"Fotos y Recuerdos" ( en, Pictures and Memories) is a song recorded by American recording artist

Selena Selena Quintanilla Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known mononymously as Selena, was an American Tejano singer. Called the " Queen of Tejano music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mex ...

for her fourth studio album, ''

Amor Prohibido ''Amor Prohibido'' ( en, italic=yes, Forbidden Love) is the fourth studio album by American singer Selena, released on March 13, 1993, by EMI Latin. Having reached a core fan base, the label aimed to broaden her appeal with the next studio rele ...

'' (1994). It was released by

EMI Latin Capitol Latin (formerly EMI Latin) is a brand of Universal Music Latin Entertainment, a division of Universal Music Group. Previously, it was a subsidiary of EMI. History In 1989, José Behar, the former head of CBS Discos, signed Selena to E ...

in January 1995, as the fourth single. A

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

the Pretenders Pretenders are an English–American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Fa ...

' 1983 single "

Back on the Chain Gang "Back on the Chain Gang" is a song written by Chrissie Hynde and originally recorded by her band the Pretenders, and released as a single by Sire Records in September 1982. The song also was released on '' The King of Comedy'' soundtrack album i ...

", "Fotos y Recuerdos" was written by

Chrissie Hynde Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician. She is a founding member and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band the Pretenders, and one of the band's two remaining original members alon ...

with Spanish-language lyrics by

Ricky Vela Ricardo Vela is an American musician and songwriter who was the keyboardist for the band Selena y Los Dinos from 1984 to 1995. Works Vela has either written or co-written the following songs that topped on ''Billboard'' 200, ''Billboard'' Latin ...

. Lyrically, the song describes a lonely female protagonist who "kisses the photo of her

over Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England *Over, Cheshire, England *Over, South Gloucestershire, England * Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England ** Over Bridge *Over, Seevetal, Germany Music Albums * ''Over'' (album), by Pe ...

each night before falling asleep." "Fotos y Recuerdos" is a

Rock en Español Rock en español () is a term used widely in the English-speaking world to refer to any kind of rock music featuring Spanish vocals. Compared to English-speaking bands, very few acts reached worldwide success or between Spanish-speaking countrie ...

song with influences of

dance pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

and

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

. The song garnered acclaim from music critics, who called it an improvement over the Pretenders' original version. The song peaked at number one on the United States ''Billboard''

Hot Latin Songs The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, rad ...

chart for seven consecutive weeks, her fourth successive number one song. "Fotos y Recuerdos" also peaked at number one on the

Regional Mexican Airplay Regional Mexican Airplay (also referred to as Regional Mexican Songs) is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine. It was established by the magazine on October 8, 1994, with "La Niña Fresa" by Banda Zeta being the first number-one so ...

chart, her second consecutive number one. "Fotos y Recuerdos" became Selena's first posthumous number one song, following the shooting death of the singer in March 1995. The recording became the second-most successful Latin single of 1995 and ranks as the twentieth best Hot Latin Songs chart single of all-time. Many musicians have since recorded the song and released it on their respective albums including Dominican

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: A ...

singer

José Alberto "El Canario" José Alberto Justiniano (born December 22, 1959, in Villa Consuelo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), better known by his stage name José Alberto "El Canario", is a salsa singer from the Dominican Republic. José Alberto moved to Puerto Ri ...

and Mexican pop singer

Paulina Rubio Paulina Susana Rubio Dosamantes (; born 17 June 1971) is a Mexican singer. Referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Golden Girl" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Pop", she first achieved recognition as ...

Inspiration, production and songwriting controversy

While flying back from New York,

A.B. Quintanilla Abraham Quintanilla III (born December 13, 1963), known professionally as A.B. Quintanilla III or A.B. Quintanilla, is an American record producer, songwriter and musician, and the older brother of singer Selena, known as " The Queen of Tejano ...

—the brother-producer of

—heard

' 1983 single "

" on the radio. At the time, A.B. was having a nervous breakdown after realizing he was running out of material to record for Selena's fourth studio album, ''

'' (1994). He likened the idea of reworking "Back on the Chain Gang" into a Spanish-language

cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans during colonial times, and Europeans. Examples include: ...

song. Keyboardist of the group,

wrote the Spanish lyrics into a cumbia-style that A.B. envisioned for the recording. The ''Amor Prohibido'' album was pressed for a release date of March 13, 1994, and was halted for distribution due to the copyrighting issues with "Fotos y Recuerdos". Vela retold in a 2002 interview how he was awaken by Selena and A.B. because they did not have the clearance for "Fotos y Recuerdos". Singer-songwriter

's music producers reported the song to Hynde who did not allow Selena to continue with "Fotos y Recuerdos" until she received an English-language writing of the song. It was only after Vela re-wrote the song into English that Hynde gave Selena the clearance for the recording. Musicologist James Perone, noticed how the song was the shortest track off of ''Amor Prohibido''. He further wrote how Vela "stripped some of the edge off of Hynde's text but retained the basic premise of Back on the Chain Gang" Perone found A.B.'s

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

to be "an example of isuniversal Latin approach".

Music, theme and lyrics

"Fotos y Recuerdos" is a

mid-tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

cumbia and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

song with influences of

and

. Cary Darling of ''

The Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...

'' noticed the mixture of house and

ranchera Ranchera () or canción ranchera is a genre of traditional music of Mexico. It dates to before the years of the Mexican Revolution. Rancheras today are played in virtually all regional Mexican music styles. Drawing on rural traditional folk music ...

music in "Fotos y Recuerdos". Author and contributor to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', Joe Nick Patoski found the song to use the same

melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

of the Pretenders' new wave sound. Author Lori Beth Rodriguez, also found similarities between the Pretenders' mainstream sound and "Fotos y Recuerdos" but noticed how the song enchoed a cumbia undertone with "lyrics

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

are similar in theme, yet different from those in the original English version." The song features a

synth A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

-driven

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

, ostinatish-

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, and a

steel drum The steelpan (also known as a pan, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steelband or steel orchestra) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. Descripti ...

under a cumbia

beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery (c ...

. Perone found the song to have "small hints" of music found in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, and

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...

contributor Brian Galindo, called the song "upbeat and dancy". Written in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed for t ...

, the beat is set in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

and moves at a moderate 90

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. Rebecca Thatcher of the ''

Austin American-Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is owned by Gannett. The paper prints Associated Press, ''New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', and ''Los Angeles Times'' internation ...

'', found the lyrical content of "Fotos y Recuerdos" to be a "lilting ode to a lost love". Lyrically, the song describes a lonely female protagonist who "kisses the photo of her

each night before falling asleep."

Critical reception

"Fotos y Recuerdos" garnered acclaim from music critics, some of whom called it an improvement over the Pretenders' original version, and called it one of Selena's most well-known recordings. According to author Pat Bar-Harrison, it was one of Selena's most successful United States singles. Writing for the ''

San Antonio Express-News The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the state of Texas, with ...

'', Ramiro Burr called "Fotos y Recuerdos" an "interesting cover". ''

The York Dispatch ''The York Dispatch'' is a morning newspaper serving the people of York County, Pennsylvania. The paper is printed in a broadsheet format and published Monday through Friday, with the exception of certain holidays. Founded by Hiram Young in 187 ...

'' believed the song "outshines" all other tracks on the ''Amor Prohibido'' album. Author Ed Morales believed the song "has a lot of personality". Don McLeese of the ''Austin American-Statesman'' wrote how the song became a popular radio song in

South Texas South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 4.96 ...

and believed it to be one of her

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

s. Musicologist Frank Hoffman, called it a "hard-edge rock" song. '' The Monitor'' editor Jon LaFollette, wrote differently; calling the song a "simultaneous effort to celebrate

multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...

" in a way to "grow her bank account". Nonetheless, he listed the song as part of his "key tracks" for the ''Amor Prohibido'' album. Zach Quintance, also from ''The Monitor'', wrote how readers of the newspaper chose Selena's 1994 single "

No Me Queda Más "No Me Queda Más" ("There's Nothing Left for Me") is a song by American singer Selena on her fourth studio album, ''Amor Prohibido''. It was released as the third single from the album in October 1994 by EMI Latin. "No Me Queda Más" was writ ...

" and "Fotos y Recuerdos"; citing that "fans loved the feeling and musicianship in those two songs." Federico Martinez of ''La Prensa'', called the song an "enduring hit". Since its release, the song has been included on many music critics "best of Selena songs" list including the BuzzFeed (at number six), and ''

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

'' (at number eleven). In 2016,

Rob Sheffield Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author. He is a long time contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at ''Blen ...

of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine included the song at number 47 in the list for the "50 Best Songs of the Nineties".

Chart history

"Fotos y Recuerdos" was released in the week of January 28, 1995, serving as the fourth single released from ''Amor Prohibido''. The track debuted on the U.S.

chart at number 29 on February 4, 1995. In its second week, the song jumped to number 12, receiving airpower honors. As a result, it subsequently debuted on the U.S.

chart at number ten. "Fotos y Recuerdos" rose to number two on the Hot Latin Songs and Regional Mexican Airplay charts, trailing

Grupo Bronco Bronco is a Mexican grupero band from Apodaca, Nuevo León. Their modern take on regional Mexican music in the 1980s and 1990s helped earn them a number of international hits. Band members José Guadalupe Esparza, Ramiro Delgado, Javier Villar ...

's " Que No Me Olvide" by 557 Nielsen points on February 18, 1995. In the following week, "Fotos y Recuerdos" remained at number two on the Hot Latin Songs chart, while the single fell to number four on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart. In its fifth week, the song reclaimed the second position on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart, while remaining at number two for a third consecutive week on the Hot Latin Songs chart. Staying at number two for its fourth consecutive week on the Hot Latin Songs chart, "Fotos y Recuerdos" fell to number three on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart. The song fell to number three on the Hot Latin Songs chart, while it remained at number three on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart on March 18, 1995. Selena was shot and killed by

Yolanda Saldívar Yolanda Saldívar (; born September 19, 1960) is an American former nurse who was convicted of the Murder of Selena, murder of singer Selena in 1995. Saldívar had been the president of Selena's fan club and the manager of her boutiques, but she ...

, her friend and former manager of the singer's

Selena Etc. Selena Etc. was a South Texas-based boutique and beauty salon, which was founded and owned by the late American singer, Selena. Selena Etc. finished its building on January 27, 1994, in Corpus Christi, Texas, which was the headquarters buildi ...

clothing boutiques, on March 31, 1995. At the time of her death, "Fotos y Recuerdos" was positioned at number four on the Hot Latin Songs chart. In the week following the singer's death, "Fotos y Recuerdos" peaked at number one on the Hot Latin Songs (her fourth consecutive) and Regional Mexican Airplay chart, her second consecutive. According to disc jockeys, "Fotos y Recuerdos" was the most requested song in South Texas throughout April of that year. In its second week atop the Hot Latin Songs and Regional Mexican Airplay charts, "Fotos y Recuerdos" debuted at number twelve on the U.S.

Latin Pop Airplay Latin Pop Airplay (also referred to as Latin Pop Songs) is a record chart published on ''Billboard'' magazine and a subchart of the Latin Airplay chart. The chart focuses on Latin pop music, namely Spanish-language pop music. It was established b ...

chart. After two consecutive weeks at number one, "Fotos y Recuerdos" was dethroned on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart by

La Mafia La Mafia is a five-time Grammy Award-winning musical group. It has its roots in the Northside neighborhood of Houston, Texas, and has charted a course as a Tejano music, Latin music band. History La Mafia was founded in 1980 in Houston, TX. ...

's " Toma Mi Amor". After spending seven consecutive weeks atop the Hot Latin Songs chart, "Fotos y Recuerdos" was displaced by Mexican group

Los Bukis Los Bukis (The Bukis, ''buki'' translates as ''Little Kid'' in the Yaqui language) are a Mexican Grupera band from Ario de Rosales, Michoacan. In 1973, the band was founded by cousins Marco Antonio Solís and Joel Solís. Their first song was ...

' single " Te Amo Mamá". "Fotos y Recuerdos" ended 1995 as the second most successful Latin single. ''Billboard'' magazine began monitoring digital downloads of Latin songs beginning with the week ending January 23, 2010. "Fotos y Recuerdos" made its debut on the Latin Pop Digital Songs chart following the twentieth anniversary of the singer's death; positioned at number 19. Over at the Regional Mexican Digital Songs chart, the song debuted and peaked at number 14.

Cover versions

Dominican salsa singer

covered the song for the

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

'' Familia RMM Recordando a Selena'' (1996). Mexican

mariachi Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music that dates back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, t ...

group Banda El Grullo recorded the track for their album ''30 Números 1 en Banda''. His version peaked at #15 on the

Tropical Songs The Tropical Airplay chart (formerly known as Tropical/Salsa and Tropical Songs) is a record chart published by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine introduced in 1994. The first number-one song on the chart was "Quién Eres Tú (Luis Enri ...

chart. Mexican group Liberación recorded the song for the tribute album ''Mexico Recuerda a Selena'' (2005). Mexican singer Gerardo Williams covered the song for his album ''Nuevas Voces de América''. Mexican pop singer

performed and recorded "Fotos y Recuerdos" for the live televised tribute concert '' Selena ¡VIVE!'' in April 2005. Michael Clark of the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

'' wrote that Rubio used her "sex appeal" while performing the song. Ramiro Burr of the ''San Antonio Express-News'' called Rubio's version a "

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

/ hip-hop number". Rubio performed "Fotos y Recuerdos" once more during her tour in Texas that same year.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from ''Amor Prohibido''

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

. *Selena –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

*Joe Ojeda –

electronic keyboard An electronic keyboard, portable keyboard, or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument, an electronic derivative of keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs an ...

*Ricky Vela – writer, keyboards *Chris Pérez –

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

*Suzette Quintanilla –

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s *A.B. Quintanilla III –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, producer *Pete Astudillo –

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

*Eliza Howardson -

*Lisette Lorenzo –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

References

Notes

* * * * * * * * {{authority control 1994 songs 1995 singles American Latin music songs Tejano music songs Selena songs The Pretenders songs Don Omar songs Songs written by Chrissie Hynde Songs written by Ricky Vela Song recordings produced by A. B. Quintanilla Song recordings produced by Bebu Silvetti EMI Latin singles Spanish-language songs House music songs Rock en Español songs Dance-pop songs Paulina Rubio songs