Sachiko Nishida/Yoko Oginome -- Coffee Rumba （コーヒー・ルンバ）

The first time I'd ever heard of this Latin number done J-Pop style was back in the early 90s when 80s aidoru Yoko Oginome（荻野目洋子） sang it. At the time, I didn't know that Oginome was doing a cover of Sachiko Nishida's（西田佐知子）original back in 1961, itself the Japanese version of "Cafe Moliendo", an instrumental made by either Venezuelan composer Hugo Blanco or his uncle Jose Manzo Perroni (whichever side of the lawsuit you're on) back in 1958.

In Japan, "Cafe Moliendo"was re-titled "Coffee Rumba"and given lyrics by Seiji Nakazawa（中沢清二）. Osaka-born Nishida debuted in 1956, but it looks like her big year was 1961 as she got one hit earlier with her version of "Never On Sunday"and then an even bigger hit with "Coffee Rumba". Strangely enough, she wasn't a coffee drinker at the time but after she got married to current TV announcer and personality Hiroshi Sekiguchi（関口宏）, she started downing the java.

As I mentioned, Yoko Oginome did a fun, synthed-up version of "Coffee Rumba" as her 25th single in May 1992, along with plenty of choreography and dancers when she performed it on the various music shows and ultimately, the 1992 Kohaku Utagassen. The song didn't make it into the Top 100 singles of the year on Oricon but her 14th album, "Ryukou Kashu"（流行歌手...Trendy Singer) got as high as No. 3.

And this is the original, "Moliendo Cafe" by Hugo Blanco.

July 11th 2021: I found another different cover by Yuka Kamebuchi （亀淵友香）.