María Eugenia Martínez Mendiola (April 4, 1952 – September 11, 2021), known as María Mendiola, was a Spanish singer, dancer, actress, creator and founder of the musical duo

Baccara Baccara was a Spanish female vocal duo formed in 1977 by Spanish artists Mayte Mateos (born 7 February 1951) and María Mendiola (4 April 1952 – 11 September 2021). The duo rapidly achieved international success with their debut single " Yes ...

Life and career

Early life

Mendiola's mother, Lola Mendiola, was a housewife; her father, Emilio Martínez, was a police officer at the Madrid airport. From a very young age Mendiola showed interest in the world of dance and trained in her native city,

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

– taking dance, singing, recitation and interpretation classes. Mendiola studied at an Italian school in

and trained to be a ballet dancer at the national school there, before joining the Spanish state broadcaster's dance troupe. Mendiola made her debut in the flamenco and Spanish dance companies of María Rosa and the legendary

Antonio El Bailarín Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

, with whom she toured the world; Mendiola even performed in Japan. Alberto Portillo, choreographer of the Spanish Radio Television ballet, chose her as the first dancer, and with the other members of the corps de ballet Mendiola was taking part in the most popular Spanish television programs in the early 70s.

Baccara

In 1976, assuming that the dancer's life was short professionally, Mendiola proposed to one of her ballet colleagues, Mayte Mateos, to form a musical duo. Inspired by the popular

Kessler sisters Alice and Ellen Kessler (born 20 August 1936), usually credited as the Kessler Twins (; ), are German twin sisters who as singers, dancers and actresses were popular in Europe, especially Germany and Italy, during the 1950s and 1960s. The Kessl ...

and with Paco Bermúdez as their representative, the duo ''Venus'' was born, debuting under this stage name on Enrique Martí Maqueda's program ''Palmarès''. After a failed attempt to perform at the "Cancela" venue in

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, in January 1977 Mendiola asked her husband Jimmy Lim, who was at that time managing the hotel ''Tres Islas'' in

Fuerteventura Fuerteventura () is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, geographically part of Macaronesia, and politically part of Spain. It is located away from the coast of North Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO i ...

, to perform there. That performance was seen by Leon Deane and other executives from the German record label

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

, who happened to stay in the hotel. The duo was invited to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, and after the test recording in the studio they signed a record deal with

. The duo was renamed from ''Venus'' to

after the type of dark-red roses. As a member of

duo, Mendiola recorded hits like ''

Yes Sir, I Can Boogie "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" is a 1977 song by the Spanish vocal duo Baccara, released as the first single from their debut album ''Baccara''. Written by Frank Dostal and , and produced by Soja, the song was a hit across Europe and became the duo's ...

'', ''Cara Mía'' and '' Sorry I'm A Lady''; represented

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

, and entered in the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

as the female musical duo with the highest number of sales with a single.

was acclaimed worldwide and recognised for what the

concept brings to the world of entertainment: two young girls, one in white and the other in black, who combine music with dance, always with a touch of sophistication and elegance. After four years together and four albums released, the original line-up of the duo, created by María Mendiola broke up in 1981. From that moment on, each of the members of the original duo tried to launch their solo-careers – but without much success; and later each created their own line-ups of

, with new stage companions.

Solo career

As a solo-singer, Mendiola recorded the album ''Born Again'' with singles such as "Sugar Boom Boom", "I Wanna See the World", "

Stupid Cupid "Stupid Cupid" is a song written by Howard Greenfield and Neil Sedaka that became a hit for Connie Francis in 1958. Recording history After almost three years of failure, Connie Francis finally had a hit in the spring of 1958 with a rock ballad ...

" (cover of a

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

song) and followed the tendencies of the early '80s with "Aerobic". When Fernando García de la Vega was preparing the series ''La Comedia Musical Española'' for

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española (''Spanish Radio and Television'', RTVE), is the Spanish national public Broadcasting, television and radio broadcaster. It is a state-owned enterprise f ...

and Mendiola was invited to be part of four of the musical episodes in the series; ''Las Leandras'' with

Paloma San Basilio Paloma Cecilia San Basilio Martínez (born 22 November 1950), known as Paloma San Basilio (), is a Spanish singer. She is a recipient of the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for her valuable contributions to Latin music. She has sold ov ...

, ''Róbame Esta Noche'' with María José Cantudo, ''Luna de Miel en El Cairo'' with

Teresa Rabal María Teresa Rabal Balaguer (born 1952) is a Spanish actress, singer and television presenter.Powrie, Davies & Babington p.65 The daughter of actors Francisco Rabal and Asunción Balaguer, she first appeared as child actor before going on to s ...

, and ''El Sobre Verde''. For her work in ''La Comedia Musical Española'' Mendiola received a ''Premios Revelación'' in the television category, at a gala organized by the Vanity nightclub. María José Cantudo, who had met Mendiola in the Fernando García de la Vega series, invited her to be part of the cast of the musical show, "Doña Mariquita de mi Corazón", authentic success of the 1985 theater season in

at the Teatro Calderón.

Return to Baccara

It is at this moment when Mendiola decided to re-create the duo that she founded at the end of the seventies, and for this new line-up she invited an old colleague from the

ballet; Maryse Pérez. The duo was named ''New Baccara'' and its first appearance before the media took place at the Theater ''La Latina'', owned by

Lina Morgan María de los Ángeles López Segovia OAXS MML (20 March 1937 – 19 August 2015), better known as Lina Morgan, was a Spanish film, theater, radio, revue and television actress and vedette. Throughout her career, she stood out for playing mos ...

. For their debut, Mendiola and Pérez released the songs ''Esta Noche No'' and ''Cuerpo, Alma y Corazón''. Mendiola and Perez re-entered the charts thanks to the hit ''Call Me Up'' – written by

Ian Cussick Ian Cussick (born 17 June 1954) is a singer-songwriter from Dundee, Scotland. After leaving school at the age of fifteen, Cussick formed several local bands, with moderate success. In 1973, he answered an advertisement in ''Melody Maker'' for a ...

, produced by Luis Rodríguez. Mendiola wrote the lyrics for the Spanish version of this song, entitled ''Talisman''. "New Baccara" released three dance-singles, that brought the duo back to the charts. Together with Pérez and during the 25 years they worked together, Mendiola released several albums: ''F.U.N'' (1990), ''Made in Spain'' (1999), ''Face to Face'' (2000), ''Greatest Hits'' for

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

in 2002 and ''Singles Collection'' with Divucsa in 2006. Pérez had to leave the duo due to a health problem that prevented her from dancing; and Mendiola has chosen the Madrid-native singer

Cristina Sevilla María Cristina Sevilla Martínez (born March 3, 1965) is a Spanish singer and songwriter, a later member of the duo Baccara. Life and career Early life Cristina Sevilla was born in Madrid. Her father was a passionate musician who formed a ...

as a stage partner. Together with Sevilla, Mendiola worked her last twelve years of professional life, and the duo continued to perform all over the world. On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the original formation they released the album '' I Belong To Your Heart'', produced by Luis Rodríguez for the Team 33 record label. In November 2020, ''

'' returned to the UK charts thanks to the Scottish football team and in particular one of its players, Andy Considine. For that reason, Mendiola received a lot of interview requests from the British media – and she gave a lot of interviews for the most prominent tabloids, radio and television stations, including

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. As a consequence, the main hit of

was re-recorded by Mendiola and Sevilla – and released together with Scottish DJ George "GBX" Bowie. In 2021 the single ''No Sir, Don't Say Goodbye'' was released by Team 33. On September 11, 2021 Mendiola died at the age of 69. Many media organisations published obituaries, such as

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

who stated, regarding the cause of death, that "she had been dealing with a blood deficiency for two decades"

Private life

From her first marriage with Jimmy Lim, Mendiola had a son, Jaime Emilio Lim Martínez, who is now the owner and director of Higher School of Music in Madrid. One of the auditoriums in that educational institution now bears the name of María Mendiola. Mendiola's second marriage, that lasted nearly 3 decades, was to Swedish businessman Jan-Erik Olsson, whom she met on an airplane in May 1991.

Discography

Album * 1981: ''Born Again'' (EMI Electrola – Germany; CBS – Spain; Baby Records – Netherlands) Singles * 1981: "Higher and Higher" / "Luxury Life" (EMI Electrola – 1C 006-64 555) (Germany) * 1982: "Sugar Boom Boom" / "Hungry for Love" (CBS – CBS A-2268) (Spain) * 1982: "Sugar Boom Boom" / "(When They Believed) They Were an Angel" (Baby Records – BR-1468) (Netherlands) * 1982: "I Wanna See the World" / "(When They Believed) They Were an Angel" (EMI Electrola – 1C 006-46 549) (Germany) * 1982: "I Wanna See the World" / "Caribamerica" (CBS – A-2763) (Spain) * 1982: "I Wanna See the World" / "Born Again" (Baby Records – BR 50.003) (Netherlands) * 1983: "Stupid Cupid" / "Hit on the Radio" (Virgin – 105 783-100) (Europe) * 1983: "Stupid Cupid" / "The Time of Your Life" (Movieplay – 02.3690/0) (Spain) * 1983: "Stupid Cupid" / "Hit on the Radio" (Baby Records – BR 50304) (Italy) * 1983: "Aerobic (Gets Your Body Fit)" / "Aerobic (Sigue Sin Parar)" (Movieplay – 02.3620/9) (Spain) Maxi singles * 1983: "Stupid Cupid" / "Hit on the Radio" (Virgin – 600 979-213) (Germany) * 1983: "Stupid Cupid" / "Hit on the Radio" (Neon – N1245005) (France) * 1983: "Stupid Cupid" / "The Time of Your Life" (Movieplay – 05.3690/3) (Spain) * 1983: "Aerobic (Gets Your Body Fit)" / "Aerobic (Sigue Sin Parar)" (Movieplay – 05.3620/2) (Spain) Appearances (compilations) * 1981: ''Single News 9'81 – Higher and Higher'' (EMI Electrola – P 518 108) (Germany) * 1982: ''Single News 3'82 – I Wanna See the World'' (EMI Electrola – P 518 203) (Germany) * 1982: ''Un Verano Caliente CBS 1982 – Sugar Boom Boom'' (CBS) (Spain) * 1983: ''Die Neue Ronny's Pop Show – Stupid Cupid'' (CBS – 24025) (Germany) * 1983: ''Movie Dance – Especial Disco – Stupid Cupid'' (Movieplay – 17.3695/8) (Spain) * 1983: ''Fascination (16 Hits of Today) – Stupid Cupid'' (Virgin – 40 143 0) (Germany) * 1985: ''Paloma San Basilio – Las Leandras'' (tracks: A4, B1, B4, B5) (Hispavox – 160 340) (Spain) * 1985: ''María José Cantudo – Robame Esta Noche'' (Hispavox – 160 341) (Spain) * 1985: ''Teresa Rabal – Luna De Miel En El Cairo'' (tracks: A1, A2, A4, B3) (Hispavox – 0602 160 348) (Spain)

Filmography

Television: * 1975/1976: ''La hora de...'' * 1975: ''Felices Pascuas'' * 1975/1976: ''Especial Nochebuena'' * 1982/1983: ''Estudio Abierto'' * 1985'': La Comedia Musical Española'' "''Las leandras''", "''Luna de Miel en El Cairo''", "''Róbame esta noche''", "''El sobre verde''" * 1986'': Un, dos, tres... responda otra vez'' "''La oficina siniestra''" * 1995/1996'': La Revista'' "''Si fausto fuera faustina''", "''La de los ojos en blanco''"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Mendiola 1952 births Spanish singers 2021 deaths Spanish actresses Spanish dancers Spanish singer-songwriters English-language singers from Spain