Vida Loca () is the first studio album by Cuban singer-songwriter Francisco Céspedes, released on August 1997 by WEA Latina. In Spain the album was awarded with an for the best Latin album. It was nominated for Pop Album of the Year by a New Artist at the 1999 Billboard Latin Music Awards, but lost to Carlos Ponce. By June 2000, the record had sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide.

History

In August 1997 Céspedes released his debut album, and the first single "Se me Antoja". The album languished selling no more than 10,000 copies by year's end. The things changed when network TV Azteca held a contest to find the title track for a new soap, . Céspedes submitted a song written specifically for that purpose, and out of hundreds, it got picked. "Señora," the song, became the title track of Señora, the soap, and it was added as a bonus track to Vida Loca in the second edition, the single sold 10,000 copies in Mexico. By year's end, the album had sold 180,000 copies in Mexico alone, and Cespedes was on his way to becoming an international star.

Vida Loca

After seeing Céspedes perform in Mexico City, Alejandro Sanz persuaded Warner Music Spain president Saul Tagarro to promote Céspedes' CD "Vida Loca" in Spain. By mid-December 1998, "Vida Loca" had sold 350,000 units, and was eventually awarded with five platinum certifications by PROMUSICAE for shipping over 500,000 copies. In addition, Cespedes, won one Premio Ondas and three , including one for the best Latin album.

Vida Loca

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the Vida Loca liner notes:

Vida Loca

Performance credits

Waldo Madera – drums, percussion

Agustin Bernal – double bass

Raúl del Sol – acoustic piano , chorus

Eugenio Toussaint – acoustic piano

Jorge Aragón – acoustic piano

Fernando Otero – piano

Dean Parks – steel acoustic guitar

Freddy Ramos – nylon acoustic guitar

Gil Gutiérrez – guitar

Chilo Morán – trumpet

Fernando Acosta – saxophone

Yomo Toro – cuatro

Alcira Herrera – chorus

Maryori González – chorus

Elizabeth Meza – chorus

Pancho – chorus

Aneiro – chorus

Silantiva Vera – strings

Jorge Deletze – strings

Bozena Slawinska – strings

Matthew Paul Schubring – strings

Viktoria Horti – strings

Naomi Eve Brickman – strings

Abraham Mayer – strings

Vladimir Tokarev – strings

Technical credits

Juan Carlos Paz y Puente – executive producer, direction A&R

Aneiro Taño – co-producer, arrangements

Salvador Tercero – engineer, mixing engineer

Raúl Durand – assistant

Jean B. Smit – mixing engineer

Andy Richter – assistant

Leon Zervos – mastering engineer

Ron McMaster – mastering engineer

Eugenio Toussaint – arrangements

Manolo González Loyola – arrangements

Mark Kamins – direction A&R

Edgar Ladrón de Guevara – photography

Jessica Fallon – graphic design

Lidia Salazar – coordination in Mexico

Laura Cárdenas – coordination in Mexico

Maricela Valencia – coordination in Mexico

Nina Swan – coordination in Los Angeles

Freddy Ramos – coordination in Los Angeles

Raúl Ortega Alfonso – exergues

Recording and mixing locations

Estudio 19, Mexico City – recording

Westlake Recording Studios – Studio A, Los Angeles, CA – mixing

Mad Hatter Studios, Los Angeles, CA – mixing

Absolute Audio – mastering

Capitol Mastering, Los Angeles, CA – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

References

1997 debut albums

Spanish-language albums

Warner Music Latina albums