| Alpha | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1986 | |||
| Genre | Latin pop, pop rock | |||
| Length | 32:16 | |||
| Language | Spanish | |||
| Label | G.P. Productions | |||
| Producer | A.B. Quintanilla | |||
| Selena y Los Dinos chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Alpha | ||||
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Alpha is the second independent studio album by American Tejano music group Selena y Los Dinos. Released in 1986 under Manny Guerra's G.P. Productions, it followed the group’s debut album, which was recorded under Freddie Records. Selena y Los Dinos, led by vocalist Selena, recorded mostly cover songs. Wanting to stand out, bassist A.B. Quintanilla requested original material from Luis Silva after noticing his track record for writing award-winning songs. Silva ignored A.B.'s request and he was inspired by Abraham to write songs himself. The group expanded to include keyboardist Ricky Vela and guitarist Roger Garcia. Vela collaborated with A.B. on "Dame un Beso", while he collaborated with Abraham on "Dame tu Amor". A.B. became Selena y Los Dinos' music producer and songwriter, while Abraham encouraged them to record songs of various genres to appeal to a wider audience. Despite her limited Spanish, Selena recorded all nine tracks phonetically.
"Dame un Beso" was released on radio and generated considerable airplay, becoming Selena's first commercially acclaimed single of her career. It reached number one on radio stations in El Paso, Texas. The song was nominated at the 1987 Tejano Music Awards for Single of the Year and Song of the Year. Alpha led Selena to be nominated for the Tejano Music Award for Female Vocalist of the Year and win the Tejano Music Award for Female Entertainer of the Year. The group's struggles during the production of the album was dramatized by Christian Serratos and Gabriel Chavarria as Selena and A.B., respectively in Netflix's two-part limited drama, Selena: The Series (2020–21). The tracks "Dame un Beso" and "Dame tu Amor" experienced a resurgence in popularity in the 21st century; the former peaked at number 25 on the US Billboard Latin Digital Song Sales chart in 2020, while the latter peaked at number 31 on the Hot Ringtones chart in 2006.