Bossa Nova Hotel
The cover consists of two tanned models looking up and a man wearing a fedora, black suit and white tie, and white gloves, reading a comic book. The artist's name is on top in yellow text and the album title is in cursive neon text.
Standard artwork
Studio album by
Michael Sembello
ReleasedSeptember 1983
Recorded1983
Studio
  • Rumbo (Los Angeles)
  • Soundcastle (Los Angeles)
  • Westlake (Los Angeles)
  • EFX Studios
Genre
Length39:53
LabelWarner Bros.
Producer
Michael Sembello chronology
Bossa Nova Hotel
(1983)		 Without Walls
(1986)
Singles from Bossa Nova Hotel
  1. "Maniac"
    Released: May 1983
  2. "Automatic Man"
    Released: September 1983
  3. "Talk"
    Released: January 1984
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Bossa Nova Hotel is the 1983 debut album of rock singer/guitarist Michael Sembello. The album was a continuation of the work that Sembello began with producer Phil Ramone on "Maniac," which became a number one US pop hit after it was featured in the film Flashdance and on its soundtrack album. Bossa Nova Hotel peaked at number 80 on the US album chart and included the soundtrack hit in addition to two more chart entries, "Automatic Man" and "Talk."

Background

Songwriters Michael Sembello and Dennis Matkosky recorded a demo of a song titled "Maniac" that they had written after Matkosky watched a news report about a serial killer, and the tape landed in the hands of Phil Ramone, who was looking for songs to use in the film Flashdance.[2] After changing the lyrics, a new version of "Maniac" recorded by Sembello was released on the soundtrack album and went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1983.[3] The singer-songwriter chose to work with Ramone on his debut album because he felt they were a good match. Having worked with so many producers over the years as a session musician, he knew how inflexible they could be, but Ramone was different.[4] "Phil is just about as nuts as I am and will try anything, which is great."[5] On the material itself, he said, "I wanted to take some of the elements of Brazilian music and fuse them with pop,… kind of the way The Police have done with reggae."[5]

Release and reception

Bossa Nova Hotel was released by Warner Bros. Records in September 1983[6] and debuted on Billboard magazine's Top LPs & Tape chart in the issue dated October 8. During a 10-week run, it reached number 80.[7]

"Automatic Man", the first official single from the album, debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the September 24, 1983, issue, and peaked at number 34 over the course of 10 weeks.[8] The second single – a duet with his wife Cruz called "Talk" – started its 10 weeks on the magazine's Adult Contemporary chart in the February 4, 1984, issue and got as high as number 25.[9]

J. D. Considine wrote in Musician: "You could sum up Sembello's sound as Michael McDonald with a rhythm machine, but that would be unnecessarily cruel to McDonald. And the rhythm machine."[10]

The album was re-issued in 2007 on CD by Wounded Bird Records.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Automatic Man"David Batteau, Michael Sembello, Danny Sembello4:13
2."First Time"Batteau, Don Freeman, M. Sembello3:04
3."Cowboy"Batteau, M. Sembello, D. Sembello3:35
4."It's Over"Alfred Rubalcava, M. Sembello4:56
5."Maniac"Dennis Matkosky, M. Sembello4:18
6."Godzilla"Phil Ramone, M. Sembello, D. Sembello3:50
7."Talk"M. Sembello, D. Sembello3:26
8."Cadillac"M. Sembello4:11
9."Lay Back"M. Sembello4:02
10."Superman"M. Sembello4:36
Reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Summer Lovers"M. Sembello, Batteau, Matkosky4:11
12."Maniac" (Live)Matkosky, M. Sembello4:51
13."Automatic Man" (Live)Batteau, M. Sembello, D. Sembello5:00

Charts

Chart (1983) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[7] 80

Personnel

  • Michael Sembello - lead vocals, bass synth, bass, guitar, marimba solo, synthesizers, acoustic guitar, LinnDrum, Fender Rhodes
  • Danny Sembello - bass synth, tack piano solo, keyboards, synthesizers, marimba, acoustic piano
  • Vinnie Colaiuta - drums
  • Nathan Watts - bass
  • Paulinho Da Costa - percussion
  • Carlos Vega - drums, Simmons drums
  • Don Freeman - keyboards
  • Larry McNeely - banjo
  • Chris Page - additional synthesizer
  • Cruz Baca Sembello - guest vocals on "Talk"
  • Dennis Matkosky - keyboards, synthesizers
  • George Duke - synthesizer solo
  • Dennis Karmazyn - cello
  • Oscar Castro-Neves - string arranger, conductor
  • Michael Sembello, John Sembello, Danny Sembello, Cruz Baca Sembello, Liza Miller - background vocals
  • Jerry Hey, Gary Herbig, Gary Grant, William Reichenbach - horns
Technical
  • Phil Ramone – producer
  • Michael Sembello – producer ("Maniac")
  • Thom Wilson, Jim Gallagher, Peter Chaikin - recording engineers
  • Tommy Vicari - mixing
  • Bernie Grundman - mastering
  • Richard Seireeni, Simon Levy - art director
  • John Colao - photography

References

  1. ↑ "Bossa Nova Hotel - Michael Sembello". AllMusic. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
  2. ↑ Matkosky, Dennis (2020). Maniac Men (bonus feature from Maniac: 4K Ultra HD + Special Features Blu-Ray) (DVD). Blue Underground.
  3. ↑ Bronson 2003, p. 576
  4. ↑ Grein, Paul (September 17, 1983). "Talent & Venues: Michael Sembello Maps More Assaults on Charts". Billboard. New York: Billboard Publications, Inc. p. 39. I was a session man for years and have worked with just about everybody," he says. "I can say for a fact that 80% of producers are structured and rigid. They have their own ideas about things and won't bend a lot to the artist's ideas.
  5. 1 2 Grein, Paul (September 17, 1983). "Talent & Venues: Michael Sembello Maps More Assaults on Charts". Billboard. New York: Billboard Publications, Inc. p. 39.
  6. ↑ Grein, Paul (September 3, 1983). "Fall Prospects: Pre-Holiday Deluge of Compilations Begins". Billboard. New York: Billboard Publications, Inc. p. 4.
  7. 1 2 Whitburn 2010, p. 694.
  8. ↑ Whitburn 2009, p. 869.
  9. ↑ Whitburn 2007, p. 246.
  10. ↑ Considine, J.D. (January 1984). "Bossa Nova Hotel". Musician.

Bibliography

  • Bronson, Fred (2003), The Billboard Book of Number One Hits, Billboard Books, ISBN 9780823076772
  • Whitburn, Joel (2007), Joel Whitburn Presents Billboard Top Adult Songs, 1961-2006, Record Research Inc., ISBN 978-0-89820-169-7
  • Whitburn, Joel (2009), Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 1955-2008, Record Research Inc., ISBN 978-0-89820-180-2
  • Whitburn, Joel (2010), Joel Whitburn Presents Top Pop Albums, Seventh Edition, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0-89820-183-7
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