Bobby Locke wasn't through writing and singing about fruit when he recorded "Rambutan" more than two years ago. With his recent recording of "The Mango Selling Song," Mr. Locke has leapt to the center stage of fruit songs.

To be sure, it's not a crowded stage. Still, if Mr. Locke's lively Calypso-style tune about mangos catches hold, he may be able to ditch his tropical fruit sales gig at Tavilla Sales Co. of Los Angeles. This could be his big break, a la Bobby McFerrin and "Don't Worry, Be Happy."

Mr. Locke has had the song copyrighted. Were the song to become a nationally recognized jingle, Mr. Locke would follow his song-writing dreams. At 53, he said that if he were to make $100,000 off the song, "my musical career is sprung."

Mr. Locke is the sole singer in "The Mango Selling Song," which is loaded with visual images of the places where mangos are grown. In one verse, he sings of Brazilians loving to tango, and after they've consumed their fill of mango, they're "dancing crazy like there is no end." Peru, Ecuador, Guatamala and India all get a mention, with special attention paid to Mexico. The song is in part about a man selling mangos on the streets in Mexico.

The mango song refrain "Mangifera indica" is the genus name for "mango." Also in the refrain is "maha pahala," which means "great fruit."

Somers Smith -- a friend of Mr. Locke's brother -- wrote the music for the mango song back in 1969. The band Mr. Locke used is Mariachi Pronto, a three-member mariachi band which brought to the recording a stand-up bass guitar and two acoustic guitars. As he had with "Rambutan," Mr. Locke's friend Jeff Vincent helped produce the CD, this time laying down a drum track, marimba sound and background track.

"I think this could be used as a marketing promotional tool," Mr. Locke said, adding that he hopes his song "plays into selling more mangos at retail." He envisions CD players placed in supermarket produce departments playing the song.

Mangos are a high-volume seller at Tavilla, and while Mr. Locke doesn't particularly anticipate the song helping Tavilla sell more mangos, he said that it "does get [the Tavilla] name out there."

Mr. Locke sent an MP3 copy to the National Mango Board. He doesn't foresee himself taking a very active role in promoting the song, but hopes the National Mango Board "will run with it."

The first 100 CDs were expected to be available by June 1 and those will be free. Mr. Locke's "Rambutan" CD was given out as a promo, about 300 copies in all. This time, a second pressing would warrant a production of at least 500 CDs, Mr. Locke said. Tavilla's Web site (www.tavillasales.com) has a link to "Rambutan," and "The Mango Selling Song" will receive the same treatment, Mr. Locke said.

Tavilla has played a certain role in the creation of the "The Mango Selling Song." After Mr. Locke recorded "Rambutan," Tavilla's tropical fruit department manager Dan Lawton asked Mr. Locke to write a mango song. Mr. Locke first performed the song at Tavilla's annual sales meeting last year, and he passed out critique sheets to the audience. Bill Vogel, owner of Tavilla, suggested that Mr. Locke include as a lyric reference "mango on a stick," which made it into the final version of the song.