Bamboleo

In 1987 the Gipsy Kings, a Gitano-French band founded in Arles a decade earlier, released "Bamboleo" on their eponymous album. The group, whose members have Catalan heritage and whose parents had fled Spain during the 1930s Spanish Civil War, played a blend of Catalan rumba, flamenco, salsa, and pop. "Bamboleo" became a worldwide hit for them and helped carry rumba flamenca to a global audience.

The song was written and adapted by band members Tonino Baliardo, Chico Bouchikhi, and Nicolas Reyes, together with Venezuelan composer Simón Díaz and Brazilian composer André Filho, with arrangements by Dominique Perrier. It is a loose combination of two older works. The verses draw on Díaz's 1980 Venezuelan folk song "Caballo Viejo", though the original lyrics were heavily shortened and new verses changed the meaning of the source. The chorus is based on Filho's "Bamboleô", recorded by Carmen Miranda in 1931. The Spanish word bamboleo means "wobble", "sway", or "dangle".

The chorus line translates as "Swaying, swaying, because I prefer to live my life this way." Other artists took up the amalgam quickly. Julio Iglesias performed it as "Caballo Viejo (Bamboleo)" and Celia Cruz as "Bamboleo". Umboza built their UK hit "Sunshine" on a sample of the recording, and the Gipsy Kings later included the track on their Greatest Hits album, where it also appeared in a medley with "Volare", "Djobi Djoba", "Pida Me La", and "Baila Me".