Moliendo Café, meaning Grinding Coffee, is a Venezuelan Latin tune written in 1958 by Hugo Blanco, though authorship is disputed with his uncle José Manzo Perroni who registered the work and later sued. The first recording appeared in 1958 by Mario Suárez, but Blanco’s 1961 version - released as the title track of the album Moliendo Café on Polydor - became a No. 1 hit in Argentina and Japan. The Spanish lyrics tell of someone grinding coffee at night and feeling frustrated at having to work instead of pursuing love. In 1961 Italian singer Mina recorded an Italian version for the Italdisc label, and her rendition spent six weeks at No. 1 in Italy and Spain. Since then there have been more than 950 variations in many languages, with notable versions such as Coffee Rumba in Japan and Kopi Dangdut in Indonesia, and it has also become a popular football chant known as Dale Cavese in parts of Europe. The tune remains a foundational piece in Latin pop history and has appeared in various media.
