1100 Bel Air Place
1100 Bel Air Place was designed as Julio Iglesias breakthrough to the American audience, finding the Latin superstar recording with producer Richard Perry -- the architect behind blockbusters by Barbra Streisand Ringo Starr and Harry Nilsson -- and duetting with such established American superstars as Diana Ross Stan Getz the Beach Boys and Willie Nelson The latter, of course, provided Iglesias with the key to his crossover with a duet on Hal David and Albert Hammond s "To All the Girls I've Loved Before," a song that became ubiquitous in 1984. If 1100 Bel Air Place is a bit too tied to that year -- not just through the presence of its blockbuster hit, but also through Perry s cavernous '80s production, a brittle affair where even studio pros sound like synthesizers -- it is nevertheless a testament to the commercial savviness of all involved. Perry captured the sound of adult contemporary radio circa 1984 just perfectly, creating the ideal vehicle for Iglesias smooth vocals, which skirted just on the edge of being schmaltzy but never went over that edge. The material was well selected -- heavy on Hammond songs, including his other signature song "The Air That I Breathe" and "Moonlight Lady," and it was expertly executed according the conventions of mid-'80s soft rock As a matter of fact, apart from "Me Va, Me Va" (also written by Hammond and the accent in Iglesias voice, this could pass as a straight-up adult contemporary record from the '80s -- which is why it was a hit, turning Iglesias into a true star in America, the one market he hadn't conquered -- but it's also why 1100 Bel Air Place may sound a little too dated to some ears: it is truly, thoroughly, an artifact of its time. But according to those standards, it works very well, and even if the sound of the record don't necessarily hold up, it's still easy to listen to this and realize exactly how it made Julio Iglesias a star in 1984. [1100 Bel Air Place was reissued in 2006 in a remastered version containing a bonus track, "I Don't Want to Wake You." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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Credits »
Jeremy Lubbock - String Arrangements
Albert Hammond - Associate Producer
Nicky Hopkins - Arranger
John Barnes - Arranger
John Barnes - Track Arrangement
Robbie Buchanan - Arranger
Robbie Buchanan - Track Arrangement
Erich Bulling - Horn Arrangements
Erich Bulling - Brass Arrangement
Terry Christian - Engineer
Michel Colombier - Arranger
Michel Colombier - String Arrangements
Michel Colombier - Track Arrangement
Didier C. Deutsch - Reissue Producer
Larry Ferguson - Engineer
Humberto Gatica - Engineer
Humberto Gatica - Mixing
Randy Kerber - Arranger
Randy Kerber - String Arrangements
Randy Kerber - Track Arrangement
Richard Perry - Producer
Richard Perry - Original Recording Producer
Wally Traugott - Mastering
Gabe Veltri - Engineer
Suzie Katayama - Copyist
Ramon Arcusa - Arranger
Ramon Arcusa - Producer
Ramon Arcusa - Track Arrangement
Ramon Arcusa - Original Recording Producer
Steve Schmitt - Engineer
Jules Chaikin - Contractor
Harry Langdon - Photography
Michael Brooks - Engineer
Tony Renis - Arranger
Stuart Furusho - Engineer
Vlado Meller - Reissue Producer
Vlado Meller - Mastering
Roger Menz - Project Director
Stan Getz - Soloist
Brian Wilson - Vocal Arrangement
Leila Cobo - Liner Notes
Art Paul Schlosser - Copyist
Bobby Gerber - Assistant Engineer
Tom Burleigh - Project Director
Andres Victorin - Copyist
Julie Adams - Dialect Coach
Bill Scheniman - Engineer
Larry Greenhill - Engineer
Tom Fouce - Engineer
Paulinho Da Costa - Percussion Arrangement
Lillian Glass - Dialect Coach
Javier Paz - Design
David Dubow - Assistant Engineer
John Rosenberg - Contractor
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