The Lion Sleeps Tonight – Tight Fit

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The Lion Sleeps Tonight – Tight Fit

Don’t tell anyone but I love this version of this song. It emerged in the 80s as a novelty song for Tight Fit. They were basically a session band that used to cover lots of 60s chart hits for those strange non original artists albums that were cheaper than the real thing due to not having to pay royalties. They then did a cover of this ear worm.

The made up band and the video featured a couple of young ladies dressed up in cave girl outfits which certainly caught the attention of us teenager boys. The Wimoweh chant on this is ridiculously catchy, the strange subject matter and silly words make this a great pop hit. The backing is very obvious but effective, can't beat a bit of tom tom drums. There were quite a few of these strange one hit wonders throughout the 80s but this one still makes me smile. Three million views of a Top of the Pops performance says it all.

The original version was created in 1939 in Zulu, there were loads of covers from then on once it was translated into English. I also know the version by The Tokens in 1961, love a bit of doo-wop. It was later used in the Lion King Disney film.

Favourite lyric: Hush my darling, don't fear my darling, the lion sleeps tonight

Location: Rayleigh, UK

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