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| “Paloma Blanca” | |
|---|---|
| Single by George Baker Selection | |
| from the album Paloma Blanca | |
| B-side | “Dreamboat” |
| Released | 1975 |
| Length | 3:27 |
| Label | Negram, Warner Bros. |
| Songwriter(s) | Johannes Bouwens |
| Producer(s) | Hans Bouwens |
| George Baker Selection singles chronology | |
| “Sing a Song of Love” (1974)”Paloma Blanca“ (1975)”Morning Sky” (1975) |
“Paloma Blanca” (Spanish for “white dove”), often called “Una Paloma Blanca“, is a song written by Dutch musician George Baker (under his real name, Johannes Bouwens) and first recorded and released by his band, George Baker Selection. The single—the title track of the group’s fifth album—was released in 1975 with “Dreamboat” (or “Dream Boat”) as its B-side. The song was a hit throughout Europe, reaching No. 1 in Austria, Finland, Flanders, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, and it also topped the charts of New Zealand and South Africa.
In the United States, the song became a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Easy Listening Singles chart on 14 February 1976 (becoming that chart’s overall No. 1 song for 1976), peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached No. 33 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. In Canada and the United Kingdom, “Paloma Blanca” peaked at No. 10, and in Australia, it reached No. 2. The song sold over two million copies worldwide.
Meaning
Baker has been quoted as saying the song is about “a poor South American farmer who works hard all day and then sits by a tree and dreams of being a white bird with its freedom.”
Charts
| Weekly charts Chart (1975–1976) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report) 2 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) 1 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) 1 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) 6 Canada Top Singles (RPM) 10 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM) 1 Canada Country Tracks (RPM) 36 Denmark (IFPI) 15 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) 1 Italy (Germano Ruscitto) 10 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 1 Netherlands (Single Top 100) 1 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 1 Norway (VG-lista) 1 South Africa (Springbok Radio) 1 Spain (El Gran Musical) 2 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) 1 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) 1 UK Singles (OCC)10 US Billboard Hot 100 26 US Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks (Billboard) 1 US Hot Country Singles (Billboard) 33 US Cash Box Top 100 22 West Germany (Official German Charts) 1 | Year-end charts Chart (1975)Rank Australia (Kent Music Report) 11 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) 2 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) 1 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 1 Netherlands (Single Top 100) 1 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 4 South Africa (Springbok Radio) 6 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) 2 West Germany (Official German Charts) 1 Chart (1976) Rank Australia (ARIA) 94 Canada Top Singles (RPM) 11 0US Easy Listening (Billboard) 1 US (Joel Whitburn‘s Pop Annual) 157 |
Cover versions
Following the George Baker Selection’s success, the song was widely covered. In the UK, where the group took “Paloma Blanca” to a No. 10 chart peak, the recording by Jonathan King achieved No. 5. King’s version was also a hit in Ireland, although its No. 15 Irish chart peak was topped there by a cover from the Dixies (with Rory O’Connor), who took the song to No. 11.
In South Africa, an Afrikaans rendering of “Paloma Blanca” entitled “My klein wit duifie” was a hit for a studio group credited as Tameletjie, its chart peak being No. 9.
A German-language rendering of “Paloma Blanca” was a hit for Nina & Mike (de) in both Germany (No. 6) and Austria (No. 7).
In Scandinavia, translated renderings of “Paloma Blanca” were hits for Siw Malmkvist (No. 8 in Sweden)
and Hans Petter Hansen (no) (No. 7 in Norway),
an alternate Swedish rendering being recorded by Säwes (sv).
A Danish version was recorded by Bjørn Tidmand.
In Finland, a localized translation of “Paloma Blanca” was a No. 2 hit for Katri Helena,
besting a rival version by Kisu (fi) at No. 18.
Finland also afforded chart status to the Jonathan King version “Una Paloma Blanca” which peaked at No. 27 there. The Finnish-language rendering of “Paloma Blanca” has been recorded by Aaron (fi),
and Matti ja Teppo.
Patricia Lavila (fr) recorded both French
and Italian renderings of “Paloma Blanca”, the former reaching No. 39 on the French chart.
French singer Georgie Dann recorded a version in Spanish, released in 1975 in Spain
as the B-side of “Campesino”.
Other versions were by Demis Roussos
and Slim Whitman.
Bobby Vinton recorded a version that appeared on his 1976 album Serenades of Love.
The song is often parodied, given its popularity and middle-of-the-road quality. In 1976, the British Scrumpy and Western group The Wurzels had a No. 3 UK hit with their parody of the song, “I Am a Cider Drinker”,
which was covered in 2003 by North London ska band Bad Manners for their album Stupidity, and in 2011 by Scottish pirate metal band Alestorm as a bonus track for their album Back Through Time. A remake by The Wurzels themselves was released in 2007 with a video. A similarly titled parody, “We Are the Shumba Drinkers”, by Mike Westcott and Leprechaun, gained popularity in Afrikaaner and White Rhodesian communities.
George Baker re-recorded a solo version of the song in 2005, for the film Too Fat Too Furious; the song had earlier been used in the 1982 film The Executioner’s Song. In 2011, it was given a rap make-over on the song-exchange-programme Ali B op volle toeren; George Baker returned the favour by performing a rewritten version of rapper Dio‘s “Tijdmachine”.
溫拿 The Wynners – Una Paloma Blanca
Paloma Blanca – instrumental cover by Dave Monk
Wieslawa Dudkowiak – Una Paloma Blanca
Victor Wood – Una Paloma Blanca
Orchestre de Christophe Demerson – Una Paloma Blanca
Anacani – Una Paloma Blanca
Paloma Blanca – cover on guitar by Eric
Too Fat Too Furious Film
| Too Fat Too Furious | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Tim Oliehoek |
| Release date | 3 February 2005 |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Language | Dutch |
Too Fat Too Furious (Dutch: Vet hard) is a 2005 Dutch action comedy film. It is a remake of the Danish film Old Men in New Cars and received a Golden Film for 100,000 visitors.
Plot
Bennie, a clumsy criminal who’s touchy about his weight, teams up with his adoptive father’s biological (serial killer) son, his employees who in his absence turned his snack-bar into a quiche bakery, a suicidal manic-depressive woman and a Yugoslavian who unintentionally keeps blowing things up. They need to get 300.000 Euros to get Bennie’s father a new liver. Complicating matters are that Bennie is being stalked by gangsters who want him to pay back a debt, the employees are more interested in cooking than in criminality, nobody can communicate with the Yugoslavian, the adoptive and biological son don’t get along, and everything that can go wrong does go wrong – leaving a path of damaged buildings, people and – especially – vehicles behind.
Cast
- Jack Wouterse as Bennie
- Kürt Rogiers as Koen Mast
- Bracha van Doesburgh as Katja Wielaard
- Jaak Van Assche as Johan Mast
- Johnny de Mol as Peter
- Cas Jansen as Martin
Watch the movie
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