"Rico Mambo" is a 1984

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

by the American band Breakfast Club. Written by the band's lead singer

Dan Gilroy Daniel Christopher Gilroy (born June 24, 1959) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for writing and directing '' Nightcrawler'' (2014), for which he won Best Screenplay at the 30th Independent Spirit Awards, and was ...

and originally produced by drummer

Stephen Bray Stephen Pate Bray (born December 23, 1956) is an American songwriter, drummer, and record producer. He is best known for his collaborations with Madonna, being a member of the band Breakfast Club, and for winning the 2017 Grammy Award for the ...

, it was re-recorded for the band's eponymous 1987 album with production by Deodato.

Early releases

Breakfast Club signed with

ZE Records ZE Records was a New York–based record label, started in 1978 by Michael Zilkha and Michel Esteban, and closed in 1984. It was reestablished by Esteban in 2003; its website was last updated in 2019. History Michael Zilkha (b. 1954) is a Br ...

, first issuing the "Rico Mambo" in 1984 as a standalone single with "Walk It Off" as a

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

. Distributed by

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

, the single saw release as both 7″ and 12″ singles on five continents, but failed to chart anywhere. With its inclusion on the successful ''Breakfast Club'' in 1987, the new version of the song saw release in Europe and Australia by MCA on both 7″ and 12″ singles, this time with "Tongue Tied" as a b-side. It again failed to chart.

Later popularity

In 1989, ZE Records re-released the 1984 "Rico Mambo" as part of the ''Zetrospective: Dancing in the Face of Adversity'' compilation. Reviewer

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

praised the album as "the first postmodern dance music—dance music with a critical spirit", but dismissed "Rico Mambo" as "cheesy". The 1984 version of "Rico Mambo" was first released in the Philippines in 1985. In 2007, the Philippine CPDRC Dancing Inmates performed "Rico Mambo" at their prison in Cebu In 2019 a "Club Mix" and a "Club Mix Radio Edit" of the 1984 version were released on music streaming services."Rico Mambo (Club Mix)"
an
"Rico Mambo (Club Mix Radio Edit)"
at Spotify.com. Retrieved 15 January 2023.

References

1984 songs 1984 singles 1987 singles Song recordings produced by Stephen Bray MCA Records singles {{1980s-pop-song-stub