Background and Production
"Bidi bidi bom bom", one of the first songs composed for Selena's fifth studio album Amor prohibido (1994), is regarded as Selena's signature song. It was written by Selena and backup dancer Pete Astudillo before being arranged by Roger Emerson. The song was produced by Selena's brother and music producer A.B. Quintanilla, her father and manager Abraham Quintanilla, Jr. and Bebu Silvetti; Brain "Red" Moore, a family friend, mixed the song. Selena recorded the song at Q-Productions, her father's recording studio, in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Due to the support of her previous album, Entre a mi mundo (1992), during the Entre a mi mundo Tour (1992–1993), Selena decided to sing a song which she had recently written. Initially, the song described a fish swimming freely in the ocean. Originally dubbed "Little Bidi Bubbles", then "Little Bubbles" and "Swim Swim Swim!", the song was a combination of roots reggae and cumbia music. It was used for sound checks at the band's rehearsals. Selena wanted to witness her fans' reactions to the song before completing it. Despite her fans' positive reactions, this version was not recorded following the tour. While gathering inspiration to release an exotic progressive album to help expand Selena's fan base, A.B. decided to complete "Little Bidi Bubbles". A.B. had wanted to finish the song as a Caribbean reggae song mixed with Colombian cumbia to attract fans from Latin America. Band members and Astudillo helped A.B. with writing the song, while Selena's widower Chris Perez helped gather Rock fusion and guitar solos into "Bidi bidi bom bom".
Within a couple of weeks of the lyrics completion in early 1994, Selena began recording her fifth studio album. A.B. was nervous about the song because the mixed compositions had never been done before for a Tejano artist. EMI Records had a difficult time picking the lead single for the album. Selena and EMI wanted "Amor prohibido" as the first single, whereas A.B. wanted "Bidi bidi bom bom" first, and he unsuccessfully tried to convince his sister and EMI. Selena had done takes for "Bidi bidi bom bom" at Q-Productions. The song took less than three days to record. After Selena was murdered, by which time she was working on a crossover album, EMI Latin wanted to release the unfinished album, but they were short of songs. A.B. had remixed the song for Dreaming of You (1995).
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