The song's origins date back to 1970, when Michel Delancray and Mya Symille recorded it as "Agadou" in French. It had been written based on a tune that had apparently come from Morocco. Club Med used it as their theme song from 1974. It was covered by several artists and groups, including Patrick Zabé in 1975 and the Saragossa Band (a German group) in 1981; their version was the first in English, and Black Lace’s lyrics are based on the lyrics of the Saragossa Band version but with minor tweaks.