Throwing back to the week of Nov. 2, 1954, we find a familiar trio hanging on at the top three of Billboard’s singles chart: Eddie Fisher’s ‘I Need You Now‘ and two Rosemary Clooney tracks, ‘Hey There‘ and ‘This Ole House.’
At #4 that week was Perry Como’s ‘Papa Loves Mambo,’ a tune that capitalized on a nationwide interest in the Cuban dance music style.
The following February, Como wrote a play-by-play of how the song came to be for Coronet Magazine. You can read the whole thing here, but I’m sorry to report that this appears to be a song with a spectacularly uninteresting backstory.
More interesting is the suggestion on Genius.com that the mambo in this song is a metaphor for sex. I found no citation for that claim, or other evidence to support it. Como certainly didn’t allude to it in his write-up. I’m guessing somebody was just having fun while annotating the lyrics.
Mama loves mambo
Look at ’em sway with it, gettin’ so gay with it
Shoutin’ “olé” with it, wow! (ooh!)
Papa loves mambo
(Papa loves mambo)
Mama loves mambo
(Mama loves mambo)
Papa does great with it, swings like a gate with it
He loses weight with it, now!
He goes to, she goes fro
He goes fast, she goes slow
He goes left ‘n’ she goes right
(Papa’s lookin’ for mama but mama is nowhere in sight) oooh!
Papa loves mambo
Mama loves mambo
Havin’ their fling again, younger than Spring again
Feelin’ that zing again, wow! (ooh!)
Papa loves mambo
(Papa loves mambo)
Mama loves mambo
(Mama loves mambo)
Don’t let her rumba and don’t let her samba
Cause papa loves mama tonight (ooh!)
(Papa loves mambo)
(Mama loves mambo)
(Papa loves mambo)
(Mama loves mambo)
He goes to, she goes fro
He goes fast, she goes slow
He goes left ‘n’ she goes right
(Papa’s lookin’ for mama but mama is nowhere in sight) (ooh!)
Papa loves mambo
(Papa loves mambo)
Mama loves mambo
(Mama loves mambo)
Havin’ their fling again, younger than Spring again
Feelin’ that zing again, wow! (ooh!)
(Papa loves mambo)
Mambo papa
(Mama loves mambo)
Mambo mama
(Don’t let her rumba and don’t let her samba)
Cause papa–
Loves a mambo tonight
Meet Me In Montauk 
Talk about a white man’s take on Latin music! It’s the musical equivalent of putting some butter on Wonder bread and calling it Cuban bread!
Again another Perry Como song I listened to growing up. My father who was a barber loved that that was Perry Como’s job before he became a big star.