"La Colegiala" ("the schoolgirl" in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

) is an iconic Latin song composed in 1975 by Walter León Aguilar, leader of the Peruvian

cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and Africans during colonial times. Cumbia is said to have com ...

ensemble Los Ilusionistas, and made hugely popular in the early 1980s by the Colombian singer Rodolfo Aicardi, crediting it to Rodolfo y su Tipica RA7.

Los Ilusionistas original version

Walter León Aguilar, leader of the

cumbia music Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and Africans during colonial times. Cumbia is said to have com ...

band Los Ilusionistas, composed the song inspired by a young girl who was passing by while León Aguilar was riding a public bus. He called his friend, singer Carlos Ramirez Centeno, to sing and record the song for the first time in 1977. The song was a hit in Peru, mainly in the rural areas of its capital city

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

Rodolfo y su Tipica RA7 cover version

The song was popularized in France and continental Europe in 1980 through the usage of the Rodolfo y su Tipica RA7 version for a

Nescafé Nescafé is a brand of instant coffee sold by the multinational food and drink corporation Nestlé. It comes in many different forms. The name is a portmanteau of the words "Nestlé" and "café". Nestlé first introduced their flagship coffee br ...

advertisement broadcast on French television. A longer version of the Nescafé ad was used in movie theatres. The ad concept had been tried initially in Ecuador by the ad agency Publicis, later spreading in other Latin American countries before making it to Europe. Soon, the Rodolfo y su Tipica version was released as a single by RCA, with the B-side containing "La Subienda", composed by Senon Palacio and interpreted by Gabriel Romero. Nescafé sales hugely increased as a result.

Other versions

"La Colegiala" was later remade and remixed in various versions and languages. Notable versions include remakes by La Sonora Dinamita (1982),

Gary Low Luis Romano Peris Belmonte (born 7 June 1954), known by his stage name Gary Low, is an Italian singer. He recorded several musical works in both English and Spanish. His recording of I Want You (Gary Low song), "I Want You" is prominently sampled ...

(1984,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Italo disco Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, pop, ...

version promoted in German-speaking markets, in the

Benelux The Benelux Union (; ; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portma ...

and in Italy; also reached number one in Spain), Alex Bueno (1990), Café Latino (1992), Caló (1995), and another version in 2007, Caló featuring Margarita La Diosa de la Cumbia. Further versions were made by the

Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings (originally Los Reyes) are a musical group founded in 1979 in Arles, France. The band, whose members have Catalans, Catalan heritage, play a blend of Catalan rumba, flamenco, Salsa music, salsa, and Pop music, pop. They perform mos ...

, Jean-Claude Borelly (France),

Fausto Papetti Fausto Papetti ( Viggiù, 28 January 1923 – San Remo, 15 June 1999) was an Italian alto saxophone player. A jazz musician by formation, Papetti became widely known for producing instrumental covers of some of the most famous pop and jazz songs. ...

(Italy),

Sandra Reemer Barbara Alexandra "Sandra" Reemer (17 October 1950 – 6 June 2017) was an Indo-Dutch singer and television presenter. She represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest on three occasions, tying with Corry Brokken for most appeara ...

(the Netherlands), Miguelo (Chile), Pastor López (Venezuela), and Parchis (Spain). In 2017, The Boy Next Door revived it in a remix. The release was credited to The Boy Next Door and Fresh Coast featuring Jody Bernal.

Versions in other languages and adaptations

Richard Gotainer adapted it in the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

titled "Les frappés du café", Serge Nelson as "Les frappés du café (La Colegiala Remix)", and in 2004 Crooked Stilo retitled it as "Mis Colegialas". İdo Tatlıses released it in the

Turkish language Turkish ( , , also known as 'Turkish of Turkey') is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, a member of Oghuz languages, Oghuz branch with around 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and one of two official languag ...

as "Sen". King África released it as "Africana", with additional changes in lyrics and music. In 2010,

Belle Perez Maribel Pérez (born 29 January 1976), best known by her stage name Belle Perez, is a Belgian-Spanish musician and songwriter. Born in Neerpelt to Spanish parents as María Isabelle Pérez Cerezo, the Flemish singer was discovered for her musi ...

released it with notable changes in

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

lyrics. The Indian film ''

Ullaasam ''Ullaasam'' () is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language romantic action film directed and co-written by the duo J. D.–Jerry and produced by Amitabh Bachchan. The film stars Ajith Kumar, Vikram and Maheswari with Raghuvaran, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam an ...

s soundtrack contains the song "Cho Larey" which is based on "La Colegiala".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colegiala, La 1975 songs 1980 singles 1984 singles 2017 singles Gary Low songs Number-one singles in Spain

Los Ilusionistas original version

Rodolfo y su Tipica RA7 cover version

Other versions

Versions in other languages and adaptations

See also

References