“Begin the Beguine” is a popular song written by Cole Porter. Porter composed the song in 1935 on a Pacific cruise aboard Cunard’s ocean liner Franconia. In October 1935, it was introduced by June Knight in the Broadway musical Jubilee, produced at the Imperial Theatre in New York City. The Beguine is a dance and music form, similar to a slow rumba. Julio Iglesias recorded a Spanish version of “Begin the Beguine”, titled “Volver a Empezar” in Spanish. Iglesias wrote new Spanish lyrics for this song, which is about lost love rather the dance. Apart from the opening lines, the full song is in Spanish. The song was produced in Madrid with an arrangement by producer Ramón Arcusa, using the rhythm from Johnny Mathis’ disco version of the song. The song reached No. 1 in the UK in December 1981. It was the first fully Spanish language song to do so.
“(Si Si) Je Suis un Rock Star” is a song by Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stone, released in 1981 as the lead single from his eponymous third solo studio album, through A&M Records. While most of the song is in English, the chorus is in Franglais: “Je suis un rock star / Je avais un residence / Je habiter là / à la south of France / Voulez-vous / partir with me? / And come and rester là / with me in France.” Wyman originally wrote the song for Ian Dury. However, finding himself unable to interest Dury or any other artist in it, he reluctantly recorded the song himself, using an accent he later described as “Cockney French”. The song’s highest chart position in the UK was at number 14,] and it spent nine weeks in the Top 40.
“Aie a Mwana” is the best-known title of a song originally written by the French-Belgian writing and production team of Daniel Vangarde and Jean Kluger. It was first recorded in 1971 under the title “Aieaoa” on the album Le Monde fabuleux des Yamasuki. In 1975, a version with predominantly Swahili lyrics by Black Blood, an African group recording in Belgium, was released as “A.I.E. (A Mwana)“. “Aie a Mwana” is the debut single by Bananarama, released in 1981. Group members originally recorded the track as a demo and ultimately it was the demo version that was pressed onto the record. Originally released as a stand-alone single, “Aie a Mwana” was eventually added to the group’s debut album Deep Sea Skiving in a remixed and more polished version two years later.
“Da Da Da I Don’t Love You You Don’t Love Me Aha Aha Aha” (usually shortened to “Da Da Da“) is a song by the German band Trio. Trio was formed in 1980 by Stephan Remmler, Gert Krawinkel, and Peter Behrens. Released as a single in 1982 and featured on their 1981 eponymous debut album, “Da Da Da” became a hit in Germany and about 30 other countries, selling 13 million copies worldwide. The lyrics were written by Stephan Remmler, the music by Gert Krawinkel. “Da Da Da” remains the band’s biggest German hit and their only hit outside Germany. In the UK, “Da Da Da” hit No. 2 in July 1982.
“Theme from Harry’s Game” is a 1982 song by Clannad commissioned as the theme for Harry’s Game, a Yorkshire Television miniseries adapted from a 1975 novel set in The Troubles in Northern Ireland. The song was written “in a couple of hours” and credited to Pol and Ciarán Brennan. It was released as a single in October 1982 and became a surprise hit, reaching number 5 in the UK the following month and number 2 in the Irish Singles Chart. The song is to date the only British hit single ever to have been sung entirely in Irish. The chorus “Fol lol the doh fol the day, Fol the doh fol the day“, is ancient Irish mouth-music, known as Portaireacht, which is common in traditional music.
