Santa Esmeralda

History

The band was formed in 1977 by French producers Nicolas Skorsky and Jean Manuel de Scarano, singer-songwriters who launched a label with the aim of producing artists who would record their compositions. Upon meeting singer Leroy Gómez in Paris, the duo recruited him for the group's first record, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", which debuted on the independent French label, Fauves Puma. A sudden success in Europe, the record was picked up for worldwide distribution by Casablanca Records. The song was originally written in 1964 for Nina Simone, but her version had failed to chart, and the song was picked up by British rock band the Animals the following year, to great success. Santa Esmeralda recast the song into the disco style of the era, and added Latin and flamenco elements. The song became a hit, first topping the U.S. disco chart and then matching the #15 peak of the Animals' version on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was certified gold. The flip side of the record featured the love ballad "You're My Everything" which was a popular request song on radio, where it received substantial airplay, even though it never charted. Despite the success of the record, Gomez did not record any subsequent records with Santa Esmeralda's original production team. After the band's first album, singer Jimmy Goings was brought in to replace Leroy Gomez. In late 1977, Santa Esmeralda scored a top 20 disco hit with a dance version of another song made famous by the Animals, "The House of the Rising Sun". In 1978, they recorded the song "Sevilla Nights" for the Thank God It's Friday soundtrack. In addition to their contribution to that hit soundtrack, their album The House of the Rising Sun also appeared on the Pop and Black charts that year. Following the success of their first two…