A Swingin' Safari is an instrumental composed by Bert Kaempfert in 1962. It was recorded by Kaempfert on Polydor Records and released in the United States on Decca Records, but failed to chart. It was then recorded by Billy Vaughn that same year, and he had the well-remembered hit version -- Vaughn's cover reached #13 on the Billboard charts in the summer of 1962.
The song features a distinctive main theme played on the tin whistle. The original theme music to the television game show The Match Game (1962-1969) is Kaempfert's version, although the parts played on the show are virtually indistinguishable from the corresponding parts of Vaughn's version. It is also featured as the main theme in the Swedish game show called Vi i femman, where two teams of fifth graders compete against each other.
The song was a title track of an LP consisting of orchestrations of the South African kwela style of penny whistle music popular in the 1950s.
The tune continues to be popular: being used in television advertisements for ING Direct in the UK, and as the rolling lap theme for the saloon stock car class in UK oval racing. It also features in the 2000 motion picture The Dish and over the end credits of the 2009 motion picture Mary and Max. It is also used in a 2010-2011 "Become an Ex" anti-smoking PSA for the Ad Council.