"Helule Helule" is a Swahili song written by Kenyan musician

Daudi Kabaka Daudi Kabaka (1939–2001) was a Kenyan vocalist and musician. The type of music he is known for is called Benga, a popular style in East Africa. His best-known songs include "African Twist", "Harambee Harambee" and "Western Shilo". His song " He ...

. It was first released as a single by Kabaka and fellow Kenyan musician George Agade in 1966 through

Equator Records Equator Records or Equator Sound Studios was originally known as East African Records, owned by Afcot Ltd, situated in Nairobi, Kenya. In 1960, Charles Worrod launched Equator Sound Studios Ltd. along with the Equator Sound Band. Kenyan musici ...

. However, the song is better known for the version by British group

the Tremeloes The Tremeloes are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, England. They initially found success in the British Invasion era with lead singer Brian Poole, scoring a UK chart-topper in 1963 with "Do You Love Me". After Poole's departu ...

, who kept the original chorus and added English verses, with it becoming a top-twenty hit in the UK in May 1968.

The Tremeloes version

Background

The Tremeloes' manager Peter Walsh met Irving Wilson, owner of Rare Records and Disc Imports in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, at a reception for the group and told him that he had an interest in African records. Wilson said that he had some and so Walsh and two of the Tremeloes, Len "Chip" Hawkes and

Alan Blakley Alan David Blakley, (1 April 1942 – 1 June 1996) a British musician and record producer, was rhythm guitarist and keyboards player with the Tremeloes and co-writer of most of their hits until January 1975, when he started writing for oth ...

, went to Wilson's warehouse to listen to some of these records. They bought several of them, with Wilson saying that "they took out world options on three of them rom Equator Records including "Helule Helule"". Rick Westwood was very disdainful of these records, but said that Hawkes and Blakley "wrote two songs, then scrapped them and took bits of them and joined them together", which led to the final song. After recording "Helule Helule", much to the appal of Wilson, the group attempted to reduce the royalties to be paid, claiming they had significantly altered the original version. Despite being credited on the Tremeloes version, Kabaka claimed he never received mechanical copyright money for having written the song. According to a contract, the rights to "Helule Helule" were bought by Peter Walsh Music on 25 April 1968 for a sum of one

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...

. However, elsewhere, it has been claimed that Kabaka received a "substantial licensing fee", which he shared with his producer and Equator owner

Charles Worrod Charles Worrod (Coventry, England, 1912 – South Africa, 6 June 2008) was the proprietor of the Equator Sound Studios record label (see Equator Records) in Nairobi, Kenya, during the 1950s and 1960s, having left post-war England to relocate to ...

Reception

Reviewing for ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'', Peter Jones wrote that "there is an automatic drumming kit featured on this – and certainly the basic jungle-type rhythms make it a stand-out production even for this stand-out group. African material, given English lyrics, and a tremendous sense of vitality". For ''

Disc and Music Echo ''Disc'' was a weekly British popular music magazine, published between 1958 and 1975, when it was incorporated into ''Record Mirror''. It was also known for periods as ''Disc Weekly '' (1964–1966) and ''Disc and Music Echo '' (1966–1972). ...

'', Penny Valentine described it as "an absolutely astounding bit of lyrical brilliance" and that "it moves like nobody's business but somehow sounds a bit dated". ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' wrote "a steadily churning island rhythm, a Calypso-like lyric and delivery and a sprinkling of good hard rock are the prime ingredients of this latest Tremeloes concoction".

Charts

References

{{authority control Swahili-language songs Kenyan songs 1966 singles 1968 singles 1966 songs The Tremeloes songs CBS Records singles Epic Records singles Song recordings produced by Mike Smith (British record producer)