"Patricia" is a popular song with music by Pérez Prado and lyrics by

Bob Marcucci Robert Phillip "Bob" Marcucci (February 28, 1930 – March 9, 2011) was an American lyricist, talent manager, film producer, and the owner of Chancellor Records and Robert P. Marcucci Productions. He discovered and managed the careers of Fabian ...

, published in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

. 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. The song was also No. 1 on the R&B Best Sellers for two weeks. Prado's 1958 recording became a gold record. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the No. 5 song for 1958. 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. 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 Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...

's recording of "

Patricia Patricia is a female given name of Latin language, Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word ''Patrician (ancient Rome), patrician'', meaning "noble"; it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick (given name), Patrick. The name Patr ...

" 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. *The song was featured in a TV advert for the UK post office. *The song was featured at several points in

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most i ...

's 1960 film ''

La Dolce Vita ''La Dolce Vita'' (; Italian for "the sweet life" or "the good life"Kezich, 203) is a 1960 satirical comedy-drama film directed and co-written (with Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli and Brunello Rondi) by Federico Fellini. The film stars Marcell ...

,'' 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 ''Goodbye, Columbus'' is a 1959 collection of fiction by the American novelist Philip Roth, comprising the title novella "Goodbye, Columbus"—which first appeared in ''The Paris Review''—and five short stories. It was his first book and was ...

''. *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 Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared, along with the rest of his family, in ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' short "G ...

as he's shaving before a romantic night out in the " Some Enchanted Evening" episode of '' The Simpsonss 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 ''George and Martha'' is a series of children's books written and illustrated by James Marshall between 1972 and 1988. Each book in the series contains five short stories describing interactions between two hippos, George and Martha. The books i ...

''. *The song was used as the theme song to

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 ...

's '' Real Sex'' series. *The song was covered by

Link Wray Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr. (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who became popular in the late 1950s. ''Rolling Stone'' placed Wray at No. 45 of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. In 2013 ...

, Duane Eddy, and Rory Parker, and by

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, an ...

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 Dexter may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dexter, the main character of the American animated series ''Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003 * Dexter, a fictional character in the British Diary of a Bad Man#Main, web series ''Diar ...

''. *The song was used as background music in the state financed Danish TV campaign "Fisk 2 gange om ugen".

References

1958 songs Pérez Prado songs Billboard Top 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Germany Songs written by Pérez Prado {{pop-standard-stub