Utopía (Belinda Peregrín album)
Utopía is the second studio album by Spanish-born Mexican recording artist Belinda. It was released on October 3, 2006 by EMI Televisa Music in Mexico and Latin America. The album was later released on September 17, 2007 to Europe and the United States. Recording sessions for the album took place during March to August 2006 at several recording studios, and production was handled primarily by Greg Wells, Greg Kurstin, Mitch Allan, Jimmy Harry and Lester Mendez. As of June 2008, the album had sold 1 million copies worldwide.
Background
Utopía marks Belinda's first album with EMI after leaving Sony BMG for creative differences in the Spring of 2006. Belinda is credited as executive producer for the record and recorded the album between March and July 2006 in Miami, Los Angeles, and New York City. The record contains darker tones and is described as a more mature album for its lyrics and ballads, in contrast to Belinda, her debut. Inspiration was garnered from books including Thomas Moore's own Utopia. Belinda appeared on Disney's Channel's The Cheetah Girls 2 and contribued to the TV movie soundtrack, which let to her label EMI wanting a re-release in English; she spend one week in Los Angeles recording Utopía 2, a CD/DVD released to Europe and North America by EMI International on September 25, 2007. Belinda made appearances on "Bailando por un Sueño", "Bailando por la Boda de Tus Sueños" and Buscando Timbiriche la nueva banda in order to promote the record.
Joan Manuel Serrat
Joan Manuel Serrat i Teresa (Catalan pronunciation: [ʒuˈam mənuˈɛɫ səˈrat]) (27 December 1943) is a Spanish musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and performer. He is considered one of the most important figures of modern, popular music in both the Spanish and Catalan languages.
Serrat's lyrical style has been influenced by other poets such as Mario Benedetti, Antonio Machado, Miguel Hernández, Rafael Alberti, Federico García Lorca, Pablo Neruda, and León Felipe. He has also recorded songs by Violeta Parra and Víctor Jara. Serrat was one of the pioneers of what is known in Catalan as "Nova Cançó". Joan Manuel Serrat is also known by the names "El noi del Poble-sec" and "El Nano".
Biography
Childhood
Joan Manuel Serrat i Teresa was born 27 December 1943 in the Poble-sec neighbourhood of Barcelona, to members of a working family. His father, Josep Serrat, was a Spanish anarchist affiliated with the CNT and his mother, Ángeles Teresa, the woman of the home was from Belchite, Zaragoza. His childhood and environment in his neighbourhood greatly impacted him, as a great number of his songs described Catalonia after the Spanish Civil War (examples are "La Carmeta", "La tieta" y "El drapaire" as stereotypical characters from his neighbourhood).
