#40 'Mambo No. 5' by Perez Prado (1950)

SONG

"Now THIS is quality! Anyone remember Lou Bega's # A little bit of Monica in my life, a little bit of Erica by my side...# ? Well this would be the original version of Mambo No. 5.  Another good find in a sea full of sub-par songs that makes up the entries in this book." - LC

Written by: Perez Prado.
Producer: Uncredited.
Label:RCA Victor.

FACTS

• Prado left his native Cuba in 1947 because he felt his innovative music was being stifled by his producer who branded it "too weird."
• He lived briefly in Puerto Rico before settling in Mexico, where his "mambo" style was an instant hit largely due to being featured in many Mexican films.
• Prado is thought to have launched the mambo craze that took hold in the 1950s with this very song.
• You might remember the a reworking of this original song from 1999. A previously unknown German artist of Ugandan and Sicilian descent, Lou Bega, added lyrics and modernised the sound before releasing it as the hit Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of...).

Recommended songs by this artist...

Patricia (1959, 1962)


And a song from my childhood, Lou Bega's version: