Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Humba Tätärä - Humppa humppa humppa tättärää


Now, I thought "humppa" was a Finnish invention. No way it was. But I guess the Finns invented the way to dance to "humppa". "Humba", as it is called in Central Europe, or "Oom-pah music" is traditional German, Austrian, Swiss and Eastern European music. It's specially performed at celebrations of Octoberfest, a traditional Bavarian festival. The term "Humppa"/Humba"/'Oom-Pah' is in imitation of the downbeats played by the bass or tuba and the off-beats played by other instruments to provide rhythmic accompaniment for the melody. In the end of 50's some Finnish orchestra's began to make arrangements for old foxtrot dance tunes in the "humppa" style. And the Finns were eager to adapt it in dancing. The "humppa" craze has happily lived through the years. In 1964 Eemeli (real name Esko Toivonen) released "humppa" single "Humppa humppa humppa tättärää". It was actually not a dance tune, but a tribute to "Oom-pah music". Eemeli was a Finnish comedian. He's style was very straight-faced, and you never saw him laugh. In a sense he was a larger and a more talkative version of Buster Keaton. He starred several movies and TV -shows and made also some novelty recordings. This particular "Humba" -song was of course of German origin. It was called "Humba Tätärä" and composed by songsmith Toni Hammerle, and performed by his friend Ernst Neger. The song was big hit in Switzerland at the time. Today the refrain is frequently sung by the suppporters of many German Football clubs. The MC of the supporters shouts via his megafone "Gebt mir H, Gebt mir U, Gebt mir M, Gebt mir B, Gebt mir A". And then the crowd goes "Humba, humba, humba tätärää" ...

Here's the pair:

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Heh ! Kyllä Eemeli ansaitsi tämän.

Oikein nauratti tuo sakemannien "Tätärä".

Jos et olisi tuota taustaa kirjoittanut, niin olisi voinut luulla saksalaisten tehneen oman versionsa Eemelin laulusta.

Kyllä tuo sama kertosäe sopii hyvin kummallekin kielelle.

Kannattaa näemmä kerrata näitä vanhempiakin Picksejä, aina tuntuu löytyvän helmiä vaikka on jo muka kaiken katsonut ;)