Patricia (Perez Prado song)

This article is about the song performed by Perez Prado. For the song performed by Perry Como, see Patricia (1950 song).

"Patricia" is a popular song with music by Pérez Prado and lyrics by Bob Marcucci, published in 1958. The song is best known in an instrumental version by Prado's orchestra that became the last record to ascend to No.1 on the Billboard Jockeys and Top 100 charts, both of which gave way the next week to the then newly-introduced Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[1] The song was also No. 1 on the R&B Best Sellers for two weeks.^[2] Prado's 1958 recording became a gold record. Billboard ranked it as the No. 5 song for 1958.

"Patricia"
Single by Pérez Prado
from the album Patricia
Released	June 1958 (1958-06)
Genre	Mambo
Length	2:19
Label	RCA

Prado's "Patricia" entered the U.S. Cash Box chart week ending June 7, 1958, making No. 1 on that chart for four weeks from the week ending July 26, 1958.

Prado's "Patricia" entered the UK Singles Chart in the week of July 25, 1958, peaking at No. 8 (week ending September 5, 1958) during a 16-week chart run.^[3]

In 1960, Prado released a new stereo recording of the tune, and re-recorded it a third time in a "twist" version issued in 1962 that re-charted in the U.S.

Perry Como's recording of "Patricia" from 1950 bears no resemblance to Prado's tune.

Cover versions and other usages

• The song was featured in the Weebl and Bob flash cartoon.
• The song was covered by a Kenyan group, Kiko Kids, some time in the late 1950s.^[4]
• The song was featured in a TV advert for the UK post office.
• The song was featured at several points in Federico Fellini's 1960 film La Dolce Vita, including a segment at a party where the music accompanied a striptease.
• The song was featured as background music for a pool party in the 1969 film Goodbye, Columbus.
• The song was covered by Frank Valdor and His Orchestra and Chorus on the album 16 Fantastic Golden Latin Hits in 1978.
• The tune was sung (badly) by Homer Simpson as he's shaving before a romantic night out in the "Some Enchanted Evening" episode of The Simpsons's first season. The song was also being played by a dance band later in that same episode.
• The song appears in the 1989 movie Great Balls of Fire! during the scene in which Jerry Lee Lewis drives his convertible and proposes marriage to his thirteen-year-old second cousin, Myra Gale.
• The Mambo All Stars’ version of the song was the theme for the 1999 animated series George and Martha.
• The song was used as the theme song to HBO's Real Sex series.
• The song was covered by Link Wray, Duane Eddy, and Rory Parker, and by Ry Cooder on his Grammy winning 2002 album, Mambo Sinuendo.
• The song was used as background music for the swimsuit competition at the 1997 Miss Universe Pageant.
• The song was used in "The British Invasion", Episode 12 from Season 2 of the Showtime series Dexter.
• The song was used as background music in the state financed Danish TV campaign "Fisk 2 gange om ugen".^[5]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1958)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[6]	1
Canada (CHUM Hit Parade)[7]	2
German Media Control Top100 Singles Chart[8]	1
UK Singles (OCC)[9]	8
US Top 100[10]	1
US Billboard Hot 100[1]	2
US Billboard Most Played by Jockeys[11][12]	1
US Billboard Rhythm & Blues Records[13][14]	1
US Cash Box[15]	1

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[16]	Gold	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. August 4, 1958.
2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 467.
3. "Patricia by Perez 'Prez' Prado". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
4. "Kiko-Kids – Patricia". Excavated Shellac. 10 November 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
5. "2gangeomugen: 2gangeomugen". 2gangeomugen.dk. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
6. Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book: 1940–1969: the Hit Songs and Records from Thirty Years of Specially Compiled Charts. Australian Chart Book Limited. ISBN 9780646444390. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
7. "CHUM Hit Parade Chart: Week of August 11, 1958". The CHUM Tribute Site. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
8. "alle No.1-Hits in Deutschland seit 1954–1970" [all number-one hits in Germany 1954–1970] (in German). Chartservice. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
9. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
10. "The Billboard Music Popularity Charts" (PDF). The Billboard. 28 July 1958. p. 34. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
11. Joel Whitburn's top pop singles 1955–2006. Record Research. January 8, 2008. ISBN 9780898201727. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
12. "The Billboard - 28 July 1958" (PDF). The Billboard. 28 July 1958. p. 30. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
13. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 148.
14. "The Billboard - 11 August 1958" (PDF). The Billboard. 11 August 1958. p. 53. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
15. "Cash Box - 26 August 1958" (PDF). Cash Box. 26 July 1958. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
16. "American single certifications – Pérez Prado – Patricia". Recording Industry Association of America.