Artist: Kjarkas
Author: Gonzalo Hermoza/Ulysses Hermoza
Label: Lauro
Year: 1982

B-side of Wa Ya Yay, a Bolivian 45 (running at 33) covered by Goya & Carmina (see there).

The biggest hit of '89, the best selling single in Europe in the eighties, the biggest dance craze since the Twist was stolen. Lambada may be a Brazilian dance rhythm, the melody and lyrics of this smash hit are Bolivian, Spanish instead of Portuguese. Llorando Se Fué means Crying She Left, composed by Gonzalo & Ulysses Hermoza, two brothers of the band Los Kjarkas, a Bolivian institution. They both ran a school in Cotiabamba, high in the Andes, teaching traditional Andes music, updating a folk archive, making their own traditional musical instruments and keeping tradition intact. These respectabele brothers got robbed by two producers: Olivier Lorsac (a Frenchman) and Jean Karakos (from Greece) 'bought' the rights over a bunch of traditional Andes melodies in Brasil, hired studio band Kaoma in the Nordeste province, threw their Llorando barely naked across the dance floor, while collecting royalties under the ficticious name Chico de Oliveira. It took a while before the Hermozas, high in their Andes remoteness, realized what was going on. By the time they finally knew who to sue, the craze was over. In the end they did win their case, be it just for the honour (very important in Bolivia). A symbolic damage was granted and a rectification on any future Kaoma release. The Llorando Se Fue/Lambada case gave any 'forgotten' author the chance to sue any opportunist fooling around with it. In an interview with The Originals, conducted in Spanish by the late Julien Put, Gonzalo Hermoza claimed he didn't do it for the pesos. In his eyes Llorando Se Fué wasn't that important. You won't even find the song on the initial Best Of Los Kjarkas compilation and when they first released it in 1982, it was as a B-side, not even mentioned on the front cover.