Oh, brandy?
Fifty years later, it is difficult to listen to “Mandy”, Barry Manilow’s first number 1 that headed the lists in January 1975, in any other way.
But the woman who came and gave without taking was originally called “Brandy.”
That was the 1972 song of Scott English that Manilow covered in 1974, turning it from a minor success into a classic on the list.
To avoid any confusion with single No. 1 of 1972 of Glass “Brandy (” You are a good girl), “Manilow told The Post:” We change the name of “Brandy” A “Mandy.” “
But the story of “Mandy” went through many turns and turns. It all started when Arista Records president Clive Davis told Manilow: “You need a professional single.”
“I will never forget that those are the words he used,” he recalled.
“Then call and said:” I think I found something you might like, “he continued.” So send me a very rock and roll version of a song called “Brandy”. “
Manilow cools a photo, remaining quite faithful to the original.
“I enter the study and recorded that version,” he said. “AND [Davis] He entered and he said: “Caray, what is that?” I said: “Well, that’s what you sent me.” He said: “That is terrible.” I said: “I know it’s terrible.” “
Then Manilow turned on his skills as a arranger, reinventing the song and making it his.
“So I went to the piano, and I played slowly with my key changes, a very sincere version,” he said.
And in one shot, “I found the love song hidden in that rock and roll song.”
Manilow, 81, still marvels that Davis heard something in the song that was so radically different from his style.
“Don’t ask me how Clive Davis does this,” he said. “I don’t know what I was thinking … because I could never do something like [the original]. “
“Hey, I knew I was an arranger. Hey, I knew it was an orchestra,” he added.
Those same skills have served Manilow well through the race as a live artist who is taking his program to the Radio City Music Hall in New York for five nights, which began on Wednesday and spent Sunday.
It is a recurring residence that saw Manilow, born in Brooklyn, established the record of the actions more for life on Radio City in April 2024 with 42 shows.
The singer of “I Write The Songs” also broke the record number of Elvis Presley shows with his residence in Las Vegas at the Westgate International Theater, where Manilow has a residence for life.
“I mean, to say that my name with Elvis Presley is quite crazy,” he said. “Elvis is the king of music … I thought it was quite ridiculous.”
Althegh Manilow plans to continue his residences, he is launching a farewell tour in May in May.
“It reaches the point where, you know, there are too many hotels and too many airplanes,” he said. “We are saying goodbye to the places where I have played. And you know, these audiences are wonderful. They must always make me.”
“So we will return to those places, and you know, I will say goodbye to them. It will be emotional, but it will also be fun.”
