Barry Manilow reveals that ‘Mandy’ was originally called ‘Brandy’ — and other surprising secrets of his first No. 1 hit 50 years ago
Oh, Brandy?
Fifty years later, i’s hard to hear “Mandy” — Barry Manilow’s first No. 1 that topped the charts in January 1975 — any other way.
But the woman who came and gave without taking was originally named “Brandy.”
That was the title of the 1972 song by Scott English that Manilow covered in 1974, turning it from a minor hit into a chart-topping classic.
To avoid any confusion with Looking Glass’ 1972 No. 1 single “Brandy (“You’re a Fine Girl),” Manilow exclusively told The Post, “We changed the name from ‘Brandy’ to ‘Mandy.’ ”
But the story of “Mandy” went through many twists and turns. It all started when Arista Records president Clive Davis told Manilow, “You need a career-making single.”
“I’ll never forget that’s the words he used,” he recalled.
“Then he calls and he said, ‘I think I found something you might like,’” he continued. “So he sends me a very rock and roll version of a song called ‘Brandy.’ ”
Manilow gave it a shot, staying fairly faithful to the original.
“I went into the studio, and I recorded that version,” he said. “And [Davis] came in and he said, ‘Geez, what’s that?’ I said, ‘Well, that’s the one you sent me.’ He said, ’That’s terrible.’ I said, ‘I know it’s terrible.’ ”
Then Manilow turned on his skills as an arranger, reimagining the song and making it his own.
“So I went to the piano, and I played it slowly with my key changes, a very heartfelt version,” he said.
And in one take, “I found the love song hiding 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 he was thinking … because I would never be able to do something like [the original].”
“He didn’t know that I was an arranger. He didn’t know that I was an orchestrator,” he added.
Those same skills have served Manilow well throughout his career as a hot-ticket live performer who is bringing his show to New York’s Radio City Music Hall for five nights, which started Wednesday and goes through Sunday.
It’s a recurring residency that saw the Brooklyn-born Manilow set the record for the most lifetime performances at Radio City in April 2024 with 42 shows.
The “I Write the Songs” crooner also broke Elvis Presley’s record number of shows with his Las Vegas residency at the Westgate’s International Theater, where Manilow has a lifetime residency.
“I mean, to say my name next to Elvis Presley is pretty crazy,” he said. “Elvis is the king of music … I thought it was pretty ridiculous.”
Although Manilow is planning on continuing his residencies, he’s launching a farewell arena tour in May.
“It gets to the point where, you know, there’s too many hotels and too many airplanes,” he said. “We’re saying goodbye to the places that I’ve played over and over. And you know, these audiences are wonderful. They’ve always been wonderful to me.”
“So we’re going back to those places, and you know, I’ll say goodbye to them. It’ll be emotional, but it’ll be fun too.”
