"Copacabana (At the Copa)" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Barry Manilow | ||||
from the album Even Now | ||||
B-side | "A Linda Song" | |||
Released |
| |||
Recorded | 1978 | |||
Genre | Disco, tropical | |||
Length |
| |||
Label | Arista | |||
Songwriter(s) | Barry Manilow, Jack Feldman, Bruce Sussman | |||
Producer(s) | Danny Lawrence, Ron Dante | |||
Barry Manilow singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Audio | ||||
"Copacabana" on YouTube | ||||
"Copacabana" (radio edit) on YouTube |
"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 .
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]
The song's lyrics refer to the Copacabana nightclub,"the hottest spot north of Havana". The story starts in approximately 1948,focusing 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 (as the real New York Copacabana had been),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. [2]
"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. [3] The track was his first gold single for a song he wrote or co-wrote. [4] Additionally,the song earned Manilow his first and only Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in February 1979. [5]
Cash Box said that "a Latin beat,congas and added percussion,strings and horns make it unusual." [6]
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.
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [28] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [29] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Barry Manilow is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans six decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Mandy", "I Write the Songs", "Can't Smile Without You", "Weekend in New England", and "Copacabana ".
Copacabana, also known as Barry Manilow's Copacabana, is a 1994 stage musical with music by Barry Manilow, lyrics by Bruce Sussman and Jack Feldman, and book by Manilow, Sussman and Feldman. The show had its roots in an hour-long stage show, Barry Manilow Presents Copacabana, which played in Atlantic City in 1990 and 1991. The stage show was based on the 1985 musical TV film of the same name, in turn based on Manilow's 1978 hit song of the same title, which was co-written by Manilow, Sussman and Feldman. The full-length musical, which added a present-day framing device and many additional songs, premiered in the United Kingdom in 1994 and later toured the United States. A cast album of the musical was released in 1994, titled Copacabana: Original London Cast Recording.
"I Write the Songs" is a popular song written by Bruce Johnston in 1975 and released on his album Going Public in 1977. Barry Manilow's version reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1976 after spending two weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart in December 1975. It won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year and was nominated for Record of the Year in 1977. Billboard ranked it as the No. 13 song of 1976.
"Brandy", later called "Mandy", is a song written by Scott English and Richard Kerr. It was originally recorded by English in 1971 and reached the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart.
Even Now is the fifth studio album by singer-songwriter Barry Manilow. It was recorded at A&M Studios in Hollywood, California, and released in 1978. The album reached triple platinum and spun off four hit singles in 1978 and early 1979: the title song, "Can't Smile Without You", "Copacabana" and "Somewhere in the Night".
Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album by singer/songwriter Barry Manilow, released in 1978. The album was certified 3× Platinum in the US, and would be Manilow's last of that certification, as of 2021. It also features the new single, "Ready to Take a Chance Again", which reached #11 in the US the same year. The US CD version has been released in three slightly different incarnations. The first pressing featured the single version of "Copacabana" (3:58), and the non-hit studio version of "Daybreak" (3:09). "Jump Shout Boogie" was omitted from all three versions.
One Voice is the sixth studio album by singer/songwriter Barry Manilow, released in 1979. It was recorded at United Western Studios and Allen Zentz Recording in Hollywood. The album peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified double platinum by RIAA. The album contained three top-40 singles, "Ships" which peaked at #9, "When I Wanted You" at #20 and "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" which hit #36 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Manilow is the eleventh studio album by singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, released in 1985. It was his first album to miss the Top 40 and fail to earn a gold certification. Many feel it was due to the prominence of synthesizers, a departure from his renowned piano ballads. This album was one of Manilow's two albums with RCA Records.
Scores: Songs from "Copacabana" and "Harmony" is Barry Manilow's third album with Concord Records. It features selections from two musicals that feature original music by Manilow and lyrics by Bruce Sussman.
"Could It Be Magic" is a song written by Adrienne Anderson and composed by American singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, inspired by Frédéric Chopin's Prelude in C minor, Opus 28, Number 20.
"Weekend in New England" is a song recorded by Barry Manilow for his fourth studio album, This One's for You (1976). Written by Randy Edelman, it was released as the second single from the album, and became a Top Ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, while topping the Adult Contemporary chart.
"Can't Smile Without You" is a song written by Christian Arnold, David Martin and Geoff Morrow, and recorded by various artists including Barry Manilow and the Carpenters. It was first recorded and released by David Martin as a solo single in 1975. The version recorded by Manilow in 1977 and released in 1978 is the most well-known.
"I'll Never Love This Way Again" is a song written and composed by English musician Richard Kerr and American lyricist Will Jennings, and first recorded by Kerr himself for his album Welcome to the Club as "I Know I'll Never Love This Way Again", released in November 1978. A version by Cheryl Ladd was released first on her self-titled album in July 1978. The song became a hit for American singer Dionne Warwick the following year, which was produced by her labelmate Barry Manilow for Warwick's Arista Records debut, Dionne. It was also recorded by British singer Cherrill Rae Yates before Warwick recorded and released her version of the song.
The Complete Collection and Then Some... is a four-disc and one video greatest hits compilation by American pop singer Barry Manilow. It features 70 tracks including unreleased songs and five new recordings. It was certified RIAA gold. Originally released in 1992 with a VHS cassette, this box set was re-released on September 6, 2005, with a DVD replacing the tape.
Copacabana: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Album is a 1985 soundtrack album by Barry Manilow released by RCA Records to accompany the made-for-television musical film Copacabana. It was Barry Manilow's first soundtrack that contained songs with music by him.
The Songs 1975–1990 is a Barry Manilow compilation album released in 1990, covering 15 years of chart hits.
"Somewhere in the Night" is a ballad written by Richard Kerr and lyricist Will Jennings which was a US Top 20 hit for both Helen Reddy and Barry Manilow.
"I Made It Through the Rain" is a song that became a hit after it was recorded by American singer Barry Manilow, also included on his 1980 album, Barry. The song was originally recorded in 1979 by its co-writer Gerard Kenny who composed it with Drey Shepperd about a struggling musician who never gives up. Manilow heard the song and revised the lyric with Jack Feldman and Bruce Sussman to make the song about the everyday person's struggles, rather than those of a profession.
"Ready to Take a Chance Again" is a 1978 international hit single performed by Barry Manilow. The song was composed by Charles Fox, with lyrics by Fox's writing partner, Norman Gimbel. Manilow conceived and supervised the song's recording in partnership with Ron Dante.
Copacabana is a 1985 American made-for-television musical film based on the 1978 song of the same title by Barry Manilow, and starred Manilow himself, in his acting debut, as Tony, an aspiring songwriter, and Annette O'Toole as Lola, an aspiring singer who falls in with the wrong crowd.