"Blame It on the Bossa Nova" is a song written by

Cynthia Weil Cynthia Weil (born October 18, 1940) is an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Life and career Weil was born in New York City, and was raised in a Conservative Jewish family. Her father was Morris Wei ...

(lyrics) and Barry Mann which was a 1963 hit single for

Eydie Gormé Eydie Gormé ( ; born Edith Gormezano; August 16, 1928 – August 10, 2013) was an American singer who had hits on the pop and Latin pop charts. She sang solo and in the duo Steve and Eydie with her husband, Steve Lawrence, on albums and telev ...

, reaching number 7 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

in ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' in March 1963. The song also peaked at number 32 in the UK, whereas "Yes, My Darling Daughter" became the biggest hit for Eydie there, reaching number 10.

Background

Produced by

Al Kasha Alfred Kasha (January 22, 1937 – September 14, 2020) was an American songwriter, whose songs include " The Morning After" from '' The Poseidon Adventure''. Life Kasha started songwriting and producing at a young age and was hired as a producer ...

who had been responsible for the 1 hit "

Go Away Little Girl "Go Away Little Girl" is a popular song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. It was first recorded by Bobby Vee for Liberty Records on March 28, 1962. The lyrics consist of a young man asking a young attractive woman to stay away from him, s ...

" by Gormé's husband

Steve Lawrence Steve Lawrence (born Sidney Liebowitz; July 8, 1935) is an American singer, comedian and actor, best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gormé, billed as " Steve and Eydie", and for his performance as Maury Sline, the manager and fr ...

, "Blame It on the Bossa Nova" featured backing vocals by

The Cookies ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

. "Blame It on the Bossa Nova" merges the

Brill Building Sound Brill Building (also known as Brill Building pop or the Brill Building sound) is a subgenre of pop music that took its name from the Brill Building in New York City, where numerous teams of professional songwriters penned material for girl groups ...

with the

Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Music of Spain, Spain and Portuguese music, Portugal) ...

which Gormé had previously specialized in. The song describes a romantic relationship of a couple dancing to the

bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...

, "the dance of love." The

was a

Brazilian music The music of Brazil encompasses various regional musical styles influenced by European, American, African and Amerindian forms. Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles such as forró, repente, coco de roda, axé, sertanejo, ...

style especially in vogue in the United States in the late 1950s through mid-1960s. Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme told SiriusXM Radio DJ Lou Simon that when Eydie was first pitched this song, she despised it and did not want to record it, but her label forced her to record the song. She claims she deliberately recorded a mediocre vocal performance, going as far as singing an off-pitch note towards the end of the song with the hope that her label would think her performance was so bad that they would never consider releasing her recording as a single. She was wrong. Her recording reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart and was her biggest, and last, solo hit. "Blame It on the Bossa Nova" was an international hit for Gormé, reaching 1 in Australia, South Africa and Sweden and 2 in Norway. In the UK the single reached 32. Rendered in Spanish by Gormé as "Cúlpale a la bossa nova", the track sold 250,000 units in Spain and Latin America and 100,000 units in Italy. Gormé consequently recorded several

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

-oriented releases but "Blame It on the Bossa Nova" would be her last solo Top 40 hit, although partnered with Lawrence as Steve & Eydie she reached 28 and 35 with respectively "I Want To Stay Here" and "I Can't Stop Talking About You" in 1964. Gormé reached 43 with Mann-Weil's "I Want You to Meet My Baby" in September 1964; that track's B-side : "Can't Get Over (the Bossa Nova)", written by Gormé and Lawrence with Marilyn Gins, gained enough attention to chart at 87. Gormé subsequently shifted back to the

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

musical style of the first phase of her career.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Soundtrack appearances

The song has appeared from time to time in television programs, commercials, and films, often for comic effect. For example, in the TV show ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White Hous ...

'',

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

Assistant Counsel Ainsley Hayes (played by

Emily Procter Emily Mallory Procter (born October 8, 1968) is an American actress and activist. She played Ainsley Hayes in the NBC political drama ''The West Wing'' (2000–2002; 2006) and Det. Calleigh Duquesne in the CBS police procedural drama '' CSI: M ...

) is dancing joyfully to a recording of the song by Annette Funicello, wearing a bathrobe, and drinking a cocktail to celebrate a successful television appearance when she is shocked to see President

Jed Bartlet Josiah Edward "Jed" Bartlet is a fictional character from the American television serial drama ''The West Wing'' created by Aaron Sorkin and portrayed by actor Martin Sheen. The role earned Sheen a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Telev ...

(

Martin Sheen Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...

) enter her office to meet her for the first time. Former

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

head coach

George Seifert George Gerald Seifert (born January 22, 1940) is an American former football coach and player. He served as the head coach for the San Francisco 49ers and the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). Seifert owned the second-grea ...

performs the song

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...

-style in a

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

commercial that aired during the 1990s. Jack Mac Ferland from ''

Will and Grace Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and wi ...

'' sings it too when he prepares his "garlic jazz" in season one. Movie soundtrack appearances for "Blame It on the Bossa Nova" include '' The Big Picture'' (1989), ''

Mermaids In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

'' (1990) and ''

Doubt Doubt is a mental state in which the mind remains suspended between two or more contradictory propositions, unable to be certain of any of them. Doubt on an emotional level is indecision between belief and disbelief. It may involve uncertainty, ...

'' (2008). "Blame It on the Bossa Nova" is also featured in episode seven of the first season of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

program ''

Big Love ''Big Love'' is an American drama television series that aired on HBO from March 12, 2006 to March 20, 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a fundamentalist Mormon family in contemporary Utah that practices polygamy, with Jeanne Tripp ...

''. It is playing on the car stereo when character Alby Grant solicits a male prostitute. David Alan Grier's character, Don 'No Soul' Simmons, covered the song in the end credits for ''

Amazon Women on the Moon ''Amazon Women on the Moon'' is a 1987 American satirical science fiction film that parodies the experience of watching low-budget films on late-night television. The film, featuring a large ensemble cast including cameo appearances from film and ...

''. In the 1993 film ''

Needful Things ''Needful Things'' is a 1991 horror novel by American author Stephen King. It is the first novel King wrote after his rehabilitation from drug and alcohol addiction. It was made into a film of the same name in 1993 which was directed by Frase ...

'' (based on the Stephen King novel of the same name), the lead character says of the havoc he causes in the town of Castle Rock, "Hey, don't blame me. Blame it on the bossa nova."

Cover versions

"Blame It on the Bossa Nova" was also recorded by Annette Funicello for her 1964 album ''Annette at Bikini Beach'', by

Edmundo Ros Edmundo Ros OBE, FRAM (7 December 1910 – 21 October 2011), born Edmund William Ross, was a Trinidadian-Venezuelan musician, vocalist, arranger and bandleader who made his career in Britain. He directed a highly popular Latin American orchestr ...

for his 1965 album ''Latin Melodies Old and New'', and by

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

for his 1966 album ''Kinda Latin''. Nancy Boyd remade "Blame It on the Bossa Nova" for her 1987 album of classic hit songs entitled ''Let's Hang On'' (credited to Nancy Boyd & the Cappello's), with the track issued as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the single "Maybe I Know" which charted at 56 in the Netherlands. A recording of "Blame It on the Bossa Nova" by Manuela, with lyrics in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

as "Schuld war nur der Bossa Nova" written by Georg Buschor, was on the German Charts for 27 weeks (21 weeks Top 10) during the period 27 April - 2 November 1963, peaking at 1 for five weeks. Also in 1963, the comedian

Jackie Mason Jackie Mason (born Yacov Moshe Maza; yi, יעקב משה מזא; June 9, 1928 – July 24, 2021) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. His 1986 one-man show ''The World According to Me!'' won a Special Tony Award, an Outer Critics Cir ...

recorded a parody version entitled "Don't Blame the Bossa Nova" Lola Novaković recorded the Serbian rendering "Bosa Nova" in 1964. A recording by Anna-Lena Löfgren, with lyrics in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

as "Det finns ingenting att hämta" written by Stig Andersson, was at

Svensktoppen ''Svensktoppen'' () is a weekly record chart airing at Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982-1985. The last years before the January 2003 cha ...

for 11 weeks during the period 14 May - 23 July 1967, peaking at 3. Another recording of the Swedish language version by

Lotta Engbergs Anna Charlotte "Lotta" Engberg (born Pedersen; 5 March 1963) is a Swedish singer. She represented Sweden in Eurovision Song Contest 1987 with "Boogaloo" after winning Melodifestivalen 1987. She also tried many times in Melodifestivalen in 1984, ...

in 1997 appeared on the album " Tolv i topp", and as

of the 2000 single "En liten stund på Jorden". British singer

Jane McDonald Jane Anne McDonald (born 4 April 1963) is an English singer, songwriter and television presenter. Born and raised in Wakefield, McDonald spent much of her early career performing in local clubs and pubs before landing work as a singer on cruis ...

released her version as a single in 2005 and was taken from her album "You Belong To Me" that reached No.21 in the UK album charts. A Spanish cover by Mexican singer Enrique Guzmán, "Enseñando Bossa Nova", was included in the 1963 LP ''Celos de ti''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blame It On The Bossa Nova 1963 singles Bossa nova Songs written by Barry Mann Eydie Gormé songs Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in South Africa Number-one singles in Sweden Anna-Lena Löfgren songs Caterina Valente songs Songs with lyrics by Cynthia Weil 1963 songs Columbia Records singles