Gary Portnoy (born June 8, 1956) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known for co-writing and performing the main theme song of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

sitcom ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association w ...

'', "

Where Everybody Knows Your Name "Where Everybody Knows Your Name", also credited as "Theme from ''Cheers'' (Where Everybody Knows Your Name)", is the theme song from the television sitcom ''Cheers'', as well as the debut single for Gary Portnoy. The song was written by Portno ...

Career

In the early 1980s, Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo set out to write a theme for ''Cheers''. After their first two attempts were rejected, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" was selected.Gary Portnoy's official website
/ref> Prior to that, Portnoy's songs had been recorded by various artists, including

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album ...

's "

Say Goodnight "Say Goodnight" is a song recorded by American country music group the Eli Young Band. It was released in August 2012 as the third single from their album '' Life at Best''. The song was written by Katrina Elam, Melissa Peirce and John Paul Whit ...

" (co-written by Susan Sheridan) and

Air Supply Air Supply is a soft rock duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1975. It consists of Englishman Graham Russell (vocals, guitar) and Australian Russell Hitchcock (vocals). They had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight top-five ...

's " I'll Never Get Enough of You" (co-written by

Jeanne Napoli Jeanne Napoli (October 26, 1938 - October 24, 2010) was an American pop singer, songwriter, actress, and musical performer. She was signed to the Vigor sub-label of New York's De-Lite Records in 1976. She is best known for the disco track, "Le ...

and Judy Quay). He also recorded and released a self-titled album in 1980 for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

. Portnoy also wrote several songs for the NBC television series '' Fame'', including the Emmy-nominated track for Best Original Song, "I Still Believe In Me" (co-written by Susan Sheridan) as well as "It's Gonna Be a Long Night" (co-written by Estelle Levitt). Both songs were featured on the 1982 album, ''

The Kids from "Fame" The Kids from "Fame" was the group name of several cast members from the American TV series '' Fame'' who had a number of hit singles and albums at the height of the show's success in the United Kingdom. This success culminated in tours of Britain, ...

''. Portnoy also received an Emmy nomination for the ''Cheers'' theme, as well as six consecutive

ASCAP awards The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

during the 1980s for the Most Performed Television Themes of the year. He also wrote (with Hart Angelo) the theme songs for the television programs ''

Punky Brewster ''Punky Brewster'' is an American Situation comedy, sitcom television series about a young girl (Soleil Moon Frye) being raised by a foster parent (George Gaynes). The show ran on NBC from September 16, 1984, to March 9, 1986, and again in Broad ...

'' and ''

Mr. Belvedere ''Mr. Belvedere'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from March 15, 1985, to July 8, 1990. The series is based on the Lynn Aloysius Belvedere character created by Gwen Davenport for her 1947 novel ''Belvedere'', which was later ...

'', performing the former himself, while

Leon Redbone Leon Redbone (born Dickran Gobalian; August 26, 1949 – May 30, 2019) was a singer-songwriter and musician specializing in jazz, blues, and Tin Pan Alley classics. Recognized by his hat (often a Panama hat), dark sunglasses, and black tie, Re ...

performed the latter. In 2003, after a hiatus from the music business during the 1990s, Portnoy released the 12-track album ''Keeper'', which includes the full-length version of "Where Everybody Knows Your Name". In 2007, he followed with the release of the autobiographical 12-track album, ''Destiny'', which contains a full-length version of the theme song for ''

'' (whose original version was sung by

). In 2010, Portnoy released the 12-track album, ''Songs Along The Way'', which includes eleven newly penned compositions as well as the demo version of the ''Cheers'' theme song. In 2013, Portnoy's Argentum Records released ''Gary Portnoy's Original Cheers Theme'' across all digital platforms. It includes Portnoy and Hart Angelo’s three initial attempts at composing the theme as well as their songwriting demo and subsequent full-length recording of "

". 2017 saw the release of ''Pushing Sixty'', Portnoy’s fifth full-length CD

Discography

Albums

*''Gary Portnoy'' (1980, Columbia Records) *''Keeper'' (2003, Argentum Records) *''Destiny'' (2007, Argentum Records) *''Songs Along The Way'' (2010, Argentum Records) *''Gary Portnoy's Original Cheers Theme'' EP (2013, Argentum Records) *''Pushing Sixty'' (2017, Argentum Records)

Songs recorded by other artists (partial list)

*"When I'm Loving You" (co-written by Paul Vance) :Recorded by Gail Wynters for her 1977

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

album, ''Let The Lady Sing'' *"Shee Moe Foe" (co-written by Irwin Levine) :Recorded by

Mac Davis Morris Mac Davis (January 21, 1942 – September 29, 2020) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and actor. A native of Lubbock, Texas, he enjoyed success as a crossover artist, and during his early career he wrote for Elvis Presley, ...

for his 1978 Columbia album, ''Fantasy'' *" I'll Never Get Enough of You" (co-written by Jeanne Napoli and Judy Quay) :Recorded by

Samantha Sang Cheryl Lau Sang (born 5 August 1951), known professionally as Samantha Sang, is an Australian singer. She had an earlier career as a teenage singer under the stage name Cheryl Gray, before adopting the stage name she is more widely known as in 1 ...

for her 1979 Private Stock album, ''From Dance To Love'' :Recorded by

for their 1981 Arista album, ''

The One that You Love "The One That You Love" is a song by British-Australian soft rock duo Air Supply, released as a single from their sixth studio album of the same name. It was written by member Graham Russell. The song reached No. 1 in the United States, topping ...

'' *"On The Run" (co-written by Jeanne Napoli) :Recorded by

Cheryl Ladd Cheryl Ladd (born Cheryl Jean Stoppelmoor; July 12, 1951) is an American actress, singer, and author best known for her role as Kris Munroe in the ABC television series ''Charlie's Angels'', whose cast she joined in its second season in 1977 t ...

for her 1979 Capitol album, ''Dance Forever'' *"Say Goodnight" (co-written by Susan Sheridan) :Recorded by Dolly Parton for her 1980 RCA album, ''

Dolly, Dolly, Dolly ''Dolly, Dolly, Dolly'' is the twenty-second solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. It was released on April 14, 1980, by RCA Victor. The album's two singles, " Starting Over Again" and " Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to Y ...

'' *"Late Night Confession" (co-written by Juli Davidson) :Recorded by

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting '' The Glen Campbell Good ...

for his 1980 Capitol album, ''Something Bout You Baby I Like'' *"Move A Little Closer" (co-written by Jeanne Napoli) :Recorded by

Keith Barrow Keith Errol Barrow (September 27, 1954 – October 22, 1983) was an American disco/soul singer and songwriter born and raised in Chicago. He was most known for being the son of civil rights activist and minister Reverend Willie Taplin Barrow. B ...

for his 1980 Capitol album, ''Just As I Am'' *"When the Night Ends" (co-written by Ruth Rosen Greenwood) :Recorded by Engelbert Humperdinck for his 1981 Columbia album, ''Don't You Love Me Anymore'' *"Say Goodnight" (co-written by Susan Sheridan) :Recorded by Engelbert Humperdinck for his 1981 Columbia album, ''Don't You Love Me Anymore'' *"I Still Believe In Me" (co-written by Susan Sheridan) :Recorded by

Debbie Allen Deborah Kaye Allen (born January 16, 1950) is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, singer-songwriter, director, producer, and a former member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She has been nominated 20 times for an ...

and Erica Gimpel as featured on the 1982 RCA album, ''The Kids From "Fame"'' *"It's Gonna Be a Long Night" (co-written by Estelle Levitt) :Recorded by

Lori Singer Lori Singer (born November 6, 1957) is an American actress and musician. The daughter of conductor Jacques Singer, she was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, and raised in Portland, Oregon, where her father served as the lead conductor of the Oreg ...

as featured on the 1982 RCA album, ''The Kids From "Fame"'' *"I Was Only Trying To Help" (co-written by Ruth Rosen Greenwood) :Recorded by Valerie Landsburg as featured on the 1982 RCA album, ''The Kids From "Fame" Again'' *"Face To Face" (co-written by Judy Hart Angelo) :Recorded by Valerie Landsburg as featured on the 1983 RCA album, ''The Kids From "Fame" Sing For You'' *"Come to Me Tonight" (co-written by Susan Sheridan) :Recorded by

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his car ...

for his 1990 Columbia album, ''From Brazil With Love'' *"Mr. Belvedere Theme" (co-written by Judy Hart Angelo) :Recorded by

as featured on the 1996 TVT album, ''Television's Greatest Hits Volume 6'' *"This Is Forever" (co-written by Gloria Nissenson and Carol Ann Brown) :Recorded by Samantha King for her 2002 SKMG album, ''This Is Forever'' *"The Horse" (co-written by Gloria Nissenson and Matt Rossi) :Recorded by Mammoth Jack for their 2002 Broken Bow album, ''Mammoth Jack'' *"I Miss Us" (co-written by Gloria Nissenson) :Recorded by Sarah Gayle Taylor for her 2008 Lure album, ''Texas Sweetheart''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portnoy, Gary 1956 births Living people People from Long Island American singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters