27-422: David Lubega Balemezi (born 13 April 1975), better known by his stage name Lou Bega , is a German singer. His 1999 song " Mambo No. 5 ", a remake of Pérez Prado 's 1949 instrumental piece, reached no. 1 in many European countries and was nominated for a Grammy Award . Bega added words to the song and sampled the original version extensively. Bega's signature musical sounds consist of combining musical elements of
54-454: A challenge with his namesake. The player dances as King Louie, attempting to dance to Bega's rendition of " I Wanna Be Like You ". Doing so will unlock a video of him with children dancing to the aforementioned song. Bega also wrote the theme song for the French cartoon series Marsupilami . Studio albums Mambo No. 5#Lou Bega version Too Many Requests If you report this error to
81-506: A credo, 'We move in space with minimum waste and maximum joy' remains revelatory." Frank Guan of Vulture commented: "Along with an ace lead saxophone and winding bass line, the secret to success for Sade's biggest early hit is hiding in plain sight: the heartless playboy traversing cities and continents in search of pleasure that she narrates serves as an allegory for Global Capitalism, but also for herself: her international range and her voice – every time she croons 'smooth operator', there's
108-459: A hip hop group with two other boys. It would be two years before Bega and his friends' first CD would be released in 1990. While living in Miami, he discovered Latin music. After returning to Munich, Bega met his then manager, Goar Biesenkamp, as well as music producers "Frank Lio" (Achim Kleist) and "Donald Fact" (Wolfgang von Webenau) (Syndicate Musicproduction), with whom he developed the concept for
135-595: A music video of a Disney version of "Mambo No. 5" that featured Disney-themed lyrics. In the video game Tropico , Bega is one of the characters that the player can choose as their dictatorial persona. He was included as part of a licensing deal that also saw Bega's song "Club Elitaire" integrated into the German release of Tropico . In the Ubisoft/Disney Interactive video game Walt Disney's The Jungle Book Rhythm n' Groove , Bega participates in
162-417: A pimp. Apparently, he succeeds in evading law enforcement, who have him under surveillance. In the video, the operator cheats on Sade with a waitress of the nightclub (played by actress Amanda Pays ). However, as revealed in the extended version of the video which contains the composition "Red Eye" (the next song on 12-inch single), Sade, cooperating with the police, hides behind the nightclub equipment and sees
189-489: A smooth operator con artist lover boy. 'Smooth Operator' reached number 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts in 1985." Sophie Heawood of The Guardian commented: "Arguably the band's signature single, the accuracy with which its suave music, complete with sax solo, conveyed the business-class lifestyle of its subject set the tone for how they would be perceived over their entire career. As
216-579: A song titled "C'est la Vie" with Edvin Marton and a music video was also filmed. The song has only appeared on Marton's album Stradivarius as a bonus track and was never featured on any of Bega's albums. Bega has appeared on stage for royals as well as international corporations. Bega was on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno , Ally McBeal , MAD TV , The Martin Short Show , Motown Live , Jenny Jones , Queen Latifah , Access Hollywood , and others. Bega
243-561: A special guest in several of André Rieu 's famous Maastricht concerts. In December 2021, he performed " Mambo No. 5 " at a Polish military base during a show for the support of Polish troops deployed against refugees at the Polish-Belarusian border, thanking them for "defending our border". Bega sang the theme song for the Disney Channel animated series Brandy & Mr. Whiskers . Bega also recorded and starred in
270-547: A teenager, he traveled to Miami, Florida , where he found the inspiration for his hit single " Mambo No. 5 ". Bega also lived in Uganda for six months. During interviews with him that TV 2 Denmark did in 2019 for their documentary series Guds bedste børn , he stated that he was in a hotel room on the Maldives during a storm when he checked out the room's Bible and was captivated by it. Upon returning home to Germany, he felt
297-731: The 1940s and 1950s with modern beats and grooves. David Lubega Balemezi was born on 13 April 1975 in Munich , Bavaria , then West Germany , to an Italian mother, who came from Sicily , and a Ugandan father. His father Charles went to West Germany in 1972 to study biology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Until age six, Bega spent most of his time with his mother Nicole in Italy, then they lived permanently in Munich, where Bega attended German primary school. As
SECTION 10
#1732790883272324-505: The French charts. Bega's second studio album Ladies and Gentlemen was released on 28 May 2001. The album failed to experience success similar to its predecessor in Bega's native market or internationally. It peaked at No. 54 in Germany, and No. 23 on Switzerland's album chart. The album produced two singles, "Just a Gigolo" and "Gentleman", both of which charted moderately. In 2002,
351-714: The U.S. While it charted moderately in the UK, peaking at only No. 50, it reached No. 1 in Austria, Canada, Finland, Hungary, and Switzerland. The second single, "I Got a Girl" charted well, entering the Top 10 in some European countries, including France, Finland and Belgium. The third single, "Tricky, Tricky", achieved No. 18 on the Canadian charts and No. 74 on the U.S. Billboard charts. In France, Bega did well also with his single "Mambo Mambo", which reached No. 11 on
378-710: The US, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in May 1985. It spent 13 weeks in the top 40, and also topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for two weeks. Although " Your Love Is King " remains Sade's highest-peaking single in the UK to date, "Smooth Operator" is the band's breakthrough single on the US charts, and their most successful single internationally. Ray St. John , who co-wrote "Smooth Operator" with Sade Adu ,
405-514: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.150 via cp1114 cp1114, Varnish XID 965378872 Upstream caches: cp1114 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 10:48:03 GMT Smooth Operator " Smooth Operator " is a song by English band Sade from their debut studio album, Diamond Life (1984), and was co-written by Sade and Ray St. John . It
432-553: The artist published a compilation titled King of Mambo and two years later another compilation, The best of Lou Bega , with which he regained some of the prominence. Bega released his third studio album Lounatic on 10 May 2005, which failed to enter the charts. On 21 May 2010, Bega released his fourth album titled Free Again , which also did not find much success on the charts. It only charted in Switzerland peaking at No. 78. Bega's fifth studio album A Little Bit of 80's
459-426: The criminal return to the club. Then she bumps into a box, causing a noise, and the criminal chases after her. When the police arrive outside, he tries to escape from them from rooftop to rooftop until he is shot and then falls from a rooftop to his death. The video was directed by Julien Temple , who would later cast Sade in his 1986 film musical Absolute Beginners . This song is noted for Adu's spoken recitation in
486-456: The north and south, to Key Largo , love for sale" imply that he also uses women to obtain his income. It is also clear that he does not hold sincere affection for these women, as Adu sings near the end, "his heart is cold". The video to this song reinforces the message and the operator, played by actor Michael Feast , appears to be a professional criminal. In one scene, he displays a gun to an interested customer, and in others, he appears to be
513-695: The song "Mambo No. 5". Bega signed a recording contract to the label Lautstark. His first single "Mambo No. 5" became a world wide hit in 1999, charting at No. 1 in most European countries, including Germany, UK, France, and No. 3 in the United States. In France, "Mambo No. 5" spent twenty weeks at No. 1. It was also used by the British television broadcaster Channel 4 for their coverage of test match cricket between 1999 and 2005. On 19 July 1999, Bega released his debut album A Little Bit of Mambo , which peaked at No. 3 both in Germany and
540-471: The song's introduction. Some radio edits have omitted the spoken introduction and proceeded with the opening sung line of the title of the album, "Diamond Life". Some radio edits have shortened the instrumental saxophone solo, as well as the first repeat of the lines that come after the chorus portions. The song's sheet music is in the key of D minor ( D dorian for the intro). Tanya Rena Jefferson of AXS stated: "The warm tonal voice of Sade sings about
567-474: The waiting times to be baptized were long, and contacted the Danish movement The Last Reformation after seeing their videos on YouTube , where he was baptized. Parts of the conversion process and later missionary work were brought up in the movie The Last Reformation: The Life , which was commissioned by The Last Reformation themselves. Bega started his musical career as a rapper. At the age of 13, he founded
SECTION 20
#1732790883272594-989: Was also the only artist to be asked to sing the same song twice on Germany's headlining show Wetten, dass..? . On New Year's Eve 2007, he performed in Poland. He has been the MC at the American Music Awards , the Grammy Awards , the Billboard Radio Awards and at the Love Parade in Berlin. He also performed live on television on the Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway in the United Kingdom on 4 April 2015. In July 2016, Bega performed as
621-488: Was his cover of the 1982 hit " Give It Up " by KC and the Sunshine Band , which was released in Germany on 14 June 2013. The song peaked at No. 6 in Germany. In 2019, Bega released "Scatman & Hatman", his first release since 2013. The track uses vocal samples from the 1994 single " Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop) " by Scatman John . Shortly after the track's release, he told Jason Lipshutz of Billboard that he
648-429: Was inspired to create the track by the fact that Scatman John died in the same year that "Mambo No. 5" was released, adding, We found out how much [John and I] had in common. The guy died of a brain tumor in 1999 — my own father died of a similar brain tumor in 1999 as well, just four weeks before the mambo came out. And then of course, there's the suits, and the mustaches, and the retro style. In 2006, Bega recorded
675-412: Was previously a member of Adu's former band Pride, although he was not a member of the band Sade. The pair co-wrote the song in 1982 while still members of Pride, but did not get around to recording it. "Smooth Operator" is about a fashionable con-man who moves within high social circles. He is popular with women and breaks many hearts. The lyrics "Coast to coast, LA to Chicago , western male / Across
702-575: Was released as the album's third single in the United Kingdom as a 7-inch single with "Spirit" as its B-side , and as a 12-inch maxi single with "Smooth Operator" and "Red Eye" on side A and "Spirit" on side B. Released on 28 August 1984, it reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart . In the United States, "Smooth Operator" was released in February 1985, serving as the album's second US single. The song became Sade's first top-10 entry in
729-459: Was released on 28 June 2013, in Germany on Ariola (Sony Music). In this album, Bega again covered classic international hits including " Smooth Operator " (1984)" by Sade , " I'm So Excited " (1982) by The Pointer Sisters , " Vamos a la playa " (1983) by Righeira , " Red Red Wine " (1968) by Neil Diamond (a remake of which was a hit for UB40 during the 1980s) and " Karma Chameleon " (1983) by Culture Club . Bega's first single off his fifth album
#271728