This year, the group Kabah reunited for a concert tour, along with similar pop group OV7. Together, both groups recorded a live album of the concert tour which was just released this past weekend; so I decided to take a look back at both groups this week and their discography. While OV7 has a lot more albums and a lot more history, I think Kabah’s work has always been far superior to music and taking chances with their careers. And for the most part, it has worked in their favor.
When Mexico was in need of someone who was prefabricated, Kabah came on the scene with their yellow rain slickers and jumpsuits, saying: “Look at us, we’re gonna be different.” I think this might have been why OV7 (at that time, known as Onda Vaselina) was looking to make their change. They already had a history, and if they could give the audience something similar, Onda Vaselina could have been bigger than Kabah. But it was 1994 and neither one of them was much of anything.
I remember watching Siempre En Domingo, and videotaping the first performance because I had a feeling that Kabah was going to be something special. They sang “Lero Lero”, “Encontre El Amor”, and “Al Pasar”. All their voices were decent, but we would not get to hear what this band was capable of until the next album. The group looked young and wet behind the ears. They weren’t the same sexiness we are used to seeing now. Sergio looked like he was all of 12 years old even though he had the voice of a man. There was an odd red-head, which was unique in Mexico. And seeing a girl with a shaved head wasn’t something we were used to, especially in Mexico.
Even from the beginning, you knew which Kabah members had the strongest voices.
Musically, Kabah wasn’t all that with their first album. Like everyone, they had their hits. “Al Pasar” still to this date is such a great song, but then you have to add songs like “Changuitos En La Cara” and “Un Mundo Mejor”, you become very disappointed in the rest of the album pretty quickly. But going back now and listening to music, you can’t tell it is 20 years old. This means that Kabah was doing something correct because you now have music that is just as fresh as it was then.
With Kabah’s debut album, you get a lot of the energy that Kabah is known for, but you have to take the not-so-great with it. But even from day one, you knew which members of the group were going to be the strengths when listening to the little-known song, “Verano” which is toward the end of the album. This is actually one of my favorites just because of the major lead vocals by Sergio and Maria Jose are solid and I knew they could only get better.
The debut album isn’t perfect but it is the jumping board for what was yet to come. Follow Kabah on TwitterÂ
Since that day, I have been study Latin pop and rock music and have become a Latin pop music historian through the publishing of articles, fanzine, and websites. My goal is to teach people about Latin pop music and the history behind it with my website, Siempre En Domingo.
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