"Brandy", later called "Mandy", is a song written by

Scott English Sheldon David "Scott" English (January 10, 1937 – November 16, 2018) was an American songwriter, arranger and record producer. He is best known as the co-writer of "Brandy" which he wrote with Richard Kerr. This song became a No. 1 hit fo ...

and Richard Kerr. It was originally recorded by English in 1971 and reached the top 20 of the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. "Brandy" was recorded by

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

singer Bunny Walters in 1972, but achieved greater success when released in the United States in 1974 by

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include " Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", " I Write the Songs", " C ...

. For Manilow's recording, the title changed from "Brandy" to "Mandy" to avoid confusion with Looking Glass's "

Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" is a 1972 song by American pop rock band Looking Glass from their debut album, ''Looking Glass''. It was written by Looking Glass lead guitarist and co-vocalist Elliot Lurie. The single reached number one on both th ...

". His version reached the top of the US Hot 100 Singles Chart. Later, it was recorded by many other artists. The song was a UK number-one hit in 2003 for Irish boyband

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporar ...

Scott English original recording

Under the title ''Brandy'', the selection's original title, the song charted in 1971 for

, one of its co-composers, whose version of it reached #12 in the

UK Singles Charts The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top- ...

. It was also released in the United States, where it was a minor hit, remaining in the lower portion of the Hot 100. The suggestion that Scott English wrote the song about a favorite dog is apparently false. English later said that a reporter called him early one morning asking who "Brandy" was, and an irritated English made up the dog story to get the reporter off his back. In a 2013 interview, he said the idea for the song title came while he was in France and someone tried to make a dirty joke saying "Brandy goes down fine after dinner, doesn't she" although in English, a drink does not actually have a grammatical gender, and the line does not have the intended double entendre. He later wrote the song in London. He said he hated the Manilow version because he took out part of a verse and made it a bridge, but he later loved it because it bought him houses. The song was inspired by his life, he said, the face in the window being his father.

Charts

Bunny Walters version

In 1972, Bunny Walters recorded "Brandy" and had a hit with it in New Zealand. The backing vocals were by

The Yandall Sisters The Yandall Sisters were a popular New Zealand-born Samoan all-female singing group of the 1970s, who made a major contribution to music in New Zealand. The members of the group were Caroline, Mary and Adele Yandall, and later younger sister Pau ...

. He later included the song on his album ''Very Best of Bunny Walters''.

Barry Manilow version

In 1974,

recorded the song under the title name of "Mandy". The song was Manilow's first #1 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

charts, and his first gold single. In the three years between English's and Manilow's recordings, Looking Glass's "

" had hit #1 in 1972. When Clive Davis suggested that Manilow record the selection, the singer changed the title to "Mandy" to avoid confusion.

Joe Renzetti Joe Renzetti (born January 4, 1941) is an American film composer and session musician. He scores for films and television, and composes works for orchestra, chamber groups, and solo artists. Career Born in Philadelphia, Renzetti began his career ...

arranged the record. In the Manilow version, the first two lines from the fourth verse, following the instrumental section, were omitted. They were: "Riding on a country bus/
No one even noticed us." The remaining lines were then used as a bridge instead. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' said "a lushly orchestrated ballad it is a classic love song with Barry doing some fine piano work."

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Westlife version

Irish

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Ma ...

covered "Mandy" in 2003 and released it as the second single from their fourth studio album, '' Turnaround'' (2003), in November 2003. The single peaked at number one on the

to become the band's 12th number-one single on the chart. The single sold over 200,000 copies in the UK to earn a silver sales certification. Westlife's version was the fifth-best-selling single of 2003 in Ireland. "Mandy" is the band's 16th-best-selling single in paid-for and combined sales in the UK as of January 2019. The music video was filmed in the United Great Lodge of England,

Freemasons' Hall, London Freemasons' Hall in London is the headquarters of the United Grand Lodge of England and the Supreme Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of England, as well as being a meeting place for many Masonic Lodges in the London area. It is located in ...

. Their version won them their third Record of the Year award, in under five years. Their version is also the longest leap to the top (from 200 to 1) in UK music history. In ''Westlife - Our Story'' the band said the idea to record and release the song was

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...

's.

Track listings

UK CD1 # "Mandy" – 3:19 # "You See Friends (I See Lovers)" – 4:11 # "

Greased Lightning ''Greased Lightning'' is a 1977 American biographical film starring Richard Pryor, Beau Bridges, and Pam Grier, and directed by Michael Schultz. The film is loosely based on the true life story of Wendell Scott, the first Black NASCAR race winn ...

" – 3:19 # "Mandy" (video) – 3:19 # "Mandy" (making of the video) – 2:00 UK CD2 # "Mandy" – 3:19 # "

Flying Without Wings "Flying Without Wings" is a song by Irish boy band Westlife, released on 18 October 1999 as the third single from their self-titled debut studio album (1999). It is the band's fourth-best-selling single on both paid-for and combined sales in th ...

" (live) – 3:41

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Other versions

"Mandy" has been covered many times. Notable

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

s include: *Bunny Walters in 1972 (as "Brandy" as in the original) *

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

(1975) *

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

(1975) *

Ray Conniff Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. Biography Conniff was born November 6, 1916 in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United St ...

& The Singers (1975) *

Patty Pravo Patty Pravo (born Nicoletta Strambelli on 9 April 1948) is an Italian singer. She debuted in 1966 and remained most successful commercially for the rest of the 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Having suffered a decline in popularity in the followin ...

(1975) in Italian as "Rispondi" on her ''Incontro'' album. *Kai Hyttinen (1975) sung as "Leena" with Finnish text by

Vexi Salmi Veikko Olavi "Vexi" Salmi (; 21 September 1942 – 8 September 2020) was a Finnish lyricist. He wrote the lyrics to numerous popular songs for several prominent artists, including Irwin Goodman, Jari Sillanpää, and Katri Helena. His career ...

. *

Claude François Claude Antoine Marie François (; 1 February 1939 – 11 March 1978), also known by the nickname Cloclo, was a French pop singer, composer, songwriter, record producer, drummer and dancer. François co-wrote the lyrics of " Comme d'habitude" ( ...

(1976) sang the French version ("Mandy" as well) *

Jimmy Castor James Walter Castor (January 23, 1940 – January 16, 2012) was an American funk, R&B, and soul musician. He is credited with vocals, saxophone and composition. He is best known for songs such as "It's Just Begun", " The Bertha Butt Boogie", an ...

did a mostly instrumental version on his album ''Maximum Stimulation'' in 1977. *

Karel Gott ) Sinatra of the East( cs, Sinatra Východu, link=no)Divine Charlie Drop Nineteens Drop Nineteens is an American, Boston-based shoegaze band active from 1991 to 1995. They were one of the few U.S.-based bands who styled themselves on England's distinctive shoegaze sound, taking their inspiration from bands such as My Bloody V ...

(1992) *

Richard Clayderman Richard Clayderman (; born Philippe Pagès , 28 December 1953 in Paris) is a French pianist who has released numerous albums including the compositions of Paul de Senneville, Olivier Toussaint and Marc Minier, instrumental renditions of popular ...

(1994) *

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (often shortened to just Me First or the Gimmes) are a punk rock supergroup and cover band that formed in San Francisco in 1995. The band's lineup consists of Spike Slawson, Fat Mike, Joey Cape, and Dave Raun. Ch ...

(1997) *

Box Car Racer Box Car Racer is an American pop punk band formed in San Diego, California, in 2001. The group consists of guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge and drummer Travis Barker of Blink-182, formerly alongside guitarist David Kennedy of Hazen Street. An ...

(2002) *

Helmut Lotti Helmut Lotti (born Helmut Barthold Johannes Alma Lotigiers; 22 October 1969), is a Belgian tenorGoldsmith B (2009)Belgian tenor Helmut Lotti wants to find his own style ''WDEZ''. Retrieved 23 April 2010. and singer-songwriter. Lotti performs in ...

(2003) *

Bradley Joseph Bradley Joseph (born 1965) is an American composer, arranger, and producer of contemporary instrumental music. His compositions include works for orchestra, quartet, and solo piano, while his musical style ranges from "quietly pensive mood music ...

(2005) *

Clay Aiken Clayton Holmes Aiken (''né'' Grissom; born November 30, 1978) is an American singer, television personality, actor, politician, and activist. Aiken finished second place on the second season of ''American Idol'' in 2003, and his debut album, ' ...

(2005) *

Donny Osmond Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host, and former teen idol. He first gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and go ...

(2007) *

Jang Keun-suk Jang Keun-suk () is a South Korean actor and singer. He is best known for starring in the Korean television dramas '' Beethoven Virus'' (2008), ''You're Beautiful'' (2009), '' Mary Stayed Out All Night'' (2010), '' Love Rain'' (2012), '' Pretty ...

(2011) *

The Bad Plus ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

(2016) *

Joe Pernice Joseph T. Pernice (born July 17, 1967) is an American indie rock musician and writer, who has fronted several bands, including the Scud Mountain Boys, Chappaquiddick Skyline, The New Mendicants and the Pernice Brothers. Originally from Holbrook ...

(2020)

References

External links

Songfacts: Mandy by Barry Manilow
* {{authority control 1971 songs 1971 singles 1974 singles 2003 singles Barry Manilow songs Bunny Walters songs Westlife songs Song recordings produced by Steve Mac Songs written by Richard Kerr (songwriter) Songs written by Scott English Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in Scotland UK Singles Chart number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Pop ballads Fontana Records singles Bell Records singles Bertelsmann Music Group singles 1970s ballads Sony Music singles RCA Records singles

Scott English original recording

Charts

Bunny Walters version

Barry Manilow version

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Westlife version

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Other versions

See also

References

External links