"Spanish Flea" is a popular

Popular music

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

 song written by Julius Wechter

Julius Wechter

Julius Wechter was an American musician and composer who played the marimba and vibraphone. He also played various percussion instruments. He composed the song "Spanish Flea" for Herb Alpert and was leader of the The Baja Marimba Band.Born in Chicago, Wechter played vibes and percussion for the...

 in the 1960s with lyrics by Cissy Wechter.

The song is best known from an instrumental

Instrumental

An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....

 version by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass

Herb Alpert

Herbert "Herb" Alpert is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, or TJB. He is also a recording industry executive — he is the "A" of A&M Records...

, released as a single and on their 1965 album Going Places, both of which were No.1 hits in America. The song featured Alpert's trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

 over a latin rhythm

Latin American music

Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...

 backing and was used as the "Bachelor’s Theme" on the long-running American television show The Dating Game

The Dating Game

The Dating Game is an ABC television show that first aired on December 20, 1965 and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s...

. It was one of two Alpert songs in a 1966 animated cartoon by John Hubley

John Hubley

John Hubley was an American animation director, art director, producer and writer of traditional animation films known for both his formal experimentation and for his emotional realism which stemmed from his tendency to cast his own children as voice actors in his films.- Biography :Hubley was...

, A Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Double Feature.

"Spanish Flea" was also covered by Trudy Pitts

Trudy Pitts

Trudy Pitts , born Gertrude E. Pitts, was an American soul jazz keyboardist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was known primarily for playing the Hammond B3 organ.-Biography:...

 on her debut album Introducing the Fabulous Trudy Pitts (1967) and by the Doodletown Pipers

Doodletown Pipers

The Doodletown Pipers were a 1960s and 1970s easy listening vocal group founded by Ward Ellis, George Wilkins, Bernie Brillstein and Jerry Weintraub....

 on The Doodletown Pipers Sing-along '67 (1967). Julius Wechter himself, with his Baja Marimba Band

Baja Marimba Band

The Baja Marimba Band was a popular musical group led by marimba player Julius Wechter, initially intended by producer Herb Alpert to cash in on the "south of the border" craze started by his own Tijuana Brass...

, recorded the song on the 1971 album As Time Goes By.

In popular culture

The tune has been featured in four episodes of The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

: "The Otto Show

The Otto Show

"The Otto Show" is the twenty-second episode of The Simpsons third season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 23, 1992. In the episode, Bart decides that he wants to become a rock star after attending a Spinal Tap concert, so Homer and Marge buy him a guitar...

", "Team Homer

Team Homer

"Team Homer" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons seventh season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 7, 1996. In the episode, Homer starts a bowling team with Moe, Apu, and Otto. When Mr. Burns discovers the team was funded with his money, he insists on joining...

", "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday

Sunday, Cruddy Sunday

"Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons tenth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 31, 1999, just after Super Bowl XXXIII. In the episode, while buying new tires for his car, Homer meets a travel agent called Wally Kogen...

", and "Natural Born Kissers

Natural Born Kissers

"Natural Born Kissers" is the season finale of The Simpsons ninth season which originally aired on the Fox network on May 17, 1998. Homer and Marge discover that the fear of getting caught while making love is a turn on and start making love in public places. It was the first episode written by...

".

In the fingerprint scene in Rosewood's home in Beverly Hills Cop II

Beverly Hills Cop II

Beverly Hills Cop II is a 1987 action-comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and directed by Tony Scott. It is the first sequel in the Beverly Hills Cop series. Murphy returns as Detroit police detective Axel Foley, who returns to Beverly Hills, California to track down a joint robbery/gun-running ring...

, Eddie Murphy

Eddie Murphy

Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....

 (playing Axel Foley

Axel Foley

Axel Foley is a fictional character, portrayed by Eddie Murphy, and is the main protagonist of the Beverly Hills Cop film franchise. He is ranked number 78 on Empire Magazine's list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time...

) and Judge Reinhold

Judge Reinhold

Judge Reinhold is an American actor, perhaps best known for co-starring in movies such as Beverly Hills Cop, Ruthless People, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and The Santa Clause trilogy.-Early life:...

 (playing Billy Rosewood) improvised the idea of humming the tune. When Taggart (John Ashton

John Ashton (actor)

John David Ashton is an American actor born in Springfield, Massachusetts, and graduate of the University of Southern California School of Theatre.John Ashton attended Enfield High School in Enfield, Connecticut....

) asks what the tune is, Rosewood replies, "The Dating Game!"

In Perdita Durango

Perdita Durango

Perdita Durango, released as Dance with the Devil in the US, is a film directed by Alex de la Iglesia as a cross between the crime and horror genres. The film is based on Barry Gifford's novel 59° and Raining: The Story of Perdita Durango...

, the two main characters happily groove to the song while abducting two teenagers.

In an episode of The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer

The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer

The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer was a BBC TV sketch show written by and starring double act Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer. Its first series appeared in 1993 following the duo's move to the BBC after parting company with Channel 4...

, Vic Reeves

Vic Reeves

James Roderick Moir , better known by the stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian, best known for his double act with Bob Mortimer . He is known for his surreal and non sequitur sense of humour....

plays the song through a prosthetic arm.