By Randal C. Hill
Imagine that you are a multi-talented singer who just isn’t “happening” in the music-recording world. You might ask yourself, “What would it take to soar to the heights of that world, ride high on the hit charts and sell out concerts night after night? I’ve got a record contract but can’t find a song that will launch my career.”
Such is a conversation 31-year-old Barry Manilow might have had with himself as the year 1974 began to wind down. But when his big break finally did arrive, he almost blew a golden opportunity.
Enter Clive Davis. A former Columbia Records executive, the Harvard-educated lawyer was set to take over Bell Records — Manilow’s recording home—and rename it Arista. To see what Barry had to offer, Clive evaluated him when he opened a show for Dionne Warwick. “I was really taken by his performance,” Davis enthused later in his autobiography. “He was a terrific singer, and his manner was upbeat, funny and self-deprecating. The audience loved him.”
The savvy businessman knew that there was nothing more important than to match the just-right singer with the just-right material.
Related: Music Flashback: “A Horse with No Name”
Sifting through hundreds of discs, Clive was drawn to an obscure tune called “Brandy,” a 1971 English hit by American expatriate Scott English. But when Davis showed Manilow the hauntingly beautiful ballad of lost love and regret, Barry balked and grumbled that English’s tune wouldn’t help him as a career-launcher. Clive disagreed, though, and pushed hard for a first-class production and subsequent promotion. Manilow finally decided not to argue with his new boss and reluctantly agreed to record the song.
Davis had the single’s title tweaked to avoid confusion with the 1972 Looking Glass hit “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl).” To Barry’s amazement, “Mandy”—as it was now known—shot to the top of the Billboard chart, and thus Barry Manilow was catapulted overnight into the pantheon of record superstars.
Here is the original British hit of “Brandy” by Scott English. You’ll find it’s 1971 UK “cool” at its best.
