Les Chakachas
Les Chakachas was a Belgian group of mainly studio musicians who celebrated international hit parades in the early 1960s and early 1970s .
Band history
The band, also known under the names Los Chakachas , The Chakachas and without a leading article in the name, was founded in 1958 and published numerous singles and EPs on the RCA record label until the mid-1960s . The members were Gaston Bogaert ( percussion , drums ), Henri Breyre ( guitar ), Bill Raymond ( bass ), Christian Mare ( piano ), Charlie Lots ( trumpet ), Victor Ingeveldt ( saxophone ) from the Netherlands and Kari Kenton (vocals) Cuba .
Gaston Bogaert was also involved in another formation at the same time, The Continentals , which was released in 1961 with cover versions such as Wheels (of The String-A-Longs and also Billy Vaughn ) or San Antonio Rose , originally by Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys , came into the German hit parade.
Les Chakachas mainly played Latin American music as well as a colorful mixture of exotic sounds and dance fashions that were popular in Europe in the early 1960s: Cha-Cha-Cha , Mambo , Rumba , Twist , Madison, Watusi or Bossa Nova . Their singing language was mostly Spanish. However, depending on the country of publication or the songs they sang in French, English or German.
They had their first big success and number one hit in Belgium in 1958 with Eso es el amor , which was published again and again in later years. In the German charts they were represented with two songs in 1961 and 1962: Twist-Twist and Madison 62 . The former was also a minor hit outside of the top 40 in the UK. With Madison 62 they appeared again in 1963 in the hit film Sing, but don't play with me .
In the mid-1960s, the band first broke up. However, their producer Roland Kluger was able to persuade the musicians to return to the studio in 1970 to record new songs and some of their classics. An LP was then released on Polydor , which in Belgium was initially named after Les Chakachas' biggest hit to date, Eso es el amor , which was also included in a new version. One of the new compositions, written by Bill Ador alias Will Albimoor, was the instrumental Jungle Fever , which slowly developed into a worldwide surprise hit within a year. The long-playing record was given a new, brightly colored album cover and, after an initial renaming to New Sound (1971), was also given the name Jungle Fever .
This production had little in common with the dance melodies and the hit sound of the early 1960s. Thom Jurek in the All Music Guide writes about the 2007 CD release on Dusty Grooves: “As an album, Jungle Fever is singular, not only for its origins, but also for its achievement as music. Its endurance is well-deserved: this is a finger-popping, hip-twitching classic. ”(German roughly:“ As an album, Jungle Fever is unique, not only because of its origin, but also in terms of the musical result. Its longevity is well deserved: this is a finger-clicking, hip-wiggling classic. ")
The follow-up LP Chakachas (1972) contained Stories in the summer of 1972, another small hit for the group in the USA beyond the Billboard Hot 100 .
Jungle Fever was part of the 1997 soundtrack for Boogie Nights . In the computer and video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas , Jungle Fever is played on the fictional radio station “Master Sounds 98.3” and was also used in the official trailer Welcome to Los Santos (PS2).
The funk groove of Jungle Fever was often sampled by other artists . For example by 2 Live Crew ( Put Her in the Buck ) or Public Enemy on their piece Cold Lampin 'with Flavor . An instrumental part (trumpet) from Les Chakachas' song Yo soy Cubano , written by Nico Gomez, was sampled by the Mighty Dub Katz on their 1995 hit Magic Carpet Ride in the Son of Wilmot Mix .
Discography (selection)
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RCA singles
- Eso es el amor / Beau Coco - RCA 47-9179, 1958
- Venus / La conga de Jaruco - RCA 47-9254, 1959
- Bonbon / Mama Inez - RCA 47-9263, 1959
- Conga mayé / El charlatan - RCA 47-9284, 1960
- Mucho tequila / Bing bang conga - RCA 1960
- Les enfants du Pirée / Koulouri - RCA 1960
- La pachanga / Maruja - RCA 47-9345, 1961
- Ça c'est du poulet / Babalu - RCA 47-9347, 1961
- Twist-Twist / Baila la bamba - RCA 47-9369, 1961
- Brigitte Bardot / Eo-eo - RCA 47-9371
- Hawaiian War Twist / Please Remember - RCA 47-9390, 1962
- Big Strong Madison / Madison 62 - RCA 47-9411, 1962
- Bossa de moda / Intimidad - RCA 47-9435
- The twist is passé / Midnight Hully-Gully - RCA 47-9493, 1963
- Poor Me / You Wanna Dance? - RCA 47-9494
- Corrina yé yé / Sunday - RCA 47-9543
- El “Potofo” / Torna a sorrento - RCA 47-9692, 1966
- Love Is like a Violin / El charlatan - RCA 47-9755, 1967
RCA EPs
- Guapacha / Arriba la conga / Chou chou / Pa la paloma - RCA EPA 9646
- Venus / La conga de Jaruco / Bonbon / Mama Inez - RCA EPA 9685, 1959
- Conga mayé / El charlatan / Serenata negra / Conga del mayoral - RCA EPA 9708, 1960
- Mucho tequila / Bing bang conga / Chocolate / Chip chip batulo - RCA EPA 9755, 1960
- Les enfants du Pirée (Never on Sunday) / I ikosara / Egho ke to ghaidoraiki mou / Koulouri - RCA EPA 9769, 1960
- En el silencio de la noche / Como viene / Noche de Roma / Un maziano sulla terra - RCA EPA 9005 ( Les Chakachas in Rome )
- Twist-Twist / Baila la bamba / Ça c'est du poulet / Eo-eo - RCA EPA 9033, 1961
- Rebecca / Una melodia / On My Way to Mexico / Blue cha cha - RCA EPA 9101
- El Bingo / Frutas / Filin 'cha / What'you say, Watusi? - RCA 9119
- No! Man / Ev'ry Night, Ev'ry Night / Only Mine / Think It Over - RCA EPA 9133 ( Beat Music )
Polydor / Blue Elephant
- Jungle Fever / Cha Ka Cha - Polydor 1970, 1972
- Eso es el amor / Ay malata - Polydor 1971
- Stories / Judas Kiss - Blue Elephant 1972
- Noche de amor / Tibidibidang - Blue Elephant 1973
- Atencion / Que buena esta - Blue Elephant 1975
- Shimmy Shimmy Lolita (Part 1 & 2) - 1976
Albums
- Les Chachachas des Chakachas - RCA 1961
- What a Night - RCA
- At 'Les enfants terribles' - RCA
- One More Dance - RCA Camden 1965
- Eso es el amor - Polydor 1970
- New Sound - Polydor 1971 (like Eso es el amor 1970)
- Jungle Fever - Polydor 1972, Dusty Groove 2007 (like New Sound )
- Chakachas - Blue Elephant 1972
Web links
- Chakachas biography in the All Music Guide (English).
- Review of the album Jungle Fever in the All Music Guide (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Günter Ehnert (Ed.): Hit-Bilanz, Deutsche Chart Singles 1956-1980 . Taurus-Press, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-922542-24-7 , p. 52.
- ↑ No.1 Hits Belgium 1955-1959 ( Memento of the original from March 8, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. oldiehitparade.de, → 1958
- ↑ Review of the album Jungle Fever AMG
- ↑ Chart sources: DE UK US
