On with the Show, This Is It

Was trolling for other versions of the sublime “Pata Pata” a little while ago and came across this space-age-lounge cover by French bandleader Paul Mauriat, who was unknown to me. (Some more info here.) I hear this as the overture to some kind of primetime pageant in bizarro-world Hollywood, or maybe just old Hollywood. Clouds of mist spray the air with a sickly-sweet scent, green and pink accents tint the spotlights, and at centre stage there’s a moustached leather-skinned guy in a tuxedo uttering banalities into one of those very long & thin microphones (topped by a tiny bulb), and despite his sparkling obsequious grin there’s something in the wink of his eye that makes you depressed & even anxious. And yet the backing music reassures you in a way: in its parodic excesses it confirms that you’re right to feel anxious & alienated.

Still, you keep watching.

Then there’s the Miriam Makeba oriignal, which is all about joy and fellowship in trying circumstances, a song that everyone should have in their life, and a song I won’t describe further because doing so would defeat a minor goal of mine to not use so many superlatives on this site. I’ll keep the Makeba version up for a short time only but you can buy some of her stuff here. (And some Mauriat here.)

• Paul Mauriat, “Pata Pata”
• Miriam Makeba, “Pata Pata”