Macarena (song)

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"Macarena"
Single by Los del Río
from the album A mí me gusta and Fiesta Macarena
Released	August 15, 1995 (U.S.)
Format	CD single, 7"
Recorded	1995
Genre	Latin Dance-pop Flamenco
Length	3:53
Label	RCA
Writer(s)	Rogerio Rodrigues , Marcia Freitas Rodrigues
Certification	4x Platinum (RIAA)
Los del Río singles chronology
- "Macarena" (1995) "Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)" (1995) "Macarena Christmas" (1996)

Macarena is a Spanish song by Los del Río about a woman of the same name. It was popular between 1995 and 1996, although it continues to have a cult following to this day.

The song became the second longest running #1 and best selling debut single of all time in the U.S. It was ranked the "#1 Greatest One-Hit Wonder of all Time" by VH1 in 2002.

The song uses a type of clave. The song ranks at #5 on Billboard's All Time Top 100. It also ranks at #1 on Billboard's All Time Latin Songs.^[1][2]

Contents 1 Origin and history 2 Record breaking and worldwide impact 3 Music video 4 Track listings 4.1 Australian CD single 5 Christmas version: "Macarena Christmas" 6 Official versions 7 Charts 7.1 "Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)" 7.2 "Macarena Christmas" 8 Los Del Mar version 8.1 Track listings 8.2 Official versions 9 Remixes and parodies 10 References

[edit] Origin and history

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 (of Cuban descent) 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, Romero 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' güena'" ("Give your body some joy, Magdalene, 'cause your body is for giving joy and good things too"). 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.^[3]

Romero saw potential in the improvised rhyme and, back at their hotel, the duo came up with the basic structure of the song. Since "Magdalena" was also the title of another song by Spanish singer Emmanuel quite popular at the time, Romero suggested that they use "Macarena" instead which, besides being part of the name of one of his daughters, is a popular name in Andalusia, given its association with the Virgin of the Macarena, the incarnation of the Virgin Mary that is a patroness of Seville's barrio La Macarena. The Virgin-Magdalene dichotomy probably explains the rest of the lyrics: a song about a young woman, the girlfriend of a recent recruit to the Spanish Army named Victorino (whose name may be inspired from a kind of bull with long horns, evoking the cornudo, or male victim of his partner's infidelity, a mental image common in Spanish and Latin American culture), who celebrates his being drafted by hooking up with two of his male friends. Macarena has a weakness for males in uniform, spending summers at Marbella, and dreams of shopping at El Corte Inglés (the major Spanish department store chain), moving to New York City and getting a new boyfriend.

[edit] Record breaking and worldwide impact

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 to Los Del Rio. Another version, a new flamenco rumba pop fusion theme with fully Spanish lyrics, attained significant success in Spain 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, many 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 smash hit in — cities with sizeable Latino communities in the United States, particularly Miami and New York City.

After being remixed by the Bayside Boys and having English lyrics added, it became a worldwide hit in mid-1996. The single spent 14 weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, one of the longest runs atop the Hot 100 chart in history. During its heyday, the song was played frequently at professional athletic games, rallies, conventions, and other places. In 1996, many believe a world record for group dancing was set, when a crowd of 50,000 people danced the Macarena in Yankee Stadium in New York City.^[4] The song made such an impact that during the Democratic National Convention in 1996, Al Gore humorously performed his version of the Macarena by standing completely still while the song played.^[4]

"Macarena" remained popular through 1996, but by the end of 1997, its popularity had diminished greatly. The song also broke records at the time by remaining in the Hot 100 chart for 60 weeks. The Bayside Boys remix includes a sample from Yazoo (also known in the United States as Yaz) track Situation - the laughter of Yazoo vocalist Alison Moyet.

In 1997, the song had sold 11 million copies. While having only a 25% take in royalties from the song, Romero and Ruiz became immensely wealthy. According to the BBC News Service, during the year 2003 alone — a full decade after the song's initial release — Romero and Ruiz made USD $250,000 in royalties. Julio Iglesias is quoted as congratulating the duo personally: "My success singing in English from Miami is nothing compared to yours; coming out of Dos Hermanas with little international exposure elsewhere and selling these many records in Spanish takes two huge sets of cojones.^[5] "

In VH1's 2002 documentary 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders, Macarena was ranked as #1. Macarena was also ranked #1 on a different VH1 documentary, 40 Awesomely Bad No. 1 Songs

On "America's Best Dance Crew", it was danced to on the Whack Track Challenge, given to the Ringmasters.

In the United Kingdom the song was released in June 1996 and peaked at number two on August 17, 1996.^[6] It was kept off the number one spot by the Spice Girls song Wannabe.^[7]

[edit] Music video

There are two different music videos. The most common music video, directed by Vincent Calvet, was created in 1996, featuring Los del Rio performing on a white backdrop. Ten women are also seen dancing with the band. This version samples a line from The Graduate ("I am not trying to seduce you!") which was later removed due to possible copyright issues. The other, similar version of the music video was in black and white and was more instructional in that the women and men are clearly shown performing the specific dance moves.

Notably, there is a diversity of female dancers from all around the world to specifically appeal to the many ethnicities of the world.

[edit] Track listings

[edit] Australian CD single

1. "Macarena" (Bayside Boys Remix) - 3:50
2. "Macarena" (Bass Bumpers Remix - Club Mix) - 5:40
3. "Macarena" (Pulsar House Mix) - 5:40
4. "Macarena" (La Mezcla Guerrillera 130 BPM) - 5:35
5. "Macarena" (River Re-Mix 103 BPM) - 5:02

[edit] Christmas version: "Macarena Christmas"

"Macarena Christmas"
Single by Los del Río
Released	1996
Format	CD single, 7", 12"
Recorded	1996
Genre	Latin Dance-pop
Length	4:04
Label	RCA
Writer(s)	Romero Monge, Rafael Ruiz
Los del Río singles chronology
"Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)" (1995) "Macarena Christmas" (1996) "Baila Baila" (1999)

Due to the overwhelming and unimaginable success of the song, a Christmas version of the song was created for the 1996 Christmas Season. It involved the original song with short lines from classic Christmas carols (specifically incorporating: "Joy to the World," "Jingle Bells," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "White Christmas" and "Auld Lang Syne") in between the popular verses.

In the music video, the young female dancers wear Christmas colored attire but there are nine of them compared to the ten dancers in the original. For the sequence featuring a new routine (the one being commonly used today), eight of them are shown with one of them being switched with a ninth dancer at times throughout the chorus.^[8]

[edit] Official versions

• "Macarena" (Original) - 4:09
• "Macarena" (Bayside Boys Remix) - 3:50
• "Macarena" (Bayside Boys Remix - Original Promo Video Version) - 4:12
• "Macarena" (Bayside Boys Remix - Video Version) 3:45
• "Macarena" (Bass Bumpers Remix - Club Mix) - 5:40
• "Macarena" (Bass Bumpers Radio Remix) - 3:27
• "Macarena" (DJ Pero Latin Piano Mix) - 5:36
• "Macarena" (La Mezcla Guerrillera 130 BPM) - 5:35
• "Macarena" (Pulsar House Mix) - 5:40
• "Macarena" (River Re-Mix 103 BPM) - 5:02
• "Macarena Christmas" (Joy Mix) - 4:12
• "Macarena Christmas" (Joy Mix - Club Version) - 5:44

[edit] Charts

[edit] "Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)"

Chart (1995/6)[9] Peak position Australian ARIA Singles Chart 1 Austrian Top 75 Singles Chart 1 Belgian (Flanders) Ultratop 50 Singles Chart 1 Belgian (Wallonia) Ultratop 40 Singles Chart 1 Dutch Top 40 1 Eurochart Hot 100 1 Finnish Singles Chart 1 French SNEP Singles Chart 1 German Top 100 Singles Chart 1 Irish IRMA Singles Chart 3 Italian FIMI Singles Chart 1 Norwegian VG-Lista Singles Chart 2

Chart (1995/6) Peak position New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart 2 Spanish Singles Chart 1 Swedish Singles Chart 2 Swiss Top 100 Singles Chart 1 UK Singles Chart 2 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1 U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 5 U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 7 U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Tracks 12 U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary 28 U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40 19

[edit] "Macarena Christmas"

Chart (1996)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	5
Finnish Singles Chart	12
French SNEP Singles Chart	34
Norwegian Singles Chart	16
Swedish Singles Chart	40
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	57

Preceded by "The X-Files" by Mark Snow "Tic, Tic Tac" by Carrapicho	French SNEP number-one single 15 June 1996 - 6 July 1996 3 August 1996 - 17 August 1996	Succeeded by "Tic, Tic Tac" by Carrapicho "Killing Me Softly" by The Fugees
Preceded by "You're Makin' Me High" / "Let It Flow" by Toni Braxton	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single 3 August 1996 - 2 November 1996	Succeeded by "No Diggity" by BLACKstreet featuring Dr. Dre
Preceded by "Because You Loved Me" / "The Power of the Dream" by Celine Dion	Australian ARIA Charts number-one single 31 August 1996 - 25 October 1996	Succeeded by "Wannabe" by Spice Girls
Preceded by "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio featuring L.V.	Billboard Hot 100 Single of the Year 1996	Succeeded by "Candle in the Wind 1997" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" by Elton John

[edit] Los Del Mar version

"Macarena"
Single by Los del Mar
from the album Macarena: The Hit Album
Released	1996
Format	CD single, 7"
Recorded	1995
Genre	Latin Dance-pop
Length	3:49
Los del Mar singles chronology
- "Macarena" (1996)

The song was also covered by Los del Mar (feat. Pedro Castaño), which was first released in 1995 and then again at the same time as the original in the United Kingdom and Australia in the hope of fooling people into buying their version by mistake, which could easily happen because the versions were very similar, thus difficult to distinguish. In the UK it only reached #43 in the charts (but remained charted for almost two months); however, the Los del Rio version peaked at number two. In Australia, the Los del Mar version was more successful and peaked at number two whilst the Los del Rio version was still at number one. In Canada, the Los del Mar version was quite popular on MuchMusic and top 40 radio in the spring of 1995, eclipsing the later popularity of the original.

[edit] Track listings

Australian CD Single

1. "Macarena" (Radio Mix) - 3:49
2. "Macarena" (Bola Mix) - 6:08

[edit] Official versions

• "Macarena" (Radio Mix) - 3:49
• "Macarena" (Bola Mix) - 6:08
• "Macarena Mix '96"

[edit] Remixes and parodies

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008)

• In 1997, The GrooveGrass Boyz recorded a country music version of the "Macarena", with re-written lyrics.^[10] This rendition peaked at #70 on the Hot Country Songs charts and #7 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100.
• Also in 1997, on Animaniacs, Dot The Macadamia Nut was the song for an episode, it was a parody of Macarena.

[edit] References