguila [Broken House Remix]
15. Carne De Melocotón [Eat A Peach Mix]
16. Muévete Salvaje [Hardcore Flamenco Mix]
17. Azucarero [Remix Especial]
18. Mamma Mia [Pan de Azúcar Extended Mix]
19. ¡Mecachis! [Extended Mix]
20. Bailando Con Lola [Remix]
21. Tequila [Extended Remix]
22. Amén [D & P Extended Remix]
23. Hoy Tengo Ganas De Ti [Extended House Mix]
24. Ven Devórame Otra Vez [Miami Mix]
25. Esclava De Tu Piel [Techno Extended Mix]
26. Olé [Pablo Flores Club Mix]
27. El Amor [Multiple Orgasm Mix]
28. Sólo Se Vive Una Vez [Big Ed's Club Mix]
29. Bandido [Deep Mix Video Edit]
30. Debajo Del Olivo [Mix In Spain Dub Mix]
31. Mil Velas [Etnico Mix]
+
32. Bésame [Original Karaoke Mix]
33. ¡Mecachis! [Original Karaoke Mix]
34. Olé [Original Karaoke Mix]
35. Sólo Se Vive Una Vez [Original Karaoke Mix]
36. Bandido [Original Karaoke Mix]

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