Songfacts®:

• Barry Manilow agreed to sing the romantic theme song to the comedy thriller Foul Play, which starred Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn. The film was a huge hit, and so was the song, in which a man who has been a recluse for part of his life is ready to take a chance at love again. Manilow's "Copacabana (At The Copa)" was also used in the movie. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Mike - Santa Barbara, CA
• Edward Norton sings this in the 2000 movie Keeping The Faith, where he plays a priest alongside Ben Stiller, who plays a rabbi.
• This was written by Norman Gimbel (lyrics) and Charles Fox (music), the team behind the Roberta Flack hit "Killing Me Softly With His Song." Gimbel and Fox got their inspiration straight from the script, which included a placeholder for a big hit. They explained in the liner notes of Manilow's 1992 anthology, The Complete Collection And Then Some:
  
  "The script for the film Foul Play contained this note for the opening credit. As Goldie Hawn is driving her Volkswagen convertible along the mountain road high above San Francisco Bay, she would be listening to the 'big hit' song of the day on her car radio. The unwritten song, referred to as 'Taking Chances' in the script, was supposed to plant the seed in her mind that she should take chances, which would allow her to pick up a hitchhiker, and then would begin the plot of the film."
  
  The songwriting duo also received a note about who should sing the song, even though he wasn't on board yet:
  
  "We agreed with the producers and director that Barry Manilow was perfect for the picture. And, hopefully, together we'd produce the big hit song of the day for real, so we wrote 'Ready To Take A Chance Again' especially for Barry, even though we didn't know him. We sent it to him. He loved it. We loved his record. Fortunately, the audience agreed with all of us."
  
• This was nominated for Best Original Song at both the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards in 1978. Both prizes went to "Last Dance," written by Paul Jabara and sung by Donna Summer for Thank God It's Friday.
• This peaked at #11 on the Hot 100 in November 1978. Earlier in the year, Manilow notched two Top 10 hits from his Even Now album: "Can't Smile Without You" and "Copacabana (At The Copa)."
• When Fox and Gimbel described the film's opening scene to Manilow, they told him that around 30 seconds into the song, the camera would pull back for a sweeping helicopter shot of Big Sur as Goldie Hawn traveled along the coastline. With that note in mind, Manilow built up the moment in the arrangement by slowing it down right before the start of the chorus and adding a swell of harps and violins. The majestic scene is revealed as he launches into the chorus with, "And I'm ready to take a chance again."
  
  "Right on the 'And I'm,' you can feel the helicopter pulling way back," he recalled in a 1982 interview. "It really was fun to do."