| "Bingo Bango" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byBasement Jaxx | ||||
| from the albumRemedy | ||||
| Released | 27 March 2000 (2000-3-27)[1] | |||
| Genre | Latin house | |||
| Length |
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| Label | XL | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Basement Jaxx | |||
| Basement Jaxx singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Bingo Bango" onYouTube | ||||
"Bingo Bango" is a song written and recorded by Englishelectronic music duoBasement Jaxx for their debut album,Remedy (1999). The track, which contains a sample of Bolivar's "Merengue" and as a result, Jose Ibata and Rolando Ibata are credited as songwriters, combined dance music with various elements of Latin music. It was released byXL Recordings as the album's fourth single on 27 March 2000, and later became the duo's thirdNo. 1 song on theBillboardDance Club Play chart. The song also peaked at No. 6 in Iceland and No. 13 in the United Kingdom.
In other media, "Bingo Bango" appeared in television shows and films, such as theAmerican version ofQueer as Folk,The Dancer (2000), and various televised sports events. A 2012 cover version by AmericanHot 8 Brass Band received positive reception. In 2011, Basement Jaxx's Felix Buxton and musicianJules Buckley created an orchestral version of the song and included it in the live albumBasement Jaxx vs. Metropole Orkest.
"Bingo Bango" is afour-to-the-floor dance song that was primarily influenced byLatin music.[2][3] It contains elements ofsamba,[4]calypso,[5]house,[2] andtechno,[2] and was said by Barry Walters ofRolling Stone to also "layerska on top ofsalsa."[6]AllMusic's John Bush noticed the use ofhorns throughout the production, which Michaelangelo Matos described inThe Rolling Stone Album Guide as "carnival-bound horn blasts."[7][8] Bush additionally wrote that, similar to "Rendez-Vu", "Bingo Bango" was anotherRemedy (1999) track that shared "theNuyoricans' penchant for Latin vibes."[7] A sample of Bolivar's "Merengue" also appeared in the song.[9]
In 2011, Felix Buxton collaborated with musicianJules Buckley to re-arrange fifteen of Basement Jaxx's tracks for a live orchestral show.[10] "We made it into aViennese Waltz for the simplest reason: why the hell not?," Jules stated.[11] Andy Gill ofThe Independent wrote that this new version was based around waltz-timeharpsichord and "raffishly muted" trumpet.[10]
Matt Hendrickson fromRolling Stone called "Bingo Bango" an "a calypso romp," while Alice Fisher ofThe Observer described it as "riotous".[5][12] In a review forMetroActive, Michelle Goldberg praised the song's "brilliant melding" between the different genres. She claimed it was done with a "gleeful naturalness so that the foreign sounds never sound like superfluous spice."[2] On the other hand, British music magazineNME was extremely negative, stating:
"Bingo Bango", is no less irritating [than the otherRemedy tracks], though less brutish in its execution and more like the bothersome exhortations of an over-exuberant toddler; the vocal sample is ‘nagging’ like a grandmother disapproving of a new haircut and ‘catchy’ in that same ghastly way that any advert withMichael Winner in is memorable – just because it sticks in the head doesn't make it good.[13]
The orchestral rendition received a favorable review fromThe Independent's Andy Gill, who labelled it a "delicate, sugarplum-fairy re-imagining." He further wrote: "[The re-arrangement] becomes as unashamedly widescreen as aSpielberg film score byJohn Williams, speeding up as it goes along like a Greek orCossack dance – just one benefit of its being freed from sequencer rhythms."[10]
Commercially, "Bingo Bango" achieved moderate success. On 29 July 2000, the song topped theBillboardDance Club Play chart and stayed there for two consecutive weeks.[14][15] It was the duo's thirdNo. 1 on the chart, following "Red Alert" and "Rendez-Vu", both in 1999.[16] "Bingo Bango" later peaked at No. 7 on its year-end edition of 2000.[17] It also peaked at No. 13 in the United Kingdom and No. 99 in Netherlands.[18][19] In 2004,MTV Dance ranked the song at No. 65 in their Top 100 Ibiza Anthems list.[20] The results were voted by various industrial disc jockeys and artists.[21]
Basement Jaxx directed a music video for "Bingo Bango" and included it on their video compilationThe Videos (2005).[22] The song also appeared in their 1999Essential Mix of the Year-winningDJ mix, broadcast onBBC Radio 1 in May, and on theirgreatest hits album,The Singles (2005).[23][9]
OnHot 8 Brass Band's second studio album,The Life & Times Of... (2012), the band's cover of the song was highly acclaimed by AllMusic's Al Campbell.[24] Campbell said: "In the context of brass band music, ["Bingo Bango" is not a track] that would immediately come to mind as complementing that style. But in the hands of the Hot 8, not only do they make it work, it coheres entirely throughout the disc."[24]Neil Spencer fromThe Observer wrote that their cover brought the Latin "flavors" to the song.[25]
On television, "Bingo Bango" was used in the second episode of series two ofAt Home with the Braithwaites, which aired on 11 January 2001.[26] American showQueer as Folk featured the song twice during itsfirst season. The original version appeared in "No Bris, No Shirt, No Service", which aired on 10 December 2000;[27] while the "Latin Mix" appeared in "Full Circle", which aired on 24 June 2001.[28] On 7 June 2005, the song appeared during the first episode ofSugar Rush.[29]
Theatrically, French dramaThe Dancer (2000),[30] American teen comedyGet Over It (2001)[31] and the action thrillerExtreme Ops (2002)[32] all featured the track. The first two films also included it in their soundtrack albums.[30][31] "Bingo Bango" was a downloadable game feature onDanceStar Digital in 2013.[33] In 2001, bothThe Guardian andThe Independent observed that the track frequently accompanied many televisedsports events andcommercials.[34][3] Buxton told the latter publication: "I saw a bit of football yesterday and as usual they were playing 'Bingo Bango' alongside the commentary. I thought how much it suits it – it was very energetic. I felt very proud."[3]
Basement Jaxx usually ended their live performances with "Bingo Bango".[35][36][37] For their set atCreamfields festival in 2000, they brought on stage a "dazzling troupe of featheredMardi Gras dancers" during the song.[37] In 2011, Jules Buckley andMetropole Orkest, which consists of a 60-piece orchestra and a 20-voice choir, performed the Buxton-written orchestral version in three shows in the Netherlands and United Kingdom.[38][39] Recordings of the Netherlands' concert later became the material for the duo's first live album,Basement Jaxx vs. Metropole Orkest (2011).[40]
Australian maxi-CD single[41]
European CD single[42]
European and UK maxi-CD; Italian and UK 12-inch single[43][44][45][46]
UK 12-inch single[46]
| UK cassette single[47]
US 12-inch single[48]
|
Credits adapted from the liner notes ofRemedy andThe Singles.[49][9]
Recording and management
Personnel
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
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