Bongo cha cha cha

1959 Single by Caterina Valente

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"Bongo Cha Cha Cha"

Single by Caterina Valente
from the album  Miss Personality
Language| Italian
B-side| "Guardando il cielo"
Released| 1959 (1959)
Recorded| 1959
Genre|

* Cha cha cha
* Latin pop

Label| Decca Records
Songwriter(s)|

* Ernst Bader
* Ralf Arnie
* Werner Müller
* Giuseppe Perotti

Caterina Valente singles chronology
| "Un treno nel blu"
(1959)  | "Bongo Cha Cha Cha"
(1959)  | "Till"
(1959)

|
|

"Bongo Cha Cha Cha" is a song by French-Italian singer Caterina Valente. Originally sung with her brother Silvio Francesco in German for the 1958 EP Caterina und Silvio, it became a big international hit, being translated into several languages including Italian, Spanish, French and English. The Italian version was released as a single in 1959.

"Bongo Cha Cha Cha" was written by Ernst Bader, Ralf Arnie, Werner Müller, with Italian lyrics by Giuseppe Perotti (under the pseudonym Pinchi) and conducting by Müller. The song is one of the first examples of Italian-language cha cha cha, a Latin American dance of Cuban origins successfully imported also in Europe since the 1950s.

In 1959, Valente had signed a recording contract with Decca Records, thanks to the success achieved internationally and in particular in the United States, where her singles had reached the top ten and her television appearances were warmly received by the public. The release of "Bongo Cha Cha Cha" was a great success and was included in the Miss Personality album, released in 1960. The single has been published in many countries including Germany, Yugoslavia, Australia, United States and Greece.[1]

## Uses in other media

[edit]

In 2013, the song was included on the soundtrack to the French film Elle s'en va (On My Way), directed by Emmanuelle Bercot, starring Catherine Deneuve.[2]

In 2019, the song was included on the soundtrack to Spider-Man: Far from Home, directed by Jon Watts. The song went viral, gaining renewed popularity.[3][4][5][6]

In 2021, the song, in its Italian version, went viral again via the social media platform TikTok, thanks to its use for a trend that has collected over 250 million views, started from Latin countries and South America, and later in Italy and Germany.[3][4][5][6] In the wake of the revival, a house version remix was produced by the British house music group Goodboys, the song reached number 35[7] in the Italian charts and number 1 in the Hungarian charts.

In 2022, the song was used in a Mecca Bingo advertisement.[8]

## Track listings

[edit]

7" single "Bongo Cha Cha Cha" (Italy, 1959)

A. "Bongo Cha Cha Cha"

(Ernst Bader, Ralf Arnie, Werner Müller and Giuseppe Perotti)
B. "Guardando il cielo"

(Ernst Bader, Ralf Arnie, Werner Müller and Giuseppe Perotti)
Decca Records 45-C 16535

Digital single (2021)

1\. "Bongo Cha Cha Cha - 2021 House Remix (2:23)
2\. "Bongo Cha Cha Cha - 2021 House Remix - Extended Mix (4:00)
3\. "Bongo Cha Cha Cha - 2021 House Remix - Instrumental (2:22)
Evergld/Odessa Mama Records

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Caterina Valente - Bongo Cha-Cha-Cha". Discogs. 1959.
2. ^ "Caterina Valente". IMDb.
3. ^ a b "Bongo cha cha cha, il trend virale su TikTok: tutte le curiosità sulla canzone". Webboh. April 5, 2021.
4. ^ a b s.r.l, RTL 102 5 Hit Radio. "TikTok, "Bongo cha cha cha" e "Miraculous" sono le nuove tendenze della settimana - Radio Zeta". rtl.it.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
5. ^ a b "Tutte le curiosità su Bongo Cha Cha Cha, la hit di Caterina Valente virale su TikTok". Notizie Musica. April 8, 2021.
6. ^ a b Redazione, Francesca (April 6, 2021). "Testo di Bongo Cha Cha Cha, canzone virale su TikTok".
7. ^ "Classifiche - FIMI". www.fimi.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-08-08.
8. ^ "Mecca Bingo - Let's play". YouTube. Retrieved 2022-02-19.

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* MusicBrainz work

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