Copacabana
Arriving on all streaming platforms
April 5th, 2024

I'm not a Barry Manilow fan. I don't even particularly like this song. But I liked my friend Kristin Korb's version of it on her album "What If". She did it with a jazz trio and it left a lot more space for the lyrics, which I'd never really listened to before.

I know I'm late to the party on this one, but it's a dark story. And I felt like that bouncy Manilow arrangement didn't really communicate the darkness of the story.

So I thought, "What if a "murder ballad period" Nick Cave collaborated with Type O Negative on this?" Type O was a 90's goth metal act that had their tongues firmly in their cheeks when they'd do covers like Seals & Croft’s “Summer Breeze”.

And yes, I think it's funny to do this song this way. It's the kind of cover that makes you go "Ha! Oh... wow..."

Story #2 about why I did this song. I was on the FuMP Podcast with Devo Spice and he told me a story about his wife. He got in her car and heard the music she was listening to. Not being a comedy music fan like her husband, Devo said "Why are you listening to Phil Johnson?"

She said, "I'm not. That's Barry Manilow."

Which I find highly offensive. But it did put this Copacabana idea back in my head.

So let's give it a listen, shall we?

Fun fact: I thought I'd end up reharmonizing the song to make it sound darker. Turns out I didn't have to change a single chord. All that darkness was hiding in those chords the whole time. I just had to bring it out.

So April 5th is the big release day! I'll need your help to pile a bunch of spins on in the first 24 hours to kick the algorithms into gear. I'll be in touch about that.

Thanks for your support!