Los dinos
Los Dinos was an American musical group of Mexican origin that operated in two stages. In the 1950s and 1960s she acted as a doo-wop group and in the 1980s and 1990s as a backing band for singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez .
history
First stage
The dinosaurs originally consisted of the three musicians Seferino Perales, Bobby Lira and Guadalupe Barrera. When Barrera left the group around 1958, he was replaced by Abraham Quintanilla, who would later become the father of the singer Selena Quintanilla. In 1959, the band released their first single, So Hard To Tell . This helped her to several appearances in the state of Texas . Their second single Won't You Give Me A Chance brought them greater success , which sold around 150,000 copies and gave the band a boost in popularity.
Due to the Mexican origins of their musicians, the group sometimes had a hard time and was occasionally exposed to racially motivated disadvantages. For example, the group was canceled at short notice after the restaurant owner found out about their Mexican origins. They were also occasionally rejected in motels and other locations in white-dominated areas. The next two singles ( Twistin 'Irene and Lover's Holiday ) could not build on the success of the second release and only sold with difficulty. The band still existed in the early 1960s.
Second stage
Around 1980 Abraham Quintanilla (* 1939) reactivated the group with his children Abraham Isaac (* 1963), Suzette (* 1967) and Selena (1971-1995). Selena was the lead singer all her life, Suzette played the drums and Abraham Isaac played the bass guitar (he later also acted as a songwriter and producer and is better known under the pseudonym AB Quintanilla). They were soon supplemented by Rena Dearman on keyboard and Rodney Pyeatt on guitar .
The young band had their first public appearances in the Mexican restaurant Papagallos , which father Abraham had opened. After the restaurant had to be abandoned for financial reasons, Los Dinos performed in other restaurants, as well as at festivals and weddings throughout southern Texas.
When they released their first album ( Mi Primeras Grabaciones ) in 1984 , Dearman and Pyeatt had already been replaced by Mike Dean and Del Balint, who in turn were both replaced in 1985. Their positions were then taken by Ricky Vela (since 1985 on keyboard and also as songwriter) and on guitar, first Roger Garcia (1985–1989) and later Chris Perez (1989–1995). Perez married the lead singer Selena in 1992.
In 1987 Selena Quintanilla received the Tejano Music Award in the categories “Best Singer” and “Best Female Artist” . 1994 won her album Selena Live! the Grammy for "Best Mexican-American Album". Her backing band Los Dinos, who accompanied Selena from her beginnings as a nine-year-old singer to the celebrated star and her murder at the age of only 23, was involved in all the successes.
After her death on March 31, 1995, the band was de facto dissolved. But she always came back together to commemorate her celebrated lead singer. For example, recently (2015) at a performance by the singer and actress Jennifer Lopez , who slipped into the role of the former lead singer of Los Dinos in the 1997 film Selena - An American Dream .
Individual evidence
- ↑ doo-wop.blogg.org: The Dinos (English; accessed on October 14, 2015)
- ↑ Tijana Ilich (Latin Music): Biography of Selena Quintanilla-Perez, Queen of Tejano Music (English; accessed October 15, 2015)
- ↑ Selena Y Los Dinos (English; accessed October 15, 2015)
- ↑ Alyssa Ladzinski (Music Times): Jennifer Lopez Joins Los Dinos for an Emotional Selena Quintanilla-Pérez Tribute at the 2015 Billboard Latin Music Award (English; article from May 1, 2015)