Don't Cry Out Loud (song)

"Don't Cry Out Loud" is a song written in 1976 by Peter Allen with lyricist Carole Bayer Sager that is best known as a hit single for Melissa Manchester in the US and for Elkie Brooks in the UK.

Background and first recordings

Ann-Margret, who was a friend of Peter Allen, has stated that the song's lyrics—though written by Carole Bayer Sager—reflect Allen's own frame of mind: "He just kept everything inside...his personal philosophy was 'Don't show anyone you're crying'." Bernadette Peters, who toured with Allen in 1989, has stated that Allen told her that "his mother taught him to always put your best face on" in response to Allen's father dying by suicide when Allen was 14 years old. The references to "baby" in the song refer to Allen's younger sister.

The first evident recording of the song is by The Moments as "We Don't Cry Out Loud", track-produced by Sylvia Robinson, and given a December 1976 release simultaneous with its parent album ''Moments With You.'' "We Don't Cry Out Loud" was the second of three consecutive single releases by the Moments, which were co-written by Carole Bayer Sager. The first and third of these singles: "With You" and "I Don't Wanna Go" were both Top 20 R&B hits but "We Don't Cry Out Loud" rose no higher than number 79 on the chart.

Peter Allen himself included a version of the song on his 1977 live album ''It is Time for Peter Allen'', with the track having a December 1977 single release. Allen's studio recording of his song was introduced on his 1979 album release ''I Could Have Been a Sailor''. Allen also included "Don't Cry Out Loud" on the 1985 live album ''Captured Live at Carnegie Hall''.

Melissa Manchester version

According to Arista Records president Clive Davis, Melissa Manchester recorded "Don't Cry Out Loud" at his strong suggestion as Davis felt that Manchester's intended 1979 album release lacked a potential Top 40 comeback hit. Davis assigned production of the track to Harry Maslin, who had co-produced the David Bowie albums ''Young Americans'' and ''Station to Station'' and whose most recent production work had been with Arista's Bay City Rollers. Although Manchester herself regularly collaborated with lyricist Carole Bayer Sager—their output including Manchester's sole (to that point) Top Ten hit " Midnight Blue"—Harry Maslin recalled that Manchester "hated the song 'Don't Cry Out Loud' and was angry with me for doing it .e. producing Manchester's recording; "I think that's why I got such a wonderful vocal out of her".''Billboard'', vol. 93, #26 (July 4, 1981), p. 6.

In a 2015 interview Manchester stated: " live Davisremembers history his way and I remember history my way. He remembers bringing me 'Don’t Cry Out Loud'. I remember being friends with Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager and hearing 'Don’t Cry Out Loud' as a very quiet song, bringing it to him and saying yes, it's gorgeous, let's do it the way Peter did it—as beautiful and quiet. henI showed up in the studio and the cannons blew on this huge version—which turned out beautifully, it turned out as a gift." Manchester conceded reservations about the song's theme, saying in 2004: "I finally understand what it meant...I riginallythought it was a brilliant song but it seemed like the antithesis of everything Carole ayer Sagerand I were writing which was always about self-affirmation and crying out and sharpening your communication skills. But it's a beautifully crafted song that was all about how in the end you just have to learn to cope—and that's no easy thing."

Recorded at Allen Zentz Studios Hollywood, "Don't Cry Out Loud" was released 11 October 1978 and did indeed reach the Top 40 at the end of 1978, rising to a number 10 peak on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 twenty weeks later in March 1979. The single also reached number 9 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and thanks to its long chart life on the Hot 100, was ranked as ''Billboard''′s 26th biggest hit of 1979, ranking ahead of a number of songs that reached higher (but shorter) peaks on the weekly surveys (including Sister Sledge's " We Are Family" and the Bee Gees' number-one hit "Love You Inside Out").

Personnel

* Melissa Manchester – lead vocals
* Bill Payne – acoustic piano
* Lee Ritenour – guitar
* Dennis Budimir – guitar
* David Hungate – bass
* Jim Keltner – drums
* Barry Fasman – arrangements
* Harry Bluestone – concertmaster
* Frank DeCaro – conductor

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Later uses

This version has been lip-synced to comic effect; once in '' Drop Dead Gorgeous'', a 1999 dark comedy, and more recently in a May 2013 episode of ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'', as part of a "Lip-Sync Off" with John Krasinski.

It was also featured (lip synced) in the BBC
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