Bada Bing
Encyclopedia
Strip club
A strip club is an adult entertainment venue in which striptease or other erotic or exotic dance is regularly performed. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, but can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style....
from the HBO
Home Box Office
HBO, short for Home Box Office, is an American premium cable television network, owned by Time Warner. , HBO's programming reaches 28.2 million subscribers in the United States, making it the second largest premium network in America . In addition to its U.S...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
television series The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
. It was a key location for events in the series, named for catchphrase "bada bing", a phrase popularized by James Caan in The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
. The popularization of the fictional club benefited the real-life go-go bar where scenes were filmed. The Bada Bing is loosely based on Wiggles, a strip club owned by New Jersey mobster Vincent Palermo
Vincent Palermo
Vincent "Vinny Ocean" Palermo is a former de facto boss of the New Jersey DeCavalcante crime family who eventually became a government witness. Fictional mob boss Tony Soprano is said to be loosely based on Palermo.-Background:...
before it was shut down.
Use in and effect on the series
The Bing is owned and chiefly operated by Silvio DanteSilvio Dante
Silvio Manfred Dante, often referred to as "Sil", played by Steven Van Zandt, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is the consigliere to Tony Soprano in the Soprano crime family. Silvio has one of the lowest profiles on the show. He is usually a behind the scenes figure...
, Tony Soprano
Tony Soprano
Anthony John "Tony" Soprano, Sr. is an Italian-American fictional character and the protagonist on the HBO television drama series The Sopranos, on which he is portrayed by James Gandolfini. The character was conceived by The Sopranos creator and show runner David Chase, who was also largely...
's consigliere. Tony's office is in the back room(s) of the Bing, and the Soprano Family often conducts business either in the Bing or these back room(s).
The club's title is a stereotypical Italian-American expression, also rendered as "bada bing bada boom" or "bada boom bada bing". The use of Bada Bing as the name of the club and elsewhere in the series popularized the catchphrase such that it was added to the 2003 Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
as an exclamation to emphasize that something will happen effortlessly and predictably. Bada bing is imitative of the sound of a drumroll or may also derive from the "bada-bing" sound effect that James Caan's character, Sonny Corleone
Sonny Corleone
Santino "Sonny" Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather and its 1972 film adaptation. He also appears as an infant, as a young boy, and an adult in The Godfather Part II....
, makes to describe an up-close shooting in The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
.
Alcohol and nudity
As a topless go-go bar that sells alcoholic drinks, the Bing represents one of the series' deviations from reality insofar as real-world New Jersey state law prohibits topless or nude dancing in establishments that sell alcohol. However, New Jersey strip clubs without liquor licenses may opt to permit patrons to bring in their own alcoholic beverages, while full bars with liquor licenses are allowed to feature non-topless or non-nude go-go dancers (i.e. "bikini bars").Reviewer Paul Levinson
Paul Levinson
Paul Levinson is an American author and professor of communications and media studies at Fordham University in New York City. Levinson's novels, short fiction, and non-fiction works have been translated into twelve languages....
heralded the Bada Bing!, and its background of nudity, as a key setting for the series:
"The Sopranos's brilliant solution is to situate most of its nudity in the Bada Bing! strip joint run by Tony Soprano's aide-de-camp, Silvio Dante. The setting is an eminently logical place to frequently find Tony and his crew discussing business, and the naked women need no further motivation than that they are dancing in the club...Bada Bing! is an ideal locale -- doing for The Sopranos what the diner did for SeinfeldSeinfeldSeinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
, and the bar owned by Munch, Meldrake, and Bayliss did for HomicideHomicide: Life on the StreetHomicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
-- but with a physically illicit explicitness that gives sexual energy to whatever other story is unfolding.”
Key scenes
The Bing is where:- Tony Soprano and his crew find out Jackie Aprile, Sr. has died from his illness. One of the dancers vows never to forget where she was the day Jackie died.
- Tony Soprano cancels the hit on Don Hauser, his daughter's soccer coach and an uncovered statutory rapistStatutory rapeThe phrase statutory rape is a term used in some legal jurisdictions to describe sexual activities where one participant is below the age required to legally consent to the behavior...
. - Tony and Sil agree to have Richie AprileRichie AprileRichard 'Richie' Aprile, Sr., played by David Proval, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. Richie was a capo and the older brother of former DiMeo crime family acting boss Jackie Aprile, Sr...
killed, but are pre-empted by a deadly domestic dispute involving Richie and JaniceJanice SopranoJanice Soprano Baccalieri, played by Aida Turturro, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. She is Tony Soprano's elder sister. A young Janice has appeared in flashbacks, played by Madeline Blue and Juliet Fox.-Biography:...
. - Tony SopranoTony SopranoAnthony John "Tony" Soprano, Sr. is an Italian-American fictional character and the protagonist on the HBO television drama series The Sopranos, on which he is portrayed by James Gandolfini. The character was conceived by The Sopranos creator and show runner David Chase, who was also largely...
and Paulie Walnuts agree to have Big Pussy whacked if they found out he was wearing a wire for sure. - Ralph Cifaretto beats his pregnant girlfriend Tracee, a Bing dancer, to death in the parking lot just outside the building.
- Johnny SackJohnny SackJohn "Johnny Sack" Sacramoni, played by Vince Curatola, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He was the longtime underboss and later the boss of the powerful Brooklyn-based New York City Lupertazzi crime family...
informs Tony that he is prepared to reconcile with Ralph following an insult to Sack's wife, in turn allowing Tony to cancel a planned hit on him. - Christopher MoltisantiChristopher MoltisantiChristopher "Chris" Moltisanti, played by Michael Imperioli, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He was Tony Soprano's protégé and a Capo in the Soprano crime family.-Biography:...
threatens Tony with a gun for allegedly having an affair with his fiancée, but he has already emptied his gun of bullets by shooting Tony's old SUV in the parking lot, a burgundy 1999 Chevrolet Suburban, which Tony presumably is back to driving since totaling his black Escalade. - Tony makes the case for not killing Vito SpataforeVito SpataforeVito Spatafore, Sr., played by Joseph R. Gannascoli, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He was a member of the DiMeo Crime Family and a subordinate of Tony Soprano. He was married to Marie Spatafore with two children, Francesca and Vito, Jr., and was a closeted homosexual...
over his homosexuality to Silvio and Carlo Gervasi. - Paulie has a vision of the Virgin Mary hovering over the dance floor and reconciles with his aunt and adoptive mother Marianucci.
- Silvio Dante is shot several times in the parking lot on an ordered hit from Phil Leotardo. Patsy Parisi accompanies Sil, but flees on foot. Silvio is hospitalized in critical condition.
- Matthew BevilaquaMatthew BevilaquaMatthew Bevilacqua, played by Lillo Brancato Jr., is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos.-Background:Matthew Bevilacqua, a.k.a. Matt Drinkwater, was Sean Gismonte's partner-in-crime and an associate in the Soprano Crime Family. Matt and Sean were from West Orange, New Jersey....
and Sean GismonteSean GismonteSean Gismonte, played by Chris Tardio, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos.-Background:Sean Gismonte aka Gis is an associate of the Soprano crime family. He was Matthew Bevilaqua's partner in crime and an associate in the Tony Soprano/Gualtieri crew in 2000. Sean and Matt...
desperately and unsuccessfully try to gain the attention of Tony SopranoTony SopranoAnthony John "Tony" Soprano, Sr. is an Italian-American fictional character and the protagonist on the HBO television drama series The Sopranos, on which he is portrayed by James Gandolfini. The character was conceived by The Sopranos creator and show runner David Chase, who was also largely...
, angering him by openly boasting of criminal activities in his presence. He dries his wet hands after going to the washroom on Sean's shirt. - Silvio DanteSilvio DanteSilvio Manfred Dante, often referred to as "Sil", played by Steven Van Zandt, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is the consigliere to Tony Soprano in the Soprano crime family. Silvio has one of the lowest profiles on the show. He is usually a behind the scenes figure...
arrives at the club to open it in the morning and finds Christopher MoltisantiChristopher MoltisantiChristopher "Chris" Moltisanti, played by Michael Imperioli, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He was Tony Soprano's protégé and a Capo in the Soprano crime family.-Biography:...
, coming down from a heroin binge vomiting heavily in the toilet, his hair in the toilet water. He later brings this up at Christopher's rehabilitation intervention.
Effect on film location
All interior and exterior shots of the Bada Bing were filmed on locationFilming location
A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage...
at Satin Dolls, an actual go-go bar on Route 17 in Lodi, New Jersey
Lodi, New Jersey
Lodi is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 24,136. The borough of Lodi is governed under the 1923 Municipal Manager Law.Lodi owes its name to the Italian city of Lodi...
. (Occasionally the neon "Satin Dolls" logo can be seen on an interior wall of the club.)
The popularity of the series and the notoriety of the Bada Bing! resulted in economic benefits through tours and souvenirs for the real-life club.
After the series finale, the owners of the real bar decided to auction off the furnishings.