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Lambada (song)
1989 single by Kaoma From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"Lambada", also known as "Chorando Se Foi (Lambada)", or "Llorando se fue (Lambada)" (both meaning "crying, they went away" in Portuguese and Spanish, respectively), is a song by French-Brazilian pop group Kaoma. It features guest vocals by Brazilian vocalist Loalwa Braz and was released as Kaoma's debut single and the first single from Kaoma's 1989 debut album, Worldbeat. The accompanying music video, filmed in June 1989 in Cocos beach in the city of Trancoso, in the Brazilian state of Bahia, featured the Brazilian child duo Chico & Roberta. The song became a huge hit in Europe and many parts of the world.
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Sung in Portuguese, it is a cover of the 1986 hit "Chorando Se Foi", by Márcia Ferreira, itself based on the Cuarteto Continental version of "Llorando se fue" (the first upbeat version of the song introducing the accordion), released in 1984 through the Peruvian record label INFOPESA and produced by Alberto Maraví;[1][2] both songs were adapted from the 1981 original song by Bolivian group Los Kjarkas.
At the time of release, "Lambada" was regarded as the most successful European single in the history of CBS Records, with sales of 1.8 million copies in France and more than four million across Europe.[3] Overall, "Lambada" sold five million copies worldwide in 1989 alone, according to the New York Times.[4]
However, Kaoma did not credit the original songwriters and also made changes to Márcia Ferreira's lyrics. This ended up leading to successful plagiarism lawsuits.[4][5]
1989 and 1990 are considered to be the lambada genre's boom years, although the lambada rhythm had existed for much longer. The song became one of the most covered songs worldwide.
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Background
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Kaoma's Lambada was an unauthorized version of the song "Llorando se fue", originally composed, performed and recorded by the Bolivian Andean folk group Los Kjarkas in 1981.[6][7] The song's lyrics and music had been lawfully registered by the founding members of Los Kjarkas, Gonzalo and Ulises Hermosa, in 1981 at the Bolivian Institute of Culture (IBC) and in 1985 at Germany's Music and Authors Society (GEMA).[8]
According to Gonzalo, Los Kjarkas had based "Llorando se fue" on a small, nostalgic Andean melody. Their song was written in a sad and slow Afro-Bolivian Saya rhythm.[9]
In 1984, an upbeat version of "Llorando se fue", introducing the accordion, was released by the Peruvian group Cuarteto Continental as part of their LP Fiesta de Cumbias,[10] and the arrangement Alberto Maraví (the producer of Cuarteto Continental's version) introduced to the song was later copied by Kaoma.[1][11]
The first Portuguese version of "Llorando se fue" – as "Chorando Se Foi" – was released by Brazilian singer Márcia Ferreira in 1986 on her third album.[12][13]
In March 1988, during their visit to Porto Seguro, Bahia, Brazil, French managers Olivier Lamotte d'Incamps (known as Olivier Lorsac) and Jean Georgakarakos (known as Jean Karakos) discovered the lambada music genre, and Márcia Ferreira's version. The two bought the musical rights to over 400 lambada songs from the Brazilian music publisher Continental. Lorsac and Georgakarakos then returned to Paris, and eventually the two formed the band Kaoma in France, which included musicians from Brazil, Africa and the Caribbean.
Prior to Kaoma's 1989 release of the song, several covers of "Llorando se fue" had been released as dance tracks, in addition to those already mentioned, which are marked in bold:
- 1984 – Cuarteto Continental from the LP Fiesta de Cumbias[10]
- 1984 – Armonia 10 from the LP El Chinchorro, Vol. 2[14][15]
- 1984 – Sexteto Internacional from the LP Mas Sexteto[16][17]
- 1984 – Tropical Pingüino[18][19]
- 1984 – Wilkins from the album Una Historia Importante – 15 Grandes Exitos[20]
- 1984 – Chacalón y la Nueva Crema from the EP Llorando se fue/Llorando y sufriendo[21]
- 1984 – Grupo Trebol from the LP Tropical Andino[22]
- 1985 – Freddy Roland from the LP Chicha Up[23]
- 1985 – Juan "Corazón" Ramón from the album Cada Día Mejor[24]
- 1985 – Don Medardo y sus Player from the album Lo Mejor del Año, Vol.4[25]
- 1985 – Vico y su Grupo Karicia from the LP Voz y sentimiento[26][27]
- 1986 – Márcia Ferreira[12][13][28][29]
- 1986 – Los Graduados from the album Flor de un día[30]
- 1986 – Pastor López from the album Cumbia Universal[31][32]
- 1987 - Paulinho do Sax[33]
- 1987 – Sonora Andacollo from the album Norte Tropical – Lambada[34]
- 1988 – Los Hermanos Rosario from the album Otra Vez[35]
- 1988 – Ana Morena from the compilation album Baila Baila Baila, Vol. 2[36][37]
- 1988 – Tropicalismo Apache from the album Exitos Quemantes
- 1989 – Los Flamers from the album Gran Reventon Gran, Vol. 5[38][39]
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Release
Kaoma released the song on July 1989. In the Kaoma single version and on the album Worldbeat, the composition of the music and the writing of the lyrics was credited to a fictional composer called Chico de Oliveira,[40] in addition to making significant changes to Márcia Ferreira's lyrics. The song had been registered at SACEM as if it was written by Chico de Oliveira. In the American release, there was a note at the bottom of the album stating: "Lambada comes from Saya, a Bolivian folk music. Ulysse and Gonzalo Hermosa and Olivier Lorsac contributed to its realisation."
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Music video
The accompanying music video for "Lambada" was directed by Olivier Lorsac and it was filmed in June 1989, on Tago Mago Island, near Ibiza, Spain in the Mediterranean Sea, and on Cocos Beach in the city of Trancoso, Bahia, Brazil. The video was paid for by Orangina, who would also use it in a television advertisement in France.[41][42]
It featured the Brazilian child duo Chico & Roberta as love interests. As a semi-plot, Roberta's father does not want her to hang out with Chico, but Loalwa mends the situation among the three.[43]
Chart performance
"Lambada" became a worldwide summer hit, selling over five million copies in 1989[4] and was part of the Lambada dance craze. It reached No. 1 in several European countries, as well as No. 4 on both the UK Singles Chart and Irish Singles Chart, No. 5 on the Australia ARIA Singles Chart, and No. 46 on the US Billboard Hot 100. As of 1991, combined sales of the album and the single had reached one million records sold in Italy.[44] "Lambada" was the 37th best-selling single of the United Kingdom during 1989. In France, it topped the chart for 12 weeks and sold 1.8 million copies.
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Track listings
7-inch single
- "Lambada" – 3:28
- "Lambada" (instrumental) – 3:48
- "Lambada" (DJ Petro Panayoti aka Mixmaster Remix) 1989 – 4:50
12-inch maxi
- "Lambada" (extended version) – 6:44
- "Lambada" (instrumental version) – 3:48
- "Lambada" (DJ Stigma-Berveni Remix) – 3:55
- "Lambada" (DJ Petro Panayoti Club Remix) 2019 – 6:00
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Certifications and sales
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Plagiarism controversy and lawsuit
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On 30 August 1989, French newspaper Le Monde disclosed that Chico de Oliveira was actually a pseudonym for Olivier Lamotte d'Incamps (aka Olivier Lorsac).[105] Then, Los Kjarkas denounced the plagiarism, and spoke to Spanish newspaper El País about the situation.[106][107] Meanwhile, Márcia Ferreira appeared in the Brazilian TV program Domingão do Faustão, where she said that Kaoma was simply a copy of Márcia Ferreira.
Kaoma's release of the song resulted in successful lawsuits for plagiarism, the first being in 1990 by Los Kjarkas, against Kaoma's producer Jean-Claude Bonaventure, and the second in 1991, where a French court ruled that co-writers Márcia Ferreira and José Ari were the authors of the Portuguese version, despite Kaoma making some changes to the lyrics.[5][108] Lorsac and Georgakarakos admitted they had heard a "remarkably similar" song in Porto Seguro, and this was recognized by the French court to be Márcia Ferreira's 1986 version.[109][110][111][5] Márcia Ferreira won the suit she filed in Paris, France, on 7 March 1991. The musicians of the band Kaoma were not to blame for the case. Kaoma's musicians were only employees of the French producers.[112][113]
Nowadays, the song is credited to the Hermosa brothers (as authors), Alberto Maraví (the one who made the arrangement on the Cuarteto Continental cover, which was later copied by other artists), Márcia Ferreira and José Ari.[114]
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"Lambada 3000" (Gregor Salto remix)
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In July 2009, a new Summer remixed version of the track by house and latin jazz DJ Gregor Salto called "Lambada 3000" (billed as Gregor Salto & Kaoma) was released in the Benelux. Loalwa Braz, the original singer of the song, was asked to provide new vocals for the remix. The track became Salto's second Top 20 hit in the Dutch Top 40, and third entry in the chart, peaking at #12. Its music video was filmed in May 2009, in Curaçao and premiered in June 2009.
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Cover versions, samples and mentions
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In France, the song was covered by another music group, Carioca, which peaked only at No. 22 on 9 September 1989 and remained in the charts for nine weeks.[117] It was also covered, around that time, by other Brazilian singers, such as Fafá de Belém, whose 1985 album Aprendizes da Esperança was an early example of the lambada music genre. In the same year, a cover by Regina appeared on the album Lambada Tropical (credited to Chico Mendes) and on the compilation albums Max Mix 9[118] and Hits '89.[119][120]
In December 1989, the renowned Egyptian singer and composer, Amr Diab, introduced a fresh perspective to Lambada's melody. He released “Leily” from the album Shawakna, reimagining the melody with a unique oriental essence. His innovative approach introduced new melodic elements, harmoniously blended with contemporary arrangements.
The song "Sochna Kya" from the 1990 Hindi film Ghayal sampled the melody of Lambada.[121] Japanese singer Akemi Ishii released a cover version in Japanese on 21 March 1990, which peaked at No. 16 on the Oricon charts and was re-recorded in 2011[citation needed]. Also in 1990, American experimental rock band Sun City Girls covered the song with the title "The Shining Path", for their album Torch of the Mystics.
Turkish singer Cengiz Coşkuner recorded a version of the song, with lyrics written by Ülkü Aker, and it featured on his album Seni Gidi Seni & Kapris Yapma, which was also released in 1990.[122] Another Turkish singer, Rüya Çağla, wrote and recorded a version for use as the title track of her album Lambada, also released in 1990.[123] In 1990, Hong Kong DJ Aling Choi Ling Ling released a cover version "人生嘉年華" ("Carnival of Life") in Cantonese.
The song was used in 1994 in the Arcade video game 'Best of Best' by the Korean company SunA.
Jamaican musician Elephant Man released "Hate Mi" in 2004, which samples Lambada.[124]
Brazilian singer-songwriter Ivete Sangalo recorded a version of "Chorando Se Foi (Lambada)" for her 2005 album As Super Novas, released as its third single, becoming no. 1 in Brazil; she also recorded the song on her second live album in 2007.
In 2006, Wisin & Yandel sampled the song in "Pam Pam".[125] Mexican singer Mariana Seoane recorded her cover of the song for her 2007 album Está de Fiesta... Atrévete!!.[126] Japanese band Seikima-II's frontman Demon Kakka recorded their version of Lambada in Japanese/Spanish for his 2008 album GIRLS' ROCK Hakurai.[127]
In 2011, Don Omar sampled the song, and also sang part of Kaoma's lyrics in his single "Taboo". Also in 2011, Jennifer Lopez sampled Lambada on her hit song "On the Floor", which reached No. 3 in the Billboard Hot 100.[128][129]
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