Songoftheday 4/9/24 - What did I do to deserve such a man so special in my life, so many days and nights I get on the go while I sit and wait for mister right...

 

 

"I Want You" - Thalia featuring Fat Joe

from the album Thalia (2003)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #22 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 10

 

Today's song comes from Mexican singer and actress Thalia, who grew up in Mexico City, where she was acting and singing as a child. She was part of a children's musical group called Din-Din, who released two albums in the early 1980s. She then became a part of another kids act called Timbriche, which also included Paulina Rubio, who would herself come a notch away from making the American Top-40 in 2002 with "Don't Say Goodbye". At the same time, she became a fixture on Mexican television appearing on the children's telenovela Quincenara. After four albums from Timbriche, Thalia departed to start a solo music career, along with graduating to an "adult" telenovela, Luz e Sombra. 

Signed to the country's powerhouse label Fonovision, Thalia started the 1990s with the release of her eponymous debut album. Two of it's tracks reached the top-20 on the Mexican Airplay chart, with the debut single "Un Pacto Entre los Dos" ("A Pact Between Two") reaching #16 and the ballad "Pienso en Ti" ("Thinking Of You") just missing the top ten at #11 in 1991. Later that year, Thalia returned with her sophomore set, Mundo de Cristal, from which she scored her first top ten hit in Mexico, "Sudor" ("Sweat") that peaked at #9. A third disc in 1992, Love, became the singer's first appearance on a chart in Billboard magazine in America hitting #15 on the Latin Pop Albums list, with the lead single "Sangre" ("Blood") climbing to the runner-up spot on the Mexican chart. 

With this heightened exposure, Thalia moved to EMI Records, and put out En Extasis in 1995, which made both the main Latin Albums (#13) and Latin Pop Albums (#7) chart. Co-produced by Emilio Estefan (Gloria's husband from the Miami Sound Machine) and Kike Santander, three songs from the set made the American Latin singles charts, with "Piel Morena" ("Brown Skin") making the top ten on both the Latin Pop Airplay chart (#4) and Latin Songs list (#7).  That was followed by Amor A La Mexicana in 1997. The title track became a surprise hit beyond the Latin world, reaching #2 in Spain and #9 in Belgium's Wallonia (the French-dominated part). 

The turn of the century brought a lot of changes to the singer, first starting yet another telenovela she starred in Rosalinda, changing her style of music to more contemporary pop and R&B, and notably becoming the wife of Sony Music executive Tommy Mottola (yes, the one who was previously wed to Mariah Carey). Even though she continued on EMI, I'm sure Mottola's industry pull didn't hurt any. Her next record, Arrasando, was nominated for a Latin Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Album, losing to Christina Aguilera's Mi Reflejo. The set topped Billboard's Latin Pop Albums chart for two weeks, and peaked at #4 on the Latin Albums list. The first single, "Entre El Mar y una Estrella" ("Between The Sea and A Star"), scored Thalia's first #1 on Billboard's Latin Pop Airplay, Tropical Airplay, and Hot Latin Songs chart. It also managed to "bubble under" Billboard's Hot 100 chart at #102. A special banda-infused rework of her hits, Thalia con Banda - Grandes Exitos, was her first to make the Billboard 200 sales chart in the U.S. at #167.

In 2002, Thalia released another self-titled album, which topped the American Latin Albums and Mexican Albums charts, and spent a couple of weeks on the Billboard 200 with a high of #126. A remake of the 80's club hit "The Mexican (Dance Dance)" with Marc Anthony, on the album in both Spanish and English versions, brought the song back to the clubs, climbing to #6 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart. Two other songs from the record topped Billboard's Latin Songs list - "Tu Y Yo" ("You & I") with Kumbia Kings and "No Me Ensenaste" ("You Didn't Teach Me"), which both also "bubbled under" the Hot 100. She again earned a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Female Latin Pop Vocal Album, which went to Olga Tanon's Sobrevivir.

The following year, Thalia put out another self-titled record, this time with EMI partnering with Virgin Records and the set mostly in English, though with a couple of the tracks English translations of the previous set (including "The Mexican" and "Tu Y Yo"). The lead single from the 2003 record was "I Want You", which featured Bronx rapper and garbage sneaker collector Fat Joe, who went all the way to #2 in 2002 with "What's Luv" featuring Ashanti Written by Thalia with producer Cory Rooney as well as Davy Deluge and Gregory Bruno along with "Fat" Joe Cartagena, the "I Want You" samples R&B singer/songwriter Brenda Russell's debut album cut "A Little Bit Of Love" from 1979, giving her writing credits as well. It''s Russell's piano work that anchors the record, with Thalia fluttering over the beat with romantic platitudes as Fat Joe slips in asides during the whole record. It's obvious they're trying to cover the middle ground between Mariah's hip-hop excursions and Jennifer Lopez's attitude, with Fat Joe taking the "Ja Rule" sing-rap role. He even name-checks his late friend Big Pun's hit "Still Not A Player", which also samples the Russell record.  However it does work to an extent, and the breezy single got them on the radio, and Thalia found herself finally with a mainstream crossover hit...

"I Want You" became Thalia's first (and so far only) top-40 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 in August of 2003, while making it to #61 on the R&B Singles chart. On the radio, the song went to #7 on the Mainstream Top-40 chart, #14 on the Dance Airplay list, and #13 at the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic format. The remixes of the track, done by Pablo Flores, helped it rise to #27 on the Dance Club Play chart as well. Internationally, the single made the top-40 in Australia (#25), Greece (#25), Canada (#29 Sales), the Netherlands (#30), New Zealand (#38), and Romania (#38). The 2003 Thalia record came in at #11 on the Billboard 200 sales tally. 

Thalia's follow-up single, "Baby I'm In Love", tried to veer into electropop, written by industry ringers Kara DioGuardi and Guy Roche. However the single tanked, only having success in its club remixes which climbed to #12 on the Dance Club Play list. The same happened with her third try, "Don't Look Back", which peaked at #9 on the Dance Club chart. Finally, "Closer To You", which was also tied to her Greatest Hits album, was able to "bubble under" the Hot 100 at #104, while the Spanish version "Cerca de ti" topped the Hot Latin Songs chart. 

The ninth studio release from the singer, El Sexto Sentido, was a return to all Spanish language material, with a couple of English versions tacked on. First single "Amar Sin Ser Amada", or "You Know He Never Loved You", bubbled under the Hot 100 at #117, and "Un Alma Sentenclada" ("A Damned Soul") hit #37 on the Dance Club chart thanks to remixes from Hex Hector. The album was a muted difference from her last, peaking at #63 on the Hot 100 though it did get to #3 on the Hot Latin Albums list. A "re-loaded" version of the album was put out, and one of the new tracks, "No, No, No" again bubbled under the Hot 100 at #115. After battling Lyme disease and the poor reception of her 2008 album Lunada, which missed the Billboard 200 completely, Thalia finally left EMI Latin and made it over to Sony Music, but by that time Mottola had already left the company. 

Her first release on Sony Latin was a live record Primera Filla which slipped on to the Billboard 200 for a week at #198. That was followed by a proper studio album, Habitame Siempre, which topped the Latin Albums chart. In 2014, she reunited with Fat Joe on her Amore Mio album, which is her most recent to make the Billboard 200 at #173. Since then , Thalia has released five more studio album, most recently the covers collection Thalia's Mixtape. She also helped produce Summer: the Donna Summer Musical in 2018. She's been releasing singles for a proposed upcoming set A Mucha Honra with "Troca" arriving last month. 

(5/10)

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Thalia and Joe released a Spanish version as "Me Pones Sexy", which hit #9 on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs, and on the radio peaked at #9 on the Latin Pop Airplay list and #3 on Tropical Airplay chart...

Here's Thalia and Joe appearing on Good Morning America...

Up tomorrow: This R&B queen and a Wu-Tang man spark from the start.