0:01

Joseph, how

0:03

are you feeling about today's subject?

0:06

MESSI MOI excited

0:09

the same girl, because today we

0:11

are talking all about.

0:13

The Queen of the Hannah

0:16

Sili.

0:20

Selena quintaniap it is, despite

0:23

being taken from us long before her time,

0:25

Selena the icon has lived on

0:27

for generation after generation.

0:30

First there's the people who got to witness her

0:32

first hand.

0:33

Then there's those of us who were born a few years

0:36

too late but grew up surrounded by

0:38

her music and learned her story through the

0:40

magic of film.

0:41

And lastly, the youngins of today who

0:43

have gloonbed onto her fashion, her makeup.

0:46

And hopefully her music as

0:48

well.

0:49

Totally, they should make you name your favorite

0:51

Selena song before letting you buy a Selena

0:54

lipstick.

0:55

Wait.

0:55

That is genius.

0:57

Like when that Matt collaboration came out and

0:59

it's sold in seconds, and I saw the line

1:02

wrapped around the mall in Corpus,

1:04

I was like, these people are not old enough

1:07

to know her music. But that's

1:09

the magic of Selena is that you've gotten to know her

1:11

through so many different things.

1:13

One and I fell in love with her.

1:15

I refell in love with her again when mac relaunched

1:17

that Wait.

1:19

By the way, okay, let's do that now, all

1:21

right, If you had to name your favorite Selena song to pick

1:23

up your como La flord.

1:24

Lipstick, what

1:26

would it be?

1:27

Three?

1:28

Two, one, go see

1:30

yous.

1:31

I love that one.

1:32

It's angry, it's angsty.

1:35

It's so good, and it is such a deviation

1:38

from your more traditional

1:40

like up tempo, upbeat ones.

1:42

It's just it's so good. She's such a bad bitch in

1:44

it.

1:45

So you're in your tehano Elani's

1:47

Moore set face erro right now.

1:49

You read me so clearly. I love

1:51

you for that.

1:52

Now we should mention that as

1:54

a couple of Texan Latinos

1:56

now our ties to the cult

1:59

of Selena run very

2:01

very deep.

2:02

Okay, wait, so, since you are such a huge

2:05

Selena fan, what was your first like

2:07

formative memory of her?

2:09

Oh?

2:09

Wow, honestly, it's

2:11

probably a Nochebuena

2:14

night in my house or

2:16

my Thea's house with all my

2:18

crazy Theias and primos dancing

2:21

to baby Baby bombumb like we move

2:24

the first we pushed the furniture out of the middle.

2:25

Of the room.

2:26

No, stop it, No, it's true.

2:28

It's probably one of those like, yeah, it's probably like nochebuena

2:31

or like, it's usually those nights

2:33

that feel to me the most

2:35

kind of I don't know, nostalgic when it

2:37

comes to her music. We love

2:40

music in my family, but I don't feel like my

2:42

family danced as much

2:44

as I would have thought growing up, considering

2:46

how much we love music. But something about

2:48

when my mom would get together with her sisters. Again,

2:50

my mom is one of nine, so she's got six

2:53

sisters and two brothers. Something

2:55

about those like big family nights

2:57

by the time, like you know, the kids are like

2:59

sleeping on the girl or on the chairs, they

3:01

would like, you know, push the furniture to the side, turn

3:04

on like some old ass stereo and

3:06

like blast bitty bitty bumbum, and it would be

3:08

so funny to see my mom dancing

3:10

with her sisters and dancing with like my

3:12

feels.

3:13

It was just really really cute.

3:14

And I think that's probably my first memory of her

3:16

music in that way, and then also

3:19

remembering how sad it was, which we're

3:21

not going to go to right now because she's got a lot of life

3:23

to live before we get there. But what about

3:25

you, what is your formative Selena memory?

3:28

You know, it is just watching her

3:31

music video.

3:31

So I used to my parents, who really were really

3:34

Christian, and so I used to have to sneak

3:36

away to watch TV like late at night and I would

3:38

watch like VH one or MTV and.

3:40

Watching her music video of I could

3:42

fall in love.

3:43

And I was always so like kind of

3:45

confused because I was like, why wouldn't they have

3:47

like made the video of her now, because

3:49

it was like all the past and I just didn't

3:51

like really.

3:52

Understand I love that.

3:53

I love that now. Did you ever see her in concert?

3:56

No?

3:57

But like she was a Western playland?

3:59

What is that she was at this venue

4:01

where it's like a big amusement

4:04

park and you could have concerts there. So like, I know that

4:06

people would go to see her there

4:08

no Western

4:10

playland, but you didn't go.

4:12

I didn't.

4:13

I don't want my Dejano card

4:15

revoked. But I am

4:17

now becoming a bigger fan

4:19

of Selena. But growing up, I wasn't the biggest

4:21

fan of hers, although a

4:23

lot of my friends were obsessed

4:26

with her.

4:26

That's okay, that's okay.

4:28

My biggest regret in life is

4:31

actually not having seen

4:33

her at the Alamo Dome in

4:36

San Antonio. I had

4:38

the opportunity to go, I did not go, and

4:40

I will forever hate.

4:42

Myself for not making that. That's okay,

4:44

that's okay.

4:45

We could probably make a whole podcast

4:47

of just Selena memory.

4:49

Yes, easily, but we're here to talk about

4:52

her story, not ours.

4:54

We are not the main characters, well not on

4:56

this episode.

5:02

I'm your host Lilianavosquez.

5:04

And I'm Joseph Carrio and this

5:07

is Becoming an Icon.

5:09

A weekly podcast where we give you the rundown

5:12

on how today's most famous LATINV

5:14

stars have shaped pop culture.

5:16

And given the world some extra level.

5:19

Sit back and get comfortable.

5:21

Because we are going in

5:23

the only way we know how with Buenas

5:26

Vias.

5:26

I'm Buenasriesas.

5:29

And a lot of opinions as we relive

5:31

their greatest achievements on our journey.

5:34

To find out what makes them so iconic.

5:45

Selina Kitania was born in Lake

5:48

Jackson, Way, on

5:50

the opposite end of Texas from where Joseph

5:52

is from. Tragically, on April

5:55

sixteenth, nineteen seventy

5:57

one.

5:57

Joseph, you have the floor.

6:00

Thank you, Senator ahem as

6:03

an Airy's son, Selena's a woman of action.

6:05

She charges ahead and doesn't care for being led

6:08

or organized by others. But as

6:11

a Capricorn Moon, she's practically

6:13

defined by strong, maybe even

6:15

rigid parenting.

6:16

Oh well, if there's one thing we all know about

6:19

Selena.

6:20

It's that she's determined, steadfast, and

6:22

reliable. Yes, also Capricorn

6:24

Moon qualities. She was raised to understand

6:27

that she's an important person.

6:29

And there's no question that she would become

6:31

one.

6:32

Selena was born to Abraham Quintania

6:34

Junior and Marcella or Phelia

6:36

Zamora in nineteen seventy one.

6:39

Abraham was a musician born in Corpus

6:42

Christi, Texas. From the late fifties

6:44

through the late sixties, he had played American

6:46

pop and hicna rock with his band

6:48

The Dinos.

6:50

Marcella was born in the border city of Akunyakawila,

6:53

Mexico, where by the way, my family

6:55

still.

6:56

Lives hey family.

6:58

Before Selena came around, Abraham

7:00

and Marcella had two children, Susette

7:02

and Aby.

7:03

With a boy and a girl in tow Abraham

7:06

put the Dinos to rest and moved the family to

7:08

Lake Jackson, in.

7:09

A small town with a population just

7:12

over ten thousand.

7:13

Only a sliver of cuomwor Latino.

7:15

On the Abraham saw an opportunity

7:17

to support the family by opening a Mexican

7:20

restaurant. Every Latino

7:22

opens a Mexican by the way, we had a Mexican

7:24

restaurant, like hello.

7:26

No you didn't yuh my mom did La

7:28

Casita.

7:29

I loved that.

7:29

In Colleyville, Texas, they loved her. Tamalis

7:32

Us, I love dom malis.

7:34

Hey, she needs to make me son for Christmas.

7:35

She will, Okay, back to the restaurant, So Abraham

7:38

named it Baba Gayos, not a great

7:40

name, by the way, and soon after

7:42

he and Marcella would welcome their third

7:45

child.

7:45

From their Sonograms.

7:47

They had been expecting a boy, so when

7:49

they found themselves welcoming a daughter into

7:51

the world, they had zero ideas for the

7:53

names.

7:54

It was actually another mom in the labor

7:56

ward who suggested the name Selina.

7:59

And god she did.

8:01

I hope that woman became an agent after realizing

8:04

what she'd done for Selena.

8:05

For real, I would definitely ask for some kind of royalties,

8:07

but she's not going to get it. If

8:09

you followed the King Danias and Chris

8:12

Cherney and everything that's happened in the drama, which

8:14

we will get to. She's not getting any but

8:16

anyway, Selena and her older

8:19

siblings grew up in a house steeped in

8:21

American pop culture and music.

8:24

One day, Selena found an old songbook

8:26

of her father's. In an interview years later,

8:28

she would describe it, picking it up and eventually

8:31

making up her own maladies to the music.

8:33

Her father heard her and started coaching

8:35

her on hot to sing the songs of his youth.

8:38

Selena, in her own words, caught on

8:40

pretty fast.

8:41

After that, Selena's dad went a step further

8:43

and took the family on a visit to his and

8:46

the Dino's old stomping grounds, Corpus

8:48

Christy.

8:49

There, they visited a record store owned by Abraham's

8:51

former mentor, Johnny Herrera, so

8:54

that he could hear Selena sing.

8:57

Harrari set up a portable cassette recorder for her.

8:59

She'd gotten for Anything Mike, and ran through several

9:01

oldies.

9:02

Herrera noted that she stayed perfectly

9:04

in tune and never missed a beat.

9:07

Impressed, he cackled.

9:08

And said she's going to be a star.

9:12

Selena ended her little recording session

9:14

with the song in Spanish, one of the Dino's

9:16

regional hits Guenestekopa, which Herrera

9:19

himself had written.

9:20

Though she went to an English speaking school and spoke

9:23

English at home, her father had taught

9:25

her to pronounce sound Spanish.

9:27

In this little record shop in Corpus

9:29

Christi, Texas, Selena wowed her first

9:31

small audience in both English and

9:33

Spanish.

9:34

It was a clear preview of things

9:36

to come.

9:47

Okay, diehard, Selena fan.

9:49

Well, I know we were researching this, so I'm

9:51

sure that you rekindled your love for the

9:54

lost songs of Selena. Are you playing any

9:56

of your favorite Selena songs for Santa Hello?

10:00

Are we friends? Have we met?

10:03

I started playing Selena songs

10:05

for him when he was in my

10:08

belly, literally like in

10:10

my belly.

10:11

And then I remember the.

10:13

First week I brought him home, so I had to see

10:15

section and it was like hard to even

10:18

move, like literally it was so hard. And the

10:20

first day that I felt good enough to

10:22

really like get up and take

10:24

a shower and like brush my hair

10:27

and put on something other

10:29

than like hospital underwear. We dance

10:32

to Badbad Bomb in his

10:34

nursery. We did I like open the windows,

10:37

I like open the curtains, and I was like holding

10:40

this tiny little nugget and we

10:42

dance.

10:42

I have a video of it.

10:43

It's like one of my favorite memories of him because

10:45

it was the first day that I really felt like close

10:48

to good. And yeah, like I play her

10:50

songs for him all the time. But

10:53

you know what's funny is he's in a phase right now

10:55

where he doesn't want me to sing or dance. So

10:58

every time I sing, he's like, mommy, stops singing. So

11:00

I don't know if I'm ruining Selena for him

11:03

because he keeps saying, Mommy, stop singing.

11:05

Now listen. I know little

11:07

kids get like that. He just didn't want you to do

11:10

it. So here's another question for you. Yeah,

11:12

why do you think Selena is so

11:15

relatable like us in the US? Like why

11:17

did you identify to Selena?

11:18

Like, because I think she is

11:21

very much living that what

11:24

I call like one life one

11:26

g. Being first generation. You

11:29

know, if your first generation, you're very

11:31

much born here and you obviously

11:34

want to be a part of what it is to be American. But

11:36

your parents were not, and your cousins

11:38

some morn either, like most of your family probably

11:41

wasn't, And so I think you're always kind

11:43

of straddling this world of

11:45

living in America, being American but also being

11:48

Mexican, and maybe like wanting

11:51

to feel really connected to culture,

11:53

but also being a little bit ashamed of it. At least

11:55

in my experience, I wanted to fit in so

11:57

desperately that I kind of like pushed down

11:59

everything that was beautiful and culturally rich

12:01

about being Mexicana or Puerto Rican to like

12:04

fit in and assimilate. And I think that first

12:06

generation struggle is real for so many

12:08

of us, whether you come from Latin America or Europe

12:11

or.

12:11

Wherever you're from.

12:12

And there's a line in the movie that Abraham

12:15

says, and he says to her, you know, we have to

12:17

be more Mexican than the Mexicans and

12:19

more American than the Americans, both at the

12:21

same time. It's exhausting, and

12:24

that I think really summarizes the

12:26

feeling and the struggle that so many of us first

12:28

generation kids have. And I think it's

12:30

also why we relate to her and her story

12:33

so much, especially if you grew

12:35

up in Texas or Mexico

12:38

or Arizona or California, right like we're border

12:40

kids.

12:40

And also because she also looked

12:42

like us.

12:43

But she didn't sound like us, right, like I grew

12:45

up speaking Spanish. I think for me, like

12:48

hearing her talk, I was like, God, she sounds so American,

12:50

but she looks like us. So

12:53

I think we were just kind of fascinated with the idea

12:55

that you could be both right and be both

12:57

so beautifully. Yeah, I can tell you this

13:00

as a Latina who's half Mexican

13:02

and half Puerto Rican, it's really important

13:04

for me that Santhi, despite him being

13:06

born here in la and being half

13:09

Irish, like he needs to know everything

13:12

about our gulura, like where

13:14

we came from, our music, our food, all

13:17

of that, right, Like you want that for your.

13:18

Kids, right like honor the

13:20

ancestors carry them with you always.

13:23

But that's not quite where Selena's

13:25

daddy was coming from.

13:26

Two drew Joseph, with his mentor's

13:29

words ringing in his ears, that

13:31

girl's gonna be a star. Selena's

13:35

father had stars in his eyes.

13:37

He dusted off the old instruments and taught

13:39

Selena's siblings to play.

13:42

At the age of.

13:43

Nine, Selena took the mic with her big brother ab

13:45

behind her on bass guitar and big sister

13:48

Susette on the drums.

13:49

The Dinos became a family band,

13:52

and the family band became the in house entertainment

13:55

for Baba Gayo's Abraham's restaurant.

13:58

Selena ILO's.

13:59

Dino's also played street corners, Consignea's

14:02

weddings, and other family gatherings, which

14:04

imagine if Selena played at your Keen'say.

14:08

She did play at Mikeen

14:10

says.

14:10

Okay, I mean like played live in

14:12

your keen.

14:13

Say okay, let me live.

14:14

Just let me remember my keyings is the way

14:16

I want to remember, Mike

14:19

Keane says, anyway, moving

14:21

one. Selena and the band played

14:23

so often, in fact, that young

14:25

Selena began to miss school frequently.

14:28

Selena was an exceptionally bright student

14:31

and well liked by her classmates. Her

14:33

seventh grade reading teacher, Marilyn Greer

14:35

called her a valedictorian quality

14:37

student. They didn't say that about me.

14:42

She went on to say, Selena

14:44

conducted herself like a lady. This child

14:47

could have gotten a four year scholarship with any

14:49

major university in the country. But

14:52

Selena was missing two days of class.

14:54

A week, and when Selena was in class,

14:57

she was often tired and distracted.

14:59

Selena' teach year brought this to her father's attention

15:02

on multiple occasions. Each

15:04

time, he insisted that Selena was a child

15:07

prodigy destined for a.

15:09

Career on the stage, which

15:11

wasn't untrue, but it's more than enough

15:13

to make you question Abraham's priorities.

15:17

After all, the family band was formed

15:19

to support Papagayo's the family

15:21

and Abraham's business.

15:24

After the recession of nineteen eighty one, Papa

15:26

Guyo saw fewer and fewer customers

15:29

and eventually closed down, so the band

15:31

became the family business instead.

15:34

The following year, Abraham pulled the kids

15:36

out of school and moved the whole family

15:38

to Corpus Christi, where Selena Ilosino's

15:41

would be the sole breadwinners for the family.

15:44

Seleno's brother ab took an old bus

15:47

and restored it so the band could use it as

15:49

a tour bus. The bus, which

15:51

the family affectionately named Big Bertha,

15:53

would often serve as the entire family's

15:56

home.

15:56

The kids essentially saying for food

15:59

and barely earned enough money to cover

16:01

gas. Times were tough, and

16:03

it was all on their shoulders. There's

16:06

like a tiny, tiny piece of this that

16:08

feels relatable.

16:09

Yeah, because many of the Latino kids do be

16:11

on that grind from a young age to how about the family.

16:14

But on the other hand, Abraham.

16:17

Right, I mean, there's ways to pay the

16:19

bills that don't involve turning your

16:21

family into the Jackson five right and

16:24

jumping ahead a bit. According to Selena's

16:26

eventual husband, Chris Petes, Selena's

16:29

father put his ambitions of making

16:31

it in the music industry before everything

16:34

else. As we talk

16:36

about Abraham having her missed

16:38

school, were like shocked, We're like.

16:40

Oh my god, she was missing school.

16:41

But if you think about it now, there's

16:44

so many kid let's

16:46

call them kid creatives, kid influencers,

16:49

kiddy influencers out there, Like I see

16:51

them.

16:52

Making millions and millions

16:54

of dollars.

16:54

I mean, these kids are moving out to la at like

16:57

ten, eleven, twelve as influencers.

17:00

It's happening, ye stars, It's

17:02

happening now more so than it used to

17:04

them. But it's pretty commonplace now.

17:06

I always read there's this like one

17:08

funny meme that like, maybe it's not a meme, it's

17:10

an article. It talks about when you ask little kids

17:13

what they want to be when they grow up. Now,

17:15

the number one profession is

17:18

influencer or content creator.

17:21

Stop it.

17:21

Yeah, I mean I think Abraham was a

17:23

businessman first and a father second. I

17:25

will say it where we go, and I think

17:28

that with child stars and stage

17:30

parents, it's a really really rocky

17:33

relationship. And you really saw that play out

17:35

in her story, right, Like she felt

17:38

like she was being held

17:40

down by them, right, Like she wanted to be

17:42

free to wear what she wanted, to love who she wanted.

17:45

And if you guys have watched Quiet

17:47

on Set, the Nickelodeon documentary,

17:50

you really start to understand that

17:52

there is a very predatory culture

17:55

to child stars and

17:58

what their parents allow to happen.

18:00

It's actually like terrifying. And this is like

18:02

one of the main reasons I would never allow

18:05

my child to work in the entertainment industry

18:07

until he's like, much much older. And it's also one

18:09

of the reasons that I try to keep him off

18:12

of social media in terms of like how much I post him

18:14

because it just makes me very afraid.

18:15

But that's a whole nother podcast.

18:17

That's another one, bitch. I was ready to go into

18:19

that one too, damn.

18:23

But Selena was also trying to make

18:25

it in a musical world that wasn't entirely

18:28

her own.

18:29

It was a Tahano's world and Selena

18:31

was just living in it.

18:45

Do you remember how we introduced

18:47

Selena.

18:48

Everyone knows the Queen of Tejano.

18:51

Right, Okay, So let's talk about

18:53

the Hannah music for a second.

18:54

Because Shano has its roots in

18:56

a culture of ranching, agriculture,

19:00

farm stuff.

19:01

Right.

19:01

So the Hanno culture is rural.

19:04

Little history lesson.

19:05

During Spanish rule, the southern region of

19:07

what we now call the has was

19:10

developed as farmlands. The

19:12

music and the dress we associate with

19:14

the Hanno evolved from a long

19:17

history of rancheros Bucqueto's

19:19

people working the land.

19:21

Okay, but here's a question, did those

19:23

people have accordions? Because a lot of Tano

19:26

music sounds like poka.

19:28

It does, and there's a really good reason

19:30

for that.

19:31

While that the Hanno population is largely

19:33

Spanish Mesthiesel and indigenous,

19:35

in the eighteen hundreds Texas on influx

19:38

of German and Czech immigrants, uhh.

19:41

So that explains the unpach

19:43

lumbach and.

19:45

The Spanish part of it explains the string

19:47

instruments, the guitar, the bajo

19:49

sex do and dolo or

19:52

bass guitar. This became the normal

19:54

setup for a the Hano band, and the Hanno bands

19:56

grew to be popular community fixtures.

19:59

Sure, and what about the singers.

20:01

Great question, Joseph. So the

20:04

melodies and vocal sensibilities of

20:06

the Hanno drew from generations of

20:08

farmhands who enjoyed the songs of traveling

20:10

musicians.

20:11

Oh okay, I see. All

20:13

I needed was to know where I fit in the

20:16

story.

20:16

You're the wandering musician in my

20:18

past life.

20:19

Uh yeah, I'm

20:22

what broidy or more more on

20:24

board the guy?

20:25

Yeah, damn, Joseph.

20:29

By the way, when I was little, I could not say

20:31

mooran like. I could not

20:33

say it, And I love that song so much, and I'd be

20:36

like move moorun like, Oh I

20:38

loved it.

20:39

Okay.

20:40

So anyway, do you think that we played

20:42

together in that way? Like maybe I was

20:45

your accompanist, you.

20:46

Were one hundred percent and you followed

20:48

me around with an accordion.

20:50

Yes, yeah, So basically you and I invented

20:52

the Hanno music.

20:53

You're welcome, You are welcome people.

20:56

Okay.

20:56

Now, come the twentieth century, this music

20:59

had become a stage of larger Tojano

21:01

culture and bringing it back back

21:03

back to Selena. It's not to say

21:06

there were never any female Kijano singers.

21:08

One of the first Tjanah superstars was

21:11

Houston born Lydia Mendoza,

21:13

aka the mother of Tojna music.

21:15

Like Selena, she started singing from a very.

21:17

Young age, and, like Selena, eventually

21:20

would Lydia Mendoza found listeners

21:22

in Mexican migrant communities before eventually

21:25

finding success on both sides

21:27

of the border.

21:28

But Downo music was still heavily male

21:30

dominated, from the big stars to the local

21:33

artists.

21:34

Remember, the Hanno music was raised

21:36

on farmlands.

21:37

Rural workers were largely male,

21:40

So Selena's father was hoping to win

21:42

over an audience of rugged, older

21:44

men.

21:44

Who expected to Hano musicians to look

21:47

like them, not a man of fresh faced

21:49

teens led by a girl.

21:50

Exactly so, when Selena and the family

21:53

were knocking on the doors of bars and music venues,

21:56

door after door was shut in their

21:58

faces.

21:58

Well, Abraham, let's not forget

22:01

who's pushing this whole thing.

22:02

Yeah, he'd be pushy, right, and

22:06

let's give credit where it's due. Abraham

22:08

did not let all that rejection reach

22:10

Selena promoter Mike Chavez would

22:12

say of Abraham, he was the.

22:14

Ultimate stage father. He wouldn't take no for

22:16

an answer.

22:17

How many times has he told Selena had no talent,

22:20

that they were just another band.

22:22

He handled her career, He kept her clean.

22:25

For her part, Selena would say, we

22:27

all wanted to make it, so we did everything

22:29

we could. There were a lot of disappointing times,

22:32

but even when we got ten or twenty people

22:34

to show up, we always believe that, hey, these

22:36

people paid to get in.

22:38

We should do a good show.

22:40

Despite the rejection, Selena and the band would

22:42

continue to find work playing weddings, kinsz

22:45

blenquiz. Abraham added a

22:47

keyboardist and a guitarist to the band before

22:49

placing them in nineteen eighty three.

22:51

As Selena's biographer Joe Nick Potowski

22:54

would say, the money was in live performances,

22:56

but Selena Losino's remained shut

22:59

out of key venues.

23:00

Records were hard to sell and the payoff

23:03

wasn't promising. But when Selena

23:05

Elosdino's finally did enter the studio,

23:07

things began to turn around, ever so

23:10

slowly.

23:11

Selena Elosinos would record a number

23:13

of songs for Freddie Records, a small

23:16

label in Corpus Christie.

23:18

With her father's.

23:19

Coaching, Selena sang in less than

23:21

perfect Spanish, and her brother ab received

23:24

his first composing credit for the song call

23:26

Me.

23:27

After a few more singles and some modest

23:29

airplan on local radio, the group slowly

23:31

began finding their way into music venues.

23:34

Then came the group's first full album,

23:36

Mitti spimetas Grabacionz.

23:38

The album was never distributed

23:41

to stores, but Abraham bought a stack

23:43

of copies to pitch any and every label

23:45

executive he could meet at the band's shows.

23:48

The hustle paid off.

23:50

Soon Selena Elosdino signed with Carl

23:52

Records in San Antonio, and.

23:54

Here is where things finally get

23:56

going.

23:57

In nineteen eighty six, Selena Losino's

23:59

record their second album, Alpha, the

24:01

record that won Selena her first musical

24:04

award.

24:05

Selena was named Female Vocalist

24:07

of the Year at the nineteen eighty seven West

24:10

Texas Hispanic Music Awards and the

24:12

KFLZ Awards, run by a local

24:15

radio station.

24:16

We talk about local the West Texas

24:18

Hispanic Music. O word, what

24:21

is the trophy? What is the prize?

24:23

I have ache?

24:24

It was a boot is there a red carpet. Should I cover

24:26

it?

24:27

Yeah, we'll find it.

24:29

But the biggest award of all came

24:31

from the te Hanno Music Awards, where

24:33

Selena won Performer of the Year.

24:36

That is more like it. That is where I want to see

24:38

my girl right.

24:40

Hold on pause.

24:41

So, after years of rejections, promoter

24:44

after promoter telling them that no one wanted

24:46

to hear a teen girls seeing Tejano music,

24:49

Selena turns around and wins Tehano

24:51

Performer of the Year. Imagine

24:54

being one of those promoters who said, no,

24:57

big mistake, huge, it's

25:00

comeback story we all want for our selves

25:03

real.

25:04

Thanks to the Tejano Music Awards, Selena

25:06

was introduced to Rick Dravigno, the founder

25:09

of the award show, and Johnny Canales,

25:11

an influential radio personality in

25:13

the Tejano scene.

25:15

Selena appeared on can Nada's radio show,

25:17

where over time she'd become a

25:19

regular.

25:20

The following year, in nineteen eighty eight, the

25:23

band dropped two more albums, Fresciosa

25:25

and Bulsemore, netting them their

25:27

biggest record sales yet.

25:30

This brought them once again to the Teuano

25:32

Music Awards. In nineteen eighty nine.

25:34

Selena again won Best Female Vocalist

25:37

and her brother ab got his first nomination

25:39

as a songwriter.

25:41

But most importantly, this is where Selena

25:43

Elosdinos would meet Jose Bahar, vice

25:45

president of the newly formed Latin division

25:48

of EMI.

25:49

EMI Latin was less than a year

25:51

old, and coincidentally, Selena and

25:53

the band were free agents after ending their

25:55

engagement with Kara Records.

25:57

Watching Selena own the stage at the Tejano Music

25:59

Award, so Bear was convinced he had found

26:01

the next Gloria Estefan.

26:04

Selena became the new record label's

26:06

first signed artist, and it

26:09

was only up from there.

26:11

But that's next week.

26:13

That's right, You'll have to wait.

26:17

On the next.

26:17

Becoming an Icon, Selena finds

26:20

success, love, and maybe

26:23

even a little independence.

26:29

Becoming an Icon is presented by Sonoo

26:32

and Iheart's Michael Duda podcast

26:34

network. Listen to Becoming an

26:36

Icon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple

26:39

Podcast, or wherever you get

26:41

your podcast