"Spanish Flea" is a popular song written by Julius Wechter in the 1960s with lyrics by his wife Cissy Wechter. The original version was recorded by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass in 1965. Cover versions of the song have been recorded by dozens of artists worldwide.
The original version was recorded on August 13, 1965 at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.[2] Two other songs were recorded during that session, those being "And I Love Her" and "More And More Amor"[2] In the United States, the song is closely associated with the long-running game showThe Dating Game, for which it was played when the bachelor entered into the stage to ask questions to learn and choose which bachelorette had best suited the needs of that bachelor.[3]
Marcel Stellman wrote a different set of lyrics for "Spanish Flea". Kathy Kirby used them in her 1966 recording of the song.[13]
The Glenn Miller Orchestra included the song as the last track on their album Something New: The Glenn Miller Orchestra plays the Tijuana Brass (1966).[citation needed]
Mel Blanc parodied the song as "The Flea" on the Jack Benny variety show in December 1966, during a "Si-Sy-Sue" skit along with his group 'The Tijuana Strings'.[citation needed]
Allan Sherman also parodied the song on his album Togetherness (1967). Another parodic cover version, spoofing Alpert's version, appeared on the mock Alpert tribute album Sour Cream & Other Delights by the Frivolous Five.[citation needed]
In the fingerprint scene in Rosewood's home in Beverly Hills Cop II, Eddie Murphy (playing Axel Foley) and Judge Reinhold (playing Billy Rosewood) improvised the idea of humming the tune. When Taggart (John Ashton) asks what the tune is, Rosewood replies, "The Dating Game!".
In the 1996 film Striptease, the song is played inside a laundromat while Erin Grant (Demi Moore) and her daughter Angela (Rumer Willis) take all the clothes out of the dryer machine.[16]
In the 1997 film Perdita Durango, the two main characters happily groove to the song while abducting two teenagers.
In the Philippine Noontime show It's Showtime on ABS-CBN, this song was constantly played for taking a picture of a person's face with a frame called "Face Dance". Soon after the "Face Dance" game became a regular staple on the network's out-of town shows.
In American Pie 2, the band camp counselor plays the song on his trumpet, not knowing that the trumpet had just been inserted into Jason Biggs' character's anus.
In the 2000 film The Dish, it plays at 12:03 before showing a ball preparation at the town hall.
The Nickelodeon TV series The Fairly OddParents uses the song in many episodes such as episode 4b season 1 “Apartnership”.
In an episode of Supernatural, the song is played when a pair of demons call Crowley (the King of Hell) from a hunter's trap.
In the 2013 film White House Down, the ring-tone can be heard repetitively in the film on the character of Richard Jenkins' mobile cell phone.
In the 2019 film Joker, the song plays with the Indian-head test pattern when the broadcast of Live with Murray Franklin gets cut off after the titular character shoots the titular host. In the DVD credits, the song is credited to Ray Davies and His Button Down Brass.[17]
In the 2023 HBO miniseries "Love and Death" in the episode "Encounters", it was performed by the character Pat on his trumpet at the dinner table.
Use in podcasts
"Spanish Flea" acts as the opening and closing music to the Fangraphs audio podcast. The song is also used as the closing music for the soccer podcast Low Limit Futbol, hosted by Joe Uccello and Roberto Rojas. It is used as background music for the ad-reads on the 'We Hate Movies' podcast. It is also used as the closing theme for Chris & Andi Porter's 'One Millionth Podcast', although it is sung by the siblings themselves - a different way every time. It also appears in the jingle that precedes the ‘Three by Three’ segment by John C. Dvorak during the “No Agenda” podcast.
