Weekend Open Thread

Normally, I wouldn’t post the weekend open thread this early, but I have a busy day ahead, and I am not sure when I will be home. So here is your place to discuss any topic you like.

In continuing with my “summer of one-hit wonders”, I offer you the song which was named the “#1 Greatest One-Hit Wonder of all Time” by VH1, Los del Rio’s Macarena:

Although Los del Rio formed in 1962, it wasn’t until Macarena that the duo had an international hit. The song itself has an interesting history (from Wikipedia):

As a result of their lounge act, Los del Río were invited to tour South America in March 1992 and, while visiting Venezuela, they were invited to a private party held by the Venezuelan empresario Gustavo Cisneros. Many prominent Venezuelans were in attendance that night, including former president Carlos Andrés Pérez.

Cisneros had arranged for a local flamenco teacher, Diana Patricia Cubillán Herrera, to do a small performance for the guests, and Los Del Rio were pleasantly surprised by Cubillán’s dance skills. Spontaneously, Antonio Romero Monge, one half of the Los del Río duo, recited the song’s chorus-to-be on the spot, as an accolade to Cubillán, but naming her “Ma’dalena” (Magdalena): “Dale a tu cuerpo alegría, Ma’dalena, que tu cuerpo e’ pa’ darle alegría y cosa’ buena'” (“Give your body some joy, Magdalene, ’cause your body is for giving joy and good things to”). In Andalusian culture labeling a woman “Magdalena” is to give her a faint association with Mary Magdalene’s reportedly seedy past, and more accurately describes her as being sassy or sensuous.

The song was originally recorded in 1992, and released in 1993 as a rumba. This was the first of six versions of the song that can be associated with Los Del Rio. Another version, a new flamenco rumba pop fusion theme with fully Spanish lyrics, attained significant success in Spain, Colombia and Mexico. It also became popular in Puerto Rico because of its use as an unofficial campaign theme song for then-governor Pedro Rosselló, who was seeking reelection under the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico’s ticket. Being the base for many cruise ships, visitors to the island were constantly exposed to the song during their stay in Puerto Rico. This may explain how the song spread to—and became a hit in—cities with sizable Latino communities in the United States, particularly Miami and New York City.

In mid-1996, the song became a world wide hit when the Bayside Boys—a trio of producers composed of Mike Triay, Carlos de Yarza, and Jammin Johnny Caride—produced a remix of the song which added English lyrics. Jammin Johnny Caride, a radio personality at Power 96 in Miami, first learned of the “Macarena” when clubgoers at a club where he worked as a deejay requested the song. Caride brought the “Macarena” to his supervisors at Power 96 who asked him to create an English-language version of the song.

Caride recruited his two partners at Bayside Records, Mike “In The Night” Triay and Carlos de Yarza, to remix the original song. The new, English-language lyrics were written by Yarza and Triay. The trio, known as the Bayside Boys, added a new dance beat specifically targeted to American audiences with English-language lyrics sung by Carla Vanessa. The finished version was called “Macarena (Bayside Boys Remix).” The Bayside Boys remix hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1996 and remained at the top of the chart for fourteen weeks.

While there are multiple covers of Macarena, none of them match the Bayside Boys Remix version. However, the most unusual version might be from the Bollywood movie Auzaar:

That’s it for me this week. Enjoy your Friday, and your weekend folks!