In 1993, Ricky Martin wasn’t riding the tidal wave of international stardom. Instead, he was content traveling around Latin America promoting his second album, Me Amaras. His first self-titled album that was released two years earlier was such a hit that he had already lost the Menudo stigma that he started with.
Ricky Martin left Menudo in 1989 where he pondered around New York for a while before heading to Mexico to step out on his own professionally. With this second album, Me Amaras, Ricky put his faith in producer, Jose L. Quintana. On the music side, they looked to Juan Carlos Calderón for the entire album with the exception of two songs. Previously, Ricky’s music came from a lot of different people, not then.
Juan Carlos Calderón was a songwriter that had worked with numerous amounts of artists beginning in 1963. Just before Ricky’s Me Amaras, Calderón was responsible for the songs of Luis Miguel’s 20 Años. Quick connection for people who love the 7 degrees. Calderón also wrote the song for Menudo, “Porque Te Ame” on the group’s first album.
The album did very well for Ricky Martin. It was also released in Brazil with 5 of the songs recorded in Portuguese. It doesn’t mean it was a good album. Many Ricky fans may say it is the least liked album and I believe that it is because of the album’s sound. Ricky had just gotten off of great pop tracks and lovely ballads and goes straight to adult contemporary easy listening. It’s not Ricky. Bad decision.
Ricky talks about this time in his biography book and how he was riding the success in a very unhealthy way. I think we can all look at him during his performances and know where he is at but this isn’t a gossip site. I don’t really know what he was thinking with the release of this album or maybe it wasn’t his choice. Either way, this really isn’t a great sound for him…but things are about to get better for him. We just have to wait another 2 years.
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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