Santa Esmeralda was a US/French band that had a One-Hit Wonder with the single “Don’t Let me be Misunderstood” which peaked at #15 on the Billboard Charts in 1978.
The group had a number of hits on the Billboard Disco Charts in the 1970′s, but no other Top-40 hits.
“Don’t Let me be Misunderstood” had previously been recorded by both Nina Simone , and The Animals.
The song was featured in a prominent scene of the 2003 film “Kill Bill: Vol 1“, a scene in which Lucy Liu and Uma Thurman duel with Samurai Swords in a light snowfall. (Great Scene!)
Lead Singer Leroy Gomez was a former member of the 70′s Band “Tavares“.
The group was a collection of US and French musicians and singers. There was no band member named Santa Esmeralda.
A new incarnation of the band, led by Gomez is still together to this day, having reformed in 2002.
I used to play the Album version of “Don’t let me be misunderstood” (+18 min) over and over again. Never played the other side only wanted to hear the Spanish guitars and the funky beat
Santa Esmeralda was the sh*t..I grew up in the 70′s. You could hear their music in NYC all of the time back then. When the disco genre faded unfortunately so did alot of the groups from that era.