Azúcar Moreno

Infobox musical artist
Name = Azúcar Moreno


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Background = group_or_band
Genre = Latin Pop, Pop, Latin Music, Ballads, Flamenco
Years_active = 1984 - 2008
Country = Spain
Label = EMI, Capitol, CBS Records, Sony Music, Epic Records
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URL =
Current_members =
Past_members = Antonia Salazar
Encarnación Salazar

Azúcar Moreno (Spanish for "brown sugar") is the name of a famous music duo from Spain who has sold 2,2 million albums since 1985 in Spain.

Biography

Composed by sisters Antonia (Toñi) and Encarnación (Encarna) Salazar, the singing duo comes from Badajoz. They are part of a large family of performers: their grandfather was a musician, their father a singer and author, their brothers the members of the group Los Chunguitos and their uncle is famous singer Porrina de Badajoz. The Azúcar Moreno sisters began their singing 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 signed with CBS-Epic and relaunched their music with a bolder production style and matching sexier image. They became one of the first Spanish acts to combine their gypsy heritage and typical flamenco vocal style with modern dance rhythms like disco, rhythm and blues, funk and techno. One of their first commercial hit singles was a house music remix of the track "Aunque Me Falte El Aire", released in 1988. A full-length remix album "Mix In Spain" followed in 1989 and the single "Debajo Del Olivo" also became a minor club hit in Continental Europe.

Azúcar Moreno became famous all over Europe and Latin America, after singing their song "Bandido", produced by one of Spain's most prolific dance producers Raul Orellana, at the Eurovision Song Contest 1990. Unfortunately, the start of their performance was marred by sound problems at the arena in Zagreb. "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 and the live orchestra missed their cues. Two minutes of absolute silence followed with total confusion both on and off stage with the 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". [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/eurovision/2003/fun/highlights.shtml BBC - Radio 2 - Eurovision Song Contest 2003, Highlights ] ] 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 infamous - moments in the 50 year long history of the contest. Despite this very unfortunate debacle "Bandido" finished an honourable fifth and the song and its accompanying album, also including the hit single "Devorame Otra Vez", became the starting point of their international career.

During the following years, Encarna and Toñi Salazar had the opportunity to work with producers Emilio Estefan and Estefano, recording in both the United Kingdom and the United States, achieving a Billboard music award and becoming one of the top-selling artists in the Latin pop scene. 1991's "Mambo" became their commercial break-through in Japan and the title track of their 1994 album "El Amor" was featured in Luis Llosa's movie "The Specialist".

On their following albums Azúcar Moreno widened their repertoire as they combined newly composed songs sung in their typical flamenco vocal style with folk songs like the Chilean "Ojos Negros" and the Hebrew "Hava Nagila", influences from other Hispanic genres like rhumba, mambo and salsa as well as Spanish language cover versions of rock classics like the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" and The Animals' "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood".
As of 2006, Azúcar Moreno have released some 40 singles, 13 studio albums as well as a large number of hits compilations. Their greatest hit to date is "Solo Se Vive Una Vez" (translated as "You only live once."). which topped the charts in Spain as well as a number of countries in South and Central America. In the 2000s the track was included on the 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 2 million albums in their native Spain alone 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.

The Salazar sisters have been the target of much gossip and some of their songs have been controversial in their homeland. Many of their fans see some of their songs as having feminist content, and the duo has been prominently featured on the covers of Spanish tabloid magazines since the early 90's. The sisters also have a strong gay following in Spain, their 2000 album "Amén" included a torch ballad especially dedicated to their loyal LGBT fans, "Amigo Mío", and later they also recorded high camp songs like "Divina De La Muerte" and "Sobreviviré", the latter a flamenco cover version of 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. 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 ..."

On November 28th 2007 Toñi Salazár announced to the Spanish media that the duo "would withdraw from the music scene until further notice" due to her sister Encarna having been diagnosed with breast cancer and was to go undergo chemo therapy and then needed time for recuperation. [ [http://www.elpais.com/articulo/gente/Encarna/Salazar/Azucar/Moreno/tiene/cancer/mama/elpepugen/20071128elpepuage_10/Tes El País 2007/11/28] ]

In September 2008 it was announced that Encarna Salazar has made a full recovery from her cancer and has been given a clean bill of health but also that there are no immediate plans for the two sisters to continue their careers as a duo. [ [http://www.elsemanaldigital.com/articulos.asp?idarticulo=87021 El Semana Digital, Spain] ]

Discography

Albums

ingles

* 1984 "Azúcar Moreno" / "Luna Coqueta"
* 1984 "Que Si, Que No" / "No Quiero Que Me Quieras"
* 1984 "Canela" / "El Girasol"
* 1986 "Estimulame" / "Amame"
* 1988 "Aunque Me Falte El Aire" / "Limón Amargo"
* 1988 "Debajo Del Olivo" (Mix In Spain) / "Debajo Del Olivo" (Dub Mix)
* 1989 "Aunque Me Falte El Aire" (Lerele Mix) / "Aunque Me Falte El Aire" (Dub Mix)
* 1989 "Chica Vaivén" (Express Mix) / "Chica Vaivén" (Dub Mix)
* 1989 "Alerta Corazón" (Casablanca Mix) / "Alerta Corazón" (Dub Mix)
* 1990 "Bandido" / "Bandido" (Instrumental)
* 1990 "Devorame Otra Vez"
* 1990 "A Caballo"
* 1991 "Torero!"
* 1991 "Mambo"
* 1991 "Tu Quieres Más (Porque Te Amo)"
* 1991 "Ahora O Nunca"
* 1991 "Lujuria"
* 1992 "Moliendo Café"
* 1992 "Hazme El Amor"
* 1993 "Veneno"
* 1993 "Azúcarero" (Remix)
* 1993 "Mirame" (with Luis Miguel)
* 1994 "El Amor" / "Ando Buscando Un Amor"
* 1994 "Hay Que Saber Perder"
* 1996 "Sólo Se Vive Una Vez" (The Caribbean Remixes) / (The Mediterranean Remixes)
* 1996 "Esclava De Tu Piel"
* 1996 "Hoy Tengo Ganas De Ti"
* 1996 "La Cita"
* 1997 "Bandolero"
* 1997 "Hava Naguila"
* 1997 "Muévete Salvaje" / "Bandido"
* 1997 "Tapame"
* 1998 "Mecachis"
* 1998 "No Pretenderás"
* 1998 "Olé"
* 1998 "Cumbaya" / "Ese Beso"
* 1999 "Agua Que No Has De Beber"
* 2000 "Amen"
* 2000 "Dale Que Dale"
* 2000 "Mamma Mia"
* 2001 "Ay Amor"
* 2002 "Bésame" (Mixes)
* 2002 "Volvería A Nacer"
* 2002 "Tequila" (Mixes)
* 2002 "Divina De La Muerte"
* 2006 "Clávame"
* 2006 "Bailando Con Lola"

ources and external links

* [http://musica.hispavista.com/biografia/115 Hispavista biography]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll All Music Guide biography]
* [http://www.afame.890m.com/index.html Spanish fan association site]
* [http://cmtv.com.ar/biografia/show.php?bnid=24&banda=Azucar_Moreno CMTV Argentina biography]
* [http://moneycentral.groups.msn.com/azucarmoreno/home1.msnw Spanish language fan site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/azucarmoreno07 Myspace page]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/realmedia/esc_bandido.ram Eurovision Highlights, BBC]

References

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/eurovision/2003/fun/highlights.shtml]