"Mambo No. 5" is an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

mambo Mambo most often refers to: *Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music *Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particular ...

and jazz dance song originally composed and recorded by Cuban musician

Dámaso Pérez Prado Dámaso is a Spanish masculine given name. The name is equivalent to that of Pope Damasus I in English. The name also exists in Italian as Damaso, though it is uncommon. People * Dámaso Alonso (1898–1990), Spanish poet * Dámaso Berenguer, 1st ...

in 1949 and released the next year. German singer

Lou Bega David Lubega Balemezi (born 13 April 1975), better known by his stage name Lou Bega, is a German singer. His 1999 song " Mambo No. 5", a remake of Pérez Prado's 1949 instrumental piece, reached number 1 in many European countries and was ...

sampled the original for a new song released under the same name on Bega's 1999 debut album, '' A Little Bit of Mambo''.

Lou Bega version

German singer

recorded a cover of the song and released it in April 1999 as the first single from his debut album, '' A Little Bit of Mambo'' (1999). His version became a

summer hit In the entertainment industry, a summer hit is a song that is released and peaks in its popularity during summer. In some years, a single pop song will gain widespread international popularity during the summer season, becoming that summer's def ...

during 1999 in most of Europe. Later that year, it experienced success in the United Kingdom, North America, and Oceania. In France, it set a record by staying at number one for 20 weeks. The song reached number three on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on 2 November 1999, giving Bega his only top-40 hit in the United States.

Critical reception

Elisabeth Vincentelli from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' rated the song with an B minus, adding, "All of a sudden,

is hot again, and the unlikely city of Munich is on the Latin-music map. For this we have to thank the Ugandan-Italian Bega and his German producing team, who have hit pay dirt by tacking new lyrics onto an old Perez Prado song. While purists scream murder, the upbeat tune and bouncy, '80s-style synthesizers will rule weddings for months to come."

Copyright dispute

The song became the subject of a seven-year copyright trial between Prado's estate, the music publisher Peermusic, and Bega's producers. Bega had only used

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

s (which by German law cannot be registered for copyright) from Prado's original and written the entire lyrics, so Bega's producers went to court in order to gain access to all the song's proceedings from Peermusic representing Prado's estate. However, after seven years the Federal Court of Justice of Germany ruled in favor of Peermusic and Prado's estate in 2008, based upon the fact that Bega's producers had sought a royalty agreement with Peermusic prior to releasing the song. Because of Bega's significant contributions to his version, the court's final ruling declared it a new song co-written by Prado and Bega.

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Mambo No. 5", directed by Joern Heitmann, features Lou Bega singing and dancing with

flapper Flappers were a subculture of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee height was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptab ...

s. An alternate music video aired on

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

, featuring clips from various Disney films and television series, with newly recorded lyrics by Bega dealing with the featured characters.

Track listings

* CD single # "Mambo No. 5" (radio edit) – 3:39 # "Mambo No. 5" (extended mix) – 5:14 # "Mambo No. 5" ( enhanced CD-ROM video) – 3:42 * Maxi single # "Mambo No. 5" (radio edit) – 3:39 # "Mambo No. 5" (extended mix) – 5:14 # "Mambo" (Havanna club mix) – 5:48 # "Mambo" (The Trumpet) – 6:01 * 7-inch 45 rpm single # "Mambo No. 5" (radio edit) – 3:39 # "Beauty on the TV Screen" – 4:03

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Bob the Builder version

On 3 September 2001, BBC Records released a novelty version of the song sung by British actor

Neil Morrissey Neil Anthony Morrissey (born 4 July 1962) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Tony in ''Men Behaving Badly''. Other notable acting roles include Deputy Head Eddie Lawson in the BBC One school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'', ...

, who provided the voice of Bob for children's television show '' Bob the Builder''. It features background vocals from Rob Rackstraw and Kate Harbour, who voiced several other characters on the show. This cover radically changed the lyrics to fit the theme of the show, making numerous references to construction, repairs and roadway maintenance, as well as the show's characters. The female names from Bega's version are also replaced with types of construction supplies and building tasks, ''e.g.'', timber, saw, waterproofing and tiling.

Chart performance

On 9 September 2001, the song debuted at number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, becoming Bob the Builder's second number-one single on the listing after "

Can We Fix It? "Can We Fix It?" is the name of the theme song from the British preschool animated television programme ''Bob the Builder''. It was written by Paul K. Joyce and produced by Hot Animation. The song's title is derived from the catchphrase of the ...

". In doing so, Bob became the first novelty act to top the UK chart with more than one single. Following the

11 September attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated Suicide attack, suicide List of terrorist incidents, terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, ...

, the song was removed from the

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

playlist, with the station's executive music producer Colin Martin describing the song as being "too frivolous in light of the news that was breaking". The song earned a gold certification from the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

(BPI) on 12 October 2001 for shipping over 400,000 units. At the end of 2001, it was ranked as the UK's 17th-best-selling single. In Ireland, the song first appeared on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

at number 13 on 13 September and peaked at number four the following week. It remained in the top 50 for 10 weeks in total. At the end of the year, the song came in at number 42 on Ireland's year-end chart. "Mambo No. 5" debuted at number three on the

Australian Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

on 4 November 2001 and reached number two on 18 November. After staying at the position for another week, the song descended the chart, spending nine more weeks in the top 50. It was Australia's 26th-most-successful hit of the year and shipped over 70,000 copies, allowing it to receive a platinum certification from the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...

(ARIA).

Track listing

* CD and maxi-CD single # "Mambo No. 5" # "Super Spud" (Spud's Dub) # "Mambo No. 5" (karaoke music) # "Mambo No. 5" (video CD-ROM)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Ome Henk parody

In 1999, Dutch TV character Ome Henk took a parody of the song called "Mambo Nr 6" to number 17 on the

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica ...

. The lyrics referred to the medicine prescribed to him, which causes hallucinations of the girls he mentions in the song. A parody of commercials for the fictional product is also heard.

Legacy

*The original recording by Pérez Prado was inducted into the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001. *This song was initially selected as the theme song of the

2000 Democratic National Convention The 2000 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention for the Democratic Party. The convention nominated Vice President Al Gore for president and Senator Joe Lieberman from Connecticut for vice president. The ...

, but this plan was scrapped due to the possibility of people associating the song with

Monica Lewinsky Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist and writer. President Bill Clinton admitted to having an affair with Lewinsky while she worked at the White House as an intern in 1995 and 1996. The affair, and its repercus ...

, who had a central role in the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, with the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

, "A little bit of Monica in my life". * The Lou Bega version has become associated with the

England cricket team The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. Engla ...

and

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

after it was used by UK broadcaster

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

as the theme for their live coverage of England Test matches between 1999 and 2005; the music also accompanied the return of cricket to the channel during the 2021 India–England series. Having been particularly famous during the

2005 Ashes series The 2005 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing cricket rivalry between England and Australia. Starting on 21 July 2005, England and Australia played five Tests, with the Ashes held by Australia as the most recent victors. The ...

won by England, the song is still played today by the England cricket fans, the '

Barmy Army The Barmy Army is a company that provides tickets and arranges touring parties for some of its members to follow the English cricket team in the UK and overseas. The Barmy Army was at first an informal group, but was later turned into a company li ...

References