Search - Ana :: Body Language

What a voice!

Joseph Valenzuela | Chicago, IL United States | 11/25/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ana came to my attention after the major slew of teen girls had hit it big (Tifffany, Martika, Debbie Gibson) in the early 90s. Where had they been hiding this girl? Apparently she was big in Japan w/ her 87 (??) debut and had a minor dance hit w/ her single "Shy Boys".



Maurice Starr (the man behind NKOTB) took her under his wing and boy am I glad he did. Though she pretty much can be considered a "no-hit" wonder, she has a gift that can put the afore mentioned 80s teen queens to shame...her voice! This girl can sing!



BODY LANGUAGE is her sophmore effort and was produced in part by Maurice Starr, Deborah Gibson and Kiki Almaguer (??)/Héctor García (two ex-Miami Sound Machine members). The material itself does not differ that much from the other teen pop of the day, but I can say this enough, the voice that came out of this 16 year old was jaw-dropping. Imagine a Toni Braxton type voice coming out of this tiny girl. The first single "Got To Tell Me Something" peaked at #60 something, but another song got some airplay. That being the duet w/ ex-New Kid and Surreal Life alumni, Jordan Knight, "Angel of Love". I must admit the reason I actually bought this album in the first place was because my then obsessoin, Debbie Gibson, produced 2 tracks on this album. "Everytime We Say Goodbye" has to be one of my favorite songs of all time, of course it sounds very "Debbie" but Deborah only wishes she had a 1/4 of the power that comes of Ana's voice. Another example of this little lady's power comes via the ballad "Over and Over". Why she was not a star is beyond me. Life's not fair I guess. Since I am rambling, another noteworthy song is the title track (yes she had a "Body Langue" before Kylie).



So it's been nearly 14 years since the album was released. I always wondered what became of this girl w/ the booming voice. Turns out she's been reincarnated as Mia, a sexy Latin pop singer recording for Univision Records!!! There is a God! I'm glad she's been given a second chance, and that her voice has not gone to waste. For those of you just discovering Mia, I highly recommend checking out her previous teen pop fodder. Highly enjoyable."

A Forgotten, Unknown Gem

Cabir Davis | 07/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wow.



Not many people know of the existence of this flop album from 1990. Now, almost two decades after its' release, its almost impossible to find, and used copies go for hundreds of dollars on Ebay (if you're lucky).



Why is this so good?



Reason No. 1 : Jordan Knight. Ana, then virtually unknown (though VERY well known to readers of "Teen Beat") released a single with him called "Angel of Love" (a very 80s sounding synthetic ballad, but it works). This could be called the highlight of the album, but to me it was amongst the more generic of the songs here.



Reason No. 2 : Debbie Gibson. I had this magazine in 1990 that chronicled Debbie and Ana working together in the studio for a song called "Everytime we say Goodbye". When I got this album on cassette, I made it a point to hear this song first. This could have been a track from Debster's "Electric Youth" album - its just that good - and Ana's amazing voice only takes it to the next level. Simply wonderful.



Reason No. 3 : The last track - "Friendly" - this has GOT to be the most UNDERRATED track from the soundscape of 1990s female songstresses. It really is that good. Listen, and hum.



Well lets face it - not many people are ever going to own this album. I have a copy and I treasure it, because I remember the time when I was in my early teens and when pop music by Paula Abdul, NKOTB and Tiffany were clean, wholesome entertainment. This is a fantastic slice of that era, and I urge you to source out a copy from somewhere."