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Barry Manilow – Five Songs You Need To Know

May 21, 2024

With a career spanning six decades, Barry Manilow has penned and performed an epic number of hits. Bidding farewell to UK fans this summer, he’ll play a fourteen-night residency at the London Palladium, drawing from his thirteen platinum and six multi-platinum albums.

These are just a few iconic songs we’re sure will be big moments!

Copacabana (At The Copa)

Telling the tragic tale of Lola and Tony, the inspiration for this song came when Barry stayed at the Copacabana Hotel in Rio de Janeiro with fellow songwriter Bruce Sussman.

It won Barry his first and only Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1979.

Mandy

Barry’s first hit single, Mandy was originally released as Brandy, by US singer Scott English. 

The song gained new fans when it was used in a 1993 episode of The Simpsons as Homer sings, “Oh, Margie, you came and you found me a turkey.”

Can’t Smile Without You

Taken from his 1978 album Even Now, Can’t Smile Without You is a live showstopper. 

Barry originally had plans to include a tap-dance solo in the track, but when it came to recording he opted to lightly whistle the opening refrain instead. 

Could It Be Magic

Written by Barry and Adrienne Anderson, Could It Be Magic was inspired by classical pianist Chopin’s Prelude in C minor, Opus 28, Number 20, dubbed the Funeral March! 

It became Barry’s third hit single in 1975, made famous again by Take That’s cover in 1992.

I Write The Songs

Originally written and released by Beach Boys member Bruce Johnston, Barry’s version went to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1976. 

After his success with Mandy, Barry had vowed only to record his own songs. Reflecting on this single he joked, “The irony was that its title was ‘I Write The Songs.'”

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