Las Chicas Del Can
Encyclopedia
Las Chicas Del Can is an all-female merengue
Merengue music
Merengue is a type of music and dance from the Dominican Republic. It is popular in the Dominican Republic and all over Latin America. Its name is Spanish, taken from the name of the meringue, a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar...

 group from Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...

, Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

. Originally created by Wilfrido Vargas
Wilfrido Vargas
Wilfrido Radamés Vargas Martínez was born in Altamira, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.He was surrounded by musical influences; namely, his father Ramón, an accordionist and guitarist, and his mother Bienvenida, a flute player and guitarist...

, several teams of female vocalists and musicians have alternately performed under the name Las Chicas del Can throughout the group's history.

Originally founded in 1982, Las Chicas del Can performed hit after hit throughout the eighties, and a great number of their singles and albums achieved gold and/or platinum status. Hits such as El Negro No Puede, La Media María, Sukaína, Juana la Cubana, Culeca, Ta' Pillao, Fuego, Fiebre, and Las Pequeñas Cosas are now considered "classics" of merengue music.

Lead singer Belkis Concepción left the group early in its history to go solo in 1985. Singers Míriam Cruz (the uncrowned queen of the Merengue) and Eunice Betances then teamed up and got vocal support from, among others, Luchy Betances (younger sister of Eunice) and Verónica Medina. Medina herself then went solo in 1987.

In 1993, the group reinvented itself under the name Míriam Cruz y Las Chicas. The first year under that name, they produced a successful album entitled Nueva Vida featuring a hitsong written by superstar Juan Luis Guerra
Juan Luis Guerra
Juan Luis Guerra is a singer, songwriter and producer from the Dominican Republic who has sold over 30 million records, and won numerous awards including 12 Latin Grammy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and two Latin Billboard Music Awards...

, Te Propongo. Later that year, La Loba was also well received by merengue fans and quickly became another hit. A European tour soon followed. In 1994 Miriam Cruz y Las Chicas scored another hit with the song Con Agua de Sal, and 1995 brought another successful European tour.

Meanwhile, the original name was kept alive by a music industry manager who discovered a group of new and talented young ladies who would carry the torch for Las Chicas del Can and leave their own indelible mark on merengue music. In 1993, Michell Flores, Adalgisa Baez and Florángel del Villar teamed up to keep the legacy alive. This stage was incredible, the new girls were hailed as the "Monumental", travelling around the world, taking up issues of the former incarnation such as "Juana la Cubana" and introducing as his protagonist a young Costa Rican trumpeter Ana Retana. Item icon that band whatsoever at any stage, it is noteworthy that Michell Flores is a native of Guatemala, was a young singer with promise of becoming a figure at the international level. They made a furor with the hit tunes Voy Pa' allá, Hacer el Amor Con Otro, Celoso, Explosivo and Sin Compromiso. After the albums Botando Chispas (1994) and Derramando Sueños (1996) were made, Michell Flores went solo, and the second formation of Las Chicas del Can broke up in 1998.

Las Chicas del Can was eventually reformed a third time in 1999, but it was never able to achieve the success of earlier formations and fell apart that same year. To date, the first formation of Las Chicas Del Can (with front ladies Míriam Cruz, Eunice Betances and Theresa Domínguez) has proven the most successful of all.

Discography
  • Belkis y Las Chicán (1982, Karen Records)
  • Chicán (1985, Karen Records)
  • Pegando Fuego (1986, Karen Records)
  • Mi General (1987, Sonotone Records)
  • Caribe (1988, Sonotone Records)
  • Sumbaleo (1990, Sonotone/Bomba Records)
  • Juana La Cubana (1990, Bomba Records)
  • Nada Común (1991, TH-Rodven Records/Sonotone Records)
  • Explosivo (1992, TH-Rodven Records)
  • Platino (1994, Rodven Records)
  • Botando Chispas (1994)
  • Con Mucha Potencia (1994)
  • Los Años Dorados (1995, Karen Publishing Co.)
  • Oro Merenguero (1996, Rodven/PolyGram Records)
  • Derramando Sueños (1996, Rodven/PolyGram Records)
  • Las Chicán (1997, Palma Music, Inc.)
  • Nuevos Remixes (1997)
  • Todo Éxitos (1998, Palma Music)
  • Te Quiero Ver (1998, Pa'ti Pa'mi records)
  • Botando Chispa! (1999, Palma Music)
  • Caribe (1999, Palma Music)
  • 17 Años (2000, Palma Music)
  • Lo Mejor de: Las Chicas del Can (2002, Orfeón Videovox, S. A.)

External links

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