Aie a Mwana#Bananarama version

The original song was called "Aieaoa", and was featured on the pseudo-Japanese dance album Le Monde fabuleux des Yamasuki, which was released in 1971 by the French writing and production team of Daniel Vangarde and Jean Kluger.[http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2005/05/the_road_from_y.html WFMU's Beware of the Blog: The Road From Yamasuki to Bananarama]

In 1975, Belgian record producer Michel Jaspar – who had been born in what was then the Belgian Congo – was contacted by Zairean singer Steve Banda Kalenga, who had formed a band with friends from Angola. Jaspar renamed the band Black Blood and, with fellow musician Ralph Benatar and with the encouragement of Kluger, produced the band's first single in Belgium. The A-side was "Marie Therese", written by Jaspar, and the B-side was a version of "Aieaoa" which Jaspar re-wrote with lyrics in Swahili, apart from the words "Aie a Mwana" themselves which are meaningless. It was the B-side, "A.I.E. (A Mwana)", which became successful, reaching #1 in Belgium and France, as well as being a hit in other parts of the world.{{Cite web |url=http://www.thesoulguy.com/blackblood.htm |title=Guy Howarth, Black Blood and Michel Jaspar, at TheSoulGuy.com |access-date=14 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100825141754/http://www.thesoulguy.com/blackblood.htm |archive-date=25 August 2010 |url-status=dead }}

After Bananarama's success in the UK with their version of the song, Vangarde and Kluger, who by then had found international success with the Gibson Brothers and Ottawan, also recorded versions of the same song with both Ottawan ("A.I.E. Is My Song", with English lyrics, 1982)[http://www.bide-et-musique.com/song/1879.html Aie Is My Song (par Ottawan) – fiche chanson – B&M] and La Compagnie Créole ("A.I.E A Moun'la", 1987).

{{Infobox song

| name = Aie a Mwana

| cover = Banana_aam.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Bananarama

| album = Deep Sea Skiving

| B-side = Dubwana

| released = 28 September 1981

| recorded = June 1981

| studio =

| genre =

• Post-punk{{cite web|title='People wet their knickers when they find out I was in Bananarama': the 80s trio return|date=24 April 2017|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/apr/24/people-wet-knickers-bananarama-80s-trio-return|first=Rebecca|last=Nicholson|work=The Guardian|accessdate=29 May 2023}}
• afrobeat{{AllMusic |class=album|id=mw0000200121|title= Bananarama - The Greatest Hits Collection (1988) Review|last= Raggett|first= Ned|access-date= January 12, 2025}}

| length = 3:33

| label = Demon, Deram

| writer = Daniel Vangarde, Jean Kluger

| producer = Paul Cook, John Martin, Sara Dallin

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title = It Ain't What You Do

| next_year = 1982

}}

"Aie a Mwana" is the debut single by Bananarama, released in 1981. Group members originally recorded the track as a demo and ultimately it was the demo version that was pressed onto the record. Originally released as a stand-alone single, "Aie a Mwana" was eventually added to the group's debut album Deep Sea Skiving in a remixed and more polished version two years later.

Bananarama's previous experience in a recording studio was recording unused background vocals for the Department S B-side "Solid Gold Easy Action", a T. Rex cover. Prompted by friend and early supporter Paul Cook (of Sex Pistols), Bananarama decided to release their own single. As they had been including several cover versions in their repertoire (including later hit "Venus"), they decided on the song which had been recorded by Black Blood, sung in Swahili, which they had heard in a French disco. Group members Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward had to learn to sing the song phonetically. The "tropical" nature of the single inspired the group's name: banana coming from the vibe of "Aie a Mwana" and -rama added to the end as a nod to an early Roxy Music song called "Pyjamarama".

The single was issued by the independent label Demon Records and then licensed to Deram,{{Cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/something-different-but-strong-a-brief-history-of-deram-records|title = Something different, but strong: A Brief History of Deram Records|date = 17 April 2015}}Demon/Deram 1981 cat no. DM 446 when Bananarama signed to London, however both times the song failed to reach the UK top 75. Write-ups in the English music and fashion press (NME, The Face) caught the attention of Terry Hall, who invited Bananarama to sing on his new vocal group Fun Boy Three's next single.

; 7" vinyl single (Demon Records D 1010, later Demon / Deram Records DM 446)

1. "Aie a Mwana" 3:33
2. "Dubwana" 3:38

; UK 12" vinyl single (Demon / Deram Records DMX 446)

1. "Aie a Mwana" (12" Version) 5:39
2. "Dubwana" – 3:38

; US 12" vinyl single

1. "Aie a Mwana" (US Extended Version) 6:52
2. "Dubwana" – 3:38

All above tracks available on the 2013 2CD/DVD re-issue of Deep Sea Skiving (Edsel Records EDSG 8029)

Greek singer Lakis Giordanelli released a version known as "Agorazo Palia" ("Αγοράζω Παλιά", "I am buying old things") in 1976 with different lyrics. A re-translated version was titled "La Revancha de Macumba" by Veronica Castro for her 1991 album Mi Pequena Soledad.

The song was re-recorded in 2010 by the South African singer Velile Mchunu and Danish percussion duo Safri Duo. It was released on 7 May 2010 as the lead single from Safri Duo's forthcoming Greatest Hits album.{{cite web|title=Helele – Single by Velile & Safri Duo – Download Helele – Single on iTunes|date=January 2010|url=https://itunes.apple.com/dk/album/helele-single/id370730436|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216033931/http://itunes.apple.com/dk/album/helele-single/id370730436|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 December 2010|publisher=iTunes Store|accessdate=12 June 2010}} The song is the official trailer song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup broadcast on German television channel RTL and Switzerland's Schweizer Fernsehen and Télévision Suisse Romande in June–July.{{cite web|title=Der offizielle RTL WM-Hit 2010: "Helele"|url=http://www.rtl.de/cms/unterhaltung/musik/wm-hit-2010.html?startid=322332|date=27 May 2010|publisher=RTL|accessdate=11 June 2010|language=German|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617151447/http://www.rtl.de/cms/unterhaltung/musik/wm-hit-2010.html?startid=322332|archivedate=17 June 2010|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=SF gibt Polo einen Korb|url=http://www.20min.ch/life/musik/story/23139546|date=5 May 2010|publisher=20 Minuten Online|accessdate=23 June 2010|language=German| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100626052126/http://www.20min.ch/life/musik/story/23139546| archivedate= 26 June 2010 | url-status= live}} "Helele" peaked at number one in Switzerland, at number three in Germany and at number twenty-two in Austria.

{{Reflist}}

{{Ottawan}}

{{Bananarama}}

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Category:1971 songs

Category:1981 debut singles

Category:Ottawan songs

Category:Bananarama songs

Category:Demon Music Group singles

Category:Deram Records singles

Category:Songs written by Daniel Vangarde

Category:Songs written by Jean Kluger

Category:Songs in Swahili