La Incondicional

"La Incondicional" (The Unconditional") is a pop song written, produced, and arranged by Spanish Juan Carlos Calderón and performed by Mexican singer Luis Miguel. It was released in 1989 as the third single from his studio album entitled Busca una Mujer (1988) and became his second #1 single on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart after "Ahora Te Puedes Marchar" in 1987. The song broke several airplay records in Latin America reaching the top of the charts in Mexico (where it became the biggest hit of the year), Argentina and Chile among many other countries.[1] The success of the song helped push the album to #3 on the Billboard Latin Pop Albums with approximate sales of four million units.[2]

"La Incondicional"
Single by Luis Miguel
from the album Busca una Mujer
B-side"Separados"
Released1989 (1989)
FormatAirplay · Promo single
Recorded1987-1988
StudioEstudios 55
Ocean Way Recording Studios
Suma Music Group
(Hollywood, California)
Torres Sonido
(Madrid, Spain)
Mediterranean Sound Studio
(Ibiza, Spain)
GenreLatin
Length4:27
LabelWEA Latina
Songwriter(s)Juan Carlos Calderón
Producer(s)Juan Carlos Calderón
Luis Miguel singles chronology
"Separados"
(1988)		 "La Incondicional"
(1989)		 "Un Hombre Busca Una Mujer"
(1989)

"La Incondicional" won Pop Song of the Year at the Premios Lo Nuestro in 1990.[3] In 2008, VH1 Latin America aired the program entitled The 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s in Spanish which declared "La Incondicional" as the #1 Spanish track of the 1980s.[4]

Chart performance

The song debuted on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart at #32 the week of April 1, 1989. After its first week at #32, it dropped out of the chart for one week but then reentered the following week at #36 and climbed all the way to the Top Ten the week of May 6, 1989.[5] "La Incondicional" reached #1 the week of May 27, 1989, and held this position for seven consecutive weeks (replacing "Cómo Tú" by José José and being replaced by "Baila Mi Rumba" by José Luis Rodríguez.[6] "La Incondicional" ranked third in the Hot Latin Tracks Year-End Chart of 1989 and became Luis Miguel's second #1 single in the United States following "Ahora Te Puedes Marchar" which reached #1 two years earlier.[7] In Latin America, reached number-one on the Guatemalan Spanish Charts and in Ecuador.[8][9] The song was certified gold in Mexico.[10]

Music video

A music video was directed by Pedro Torres, and was one of the first super-productions presented in Mexico. The music video was filmed in locations of Heroico Colegio Militar in Mexico City. The story was about a man who serves for the Mexican Air Force in his country, and separates from the love of his life. The music video surprised some of his fans because Luis Miguel's look at the time had him sport a semi-long hair, yet in the video he appears with a very short military hairstyle. It was included in Grandes Exitos Videos. In the long version of the music video, Luis Miguel is having his hair cut to simulate military standards.

Cover versions

"La Incondicional" has been covered by several performers including the All Stars Big Band, Miguel Angel, Austin, Banda Viejo Oeste, Richard Clayderman, Ernesto D'Alessio, Estilo de Durango, Fabian, Florida, Mikel Herzog, Juan Gotti, the Latin Stars Orchestra, the Latin Tribute Players, Edith Márquez, Los Nietos, Nu Flavor, La Posta, Emilio Santiago, and Tropical Florida.[11][12]

Sergio Vargas of the Dominican Republic also recorded a tropical merengue version of the song which was included on his self-titled fourth album.[13] This version peaked at #28 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in 1990.[14]

Spanish singer Elsa Ríos included a version of the song on her 2007 album also entitled La Incondicional which was a Juan Carlos Calderón tribute album.[15] The album peaked at #61 on the Spanish Album Chart.[16]

Taiwan-born, Hong Kong-based singer Sally Yeh also recorded a Cantopop version titled 他(Him) for her 1990 album 珍重 sung in the Chinese language of Cantonese.

References
  1. "Luis Miguel". EsMas.com (in Spanish). Comercio Mas, S.A. de C.V. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  2. AMPROFON. "Los 100 Discos Más Vendidos de la Década de los 80s" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  3. "Premios Lo Nuestro (1990)". Univision (in Spanish). Univision Communications, Inc. Archived from the original on 2010-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  4. "Las 100 Canciones Más Grandiosas de los '80s en Español". Taringa.com (in Spanish). Interactive Advertising Bureau. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  5. "La Incondicional — Week of May 6, 1989". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1989-05-06. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  6. "La Incondicional — Week of May 27, 1989". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1989-05-27. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
  7. "Luis Miguel  — Charts and awards". Allmusic. Macromedia Corporation. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  8. "Los Super Favoritos". Crónica (in Spanish). Guatemala City, Guatemala: Anahté, S.A (68–69, 71–80): 70. 1989.
  9. "Top Ten Hit Parade". La Revista Otra (in Spanish). Guayaquil, Ecuador: Editorial Umiña de Ecuador (65–67, 69–75): 499. 1989.
  10. "Certificaciones" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Retrieved 2015-09-29. Type Luis Miguel in the box under the ARTISTA column heading and ' in the box under TÍTULO
  11. "La Incondicional — Performers". Allmusic. Macromedia Corporation. Archived from the original on September 7, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  12. "Un Regalo de Amor - Mikel Herzog". LesCharts.com. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  13. "Sergio Vargas (1989)". Allmusic. Macromedia Corporation. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  14. "Sergio Vargas — Charts and awards". Allmusic. Macromedia Corporation. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  15. "Elsa Rios - La Incondicional". Allmusic. Macromedia Corporation. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  16. "Elsa Rios - La Incondicional - Music charts". aCharts.us. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
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