1.[Radio Edit] (3:20) 2.[Switch Mix] (6:19) 3.[Mundian Breaks] (3:56)
It means "beware of the boys," you know. Rajinder Rai (Panjabi MC to us) was a big name in the so-called Asian beats, or more recently Desi Beats scene here in the UK.
Mundian To Bach Ke sees the MC collaborating with the much-respected vocalist Labh Janjua and sampling the theme tune from Knight Rider to create an infectious track which became a huge crossover success throughout Europe, especially Germany for some reason. This brought it into the UK mainstream, and after selling well on import late in 2002, a fully-fledged UK release went Top Five the following January. I still have fond memories of Radio 1 DJs having to contact the Pronunciation Unit.
One reason I didn't actually buy this at the time was that, as tends to be the way with dance singles, all you get to back it up is remixes. Some mixes are very good, but who want to listen to the same song three times in a row? They're also difficult to write about here, so lets just say that the Switch Mix, mixed by Rai himself, is longer and a little more dubby, but doesn't add an immense amount to the original.
Although Mundian Breaks is titled as though it were a different song, it's actually another version of the lead track. It's instrumental this time, although not just the original sans vocals. I can see how useful this would be to a DJ, but sadly I'm not one.
None of the above takes away from the fine A-side though. Once the airplay dried up, I did regret not owning it, and finally had the good fortune to get in the closing-down sale at Virgin in Harrow for only 49p. Bargain! Meanwhile, Panjabi MC had a double A-sided hit with 'Jogi' (another good track) and a remix of this, featuring Jay-Z and retitled to 'Beware of the Boys'. All three tracks were included on the imaginately-entitled Panjabi MC: the Album later in 2003.
ONLINE:
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Official site. Includes a translation of the lyric.