Halli Halli Hallo – we'll win in Mexico

A good idea

Why did the taxi driver's greeting send Reimar to the office? Well, before he left, he had been in the studio. He had been lured by one of his old musician friends, Knud Thormod. Knud, like many others, saw good opportunities to cash in on the football euphoria the country had been in since qualifying for the World Cup in Mexico a month earlier. Thormod had several record companies and music publishers, his brother, Svend Christiansen, had a studio, and Reimar had the voice and profile for a good football party atmosphere, so it was just right.

Together with the lyricist Fini Jaworski, who was quite well versed in the musical nooks and crannies of the world from his job in Denmarks Radio's discotheque, they went in search of an old Mexican melody they could use. The choice fell on "La Raspa", which was one of the best known of its kind. It was of unknown origin, and that was a clear advantage. Because by signing himself on as the arranger, Reimar got the composer's share, and the music publisher the rest. He then also made an extra effort, because the verse between the Halli Hallos was his own invention. When the occasion led them to start a new company with both record label and music publisher under the name Eldorado APS, they kept it all themselves.

"Halli Halli Hallo" was recorded at the beginning of November 1985 in Svend Christiansen's "Sun Studio". It was a classic Johnny Reimar Party production. It sounded like Reimar was at the head of a large party orchestra in front of a singing and cheering audience. In practice, it was a small six-piece orchestra, and the choir a single woman and two men, including Thormod himself. It was the specialty of Reimar and the pair of brothers to fire up the reverb well and let each person sing on different tracks, so that it all sounded like a million. They had been doing this for years, so it was an easy task.

On 7 November, 1,000 records were ordered at the record factory in Hønefoss in Norway, and according to the order form, they had to hurry a bit, as it was a "football single". There were no such ones on the market yet, because the qualification for the WC was, after all, quite new. And Thormod knew that it was about being first. And then Reimar went to Thailand.

15:25 Football: Ireland-Denmark

They both knew a thing or two about making hits. The first step is the good idea. The second step is the right production, and the third the right launch. Thormod believed that he had already achieved the first two steps, and then he just had to find a good way to get the song out to the people. And in the middle of all the planning, he suddenly had a crazy idea.

Although the Danish national team had already qualified for the WC, they were missing a single group match. It was to be played on Wednesday 13 November in Dublin. As always, the match was broadcast live on DR TV.

When there were major national events such as national football matches, the viewing figures were sky high. That was what Knud Thormod had in mind when, in the days leading up to the match, he started the car and drove towards the broadcasting studio. How he found the sports editor and persuaded them to play "Halli Halli Hallo" fades into the mists of time, but he succeeded. The song was played both before and after the match. The feature was something with a doll waving the Danish flag in time to the music. That was all.

"The football song from TV"

Knud Thormod was happy when he switched off his television at home in Havnsø after the match. He was sure he had hit the jackpot. And quite right.

The following days he got busy. There was a lot of mystery about who was behind it, because it had not been mentioned on TV. But according to Reimar, at least the taxi driver at the airport had figured it out. And when it dawned on Reimar, action had to be taken.

Already on the Monday after returning home, he was in full swing. The newspaper BT had a big interview with him in which he declared that this was his biggest hit since "Du burde købe dig en tyrolerhat" in 1969. According to Reimar, it had sold 50,000 copies, and Reimar himself believed that "Halli Halli Hallo" appeared to beat that record. It was quite a hunch, considering that not a single record or cassette had yet been sold, but there was no need to undersell themselves. And he was of course proven right.

The record went straight into 5th place on the official Danish singles list, which was presented in BT on Friday 6 December. The album subsequently sold rapidly up to Christmas, and on New Year's Eve it once again received a huge helping hand from Denmark's Radio. The song simply closed this year's New Year's show, which was headlined by Reimar's good friend, Jørgen de Mylius. The entire audience had been instructed in a choreography that was hilarious and musicians dressed as Mexicans, and they had even got Frank Arnesen, Søren Busk, Klaus Berggreen and Morten Olsen from the men's national team to sing along in a small filmed sequence. You could not ask for better help on the way to the top.

Since the hit list was then based on figures for the previous week, the effect could only be read a little into January 1986, but then bingo. "Halli Halli Hallo" reached number one in the middle of the month, and BT was able to interview a proud Reimar, who announced that the song had also travelled abroad. He said that he had been contacted by the West German Football Association, who wanted to make the song their official World Cup anthem. However, he politely said no thanks for patriotic reasons, he explained.

Because of Walter & Carlo and their "Op på fars hat", the song only got two weeks at number one, but overall the mission was successful. Although many competing Mexico songs emerged in the run-up to the World Cup in June 1986, half of the year belonged to "Halli Halli Hallo" and Reimar, who was now Denmark's football king. On the radio, television, BT, in the Donald Duck magazine, around the country with his new "roligan" (opposite of hooligan) concept, and, when it finally came time for the world championship itself, also around Mexico. Here, his Mexico battle song had long since been outcompeted effectively by "Re-Septten", which was released just before the championships. But until then it was Reimar's World Cup.

The launch of "Halli Halli Hallo" is a textbook example of how to create a hit in 1985. No one mastered that art better than Johnny Reimar. He had the experience, the network and the audacity to pull off a stunt like this. The fact that he and Thormod only reached half way towards the 50,000 records and tapes must have been numbingly indifferent to them. They got the hit and that was all that mattered.

"La Raspa"

The melody to "Halli Halli Hallo" is an old Mexican folk song. How old it is, no one really knows. On the other hand, there is no doubt as to when it really became known. That was in 1947.

At that time, films had both colour and sound, and musical films were the big thing. In the years after the end of the Second World War, there was a great demand worldwide for exotic elements from warmer climes, and in 1947 the turn had come to Mexico. In the Hollywood film "Fiesta", the Mexican actor Ricardo Montalbán could be seen in the lead role as the bullfighter Mario Morales, who would rather be a musician. The film ends well, and throughout you are entertained with plenty of Mexican music. Including a central scene where the main character and an orchestra provides the music to a Mexican folk dance. In the middle of the dance scene, you hear "La Raspa", as the song was originally called.

The importance of the film to the spread of the song was monumental. Before that, there was, as far as is known, only a single recording of the song worldwide. A few years later it was a worldwide hit. In Denmark, the film had its premiere in May 1948. To mark the occasion, the film company behind it, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (with the roaring lion), together with Danse-Ringen, organised a large screening in Tivoli, where you could learn to dance "La Raspa" . In the following weeks and months, "La Raspa" slipped into the country's dance orchestras' repertoire.

The first time it was played on the radio was in connection with a live broadcast from a dance restaurant, and from there it almost exploded. In 1949, "La Raspa" was even published on sheet music with Danish text by Georg Otto, one of Otto Leisner's cover names. In practice, it was an almost verbatim translation of the Swedish version, for which the legendary Povel Ramel had written the text and recorded it himself.

“La Raspa” was recorded in tons of versions in those years, and in the following decades it was revived pretty much every time new musical trends emerged. It is therefore found, among other things, in rock'n'roll versions, in twist versions and of course also a multitude of disco recordings. It was played on the radio every time there was something to do with Mexico, for example during the Olympics in Mexico City in 1968. So it was very natural that it was "La Raspa" Johnny Reimar and company used when they decided to make a football anthem.