Friday, Jan. 28, 2000 | 10 a.m.
Who: Cher and Lou Bega.
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Tickets: $39.75; and single seats for $75.25 and $150.25.
Information: For reservations, call TicketMaster at 474-4000.
Oh, the simplicity of it all:
"A little bit of Monica in my life/A little bit of Erica by my side ... "
There. Now try to get it out of your head.
Thanks to a flash of inspired lyricism that took 20 minutes to write and an infectious, relentless dance beat, Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5" has become "The Twist" of its era. Or at least a bubbly sequel to the "Macarena."
There is no lack of quirky comparisons when searching for song styles that led to "Mambo." Pop music critics have been prompted to recall, with varying explanations, "The Hustle," Toni Basil's "Oh, Mickey" and even the warped mid-'80s techno-track by Taco, "Puttin' on The Ritz."
Bega accepts flattering comparisons to long-ago dance staples, but insists that his song is superior to the "Macarena."
It has to do with testosterone.
"I think it's a better song than 'Macarena,' " Bega said during a recent telephone interview. "It has a bit more machismo. But it's happy macho, not bad. You have to be careful and not be too macho."
Sound advice.
Happy and macho would be a good way to describe "Mr. Mambo." But he's much more. Bega is also chronically natty (rarely is he spotted by a camera-wielding mob without his tailored '30s-era pinstripe suit and matching Borsalino hat) and charismatic ("Mamboman" is particularly proud of his uncanny ability to attract the ladies).
But all of Bega's personality traits feed off his out-of-left-field success.
"Women like success," he said. "Everyone likes to be around successful people."
Still riding the slow-to-ebb success of "Mambo No. 5," the centerpiece of his debut album "A Little Bit Of Mambo," Bega opens for Cher on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
This is one occasion where Bega will lose the war of wardrobes.
But he doesn't care.
"I love Las Vegas and I like the fact that there are plenty of things to do," said Bega, who was last in town in December at the "Billboard Music Awards" at the MGM Grand, "but I've never been to a Cher show. I expect there'll be a lot of different types of people, from 10-year-old kids to 80-year-olds.
"It should be a good crowd for my kind of music."
Bega has been busy touring since September, shortly after singing "Mambo No. 5" on "Live with Regis And Kathie Lee." At the time his album had been out less than a month.
Less than six months later it's triple platinum, having sold more than 3 million copies. It peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard charts, remained in the top 20 for 19 weeks and is still in the top 30 after 21 weeks, at No. 27. Bega has been nominated for a Grammy for best male pop vocal performance.
"It's hard to believe," Bega said. "I'm in famous company, with legends."
For the 24-year-old son of a Ugandan father and Sicilian mother who grew up in Germany, fame struck quickly. He finished off "Mambo No. 5" in March, writing the lyrics in just 20 minutes.
"It took me a little longer to get the melody," he said.
After a series of swiftly issued rejections from record companies, he landed a deal with RCA and his album debuted in August. Soon "Mambo No. 5" was virtually inescapable.
What's the secret formula?
"It's fun," Bega said. "It's easily identifiable. It has a good vibe to it. When people hear it, no matter what kind of mood they're in, they become happy and sort of start moving to it.
"We were being told by people that it wasn't a late-'90s song and that people wouldn't understand it. But I was confident it would catch on because it had such a good feel."
It also helped that the song featured the catty phrase, "A little bit of Monica," which hit the radio as one of history's most infamous Monicas was prominent in the public lexicon. But it was a lucky coincidence that "Monica" was a name used in the song -- all of the names Bega chose for the tune are of his former girlfriends.
"Monica was a girl I knew and was friendly with," Bega said. "But looking back, when I was writing it, of course I knew who Monica (Lewinsky) was. Maybe it was that the media pounded 'Monica' into my head so often that I was thinking it without realizing it. Maybe if the line was, 'A little bit of Sandra,' (the song) wouldn't have caught on like it did."
Based on his lone album, Bega's sound has been difficult to classify. Is it Afro-Cuban? Swing? Hip-hop? Soul?
"I have all kinds of different styles," he said.
One reason, the 24-year-old Bega asserts, is because of his flavorful heritage. Bega's father was Ugandan, and met his Sicilian-born mother after both had immigrated to Germany. Thus, the kid from Munich with the given name David Loubega experienced a multi-ethnic upbringing without even having to leave his neighborhood.
"My music is hard to categorize, and I'm sure (my upbringing) has something to do with it," Bega said. "It really helped me to see music as something universal, not directed to one particular group."
However, Bega realizes that he's still the proverbial one-hit wonder and has accepted that he'll likely be known as "Mr. Mambo" for the rest of his career.
"I can't top this song, and I know that," he said. "It has everything working. It's the best song I can make."
So what's to prevent him from ending up in the One-Hit Hall of Fame, his bust placed next to Billy Ray Cyrus and the Starland Vocal Band?
"Keep working, keep performing and touring and have your name out there," Bega said. "A lot of people have a hit and take six months off. Not me. Everything I do is directed toward my work, keeping busy and bringing more good songs to the fans."
If there is an overriding theme to Bega's music -- particularly "Mambo No. 5" and the follow-up single, "Tricky-Tricky" -- it's simply fun. Even ridiculously so.
"I would say it's daffy, if by daffy you mean that it's good fun that makes people want to have a good time," Bega said. "But you have to watch out when you call your own music 'daffy' because people don't take it seriously."
While the end product might be something to make people want to break into some preposterous dance -- such as the Mambo -- Bega says that considerable thought goes into his work.
"People don't realize how difficult it is to make happy music," Bega said. "If it were so easy, there would be more people doing it. There would be a lot more songs like 'Mambo No. 5' if it were so easy."
The intangible value of an upbeat tune became poignantly apparent to Bega soon after he wrote "Mambo No. 5" in March. His father, who has since passed away, was gravely ill and bedridden at the time. Bega had just finished recording a version of the song and brought a copy of it to his father.
"He was really weak, but I wanted him to hear it so I played it on CD for him," Bega said. "He nodded to it and even tried to dance.
"I know he's up there, some place. I know he senses a lot of energy."
And he's not alone.
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