The call from Armando Manzanero that changed Aranza's life forever

Just when Aranza was about to give up and abandon his music career forever, he received a phone call that would change the course of his life.

It was 1997, and by that time the Mexican singer had already recorded two albums as a soloist, and before that, she had achieved relative success with her group “Zarabanda”, with which she recorded the theme song for the soap opera. Reach the second starWhich took her on a tour with the actors through several cities in the country.

But his career didn't go anywhere. The record company I worked for was frozen, with no promotion or future plans.

“I was very bad, and very disappointed,” she admitted in a recent interview with Quora Nilda Rodriguez. “One day, I literally started talking to God and said to Him: ‘Let’s see, if you want me to continue devoting myself to this, give me a sign, because I can’t do it anymore, I’m tired.’”

On the same day, when he was returning home after recording some choruses for another singer's album, he heard the phone ring.

“It turned out that he was the head of Sony Studios (…) He said to me ‘Hey, notice that Maestro Armando Manzanero is here with me and wants to meet you. “I said, 'Oh, stop bothering me.' He was in a bad mood.”

But it was true. On the other side of the line, Maestro Manzanero asked him to meet him, because he had heard “Mentiras y Tears”, the single from his first album, which had managed to sneak into the pop charts in Mexico and other Central American countries.

The singer-songwriter told him: “I want to suggest something to you. I want you to come and listen to a song I wrote for a TV series, and see if you'd be interested in singing it.”

Aranza clearly accepted the invitation, without imagining the scale of the project in front of her.

That song was “Dame”, the main theme of Woman's lookone of the most important television series in the history of Televisión Azteca.

“You have to sing this song”

“I arrived, I met him and we recognized each other immediately. I think we already knew each other from another life, from other adventures, because we sat at the piano. He started humming 'Dime' and he said to me 'You sing' like an older woman. I like that.” A lot” and we recorded a little test.

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Manzanero did not hesitate and assured him: “You have to sing the theme of these series.” But he couldn't make the decision on his own, so he asked for a week to consult with brand executives.

However, hours later, the teacher returned to the studio that same day. He came back and they recorded the song “Dame”.

But there was a problem. Although his record label made it clear to him that he was no longer part of their plans, they have yet to give him a retirement letter. Woman's look It would be broadcast in less than a week and she had to get that message at all costs.

“I signed but I knew the record company didn't want me anymore, and I was very clear about that, and the problem was getting the withdrawal letter. I was already canned because they weren't interested in working with me, but from that request letter it was something else. “When I asked for the letter I had to lie, I told them that I would not dedicate myself to this matter anymore, and that I was very disappointed (…) I think they felt so sorry for them and gave me the letter.”

He admitted, “I was about to miss this opportunity. Finally the series premiered, and the next day, I went out into the street and my life was different.”

When Aranza talks about Manzanero — with whom he later went on a world tour and recorded an album called “Solo Manzanero” and for which he was a producer — his eyes fill with tears.

“I don't know how I feel when I remember him, because he changed my life. In that moment he changed my life.”

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