"El Lute"/"Gotta Go Home" is a 1979 double A-side single by German group Boney M. It was the lead single from their fourth album '' Oceans of Fantasy'' (1979) and was the group's eighth and final number-one single in the German charts. In the UK, where "Gotta Go Home" was chosen as the main A-side, the single was their first one since their debut single not to reach the Top 10, peaking at number 12. Boney M. used the double A-side format over the next years, typically with the A1 being the song intended for radio and A2 being more squarely aimed at discos. The sides were usually switched on the accompanying 12" single. In 2010, "Gotta Go Home" was sampled on the Duck Sauce dance hit "

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

"El Lute"

"El Lute" told the true story of Spanish outlaw

Eleuterio Sánchez Eleuterio Sánchez Rodríguez (born 15 April 1942), known as El Lute, was at one time listed as Spain's "Most Wanted" criminal and later became a published writer. He was a legendary Spanish outlaw who escaped several times from prison after be ...

, who was still in prison at the time the song was released, though he was shortly to be released following a pardon. The song presents his claim that he was wrongly convicted of murder and links his liberation from prison to the liberation of his country from oppression after the rule of Franco. During a promotional visit in Spain, Boney M. met Sánchez and gave him a golden record for the sales of the single. Margot Borgström wrote lyrics in Swedish, as Wizex recorded the song on the 1979 album ''

Some Girls & Trouble Boys Some Girls & Trouble Boys is a 1979 Wizex studio album. The album peaked at #21 in the Swedish albums chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hit ...

''. Released under Kikki Danielsson's name, the song became a

Svensktoppen ''Svensktoppen'' () is a weekly record chart airing at Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982-1985. The last years before the January 2003 ch ...

hit for 10 weeks between 25 November 1979 – 10 February 1980, even topping the chart for one week.

Liz Mitchell Liz is a female name of Hebrew origin, meaning "God's Promise". It is also a short form of Elizabeth, Elisabeth, Lisbeth, Lizanne, Liszbeth, Lizbeth, Lizabeth, Lyzbeth, Lisa, Lizette, Alyssa, and Eliza. People * Liz Balmaseda (born 1959), Pul ...

later released a version on the album ''No One Will Force You'' titled "Mandela" with the lyrics altered to describe the life of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

, who was still in prison at the time.

"Gotta Go Home"

"Gotta Go Home" was re-written from a German single "Hallo Bimmelbahn" (1973) by Nighttrain with the brothers Heinz and Jürgen Huth, both also credited as co-writers on Boney M.'s version. Boney M. first promoted it in a few TV shows in its early version "Going Back Home". Several single versions featured a 4:40 version (timing on label 4:22), a slightly remixed edit of the full 5:04 version, and longer than the 3:45 album edit. Later single pressings featured a 4:00 edit, which is the same as the album edit but with the "going back home.." break slightly extended. In 2010 "Gotta Go Home" was sampled on the Duck Sauce track "

". "Gotta Go Home" was issued as an A-side in Canada, and was a Top 40 hit on the ''RPM'' Magazine charts there, peaking at number 35 in November 1979.

Releases

7" Single

*"El Lute" (

Frank Farian Frank Farian (born Franz Reuther; 18 July 1941) is a German record producer, musician, singer and songwriter, who founded the 1970s disco-pop group Boney M., the Latin pop band No Mercy and the pop band Milli Vanilli. He frequently created v ...

, Hans Blum, Fred Jay) – 5:10 / "Gotta Go Home" (12" version edit) (Farian, Huth, Huth, Jay) – 4:35 (Hansa 100 804-100, Germany) *"El Lute" (

, Hans Blum, Fred Jay) – 5:10 / "Gotta Go Home" (extended LP mix) (Farian, Huth, Huth, Jay) – 4:00 (Hansa 100 804-100, Germany) *"Gotta Go Home" – 4:00 / "El Lute" – 5:10 (Atlantic K 11351, UK) *"Gotta Go Home" – 4:00 / "El Lute" – 5:10 (Atlantic P-481, Japan)

12" Single

*"Gotta Go Home" – 5:04 / "El Lute" – 5:09 (Hansa 600 081-213, Germany) *"Gotta Go Home" – 5:04 / "El Lute" – 5:09 (Hansa 600 081-213, Germany) – clear vinyl

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:El Lute Gotta Go Home 1979 singles 1979 songs Boney M. songs European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in Germany Songs written by Frank Farian Song recordings produced by Frank Farian Wizex songs