The 20th of February 1975
Official U.K. Singles Chart results from Sunday the 16th to Saturday the 22nd of February 1975
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 15th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 16th,
published on Tuesday the 18th,
and broadcast on B.B.C. Radio 1 on Sunday the 23rd of February 1975.
Barry Manilow
Mandy
At No.41, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart”, the week of my 3rd Birthday, is Barry Manilow with Mandy.
An achingly beautiful…
…powerhouse of a composition which would come to define not just this new guy who performs it, but become a big part of this decade itself.
It’s well known in the depths of the vaults of musical history, that this is a cover version of the 1971 song called “Brandy”, which had been a hit for its co-composer, arranger and record producer Sheldon David “Scott” English back nearer the dawn of this decade. A guy from Brooklyn, New York, who, when he first heard this latest version, wasn’t too happy about the third verse being cut in half, with the latter half of it being used in the bridge as it elevates into the big finish of the last chorus.
Still, as Scott said after his own emotional torment subsided, he grew to love it when the royalties from the composition poured in with enough to buy him several houses.
What is lesser known,..
…is this wasn’t the only hit Scott had been involved with. In fact before this current ballad went nuclear, he’d also co-written several other hits, three of which I’m including here.
For Barry,..
…he was relatively unknown outside his native USA.
Also hailing from Brooklyn, he’d first impressed the director of CBS with a whole score of the play The Drunkard (which he had only been asked to score a few numbers for), then had trained himself up for a future career in the pop music world by writing countless jingles.
It’s while currently working…
…alongside the Divine Miss M, a significant professional partnership which has lasted almost half a decade, that “Brandy” has been lined up to be recorded. However, since that original had been released, there has been another song christened with that very same name; and it’s because of this, that the decision had been made to change the title to “Mandy”.
I’ve mentioned before,..
…when certain songs are covered by another artist, they can take on a life that the originators of the composition could never have predicted. The last time I touched upon this was with another ballad, and with that song I’d stated that, to me, it was the blueprint for what would eventually be known as the power-ballad.
Well, with this new interpretation…
…of Scott’s original, Barry has taken that concept and run with it; and I personally love his version. In fact, it’s the one I would only really know, having never really heard the former.
I don’t really remember it so much at such a young age, but it was never far away from being played on the airwaves and I most probably picked up on it later on in the seventies.
For quite a few,..
…it’s the song which people think of first when they think of Barry, even now. But what a song. A slow tender build, the waves that rise ever higher, and by the time that snare drum hits, it’s like a shot deep in the chest.
After years of relentlessly studying, and honing his craft, Barry has finally arrived in the UK charts. It will be at least another three years before anything else will land; and in that time, some may brush him off as another one-hit-wonder. How wrong they would be.
But at this moment, with this single, he makes a spectacular debut.
Magnificent.
The single…
…is a New Entry this week, just missing the Top 40 upon landing, but it isn’t long before more will begin to take notice.
From here,..
…the single will jump straight into the Top 30 for the last week of the winter month of February, placing itself at No.26, and then rising another 5 positions to No.21 as it heads into March.
It’s when it gets to the 9th of that spring month that it leaps another ten places to hit No.11, and sits there for a fortnight.
Just missing out on the Top 10, this position would become its peak; and as it heads towards, and into, April, the single will drop back down, eventually being sent away from the chart after 9 weeks, and with the beginnings of a new “Fanilow” following this side of the ocean.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
“Mandy” TV Appearance (1974)
“Mandy / Could It Be Magic” The Midnight Special Performance (14th March 1975)
“Mandy / Could It Be Magic” The Kentucky Derby Performance (14th March 1975)
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