The Chakachas

Back when I first jumped off this blog my e-homie stationed in Japan, Polemic, suggested I drop Jungle Fever by The Chakachas as my theme song after having read a few of my entries. Live long and prosper to Polemic and the O.G. fam of BlackTokyo.

The Chakachas were a Belgium-based group of Latin Soul studio musicians.

Also known as Les Chakachas or Los Chakachas, they were formed by band leader Gaston Bogaert, ex-Los Juano Boengs and ex-The Continentals, percussion (conga & tumba); Tito Puente’s singer wife Kari Kenton, vocals & maracas; Vic Ingeveldt (Dutchman from Liege), sax; Charlie Lots, trumpet; Christian Marc, piano; Henri Breyre, guitar & backing vocals; and Bill Raymond, bass. All were native in Schaarbeek (a district of Brussels), or nearby Charleroi; Willebroek and Liege.

They started out in the late 1950s had a Belgian #1 in 1958 with Eso Es El Amor, which was sung in Spanish.

In 1962 they crept into the UK charts for the first time with Twist Twist, which reached #48.

Although they issued numerous recordings, they are best remembered as a one-hit wonder for their hit disco single Jungle Fever from 1972, which sold over a million copies in the U.S. and reached #3. In the UK it fared less well: despite some airplay soon after release it was later banned by the BBC, who took exception to the moaning and heavy breathing heard on the record, first by a woman and later by a man as well. It peaked at #29.

The song was covered in the movie Boogie Nights and featured on the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack, being played on fictional radio station Master Sounds 98.3.