"Tequila" is a 1958 Latin-inspired surfinstrumental song written by Chuck Rio and recorded by American rock and roll band The Champs. "Tequila" became a No. 1 hit on both the pop and R&B charts at the time of its release and continues to be strongly referenced in pop culture to this day.[3]
In 1957, Gene Autry's record label, Challenge Records, signed Dave Burgess (born 1934), a rockabilly singer-songwriter from California who often recorded under the name "Dave Dupree". At the end of 1957, having produced no hits, Challenge Records looked to Burgess, who organized a recording session on December 23 in Hollywood. In the studio that day were Burgess on rhythm guitar, Cliff Hils on bass, the Flores Trio (Danny Flores saxophone and piano, Gene Alden on drums, and lead guitarist Buddy Bruce), and Huelyn Duvall contributing backing vocals. They gathered primarily to record "Train to Nowhere", a song by Burgess, as well as "Night Beat" and "All Night Rock" (a song that has never been released).
The last tune recorded was "Tequila", essentially just a jam by the Flores Trio. It is based on a Cuban mambo song "Como Mi Ritmo No Hay Dos" by Cachao. The word "tequila" is spoken three times throughout the tune. There were three takes, and Danny Flores, who wrote the song, was also the man who spoke the word "Tequila!" solo.[6] The song served as the B-side for "Train to Nowhere", which was released by Challenge Records (No. 1016) on January 15, 1958. Duvall recalls that the record initially found little success, but, after a DJ in Cleveland played the B-side, "Tequila" reached No. 1 on the Billboardpop chart on March 28, 1958. The song reached No. 1 in Canada, March 24, 1958.[7]
Daniel Flores had written "Tequila", but, because he was signed to another label, the tune was credited to "Chuck Rio", a name he adopted for the stage. Those present for the December 23 session began recording together again on January 20, 1958, under the name the Champs; the group technically formed after recording "Tequila". The tune has been noted[by whom?] to have a similar rhythm structure to Bo Diddley's 1958 release "Dearest Darling" from his self-titled compilation album.[citation needed]
The Champs recorded a sequel to "Tequila" titled "Too Much Tequila". Released as a maroon-label Challenge single, it reached No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2020, group leader Dave Burgess resurrected The Champs and recorded 12 new tracks for an LP titled Tequila Party. The album contains a "party" version of "Tequila".
Duane Eddy featured a cover of "Tequila" on Twangin' The Golden Hits in 1964.
The Yugoslav band Iskre released a cover in 1965 on their album of the same name.
The tune was covered by Bill Black's Combo: "Tequila"/"Raunchy", 7" single, Hi Records 45-2077, US 1966 which was initially released on his 1960 album Solid and Raunchy.
Industrial metal band Klutæ released a reworking entitled "Tequila Slammer" on their 1995 EPExcepted, using samples of the original lyrics and horns layered with drum machines and heavy guitar.
Keimzeit covered the tune on their 1996 live album Nachtvorstellung.
Japanese band the Pugs do a punk-thrash cover of the tune on their 1997 compilation album Pugs Bite the Red Knee, using samples of the original recording.
Japanese reggae singer Corn Head covered the tune on his 2000 EP Young Generation.
The Tony Levin Band released a version of the tune on their 2002 album Pieces of the Sun. This version has little resemblance to the original, aside from the occasional playing of the main tequila theme and a quiet utterance of the title three times during the course of the song. Levin claims a co-writing credit on his version.
A segment of the tune also appears in the song "What Happened?" by California punk/ska band Sublime on their 1992 album 40oz. to Freedom. The song is about the morning after a party and the word "Tequila" is replaced with "What Happened?"
The saxophone riff was used by Suggs on his 1996 song "(No More) Alcohol" from the 1995 album The Lone Ranger.
"Tequila" was featured in many post 1990s RatDog sets, usually segued into from "Sylvio".
Sheb Wooley's hit "The Purple People Eater" implies that "Tequila" is one of the songs the titular character learns to play with his horn; the last word of the song is the title character uttering the word "tequila." Both songs were released in 1958.
In the 1960 film Pepe, Pepe (Cantinflas) and Debbie Reynolds (as herself) jumped out of a tequila bottle and danced to the tune "Tequila" dressed as Mexican peasants.
The 1985 film Pee-wee's Big Adventure featured a scene in which Pee-wee Herman (Paul Reubens) is at a bar and knocks over a row of parked motorcycles angering the bikers, but then proceeds to win them over by selecting "Tequila" from the jukebox and comically dancing to it. The "Pee-wee dance," as well as the character himself, have since been closely linked with the tune in popular culture.[15] This usage of the tune was further referenced in rapper Joeski Love's track "Pee-wee's Dance", which also used "Tequila"'s melody. "Earl of Bud" was a beer vendor who became famous for doing the dance routine at Buffalo sporting events. Professional wrestlerDanhausen is also known to do the "Pee-wee dance" to the tune of Tequila in the middle of matches.[16]
Canadian figure skater Kurt Browning used the song for his short program during the 1987–1988 season which included the 1988 Winter Olympics.
In the 1990 film The Freshman, Bert Parks has a cameo role as himself where he sings, among other odd offerings, a version of "Tequila!"
"Tequila" is played during the dance competition at the start of Strictly Ballroom (1992). Other films in which it appears include JFK (1991).
In the 1993 film The Sandlot, the song plays during a scene in which the main characters become nauseous and vomit while on an amusement park ride after chewing tobacco. This scene has been cut from some television airings of the film.
In the 2006 film Night at the Museum, the tune is played at a party Cecil Fredericks (Dick Van Dyke) is attending. During the party, Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) calls Cecil for help, but is quickly hung up on when Cecil participates in the dancing of the song.
The song "Está llegando la banda" ("The band is arriving") uses the tune of "Tequila". "Está llegando la banda" is usually sung at Mexican Football Federationfootball matches.
In the first season finale of the medical drama ER, "Everything Old Is New Again", the song is played at Carol Hathaway (Julianna Marguiles)'s wedding whilst all the guests dance along and shout "Tequila" along with the song.
Terrorvision used the main elements of the melody of this tune as the basis of their song "Tequila", which reached No. 2 in the UK charts in January 1999 and was featured on their album Shaving Peaches.
A recomposition of the song was used as the theme song for Banana Split from 2009 until 2011.[17]
The 2017 movie Baby Driver features the Button Down Brass' 1970 version of "Tequila" which was included on its soundtrack.
In 2017, Fans of Ipswich Town started using the song for their on loan midfielder Bersant Celina replacing "tequila" with "Celina!"
Appeared in Who's the Boss? Season 3 Episode 24 "A Moving Episode".
The first few bars are sampled for one of the music tracks in the 1994 video game EarthBound.
The 2019 video game Far Cry New Dawn features the Bill Black's Combo version of "Tequila".
On June 20, 2019, Andy Rowell performed his Karaoke version on America's Got Talent and received 4 yes's from the Judges and a Standing "Dancing" Ovation from the crowd.
The song has been adopted by supporters of English football club Tranmere Rovers and is sung at most home games.
The song was adopted by supporters of Arsenal in 2022 in honour of their defender William Saliba, replacing the word "Tequila" in the song with "Saliba".[18]
The song has also been adopted by supporters of Brighton & Hove Albion, honouring winger Kaoru Mitoma, replacing “Tequila” with “Mitoma”.
The songs has been adopted by Luton Town supporters as well since 2022, where "Tequila" is replaced with "Nakamba", referencing Player Marvelous Nakamba.
The song has as well been adopted by Birmingham City supporters, with "Tequila" being replaced with "Bacuna", referencing the player Juninho Bacuna during his time at blues between 2022-24.
In 2023, Falkirk fans started using the song for their striker Ross MacIver, replacing "tequila" with "MacIver!"
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