Song of the Day 9/25: Los Bravos, “Black Is Black”

Janet Jackson – ‘memba her? – returned to public attention the past few days by weighing in on the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate. “She’s not Black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian,” Jackson said of Kamala Harris, whose mother is Indian. “Her father’s white. That’s what I was told. I mean, I haven’t watched the news in a few days.”

Harris’ father, Donald Harris, is Jamaican, and though he’s fairly light-skinned, he’s definitely Black, because in the Western hemisphere, Black is Black. The notion that he’s not is straight from the right wing noise machine, which thrives on people who haven’t watched the news in a few days.

People often assume Los Bravos, the one-hit wonders who reached No. 4 on the Hot 100 in 1966 with “Black Is Black,” were Mexican, but they came directly from Spain. If the lead singer doesn’t look Spanish, it’s because he’s not. Mike Kogel was German and, since he didn’t speak English, sang the lyrics phonetically.

The song was quickly covered by Johnny Hallyday, the French Elvis, as “Noir C’est Noir.”