Background "Bongo Cha Cha Cha" was written by
Ernst Bader, Ralf Arnie and
Werner Müller, with the German version originally conducted by Müller and performed by Valente and her brother Silvio Francesco (as the duo Caterina Silvio) in the
Paul Martin movie . Soon set to Italian lyrics by Giuseppe Perotti (under the pseudonym Pinchi), the song is one of the first examples of German- and Italian-language
cha cha cha, a Latin American dance of Cuban origins successfully imported also in Europe since the 1950s. By 1959, Valente had signed a recording contract with
Decca Records, thanks to the success achieved internationally and in particular in the United States, The release of "Bongo Cha Cha Cha" was also a great success and was included in the
Miss Personality album (titled in Italy), released in 1960. The single has been published in many countries including Germany,
Yugoslavia, Australia, United States and Greece. A
Serbo-Croatian cover of the song was recorded by
Ljiljana Petrović in 1962, and a
Bulgarian one by Raina Deneva in 1964.
Revival In 2013, "Bongo Cha Cha Cha" was included on the soundtrack to the French film (
On My Way), directed by
Emmanuelle Bercot and starring
Catherine Deneuve. In 2019, "Bongo Cha Cha Cha", in its Italian version, was included on
the soundtrack to
Spider-Man: Far from Home, directed by
Jon Watts, in the segment when
Peter Parker (
Tom Holland) and his schoolmates land in
Venice, Italy; the song went
viral, gaining renewed popularity. In 2021, it went viral again via the social media platform
TikTok, thanks to its use for a trend that has collected over 250 million views, started from Latin countries and South America, and later in Italy and Germany. Amid the 2021 resurgence in popularity, "Bongo Cha Cha Cha" was remixed by British group
Goodboys in
a house version which charted in several countries, as well as sampled in the Russian single "Na chile" by
GeeGun featuring
Egor Kreed,
The Limba,
Blago White, OG Buda,
Timati,
Soda Luv and Guf. and was covered by Maltese singer
Emma Muscat (with accompaniment by the
German Film Orchestra Babelsberg) for the compilation album
TikTok Classics – Memes & Viral Hits.
Track listings 7" single "Bongo Cha Cha Cha" (Italy, 1959) : A. "Bongo Cha Cha Cha" :: (
Ernst Bader, Ralf Arnie,
Werner Müller and Giuseppe Perotti) : B. "" :: (Ernst Bader, Ralf Arnie, Werner Müller and Giuseppe Perotti) :
Decca Records 45-C 16535 == Goodboys version ==