"I Go to Rio" is a song written by Peter Allen and

Adrienne Anderson Adrienne Anderson is an American songwriter, most notable for being the co-writer of "Could It Be Magic", among other Barry Manilow songs, as well as being the co-writer of signature songs for Dionne Warwick ("Déjà Vu") and Peter Allen (" I Go t ...

, and performed by Allen. It became a

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

of Allen, as well as being covered by

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...

and

Pablo Cruise Pablo is a Spanish form of the name Paul (name), Paul. People *Pablo Alborán, Spanish singer *Pablo Aimar, Argentine footballer *Pablo Armero, Colombian footballer *Pablo Bartholomew, Indian photojournalist *Pablo Brandán, Argentine footballer * ...

, among others, in addition to being subject to multiple

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

inclusions.

History

The song was first released in 1976, on Peter Allen's fourth studio album, ''

Taught by Experts ''Taught by Experts'' is the fourth studio album by Peter Allen (musician), Peter Allen, released in 1976. It spawned the hit "I Go to Rio". The album featured such musicians as Thom Rotella, Jerome Richardson, Lesley Gore and Dusty Springfield. ...

''. In 1977, it was successfully released as a single in Australia, where it was Number 1 for five weeks. Although the song was also released as a single in America, it failed to chart over there. The song appeared in a number of movie

s, including ''

One Crazy Summer ''One Crazy Summer'' is a 1986 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Savage Steve Holland, and starring John Cusack, Demi Moore, Bobcat Goldthwait, Curtis Armstrong and Joel Murray. The original film score was composed by Cory Le ...

'' (1986), ''

Dominick and Eugene ''Dominick and Eugene'' is a 1988 American drama film directed by Robert M. Young about twin brothers, Dominick and Eugene. Dominick has an intellectual disability due to an accident in his youth. The film stars Ray Liotta, Tom Hulce and Jamie L ...

'' (1988), ''

The Fabulous Baker Boys ''The Fabulous Baker Boys'' is a 1989 American romantic comedy-drama musical film written and directed by Steve Kloves. Primarily set in Seattle, Washington, the film follows a piano duo consisting of brothers, who hire an attractive singer to ...

'' (1989), ''

Muriel's Wedding ''Muriel's Wedding'' is a 1994 Australian comedy-drama film written and directed by P.J. Hogan. The film, which stars Toni Collette, Rachel Griffiths, Jeanie Drynan, Sophie Lee, and Bill Hunter, focuses on the socially awkward Muriel whose ambi ...

'' (1994), ''

Hotel Sorrento ''Hotel Sorrento'' is a 1995 Australian drama film directed by Richard Franklin. Three sisters reunite in the sleepy Australian town of Sorrento after a ten-year hiatus. One of the three has written a book called ''Melancholy'' which is a thin ...

'' (1995) and '' Strange Bedfellows'' (2004). The song is also used as the closing number for the Peter Allen biographical musical ''

The Boy from Oz ''The Boy from Oz'' is a Australian jukebox musical based on the life of singer and songwriter Peter Allen, featuring songs written by him. The book commissioned for the musical is by Nick Enright, based on Stephen MacLean's 1996 biography of A ...

''. The song is also sung on the Disney channel series ''

K.C. Undercover ''K.C. Undercover'' is an American Television comedy, comedy television series created by Corinne Marshall that aired on Disney Channel from January 18, 2015 to February 2, 2018. The series stars Zendaya, Veronica Dunne, Kamil McFadden, Trinitee ...

'', specifically the episode " Coopers on the Run"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Pablo Cruise cover

released their cover of "I Go to Rio" in January 1979. It reached #46 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #39 on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' singles chart.

Charts

Other covers

The song was also covered by

on her 1977 album '' Peggy '', as well as by noted French singer

Claude François Claude Antoine Marie François (; 1 February 1939 – 11 March 1978), also known by the nickname Cloclo, was a French pop singer, composer, songwriter, record producer, drummer and dancer. François co-wrote the lyrics of "Comme d'habitude" (c ...

, in French translation ("Je vais à Rio"), that same year. In 1980, it was used on an episode of

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a ser ...

. Singers of musical

Belles belles belles ''Belles belles belles'' is a French jukebox musical written by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre and Daniel Moyne, based on the songs of French singer Claude François (1939-1978). The musical arrangements are by Carolin Petit. It was the first French jukeb ...

covered the Claude François' song. In 1982, it was covered by

TISM TISM (an acronym of This Is Serious Mum) are a seven-piece anonymous alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia on 30 December 1982 by vocalist/drummer Humphrey B. Flaubert, bassist/vocalist Jock Cheese and keyboardist/vocalist Eu ...

under the name "I Go to

Werribee Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Werribee recorded a population of 50,027 at the 2021 census. Werribee i ...

" with slightly different lyrics. In 2008, the song was covered by Australian guitarist

Tommy Emmanuel William Thomas Emmanuel (born 31 May 1955) is an Australian guitarist. Regarded as one of the greatest acoustic guitarists of all time, he is known for his complex fingerstyle technique, energetic performances and use of percussive effects on ...

, on his live album '' Center Stage''. The melody of the opening piano riff of the song has been re-used by Chocolate in "

Ritmo de la noche "Ritmo de la noche" is a song written by AC Beat, Lagonda, Castioni, and Wycombe, and originally recorded by German house group Chocolate in 1990. It was covered and released in the same year by Mystic, The Sacados, Lorca, and ten other producers ...

" and subsequent cover versions Mystic, The Sacados, Lorca and Safri Duo, and by

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

in "

Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" is a song by British rock band Coldplay, it was released as the lead single for their fifth studio album '' Mylo Xyloto'' on 3 June 2011. An exclusive digital EP version of it, with the B-sides "Major Minus" and ...

References

{{authority control 1976 songs 1977 singles A&M Records singles Number-one singles in Australia Pablo Cruise songs Songs written by Peter Allen (musician) Songs written by Adrienne Anderson Disco songs Songs about dancing Songs about Rio de Janeiro (city)