OV7

OV7 was a Latin pop group from Mexico that lasted 14 years and had several hits in the Latin American charts,The group was also known as the most important pop group of mexico.

Band Members

The group consisted of Mariana Ochoa, born in Mexico City; Ari Borovoy, born in Mexico City; M'Balia Marichal, born in Texas; Lidia Avila, born in Empalme, Sonora, Puebla; Kalimba Marichal, born in Mexico City (he is the younger brother of bandmember M'Balia); Erika Zaba, born in Mexico City, and Oscar Schwebel, born in Ixtapan de la Sal, Edo. de México. The group had several other members that lasted less than 1 album with the group. Daniel Vasquez, was one member that lasted until the creation of OV7 before departing and Kalimba taking his place.

History

OV7 followed a trend started during the 1980s by another pop group Timbiriche. In 1989, Mexican singer and producer 'Julissa', decided to do her own version of 'Grease' or 'Vaselina' (in Spanish). After the season finished, Julissa decided to form a group based on the play, following the trend set by 'Timbiriche', she founded 'La Onda Vaselina'. Shortly after, they recorded their first album, with remarkable success and with singles like, 'Que Buen Reventon' (their first single) and 'Que triste es el Primer Adios', that became big hits during the early 1990s. With their first album they sold over 100,000 copies, and had a successful tour. Their second album: 'Onda Vaselina 2', was one of the most successful albums of the 90's in Mexico, with popular hits that became public domain, such as: 'El Calendario' and 'Voy Voy Voy'. Their next album was, 'Dulces Para Ti', which was followed by a set of live shows in one of Mexico City's most important venues, the 'Teatro Aldama'. The album's biggest hits were 'Tu Seras Mi Baby' and 'La Llorona Loca'.

Their fourth album was a 'Regional Mexican music' album named: 'Que se pongan botas y se quiten tenis' (Put some boots on and lose the tennis shoes). The biggest hit of the album was the song of the same name. The group had also several hits in Spain from that album like: "Te rogamos señor", "La rompecorazones" and "Tomás".

OV7 took a long break after that, and then came back with a more mature sound, during their teenage years. They came out with 'HOY' (Today), an album that was targeted for the teen market. It featured alternative rock songs mixed with pop and strong lyrics. Hits were 'Sube y baja', 'Perdon' and 'Hoy'. The album flopped and the group decided to take a long break, in which they also considered to split.

In 1998 Onda Vaselina made a huge come back with a strong album that made history in the Mexican charts: 'Entrega Total'. The album sent the group back to the #1 spot not only in Mexico, but the rest of Latin America, The biggest hits were 'Mirame A Los Ojos', 'Un Pie Tras Otro Pie' and 'Te Quiero Tanto Tanto', which peaked at #1 in the Billboard Latin Chart. Still today both songs are played in clubs and weddings throughout Latin America. The group had a tour in Spain and other cities from Latin America. The group also toured and filled the Auditorio Nacional 4 times, while they released their album 'Vuela Mas Alto' which had the hit: 'No Es Obsession'. After Vuela Mas Alto, Onda Vaselina decided to take a break and finished their relations with their manager and creator Julissa.

After 2 years went by, and Onda Vaselina were ready to come back without Julissa. For legal reasons, they switched their name to OV7 (which stands for Onda Vaselina 7, for the number of members) and released their first single 'Enloqueceme' and their album 'CD 00', which was one of the biggest albums in Mexican history, and this time, they filled the Auditorio Nacional 10 times. At the time the group reached the #1 spot throughout Latin America with singles like 'Shabadabada', 'Mas Que Amor', 'Jam' and the hit 'Enloqueceme'. The album sold 2 million copies in Mexico and contained an English speaking single 'Angelica' that was never released.

As being Mexico's biggest pop group, they tried to make the 'crossover' to the English speaking market with an English version of their new single 'Love Colada' which was the first single from their album 'Siete Latidos' (Seven Beats). The song was only released for promotion in North America and due to group problems with Televisa, they promoted it in Latin America with average success. The group was invited to collaborate in the 2002 World Cup Official Album with the track: 'Bringing The World Back Home'. After solving their problems with Televisa, they returned "home" with the soundtrack of a child soap opera "Vivan los niños" that was a remake of "Carrusel de las Americas", a successful soap opera in Latin America.

In November 2002, the group announced their plans to split up live at Operacion Triunfo TV show. Followed by a Greatest Hits CD ,'Punto', in 2003, OV7 had a farewell tour and officially split up in June 2003 after 14 years of being together.

The Documentary

In 2006 , Director Carlos Markovich released the documentary Cuatro Labios (Four Lips), that recounted the last days of the groups, as well as revealing details of the split. The documentary insinuated that the band finished their relation with Julissa, because of her temper and control problems, as well as the truth behind the split, in which it is showed through interviews how several members of the band did not wanted to split, and would in fact, continue to be in the band for a long time. It also mentioned how other members did not want to continue with the project and in fact, had other new projects on the works. Among those members who did not want to split, it is confirmed through interviews that members, Mariana, Erika and Oscar did not want the group to split.

M'balia is barely portrayed in the documentary, causing controversy about her feeling towards the split of the group, however in a special edition of Mexican talk show Otro Rollo, M'balia is the first to break in tears and admit that the band is in fact not ok, leading to a very sentimental interview in which all of the members broke out in tears. The documentary was released in DVD in December 2006 throughout Mexico and received mixed reviews from the associated press.

Trivia

• The group lasted in fact 14 years, and it was rumored in 2004, that Guinness Records have been considering giving the group the record as the "Longest career in a Choreograph/Singing Latin Pop Group".

• The group's last show was in June 2003 in Ensenada, Baja California.

• It is stated in the documentary that the group's demise started the day the group signed a deal with Tommy Mottola who told them he was going to make them "the world's most popular group".

• Member Daniel Vazquez lasted 11 years with the band, but decided to stay with manager Julissa after they finished their contract with them.

• To Lidia Avila's wedding only three band members attended, Oscar, Erika and M'Balia.

• The song "Enloqueceme" was the most played song in Venezuela's radio in 2000.

Discography

Studio Albums

Onda Vaselina's Albums

Year	Album	Record's Sales	Singles
1989	La Onda Vaselina	250,000	Que Buen Reventón Que Triste Es El Primer Adiós
1990	Susanita tiene un ratón (Maxi-Single)	200,000	Susanita Tiene Un Ratón
1991	La Onda Vaselina 2	300,000	El Calendario Me Siento Bethoven Voy, Voy, Voy
1992	Dulces para ti	200,000	México a Bailar Tu Serás mi Baby La Llorona Loca Juego del Amor
1993	La Banda Rock	350,000	Póngase Botas, Quiténse Tenis El Pachangón La Cucaracha Tomás
1994	Nace Andrea
1995	Hoy	100,000	Sube y baja Perdón
1997	Entrega Total	1,300,000	Un Pie Tras Otro Pie Mírame a los Ojos Te quiero tanto, tanto Entrega Total Tus Besos
1998	Vuela Más Alto	1,200,000	Vuela más alto No es obsesión Caleidoscópico

OV7's Albums

Year	Album	Record's Sales	Singles
2000	CD 00	2,000,000	Enloquéceme Shabadabada Más que amor Shake Shake
2001	Siete Latidos	1,000,000	Love Colada Aum Aum Te Necesito Tengo el control
2003	Punto (album)	800,000	No Me Voy

Albums

La Onda Vaselina (1989) 250,000

Susanita Tiene Un Raton (1990) 200,000

La Onda Vaselina 2 (1991) 300,000

Dulces Para Ti (1992) 200,000

La Banda Rock (1993) 350,000

Nace Andrea (1994)

Hoy (1995) 100,000

Entrega Total (1997) 1,300,000

Vuela Mas Alto (1998) 1,200,000

CD 00 (2000) 2,000,000

Ov7 en Directo Rush [Live](2001) 500,000

Siete Latidos (2001) 1,000,000

Punto (2003) 800,000

Singles

Que Buen Reventon (1989)

Mi Novio Volvio (1989)

Vamos Al Mar (1989)

Que Triste Es El Primer Adios (1990)

Susanita Tiene Un Raton (1990)

El Calendario (1991)

Me Siento Bethoven (1991)

Voy Voy Voy (1991)

Mexico A Bailar (1992)

Tu Seras Mi Baby (1992)

La Llorona Loca (1992)

Juego Del Amor (1992)

Pongase Botas Quitense Tenis (1993)

El Pachangon (1993)

La Cucaracha (1993)

Tomas (1993)

Perdon (1995)

Sube Y Baja (1995)

Mirame A Los Ojos (1997)

Un Pie Tras Otro Pie (1997)

Aunque Muera Por Ti (1997)

Te Quiero Tanto Tanto (1998)

Tus Besos (1998)

Extragrande (1998)

Vuela Mas Alto (1998)

No Es Obsesion (1998)

Caleidoscopico (1999)

Eduacion Sentimental (1999)

Desconectate

Enloqueceme (2000)

Shabadabada (2000)

Mas Que Amor (2000)

Jam (2000)

Como Eres (2001)

Rush (2001)

Shake Shake (2001)

Love Colada (2001)

Aum Aum (2002)

Te Necesito (2002)

Tengo El Control (2002)

No Me Voy (2003)