Copacabana (by Barry Manilow) - Yamaha Electone ELS02C

“Copacabana” is a song written by Barry Manilow, Jack Feldman and Bruce Sussman, and performed by Manilow in 1978.

The song was inspired by a conversation between Manilow and Sussman at the Copacabana Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, on whether there had ever been a song called "Copacabana". After returning to the USA, Sussman and Feldman wrote the lyrics to a story song and Manilow creates the music.

“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. The track was his first gold single for a song he recorded and released. Additionally, the song earned Manilow his first and only Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in February 1979. - source from Wikipedia.

“Copacabana” was used as incidental music in the 1978 movie Foul Play, starred Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn. In 1985, this song was used in a made-for-television musical and a 2 act-stage musical with the same title “Copacabana”. Both the musicals have added in many other songs co-written by Sussman, Feldman and Manilow.

For the Electone cover, it is played in Samba style. It has a lively beat despite its sad lyrics. I really like the ‘sexy’ trumpet parts at tempo timing bar @ 59-70. However the Tr~~~ at tempo timing bar 67-69 is a killer. It is my first time playing the Tr ~~~ note like this and I did not managed to nail it accurately. I will need to train my fingers to move faster and hit the note at same constant speed. This song style also has many ‘dotted line notes’ which my teacher commented I did not performed well with its feel :((( . I guess Latin style has many elements that I really need to focus and practice on. Anyway it is a beautiful song to train my Latin playing, so I did not mind practicng it. I will try to play few more Latin pieces and hope it will train up my skills in playing the pieces better. Please keep tuning in on my plays and leave me a comment of your thoughts :).

Book Title :
月刊エレクトーン 2020年9月号

Note 1 : I do not own the the lyrics video that’s accompanying my Electone cover music video. Kindly checkout the original lyrics video @ Lyrics Meaning in YT.


#Barrymanilow
#copacabana
#sambamusic
#latinmusic