Bimbo Jet

Bimbo Jet was a French euro disco group led by Claude Morgan and Laurent Rossi (22 May 1948 – 20 August 2015),[1] that gained international fame during the summers of 1974 and 1975 with the song "El Bimbo". "El Bimbo" is popular with street musicians and orchestral composers alike, with Paul Mauriat having capitalized well from his own instrumental arrangement in 1975. The song, in a tango arrangement, was also heard in four of the seven Police Academy films starting from the first film up until Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol as the tango song in The Blue Oyster gay bar scenes.

The song "El Bimbo" is used as a theme song for a 1977 Soviet-made anti-war short film named "Polygon" directed by Anatoly Petrov and written by Sever Gansovsky. The lyrics for "El Bimbo" were written by Hal Shaper. Controversially "El Bimbo" is heavily similar to the track "Tanha Shodam" from Afghan singer Ahmad Zahir, which according to some sources has been dated from 1971, making "El Bimbo" a cover of that song if the year is accurate.[2][3]

"El Bimbo" was released in France in June 1974 on the Pathe-Marconi record label, and in the UK in August 1975. The track went to #1 in France and #12 in the UK Singles Chart. It sold 1.3 million copies in France alone, and throughout the world over three million discs. As well as in France, the tune topped charts in Spain, Italy, Denmark, Turkey and Lebanon. In Argentina it was #2, and was a chart hit in Belgium, Switzerland, Mexico and the United States. The record reached #1 in the Billboard Disco Singles, #2 in the Hot Dance Club Play and #43 in the Hot 100 charts in the U.S.

The group had another hit in mid-1975, particularly in France, with "La Balanga."

Laurent Rossi died of a heart attack on 20 August 2015, at age 67.[1] He was the son of singer Tino Rossi.

Cover versions
  • An instrumental cover version was recorded by Vyacheslav Mescherin's Orchestra of Electronic Instruments in the 1970's. This version was often used on Soviet TV as an interlude and was released in compilation album Easy USSR.
  • Greek singer Yiannis Parios had a hit cover version, in the Greek language "Pote Den Se Xehno" in the mid-1970s.
  • Jan Kaczmarek and Jerzy Skoczylas covered the melody with the Polish text by the former, Do serca przytul psa.
  • Finnish singer Marion Rung released an album titled El Bimbo in 1975, which had the song "El Bimbo" as its opening track, with lyrics translated by Pertti Reponen. The album was the best-selling album in Finland for five weeks in 1975. It has sold over 52 000 copies, reaching platinum status. El Bimbo is Marion's best-selling album throughout her career.[4]
  • In 1976 Hungarian singer Kati Kovács released a version with Hungarian lyrics, titled "Hamvas arcú kisgyerek" ("Silky-faced Little Child"), on the A-side of a single.[5]
  • Russian singer Arkady Severny sang a version with original Russian lyrics, "gifted" to him when visiting Bombay.[6]
  • Turkish singer Tanju Okan made a version of the classic song of the group El Bimbo. Okan's version is called Şerefe (synonym for cheers in Turkish), in which he is singing in the style of the main melody of the original song.
  • Swedish dance band ”Bingos” from the 1970s made a cover called ”Herr Persson” (Mr. Persson). Available on the album ”Bingo igen!” from 1975.
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References
  1. "Décès du chanteur Laurent Rossi, fils de Tino Rossi". Le Figaro (in French). 21 August 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  2. https://bidoun.org/articles/those-were-the-days
  3. http://www.nostalgie.fr/artistes/bimbo-jet
  4. "Musiikkituottajat – Tilastot" (in Finnish). IFPI Finland. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  5. hu:Kovács Kati-diszkográfia
  6. "Я прилетел теперь в Бомбей" (in Russian). YouTube. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
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