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Papa Loves Mambo

{{Infobox song

| name = Papa Loves Mambo

| cover =

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Perry Como

| album =

| B-side = The Things I Didn't Do

| released = September 1954

| recorded = August 31, 1954

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Pop

| length = 2:38

| label = RCA Victor

| writer = Al Hoffman
Dick Manning
Bix Reichner

| producer = Joe Reisman

| prev_title = Hit and Run Affair

| prev_year = 1954

| next_title = (There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays

| next_year = 1954

}}

"Papa Loves Mambo" is a popular song written by Al Hoffman, Dick Manning, and Bix Reichner and released in 1954.{{Cite book|last1=Hoffmann|first1=Al|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bfc3wUiJLSsC|title=Papa loves Mambo: as performed by Perry Como|last2=Manning|first2=Dick|last3=Reichner|first3=Bix|last4=Como|first4=Perry|date=1954|publisher=Roba Digital Sheets|isbn=978-3-8418-0046-6|language=en}}

The best-known version was recorded by Perry Como with Mitchell Ayres's orchestra in New York City on August 31, 1954. The U.S. release peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard chart in January 1955.{{Cite book|last1=Macfarlane|first1=Malcolm|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V2orAwAAQBAJ|title=Perry Como: A Biography and Complete Career Record|last2=Crossland|first2=Ken|date=2015-05-07|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-0024-6|language=en}} The recording was part of a wave of popular mambo music in the U.S. alongside songs like "They Were Doin' the Mambo" and "Mambo Italiano".{{Cite book|last=Tyler|first=Don|url=https://archive.org/details/musicofpostwarer0000tyle|title=Music of the Postwar Era|date=2008|publisher=|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-313-34191-5|pages=62}}{{Cite book|last=None|url=https://archive.org/details/insidecubahistor0000unse|title=Inside Cuba : the history, culture, and politics of an outlaw nation|date=2003|publisher=New York : Marlowe & Co.|isbn=978-1-56924-484-5|pages=139}}

Other recordings

  • Bing Crosby also recorded the song in 1954{{cite web|title=A Bing Crosby Discography|url=http://www.bingmagazine.co.uk/bingmagazine/CBS.html |website=BING magazine|publisher=International Club Crosby|access-date=October 10, 2017}} for use on his radio show and it was subsequently included in the CD El Senor Bing [Deluxe Edition] issued in 2013.{{cite web|title=allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/el-senor-bing-deluxe-edition-mr0003886205|website=allmusic.com|access-date=October 10, 2017}}
  • Johnnie Ray – a single release for Columbia Records (1955).{{cite web|title=45cat.com|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/300510pf|website=45cat.com|access-date=October 10, 2017}}
  • Nat King Cole – a single release for Capitol Records (1954).{{cite web|title=45cat.com|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/cl14207|website=45cat.com|access-date=October 10, 2017}}

In popular culture

  • The Perry Como version was originally planned to be used in the 1985 movie Back to the Future as the song that played when Marty McFly enters the 1955 version of Hill Valley, but was scrapped by the producers in favor of The Four Aces' version of "Mister Sandman". Instead, "Papa Loves Mambo" plays on Biff Tannen's car radio as he drives to the Enchantment Under the Sea dance in the 1989 sequel Back to the Future: Part II.{{cite web|title=Back to the Future: Part II - Trivia|url=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Trivia/BackToTheFuturePartII|website=TV Tropes|access-date=May 8, 2022}}
  • The Como recording was also featured in the Season 8 episode of The Middle titled "The Par-Tay."
  • The Nat King Cole version was featured in the first episode of Season 2 of Only Murders in the Building. The episode was titled "Persons of Interest" and was telecast on June 28, 2022.
  • The Como version was also featured in the 2007 action game Bioshock.
  • The Como record was also heard during the credits of the 2010 film Red.
  • A snippet of Como's recording is also found during a montage of failed attempts in the 2001 film Ocean's Eleven.
  • The song is also featured in the 2013 film No Clue.

Chart positions

class="wikitable"
Chart (1954/1955)

!Peak
position

{{singlechart|Flanders|1|artist=Perry Como|song=Papa Loves Mambo|access-date=September 9, 2013}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20051109002349/http://kokomo.ca/early_years/papa_loves_mambo_story.htm The Story of "Papa Loves Mambo"]

{{Perry Como}}

Category:1954 songs

Category:Songs written by Al Hoffman

Category:Songs written by Dick Manning

Category:Perry Como songs

{{pop-standard-stub}}