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Here's what we think of you

By all accounts, Manuel Battista was well liked over the 15 years he worked as advertising sales manager for a specialty magazine, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, which is published by Emap, one of Britain's leading media companies. So, when he told colleagues he was leaving for another job, they came up with the idea of sending him off with a tribute – a song they wrote themselves. Then, since one of them has a studio in his home, they also recorded it with an instrumental accompaniment. "Hasta la vista, Manuel Battista" evokes traces of the old up-tempo standard "Copacabana," reflecting the honoree's Latin roots. When he heard it, he was floored. Or, as he put it, "gob-smacked." They managed, he told journalists, "to summarize 15 years of my life in three verses. It's a fabulous song!" Nice story, right? Yes, but it doesn't end there. Because the tune had everybody in the office dancing, one of the staff posted it to the soundclick.com website for the benefit of a wider audience. Word spread, and of the 80,000 or so numbers that can be dowloaded there, it has soared to No. 70 in popularity. (Although, to be honest, many of the hits have come from Emap employees who just can't seem to get enough of it.) The website allows music to stay in its file for up to five weeks, so there's no telling how much higher it will go.