Santamaria (band)
Encyclopedia
Santamaria is a Portuguese
Eurodance
project.
Santamaria have sold more than 700,000 albums in Portugal during a career spanning roughly a decade.
(a coastal city of the Lisbon
metropolis) in 1997, Santamaria are the brainchild of producers Luís Marante and Tony Lemos and lead singer Filipa, Lemos' sister. At the time, Lemos was already an experienced studio man, having first emerged on the music scene in a duo with Filipa called Tó & Marlene, playing in county fairs during the summer seasons. Later, Filipa joined the short-lived act Taitibitileus, which managed to score a minor novelty hit with the song "O Meu Abião." Longing for a change of pace, the siblings, joined by common friend Marante, started dabbling with Euro-dance, all of them inspired by widely popular acts like Ace of Base
, Whigfield
, and Corona.
Recording enough songs for an album, Santamaria recruited two background singers and dancers, former model Dina Real and Yolanda. They shopped their demo CD around, and independent Portuguese label Vidisco took an interest. Consisting of re-recordings of all the tracks on the demo in more professional settings, debut album Eu Sei, Tu És... was released in early 1998. Boosted by the popular title track, the album went triple platinum in a year, even in the face of terrible reviews and a lack of airplay by the biggest radio stations in the country, their exposure mainly consisting of constant appearances in TV variety shows. Further hits with "Não Dá P'ra Viver Sem Ti" and the ballad "É Demais" consolidated Santamaria's success, leading to a successful spring and summer tour.
, it went triple platinum. In 2001, the fourth album Reflexus was released. This CD marked another arrival, this time in the guise of Brazil
ian songwriter/producer Luís Jr., who like Batista also became a permanent side collaborator with the group. Even though Reflexus sold less than its predecessors by going double platinum, Santamaria nevertheless managed to grab an award for Best Musical Act at the prestigious Portuguese arts and entertainment awards show Globos de Ouro.
With the release of fifth album 4 Dance in 2002, Santamaria made their first attempts at attaining an international following, in particular by recording their first completely English-sung track, "I Want You Anyway." Aside from not achieving their export ambitions, Santamaria saw a dip in popularity. Where previous albums had gone multi-platinum, 4 Dance only managed a single platinum plaque. Signaling the end of their contract with Vidisco, the group released a greatest-hits album in 2003, Boogie Woogie. They promoted the album by touring for almost two years straight. Even so, Boogie Woogie only managed a gold certification, suggesting that Santamaria's popularity was on the wane.
Breaking their album-per-year workload, Santamaria began their liaison with new label Espacial by releasing 2 Beat in 2005 it's they come back. It scored double platinum, returning some of their popularity. Returning to their typical album release schedule, 8 was issued in 2006.
In July, 2007 the group takes releases "Elements" with the arrived of Lucas Jr (DJ Lucana) in the group.
In 2008, Santamaria takes out "Virtual" and to celebrate their 10 years of career they take out late in the year a live DVD of a concert registered in Porto in August, 2008.
In 2009 the group releases Xplosion, their 10th album, which makes big success in Portugal.
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
Eurodance
Eurodance
Eurodance is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s or early 1990s primarily in Europe. It combines many elements from House, Techno, Hi-NRG and especially Italo-Disco...
project.
Santamaria have sold more than 700,000 albums in Portugal during a career spanning roughly a decade.
Early years
Formed in CascaisCascais
Cascais is a coastal town in Cascais Municipality in Portugal, 30 kilometres west of Lisbon, with about 35,000 residents. It is a cosmopolitan suburb of the Portuguese capital and one of the richest municipalities in Portugal. The former fishing village gained fame as a resort for Portugal's royal...
(a coastal city of the Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
metropolis) in 1997, Santamaria are the brainchild of producers Luís Marante and Tony Lemos and lead singer Filipa, Lemos' sister. At the time, Lemos was already an experienced studio man, having first emerged on the music scene in a duo with Filipa called Tó & Marlene, playing in county fairs during the summer seasons. Later, Filipa joined the short-lived act Taitibitileus, which managed to score a minor novelty hit with the song "O Meu Abião." Longing for a change of pace, the siblings, joined by common friend Marante, started dabbling with Euro-dance, all of them inspired by widely popular acts like Ace of Base
Ace of Base
Ace of Base is a pop band based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Its original lineup consisted of Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg, and three siblings, Jonas "Joker" Berggren, Malin "Linn" Berggren and Jenny Berggren...
, Whigfield
Whigfield
Sannie Charlotte Carlson , best known as Whigfield and also as Naan, is a Danish singer best known for the song "Saturday Night", a hugely popular single during the summer of 1994.-Biography:...
, and Corona.
Recording enough songs for an album, Santamaria recruited two background singers and dancers, former model Dina Real and Yolanda. They shopped their demo CD around, and independent Portuguese label Vidisco took an interest. Consisting of re-recordings of all the tracks on the demo in more professional settings, debut album Eu Sei, Tu És... was released in early 1998. Boosted by the popular title track, the album went triple platinum in a year, even in the face of terrible reviews and a lack of airplay by the biggest radio stations in the country, their exposure mainly consisting of constant appearances in TV variety shows. Further hits with "Não Dá P'ra Viver Sem Ti" and the ballad "É Demais" consolidated Santamaria's success, leading to a successful spring and summer tour.
First change in line-up
As promotion was rolling on, Yolanda quit the group under acrimonious circumstances. A replacement was found in Magda Monteiro, thus forming a lineup that still remains unchanged. The group released its second album, Sem Limite, in 1999. This record marked the appearance of Rui Batista, who became the group's main songwriter (the first album had its lyrics written by Filipa) from that point forward, although he never became an official member. Keeping the formula of the debut, Sem Limite expanded on Santamaria's success by going platinum four times over in a year and becoming their most successful album to date, bolstered by hit singles "Tudo P'ra Te Amar," "Falésia do Amor," and "Quero-me Mais."Globos de Ouro Award
Maintaining their one-album-a-year schedule, Voar arrived in 2000. Boasting a sound with similarities to the VengaboysVengaboys
Vengaboys are a Eurodance pop group based in Amsterdam. The brainchild of two Dutch producers Wessel van Diepen and Dennis van den Driesschen , they enjoyed commercial success in the late 1990s. They are best known for their two UK number one singles, "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!" and "We're Going...
, it went triple platinum. In 2001, the fourth album Reflexus was released. This CD marked another arrival, this time in the guise of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian songwriter/producer Luís Jr., who like Batista also became a permanent side collaborator with the group. Even though Reflexus sold less than its predecessors by going double platinum, Santamaria nevertheless managed to grab an award for Best Musical Act at the prestigious Portuguese arts and entertainment awards show Globos de Ouro.
With the release of fifth album 4 Dance in 2002, Santamaria made their first attempts at attaining an international following, in particular by recording their first completely English-sung track, "I Want You Anyway." Aside from not achieving their export ambitions, Santamaria saw a dip in popularity. Where previous albums had gone multi-platinum, 4 Dance only managed a single platinum plaque. Signaling the end of their contract with Vidisco, the group released a greatest-hits album in 2003, Boogie Woogie. They promoted the album by touring for almost two years straight. Even so, Boogie Woogie only managed a gold certification, suggesting that Santamaria's popularity was on the wane.
Breaking their album-per-year workload, Santamaria began their liaison with new label Espacial by releasing 2 Beat in 2005 it's they come back. It scored double platinum, returning some of their popularity. Returning to their typical album release schedule, 8 was issued in 2006.
In July, 2007 the group takes releases "Elements" with the arrived of Lucas Jr (DJ Lucana) in the group.
In 2008, Santamaria takes out "Virtual" and to celebrate their 10 years of career they take out late in the year a live DVD of a concert registered in Porto in August, 2008.
In 2009 the group releases Xplosion, their 10th album, which makes big success in Portugal.
Discography
- 1998 Eu Sei, Tu És...
- 1999 Sem Limite
- 2000 Voar
- 2001 Reflexus
- 2002 4Dance
- 2003 Boogie Woogie (Best Of)
- 2005 2 Beat
- 2006 8
- 2006 Hit Singles (Best Of)
- 2007 Elements
- 2008 Virtual
- 2008 10 Anos - Ao Vivo (Best Of in Live)
- 2009 Xplosion
- 2010 Play