As disco became an important part of the international music business, European producers began working in exotic flavors into the disco beat to create unique and competitive recordings. A good example of this trend is Santa Esmeralda, a Spanish-themed studio group that wove elements of flamenco, salsa, and other Latin musical styles into its Euro-disco sound. Although the group's sound was about as genuinely Spanish as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (Santa Esmeralda was the brainchild of French record producers), the result was a crossover success that spawned several club-favorite albums and a notable pop hit in the band's Latinized cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood".

Despite her Latin heritage, Joan Baez probably wouldn't have been encouraged by her 1960s record label, the New York-based independent Vanguard, to sing an entire album in Spanish. At A&M Records, the Los Angeles firm co-founded by Herb Alpert that she joined in the early '70s, however, it would have been a different story, and it was A&M that released Gracias a la Vida ("Here's to Life") in 1974. Baez demonstrates an affinity for Mexican folk music on such obvious choices as "Cucurrucucu Paloma," but it's no surprise that, a year after the assassination of leading nueva canción folksinger Victor Jara in a military coup in Chile, an atrocity that shocked the American folk community, she has not backed away from her political commitments…

The singularity of Dionne Warwick is defined by what the singer isn't as much as what she is. Although Warwick grew up singing in church, she is not a gospel singer. Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan are clear influences, but she is not a jazz singer. R&B is also part of her background, yet she is not really a soul singer, either, at least not in the sense that Aretha Franklin was. Sophisticated is a word often used to describe Warwick's musical approach and the music she sings, but she is not a singer of standards such as Lena Horne or Nancy Wilson. A pop singer of a sort with an aching yet detached alto voice, In all likelihood, Warwick could only have emerged out of the Brill Building environment of post-Elvis Presley, pre-Beatles pop in the early '60s. That's when she hooked up with Burt Bacharach and Hal David, songwriters and producers who tailored their unusually complicated songs for her distinctive instrument.

The breakout star from the burgeoning Romanian dance scene that has also spawned the likes of Alexandra Stan and Edward Maya, permanently scantily clad Inna has been pivotal in restoring some musical pride to a country whose only previous notable contribution to the pop landscape was the Cheeky Girls. Produced by regular cohorts Play & Win, her second album, I Am the Club Rocker, picks up where her debut, Hot, left off, with 13 sun-soaked Europop tracks that appear destined to blare out of various Club 18-30 hotspots until the inevitable 6-a.m. stagger back to the hotel.

This compilation by Santana, reissue in Canada in 1994 as part of the Prime Cuts Rock Legends series.

Santana is the primary exponent of Latin-tinged rock, particularly due to its combination of Latin percussion with bandleader Carlos Santana's distinctive, high-pitched lead guitar playing. The group was the last major act to emerge from the psychedelic San Francisco music scene of the 1960s and it enjoyed massive success at the end of the decade and into the early '70s. In 1998, Santana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band has earned nine Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards, the latter all in 2000. Carlos also won a Grammy Award as a solo artist in 1988. Santana has sold more than 90 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling groups of all time.

Eliane Elias' debut as a leader (she had been a member of Steps Ahead) finds her abandoning the electric keyboards in favor of acoustic piano. On seven songs she is joined by bassist Eddie Gomez and either Al Foster or Steve Gadd on drums; the remaining two selections feature her accompanied by bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White. With harmonica great Toots Thielemans making guest appearances on two numbers, Elias was at the time easily the least-known of the players on her own CD. However the pianist was already far along toward developing her own sound as she shows on four originals, two obscurities, Herbie Hancock's "Chan's Song," Blossom Dearie's "Sweet Georgia Fame" and the standard "Falling in Love with Love." A fine start to a significant solo career.