Baccara's most famous hits were "Sorry I'm a lady" and "Yes sir, I can boogie", both of which topped the charts during 1977 in some European countries, including the United Kingdom. In 1978, their song "Parlez-Vous Français?" got the seventh place at the Eurovision Song Contest. Curiously, the duo were representing Luxembourg. After releasing four albums, Baccara ceased to exist in 1982. Up from this moment, María and Mayte have followed their musical careers separately, either solo or with new reformations of the duo like Baccara 2000 or New Baccara.
Mayte Mateos graduated as a teacher from the Royal Spanish Academy for Arts, Drama and Dance in Madrid and then joined Spanish Television's Ballet Company. While there she met fellow performer María Mendiola. In 1976 the two women formed a singing and dancing duo (using the title Venus) and left the Ballet Company. Initially the duo's act was simply that of variety show dancers. Their first television appearance was on the Palmarés light entertainment programme[1] and they were engaged at a nightclub in the Aragon city of Zaragoza, but their contract was cancelled when the club manager decided that they were "too elegant" for the style of show.[2] Mateos and Mendiola relocated to the Canary Islands in search of work. Here they found that there was an audience for the performance of traditional Spanish music and dance in a form that was adapted to suit international tastes.
The duo were spotted by Leon Deane, manager of the German subsidiary of record company RCA, whilst performing flamenco dance and traditional Spanish songs for tourists (mostly German) in the Tres Islas Hotel on the island of Fuerteventura. He invited them to Hamburg in order for them to meet the 30 year old Dutch producer/composer Rolf Soja.[3] Soja was the prime mover behind what became Baccara.
He developed their stage performance and recruited their instrumental support. Mateos and Mendiola were retitled Baccara, after the name of the black rose, in reference to the women's dark Spanish appearance.
Together with fellow writer Frank Dostal, Soja penned their début single “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie” and most of their other 1970's hits. Recorded in Holland and released in 1977, “Yes Sir, …” proved to be a huge success, reaching the top of the charts in Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Sweden, Belgium, Israel, and Switzerland, and number three in France.[4] Later that year a self-titled album, written and produced by Soja and Dostal, was released. Soja is generally credited with the Baccara formula - consisting of breathy lyrics, lush backing, a disco beat and the striking image of two women (one dressed in black and the other in white) dancing. While drawing lightly on Spanish flamenco song and dance tradition, the formula was very much rooted in 1970's disco music. Soja's song arrangements generally used Mateos as the lead singer while Mendiola contributed with backing and refrains.
“Yes Sir, I Can Boogie” was an enormous pan-European hit and was a prime example of the phenomenon that is known as the "summer hit".[5] The song was heard everywhere over the summer of 1977 and it is still evocative of that moment in time. It is also one of the best known examples of the Eurodisco genre : “[…] this mind-bending Common Market melding of foreign accents, bad diction, bizarre arrangements and lightweight production, usually top-heavy with strings” - The Independent, 10th April 1999.
Baccara sold more than 16 million copies of “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie” and featured in the 1977 edition of the Guinness Book of Records as the highest-selling female musical group to date. They were the first female duo to reach number one in the UK, and had the only number one by a Spanish artist in the UK until Julio Iglesias, four years later. A follow-up single, “Sorry, I'm A Lady”, was also an international hit, peaking at the top of the charts in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium and reaching the top ten in the UK, Sweden and Switzerland.[4] Most of Baccara's recordings were sung in English although they did also record in Spanish, German and French. They recorded different language versions of some songs (see Discography below).
Touring in Europe during the late 1970's helped the band establish a firm fan base in Germany (where their records continued to be produced) and the Scandinavian countries, and their Spanish-flavoured interpretation of the disco sound also brought them recognition in Japan and Russia. Baccara represented West Germany at the eighth World Popular Song Festival held in November 1977 – until it ended in 1989 the largest such contest in the world. Their song, “Mad In Madrid”, came 14th out of 37 participating countries.
In 1978 the second Baccara album, “Light My Fire”, was released across Europe, and whilst not matching the international success of the first, it spawned the single “Parlez-vous français?” which was selected as Luxembourg's entry in that year's Eurovision Song Contest.[6] Despite full marks from Italy, Portugal and Spain the duo finished in 7th place. However high sales, particularly in Denmark, Sweden and Belgium, meant that the single was a commercial success.
“Think what you like about Baccara, seen today their 1978 Eurovision performance has a certain style while their competition from that event looks dated and amateurish″ - New Musical Express, May 2002
Further recognition came in 1978 when Baccara was granted Germany's most prestigious media award, Burda Publishing Group's Bambi prize. This is offered annually to “celebrities whose abilities have impressed, moved and enthused the people in Germany”.[7] The duo made regular television appearances, becoming weekly guests on Sacha Distel's show in the UK, and on Musikladen in Germany. 1978 was the high point of Baccara's artistic and commercial success.
Late that year the duo released the single “The Devil Sent You to Lorado”[8] with “Somewhere in Paradise”[9] as its B side. Both of these Baccara recordings have become iconic. “Somewhere in Paradise” (with its allusions to life after death) is regularly played by Christian radio stations while “The Devil…” (with its background pistol shots) is sometimes identified with the gay community. A Spanish language version of the “The Devil…” (“El diablo te mandó a Laredo”) was released at the same time as the English one.
1979 saw the album “Colours” and the separately-recorded single “Eins plus eins ist eins”, released to mark the United Nations' International Year of the Child and celebrate the 20th anniversary of the UN adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.
Baccara's fourth and final album (in the band's original incarnation) was “Bad Boys”, released in 1981. By this time the disco sound had been overshadowed by newer music movements (such as punk, new wave and synthpop) in much of Europe and interest was largely confined to those countries where the duo had an established fan base, notably Germany. The album was not released in the UK or US.
Baccara have been (possibly unfairly) described as “one hit wonder” in the UK, while they never achieved any recognition in the US despite some of their songs being given significant airplay. One music critic suggested that the Baccara formula lacked artistic depth but had been “mined for all it was worth” over two years until public interest moved on to other things.[10] The same critic also drew attention to an element of “anti-feminist subservience” in the lyrics of some Baccara songs.
The 1980 single release of “Sleepy-Time-Toy” led to disagreement within Baccara over the vocal mix used. Mendiola complained that her voice was not given sufficient prominence in the song's arrangement and sued RCA for breach of contract.[11] A court hearing in Munich resulted in 250,000 records being recalled from dealers. The dispute fatally damaged relationships. One consequence of this was that Soja and Dostal were not involved with Baccara's final album. The duo recorded “Bad Boys” with Bruce Baxter and Graham Sacher. Neither the album nor its spin-off single “Colorado” were successful. In 1981, after RCA declined to renew their contract, Mateos and Mendiola ended their professional partnership and both launched solo careers.
By 1983 both artists had released albums of their own – Mateos with “Spanish Dreams” and Mendiola with “Born Again” – which saw moderate success amongst Baccara's original fan base. However there remained a demand for Baccara's music, particularly on the European television circuit, and by the middle of the decade both Mateos and Mendiola had formed their own versions of Baccara with new singing partners. Despite a series of name and line-up changes, both Baccara duos continue to perform around Europe and have released new albums. Both have also made re-recordings of their hits for various minor record labels, which are regularly re-packaged and re-issued under the original Baccara name. However, the original song versions (those recorded between 1977 and 1981) remain the property of Sony-BMG, which holds the rights to the RCA back catalogue.
On the occasion of Baccara's 30th Anniversary, Sony-BMG Germany released a very complete 3 CD box set on August 31 2007. This collection includes 50 RCA original recordings. Several songs such as “Mad In Madrid”, “Amoureux”, “Baila tú”, “En el año 2000”, “Eins plus eins ist eins” and “Candido” made their debut on CD.
Touch Me
Baccara Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
tells me its not time to say goodbye,
like a call of paradise,
it dress my heart , why do you stay so shy,
he knows that loving feeling, it make us hit the cealing,
let your hearts beat silent words of love
so come on boy and touch me, take me in your arms and hold me,
my love for you is true, i can't get through, if i can have you by my side
whatever happens to, this is the night, our night.
close your eyes, and so rely,
hold me tight and share a dream with me,
keeping closer do my fire, things are different from what they seam to be,
you know that loving feeling, that makes us hit the cealing,
let your hearts beat silent words of love
so come on boy and touch me, take me in your arms and hold me,
so come on boy and touch me, give a little love and feel me,
my love for you is true, i can't get through, if i can have you by my side
whatever happens to, this is the night, our night.
you know that loving feeling, that makes us hit the cealing,
let your hearts beat silent words of love
so come on boy and touch me, take me in your arms and hold me,
so come on boy and touch me, give a little love and feel me,
my love for you is true, i can't get through, if i can have you by my side
whatever happens to, this is the night, our night.
The lyrics to Baccara's song "Touch Me" express the desire for love and physical intimacy with someone who is shy and perhaps hesitant to reciprocate those feelings. The singer is drawn to the other person's "magic in [their] eyes" and is led to believe that it's not time to say goodbye. There is a sense of paradise and beauty in their connection, reflected in the line "it dress my heart," which seems to suggest that the feeling of love is transformative and transcendent.
The lyrics speak to the power of physical touch in expressing love and affection, as the singer repeatedly implores the "boy" to "touch me" and "take me in your arms and hold me." There is a sense of urgency and need in their love for each other, as the singer can't imagine getting through life without having the other person by their side. The notion of this being their night, "whatever happens to," suggests a sense of determination and a seizing of the moment, despite any potential obstacles in the future.
Overall, the lyrics to "Touch Me" capture the longing and passion of two people drawn to each other and the importance of physical touch and connectivity in expressing their love.
Line by Line Meaning
Some kind of magic in your eyes,
The way you look at me makes me feel like there's something special between us,
tells me its not time to say goodbye,
Your eyes tell me that you don't want to leave yet, that there's still something important we need to do
like a call of paradise,
It feels like we're being pulled towards something wonderful, like a paradise waiting for us
it dress my heart , why do you stay so shy,
Your presence fills my heart with joy, but I wish you would be more open about your feelings
he knows that loving feeling, it make us hit the cealing,
The feeling of love is powerful and intense, it can make us feel like we're soaring to great heights
let your hearts beat silent words of love
Let's show our love through actions and feelings rather than words
so come on boy and touch me, take me in your arms and hold me,
I want you to show me that you care, by holding me close to you
give a little love and feel me,
Show me that you love me by showing me physical affection
my love for you is true, i can't get through, if i can have you by my side
I love you deeply, and I need you to be there for me to get through life
whatever happens to, this is the night, our night.
No matter what happens in the future, tonight is a special night for us
close your eyes, and so rely,
Trust me and close your eyes, I will take care of you
hold me tight and share a dream with me,
Embrace me and let's share our hopes and dreams together
keeping closer do my fire, things are different from what they seam to be,
Stay close to my heart, things may not be as they appear on the surface
you know that loving feeling, that makes us hit the cealing,
You feel it too, that intense feeling of love that makes us feel like we're flying
my love for you is true, i can't get through, if i can have you by my side
I need you in my life, your love is what helps me make it through each day
whatever happens to, this is the night, our night.
This is a special night that we will always remember, no matter what the future holds
so come on boy and touch me, take me in your arms and hold me,
I need you to show me physical affection, to hold me and let me know that you care
give a little love and feel me,
Show me your love through your actions, by touching and holding me
my love for you is true, i can't get through, if i can have you by my side
You are my rock, my everything, and I need you to be by my side to make it through life
whatever happens to, this is the night, our night.
This is our special night, a night we'll always remember with fondness
Contributed by Alexander W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Bloody Peach
Here is what I can understand, there are some words that I cannot understand :
Superpowers ... everything
They will never put a computer in my heart
'cause another heart was here
A world of .... magic
I born again
Lots of power never needs electricity
I will never let a computer love for me
and if you did lot of trends
you can feel your heart and soul in bodypants
Mari Zet
¡Qué buena música! Estuve escuchando a las Baccara originales, que tenían voces muy dulces, pero me gustan más estas canciones mas ochentosas de las New Baccara.
berk can
Underrated but a very beautiful song from late 80s. Love it. ❤️
rayooo blanco
80´s never die
Sabina Colque
Buenos temas para recordár
언제나지금처럼
넘치는 리듬과 쉬운 멜로디, 매번들어도 질리지 않아, 이 언니들 판타시보이, 콜미업 대단함. 만수무강하세요..
64214Jose
Super song. Love it.
Miguel Figueroa
Love this song.
Lëësly Rødrigez 14
Temazo lo amoo 🖤🌹
Gabriel Gamarra . Vip
Tremendo Tema !!!
Patrick Work
Love this song.