Camilo Sesto: Life on top of the charts

Flashback Fridays

What do all of the following songs have in common? “Algo de Mi”, “Amor….Amar”, “Melina”, “Quieres Ser Mi Amante?”, “Jamas”, “El Amor de Mi Vida”, “Perdoname”, “Donde Estas, Con Quien Estes”, “Amor de Mujer”, “Amor Mio”, “Que me has Hecho”? There are a few more titles but then I wouldn’t have space for anything else.

The answer? All number one hits by legendary Spanish crooner, Camilo Sesto. In total, he has the world record for most number one hits worldwide, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Word has it that he also has the record for most undergarments thrown at him at live events, but those claims have never been confirmed.

Now, if you’ve never heard of Camilo Sesto, or at least heard of at least one of his songs, I think it’s safe to assume that you live miles away from the nearest sound system or any other electrical appliance and you aren’t reading this anyway. Having said that, I’ll spare you the details about Camilo’s early life since we probably already know enough about him to classify most of us as a friend, family member, or in some cases, obsessed stalker.

He moved to Los Angeles in 1970 to further pursue a career that he began a few years earlier in his native country, Spain. Before then he was part of two pop bands, and starred in a production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Since moving to the U.S., Sesto released nineteen albums in less than fifteen years, with most of them topping the charts in several markets around the world. Aside from topping charts around the world, he can also lay claim to the fact that most – if not all – of his songs came from his own inspiration,  as he wrote, composed and produced them himself. Since 1991, he has released eight additional albums, not including several greatest hits compilations.

Camilo Sesto recently decided to call it a career, and has begun to tour the U.S. and Latin America for a series of Farewell Concerts. He is currently in the Southwest moving on to Puerto Rico, Chicago and will finally close out his U.S. tour at the Izod Center in New Jersey, so if you want to catch history in the making, look up his tour dates and go!

The feature video accompanying this article is probably Camilo Sesto’s most popular song, entitled “Perdoname” (“Forgive Me”), which debuted in 1981 out of his “Mas y Mas” album.

One can’t help but be moved by the songs powerful lyrics, but to hear them interpreted by Sesto is enough to give the listener goosebumps and moved to tears. One particular performance comes to mind in which the singer couldn’t even get through the song after dedicating it to his mother who was in the audience, constantly breaking down and backing away from the mic to regain his composure. He received a standing ovation from the audience, knowing how deep that song was and the strength it took on Sesto’s behalf to even consider performing that song for his mom. break out the tissue and enjoy this week’s edition of Flashback Friday.