Bailamos

Background

"Bailamos" was written by Paul Barry and Mark Taylor and produced by Barry and Brian Rawling, the same team which wrote and produced Cher's hit "Believe". The track first appeared on a limited edition of his Spanish studio album Cosas del Amor and was released as a single in parts of Latin America and Europe. After attending one of Enrique's concerts in March 1999, Will Smith asked Enrique to contribute to the soundtrack of his upcoming movie Wild Wild West and "Bailamos" was chosen to appear. The song quickly became most requested on pop radio in New York, Los Angeles and Miami. Due to the song's popularity, it was released as a single throughout the world. In English, "Bailamos" means "We Dance" (We Are Dancing), or in this case, "Let's Dance". In the United States, the song was seen as part of a wave of crossover music from Latin American singers and a general increase in interest in Latin music, which was started by Ricky Martin's release "Livin' la Vida Loca". The single reached number one on the US pop charts, making it Iglesias' first chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100. The Latin song "Smooth" by Carlos Santana released at the end of the year was one of the most successful songs in chart history. Its immense success could, to some extent, be credited to "Bailamos"' and other Latin pop songs during the era. The success of "Bailamos" was a breakthrough for Iglesias, which enabled him to sign a multi-album deal with Interscope Records. The song would go on to appear on his debut English album Enrique, though slightly altered to fit with the sound of the album. The soundtrack version has a different arrangement in mix from the version of the album.

Commercial performance

The track peaked at number one for two weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, also became the 11th number-one single for Iglesias in the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart for one week. It also peaked at number one in Spain and Latvia. The single also peaked on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs, while on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Songs chart, peaked at number 25. It peaked into top 10 in many countries including United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

Music video

The original music video for Bailamos was shot in Miami. It has a montage of different scenes involving Iglesias, starting off with a scene of Iglesias in an apartment talking on the phone and later looking out of a window to the Miami skyline. Subsequent scenes involve Iglesias walking the streets and staring into a building as he watches two flamenco dancers. After the song was chosen to be part of the Wild Wild West soundtrack, a second video was made, directed by Nigel Dick. A portion of this video was shot in Mexico, while most of it shot in the backlot at Universal Studios. In this video, Iglesias is depicted as a wanted man with the opening shot being a poster calling for his capture "dead or alive". Entering a sleepy Mexican town, he attracts several women who dance around him. Picking one out, they kiss until they are interrupted by people trying to claim the reward. Both Iglesias and the love interest manage to escape. The video also contains small snippets of scenes from the Wild Wild West movie. The third music video of Bailamos is directed by another famous music video director, Paul Hunter. The video is plotless, and simply features Iglesias as a barman in a night club as he watches salsa dancers on stage. It is also intercut with shots of Iglesias interacting with the lead dancer played by Staci Flood. The video ends with Iglesias and Flood leaving the now empty club.

Cover versions

In 1999, Japanese singer Hideki Saijo sang the Japanese version of "Bailamos" under the title "Bailamos ~ Tonight We Dance" and has a remix version of the same song in 2000 under the title "Bailamos 2000". A year after the "Bailamos" release, in 2000, Sean Paul sampled the melody of the refrain in his song "Tiger Bone" featuring Mr. Vegas on his debut studio album Stage One. The use was uncredited, changing the lyrics from "Bailamos... let the rhythm take you over, bailamos... te quiero, amor mio" to "Tiger bone... when mi drink it and rub on a piece a stone... di gal dem bend up, when mi sen up".

Track listing

1. "Bailamos" (Album Version) – 3:37
2. "Bailamos" (The Groove Brothers Remix) – 5:06
3. "Bailamos" (Fernando's Latin Mix) – 5:30

1. "Bailamos" (The Groove Brothers Radio Edit) – 3:25
2. "Bailamos" (Davidson Ospina Club Mix) – 6:59
3. "Bailamos" (Video – Paul Hunter Version) – 3:36

1. "Bailamos" (Album Version) – 3:37
2. "Nunca Te Olvidare" – 3:18
3. "Bailamos" (The Groove Brothers Remix) – 6:25

1. "Bailamos" (Harry Choo Choo Romero & Eric Morillo Vocal Mix) – 6:29
2. "Bailamos" (Fernando G. Latin Mix) – 5:30
3. "Bailamos" (Ospina Club Anthem Mix) – 6:08
4. "Bailamos" (Pablo La Rosa Techno Dub) – 6:13
5. "Bailamos" (Mijangos Recycled Dub) – 9:23
6. "Bailamos" (Album Version) – 3:37