By Larry Flick
Ricky Martin never slows down.
"What can I say? I'm an adrenaline junkie," he says with an infectious laugh during a rare moment of quiet in his Miami home. "But seriously, I've worked so hard to reach this point. To let a moment slip by would feel like a waste."
But Martin's schedule does beg the question: When does the man sleep? The Latin heartthrob, who enjoyed a monumental pop breakthrough in 1999 with the smash hit "Livin' La Vida Loca" (spawned from an equally successful eponymous English-language album), never even left the road to record the follow-up, "Sound Loaded" (Columbia), released Nov. 14.
"Whenever I had a day off from touring, I'd dash back to Miami to lay down a vocal or work on a track," he says, his voice accelerating to a breathless rhythm as he outlines a schedule that would see him "leave the stage, hop on a plane to Miami to do some work on the record for a few hours, and then get back on a plane and jet off to the next city to do a show."
There is a taste of flamenco, the thump-thump pump of a disco-like beat, a brassy hipster's big band (trumpet shakes and all), a rockish feel here and there, a touch of funk, a hint of Cuba in the piano, a catchy, punchy refrain by the choir--and that's for starters. If it sounds a bit like "Livin' la Vida Loca," well, that's the idea.
It's "She Bangs," the opening track of Ricky Martin's "Sound Loaded" (Columbia), the follow-up to last year's self-titled monster hit album, his first in English.
One of the dirty little secrets of the music business--forget your fantasies of creative free spirits and carefree tightrope walkers, those guys with the ponytails are businessmen--is that it is a conservative business. Forget new. Most people in it are looking for something like last week's hit--but different. So where does a pop star go musically after the kind of year Martin had?
A 28-year-old veteran of show biz (he joined the teeny-pop group Menudo when he was 12), he blasted into American mainstream consciousness with his performance at last year's Grammys. That April, the first-week sales of the single "Livin' La Vida Loca" reached 280,000 copies. When the album was released a month later, it sold 660,000 copies the first week--the highest in Columbia's history--and rocketed to the top of the charts. At last count, according to its label, the album has sold 15 million copies worldwide.
Following such success is tricky business, but Martin is giving it a good shot. "Sound Loaded"--impeccably produced, richly layered, boasting lyrics in two languages and enough musical references to cross over a United Nations audience--is great fun. Yes, it's pop candy, no vitamins for the mind and soul here. But it's well-crafted pop candy--and it will get your party going every time. And yes, fans will find more of what they liked--but different.
For fans of Martin's brand of high-energy party music, there are tracks such as "She Bangs," "Loaded" (both featured in English and Spanish) and "Are You in It for Love." But Martin also includes "Amor," a souped-up mambo (anchored, by the way, by veteran Cuban bassist Israel "Cachao" Lopez, one of the creators of mambo); it's perfect for people who loved Santana's "Smooth." "One Night Man" features Middle Eastern singing and violins over the standard Martin disco-ish beat and stadium-ready choruses. And, of course, "Sound Loaded" includes a few ballads, for a change of pace.
Those are not as effective. When Martin reaches again and again for the so-pained-my-voice-is-about-to-break gambit, as in "Come to Me," "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" or "The Touch," he becomes predictable and tiresome. (What's up with this style of ballad whining? Is there a school of Latin crooning where Jon Secada, Enrique Iglesias and now Martin go? Let's close it for a while.) Intriguingly, the final refrain of the rockish salsa-conga "Cambia La Piel" (Change the Skin) is "cambia la piel . . . liberate." Change skin? Free yourself? Now? Are you nuts? The formula is working. That's perhaps the last thing Ricky Martin wants to do right now.
photos by John Saint Hilaire
It's Ricky Martin Week here in the Big Apple and as usual I had to pull out all the stops of crew and spies to get the best dish on his visit. It's never a dull moment when Ricky hits town, especially when several of his appearance are live. He began with a performance as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live where he performed "She Bangs" and "Loaded". With the exception of a little shtick with Chris Kattan imitating his moves, Ricky did not participate in any sketches.
Ricky Martin appeared on MTV's TRL on Monday, clad in jeans and a casual top, because he "wanted to be comfortable". A few lucky girls received kisses as Ricky entered the studio. "That's the energy I like" he said, reacting to the crowd. Commenting on his busy schedule, Ricky said "We were here a couple a weeks ago, then I went to Asia and did 20 concerts. "She Bangs" was #1 in a couple of the Asian countries."
If you've been wondering exactly what "Sound Loaded" means, Ricky offered the following explanation. "It's all about having the opportunity to go around the world," said the Puerto Rican singer, "and mixing cultures as I've been doing the past couple of years." As a result of his travels and collaborations with many talented people, the CD is, as he says, "loaded with sound!"
Ricky talked about the making of his video, "She Bangs" filmed at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. "We were in the Bahamas for 4 days," says the former Menudo. "In my life I never had the opportunity to perform underwater. You were not allowed to blow bubbles out of your mouth when you were singing!" The important thing was that the video ended up with the right 'vibe'. "Everyone was giving the 'I don't care attitude' which was exactly what we needed," he said.
The entertainer that had everyone "Livin' La Vida Loca" in 1999 will be promoting his new CD the next couple of months in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Fans will have to wait until next summer when he will be back on the road to do some concerts.
He performed "She Bangs" and "Loaded" for the studio audience, that was filled with, as Daly said, mostly "hot chicks". Daly also noted that Ricky is "the kindest to his fans of anyone that has ever been in here. I am amazed. When the cameras are off, he is unbelievable." That is the truth, I've seen it first hand as well.
Next up on Ricky's whirlwind tour of New York City was a fan appreciation concert at Manhattan's Irving Plaza. Ricky posed for pictures and news cameras when he arrived for the show, and plenty of fans got to get in a snap. Later in the evening Ricky came on stage with his full band and treated the audience to a half hour show of music including hits old and new. He performed "She Bangs" and "Loaded" as well as "Livin' La Vida Loca", "Un Dos Tres ("Maria")" and the "Cup of Life". Speaking only in English, Ricky told the audience: "Forget about Madison Square Garden, this is the kind of place I've been looking for!" Irving Plaza holds about 1100 people compared to the tens of thousands that can pack the Garden.
Ricky played a joke of his own on the audience. After the second song was finished, he saluted the audience and said "Thank you for coming and good night!" and then began walking off stage. The stunned fans were very relieved when Ricky turned around, came back and said "Okay...big lie!!"
After what must have been a short night's sleep, Ricky went over to Rockefeller Center to perform on the Today show's Fall Concert Series. He and his band performed "She Bangs" and "Sound Loaded" for the crowd in front of a set composed of ice sculptures by Scott Rella that simulated a bar and lounge. He also had time in between songs to answer questions about his new CD.
Did Ricky worry that he wouldn't be able to repeat the success of his 15 million selling first album, "Ricky Martin"? Not at all! "I don't want to compete with myself," Ricky told the Today Show's Matt Lauer. He was focused on his mission, educating the world about his culture. "When I walked into the studio it was about uniting cultures and uniting generations," he said.
Ricky's chiseled features and previous experience on the stage and screen make him a natural for a role in a big budget picture, but Ricky's not ready for that yet. "I'm reading a few scripts, but what I want to do right now is music. I need the immediate reaction of my audience and I can only do that with my music."
The handsome singer has long had a reputation for diligence and hard work. He's got a very hectic schedule for the rest of the year and well into 2001, but that doesn't bother him one bit. "It's not time to rest, it's time to work," he says. We understand, because when Ricky's in town, we don't get any rest either!
