Copacabana (song) explained

Copacabana (At the Copa)
Cover:BarryManilowCopacabana7InchSingleCover.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Barry Manilow
Album:Even Now
B-Side:"A Linda Song"
Released:
  • June 1978 (U.S.)
  • 1993 (UK, Australia)
Recorded:1978
Label:Arista
Producer:Danny Lawrence, Ron Dante
Prev Title:Even Now
Prev Year:1978
Next Title:Ready to Take a Chance Again
Next Year:1979

"Copacabana", also known as "Copacabana (At the Copa)", is a song recorded by Barry Manilow. Written by Manilow, Jack Feldman, and Bruce Sussman, it was released in 1978 as the third single from Manilow's fifth studio album, Even Now (1978). The same year, "Copacabana" appeared in the soundtrack album of the film Foul Play.

Background

The song was inspired by a conversation between Manilow and Sussman at the Copacabana Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, when they discussed whether there had ever been a song called "Copacabana". After returning to the U.S., Manilow – who, in the 1960s, had been a regular visitor to the Copacabana nightclub in New York City – suggested that Sussman and Feldman write the lyrics to a story song for him. They did so, and Manilow supplied the music.[1]

Lola Falana inspired the song's famous lyric, "Her name is Lola / She was a showgirl..."[2]

The song's lyrics refer to the Copacabana nightclub as "the hottest spot north of Havana". The story focuses on Lola, a Copacabana showgirl, and her sweetheart Tony, a bartender at the club. One night, an ostentatiously wealthy man named Rico takes a fancy to Lola, but Tony intervenes when Rico becomes aggressive. The ensuing brawl ends in a gun being fired; although it is initially unclear "who shot who[m]", it soon becomes apparent that Tony has died. Thirty years later, the club has been transformed into a discotheque, but a middle-aged Lola remains in her showgirl attire, now a customer at the bar who "drinks herself half blind" lamenting the loss of her youth, her sanity and Tony.[3]

Release and reception

"Copacabana" debuted on Billboard magazine's Top 40 chart on July 7, 1978, and peaked at number 8. It has also reached the Top 10 in Belgium, Canada, France and the Netherlands. Internationally, the song is Manilow's third-greatest hit.[4] The track was his first gold single for a song he wrote or co-wrote.[5] Additionally, the song earned Manilow his first and only Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in February 1979.[6] | style="text-align:center;"|37|-|align="left"|US Billboard Hot 100[17] | style="text-align:center;"|15|-|}

Chart (1993–1994)Peak
position
Australia (KMR)[20] 92
UK (OCC)[21] 22

Year-end charts

Chart (1978)Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)[22] 76
Belgium[23] 51
Canada (RPM)[24] 52
Netherlands[25] 92
US Billboard Hot 100[26] 74
US Cash Box Top 100[27] 82

Cover versions

Notes and References

  1. Book: 2009 . Podell-Raber . Mickey . Pignone . Charles . The Copa: Jules Podell and the Hottest Club North of Havana . . 199 . 9780061740886.
  2. Web site: Vintage Vamp: Showgirl Lola Falana. www.essence.com . 2024-05-12 .
  3. Web site: Top 40 Hits – 1950–1989 . ntl.matrix.com.br . 2014-07-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190127123513/http://ntl.matrix.com.br/pfilho/html/top40/1978.html . January 27, 2019 . dead .
  4. Web site: Song artist 244 - Barry Manilow. tsort.info.
  5. Web site: Copacabana (At The Copa) by Barry Manilow Songfacts . www.songfacts.com . 2009-03-03.
  6. News: CashBox Singles Reviews. June 10, 1978. 21. Cash Box. 2022-01-01.
  7. Web site: Barry Manilow - Copacabana (At The Copa) . www.ultratop.be . 2018-05-17 . nl.
  8. Web site: Image : RPM Weekly. July 17, 2013. www.bac-lac.gc.ca. 2016-01-03.
  9. Web site: RPM Adult Oriented Playlist. www.collectionscanada.gc.ca. 2018-05-20.
  10. Web site: Item: 7471 - Library and Archives Canada. July 17, 2013. www.bac-lac.gc.ca. 2016-01-03.
  11. Web site: InfoDisc : Les Tubes de chaque Artiste commençant par M . infodisc.fr . 2018-05-20 . fr.
  12. Web site: Offizielle Deutsche Charts . www.offiziellecharts.de . 2018-05-17 . de.
  13. Web site: Barry Manilow . www.top40.nl . nl . 2018-05-20.
  14. Web site: Discografie Barry Manilow . dutchcharts.nl . 2018-05-17 . nl.
  15. Web site: NZ Top 40 Singles Chart . nztop40.co.nz. 2016-01-03].
  16. Web site: Barry Manilow | Artist|publisher=www.grammy.com|access-date=2018-05-25}}

    Cash Box

    ] said that "a Latin beat, congas and added percussion, strings and horns make it unusual."[6]

    Television film and musical

    In 1985, Manilow and his collaborators Bruce Sussman and Jack Feldman expanded the song into a full - length, made-for-television musical, also called Copacabana, writing many additional songs and expanding the plot suggested by the song.

    This film version was then further expanded by Manilow, Feldman, and Sussman into a full-length, two-act stage musical, again titled Copacabana, which ran at the Prince of Wales Theatre on London's West End for two years prior to a lengthy tour of the UK. An American production was later mounted that toured the US for over a year. Over 200 productions of the show have since been mounted worldwide.

    Charts

    Weekly charts

    Chart (1978–1979)Peak
    position
    Belgium[7] 5
    Canada (RPM 100 Singles)[8] 7
    Canada (Adult Contemporary)[9] 3
    Canada (Dance/Urban)[10] 2
    France[11] 2
    Germany[12] 23
    Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[13] 6
    Netherlands (Single Top 100)[14] 7
    New Zealand[15]
    .
  17. Adult Contemporary Music Chart . Billboard. 2016-01-03.
  18. Web site: Barry Manilow Chart History . www.billboard.com. 2018-05-20].
  19. Web site: Barry Manilow Chart History | Billboard|publisher=www.billboard.com|access-date=2018-05-20}}| style="text-align:center;"|8|-|align="left"|US Adult Contemporary][17] | style="text-align:center;"|6|-|align="left"|US Dance Club Songs[18] .
  20. Web site: The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 05 Jun 1994. ARIA. 2016-03-06.
  21. Web site: BARRY MANILOW | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company . www.officialcharts.com . 2016-03-06.
  22. Web site: Kent Music Report No 236 – 1 January 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1978. Kent Music Report. Imgur.com. January 8, 2022.
  23. Web site: ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS . www.ultratop.be . 2018-05-20 . nl.
  24. Web site: Item: 110. www.bac-lac.gc.ca. 2016-01-03.
  25. Web site: JAAROVERZICHTEN - SINGLE 1978 . dutchcharts.nl . 2018-05-20 . nl.
  26. Web site: Top 100 Hits of 1978/Top 100 Songs of 1978. www.musicoutfitters.com. 2016-01-03.
  27. Web site: Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1978 . 2015-11-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121027052253/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/1978YESP.html . October 27, 2012 . dead .
  28. Web site: 2021-02-22. 10 most iconic guests on The Muppet Show. 2021-09-18. The Independent. en.
  29. Web site: 2012-07-30. 7/30/1979 - 'Liza Minnelli (MS)'. 2021-09-18. Jim Henson's Red Book -. en-US.
  30. Web site: Kylie Minogue "Copacabana" Cover Release . www.popcrunch.com . May 7, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120325022515/http://www.popcrunch.com/kylie-minogue-copacabana-cover-release/ . March 25, 2012 . dead . mdy-all .