Lou Bega - A Little Bit of Mambo

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Title: A Little Bit of Mambo
Artist: Lou Bega
Audio CD (August 24, 1999)
Original Release Date: August 24, 1999
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Mambo
Format: Free Lossless Audio Codec


Track Listing:

01. Mambo No. 5 (a Little Bit of...)
02. Baby Keep Smiling
03. Lou's Café
04. Can I Tico Tico You
05. I Got a Girl
06. Tricky, Tricky
07. Icecream
08. Beauty On the TV-Screen
09. 1+1=2
10. The Most Expensive Girl In the World
11. The Trumpet Part II
12. Behind Stage
13. Mambo Mambo


Amazon Review:
What sounds like an early-model Casio playing "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" quickly gives way to a classic Perez Prado riff. On top of it all, Lou Bega--born in Germany to a Ugandan father and Italian mother--hoarsely exhorts the floor to "Mambo No. 5." A runaway hit in more than a dozen countries, it's an agreeable trifle, if ultimately not as charming as "Macarena" proved to be a few summers back. Throughout this cash-in album, Bega comes off like a cross between a less clever Tone-Loc and a less inspired Buster Poindexter. If there's a great Europop-Cuban fusion in the making, its standard-bearers will have to come up with more durable trashy fun than this.

Allmusic Review:
Out of left field came German-born, Italian/Ugandan Lou Bega, scoring an international chart-topping single with his infectious "Mambo No. 5" -- the only thing that kept it from reaching the top of the U.S. charts was the fact that no American commercial single was ever issued. The rest of Bega's album, A Little Bit of Mambo, follows pretty much the same recipe as "Mambo No. 5." A couple of songs, including "1+1=2" and "I Got a Girl" are virtual rewrites of the aforementioned hit -- meaning that if one didn't enjoy "Mambo No. 5," then one would have a difficult time enjoying the rest of the album. Nonetheless, this breezy, feel-good disc is entirely intoxicating, incorporating Caribbean rhythms and instrumentals ("The Most Expensive Girl in the World," "Icecream"), mambo-meets-techno influences ("Can I Tico Tico You"), jazz and hip-hop ("The Trumpet Part II"), and old-time nostalgia ("Baby Keep Smiling"), to create one of 1999's most unusual and unique albums. Lou Bega's vocals are limited, to be sure, and the lyrics deal with little more than girls and partying (and are too ridiculous to be taken seriously), yet his charisma and good-natured intentions are undeniable. None of the songs on this disc came close to matching the success of "Mambo No. 5." The second single, the hypnotic, brass-heavy "Tricky Tricky" failed to even ignite the U.S. Top 40, rendering Bega as more a novelty act than anything else. Nonetheless, this album is unique in the pantheon of 1990s pop music, and those who enjoyed his hit will likely enjoy the rest of this feel-good, summery concoction.