Download Here    The Copacabana nightclub in New York opened in 1940 with mob boss Frank Costello as part owner.  It had Brazilian decor and Latin orchestras – but served Chinese food.  Uh… okay.  The club was also known for it’s chorus line, “The Copacabana Girls”, who had pink hair, mink panties and bras, and fruited turbans (my kind of place!)   It was a club where celebrities came to play and performers began their career.  Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Marvin Gaye, Sammy Davis, the Supremes,  Martha and the Vandellas, and Sam Cook were just a few of the artists that either debuted or frequently performed at this infamous night spot.

The place gained some unwanted notoriety on May 16th, 1957 from an incident involving the New York Yankees.  It seems Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Hank Bauer, Yogi Berra and Billy Martin arrived to celebrate Martin’s birthday.  Sammy Davis Jr. just happened to be the headliner that night and a group of drunken bowlers began hurling racial slurs at him and it was getting out of hand.  This behavior incensed the Yankees and the huge brawl made headlines the next day.  Martin was traded to the Kansas City Athletics as a result of the incident.  ‘Course, later, he came back as the greatest manager the Yankees ever had… but that’s another story.

I happened to visit this iconic club in 1976 after it had been turned into disco.  It was okay but I wasn’t terribly impressed.  Barry Manilow, however, thought it was cool enough to write and record this song dubbing the Copacabana as “the hottest spot north of Havana”.  He released it in ’78 and it became a huge disco hit even though that era was slowly coming to an end.  I’ve always enjoyed performing this song mostly because of the infectious, exciting Latin beat.  Download it off the Pop/Rock list and bring it to your stage.  Your crowd will dance and sing along if you do it right.