Love Maniac (album)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Love Maniac

Studio album by Maria Conchita Alonso
Released	1979
Genre	Disco
Label	Polydor
Producer	Rudy La Scala

This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2008)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Love Maniac is the first album by Maria Conchita Alonso. It was released on 1979 as a collaboration with Italo-Venezuelan producer Rudy La Scala, under the nickname of Ambar. The album was recorded in English and the songs were influenced by Donna Summer and other disco music artists from that era.

The album has a similar structure of Donna Summer's first albums, as Side A includes a 17 minutes long version of the title track. Side B includes the ballad "Together To Heaven Or Hell", where Rudy La Scala performs the lead vocals. Also included is the "Sweet Lover" trilogy, with "Sweet Lover (Part 1.)" and "Sweet Lover (Part 3.)" being disco stompers and "Sweet Lover (Part 2.)" being a slow tempo number with spoken vocals. An alternate version of "Together To Heaven Or Hell", featuring Alonso on lead vocals, was released later in 1984, in the Greatest Hits compilation "Te Amo".

Alonso was already popular in Venezuela, after being crowned Miss Venezuela in 1975 and starring in a number of soap operas. However, local artists recording in English was somewhat of a novelty in Venezuela back then, the market was very competitive and the experts feared people wouldn't take her seriously as a singer. Keeping that in mind, the record label decided not to use Alonso's picture on the cover for the promo single and the release of the song was surrounded by mystery. The marketing strategy paid off and the song went to become a hit, topping the Venezuelan charts in September of that year.

The album has only been released on 12" vinyl and cassette, and is currently out of print.