Sex, Mozart and chanting monks … the 20 best Euro-pop UK hits – ranked!

As Nena’s 99 Red Balloons turns 40, we look back at the best continental foreign-language songs that achieved cross-Channel success

Shuffling French Euro-disco with vocals in Spanish and a melody line worthy of a John Barry spy thriller theme, El Bimbo might be the apotheosis of the 70s “holiday hit”, brought back from the continent as a souvenir like the musical equivalent of a straw donkey. Still, far better than 1974’s other big holiday hit, Y Viva España.