The original song is from 1952 by Perez Prado (a Cuban-Mexican bandleader) .  Perez was known as the 'King of the Mambo,' in fact; he recorded several mambos, he would simply number them and "Mambo No 5" was one of eight  in a series.

The cartoon character Bob The Builder had a #1 UK hit with his version of this song.

 Lou Bega added lyrics Perez's version as his was instrumental transforming it into a love song for several women named Angela, Pamela, Sandra, Rita, Monica, Erica, Tina, Mary and Jessica. It was reported that the girls he mentioned were all Lou's former girlfriends.
 Lou Bega made the following statement: "When I wrote the song, I believed it could be the thing it is today. All people hate it completely, that's what I thought. I knew it wouldn't swim in the middle because it was too different from all the stuff that was outside, so I'm quite happy with it. Mambo makes you happy, Latin music makes you happy, its sexual, its erotic, energetic, I think that's the point" (On VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders).
Lou Bega's, "Mambo #5":

Click on the tabs at the bottom of each page or simply click on the artists name for a direct link to their One-Hit Wonder.

More From Mix 94.9