“Copacabana (At The Copa)” by Barry Manilow became a hit when it first came out in 1978. It may seem like an upbeat song, but it tells a much darker story. The song’s catchy lyrics in the first verse tell the story of Lola, a showgirl at the Copacabana nightclub and her lover Tony who’s a bartender. The second verse takes a darker turn when Rico, a wealthy man and suspected mobster, takes a liking to Lola and calls her over after her show. However, it’s said that Rico “went a bit too far” and Tony “sailed across the bar” to help Lola. Rico and Tony get into a fight and a gun goes off. It becomes a matter of “who shot who?” as the chorus continues. In the third verse, we find out that Tony was the one that was shot. 30 years later the Copacabana is now a disco. Lola, still wearing her showgirl attire, drinks herself “half-blind” as she mourns her youth and her lover. Barry ends the song with a warning: “Don’t fall in love.”
Although it’s an upsetting tale, the story’s not far from the truth. The song is based on the Copacabana, an exotic nightclub in Manhattan that’s popular for its Brazilian theme, Latin music, decor, and chorus lines. Even with its flashy appearance and glitzy feel, the club couldn’t hide its ties with the mob.
It’s the 1940’s and a man named Monte Proser had just opened his nightclub called “Copacabana”. There was a big problem with nightclubs though the mob was buying these clubs to fund their business. Proser didn’t want to work with the mob and he didn’t want any mobsters in his club. But the mob didn’t give Proser an option. Frank Costello, a mobster from the Luciano family walked into the club one day and told Proser, “Say hello to your new partner”. One of the first things Costello did was install one of his men, Jules Podell, to run the front line.
The club stirred up a lot of controversy. When Barry Manilow had heard some of these stories, he talked to his co-writer, Bruce Sussman, about making a song called Copacabana. The song was an automatic hit and it won a grammy. It even got a film with Barry Manilow himself playing Tony. It even got its own musical too!
