"Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" | ||||
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Single by Looking Glass | ||||
from the album Looking Glass | ||||
B-side | "One by One" | |||
Released | May 18, 1972 | |||
Recorded | 1971 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | Epic | |||
Songwriter(s) | Elliot Lurie | |||
Producer(s) | Mike Gershman, Bob Liftin and the Looking Glass | |||
Looking Glass singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Brandy" on YouTube |
"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 No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100 charts.
The lyrics tell of Brandy, a barmaid in a busy seaport harbor town which serves "a hundred ships a day." Though lonely sailors flirt with her, she pines for one who has long since left her because he claimed his life, his love, and his lady, was “the sea.”
The urban myth that Brandy was based on Mary Ellis (1750–1828), a spinster in New Brunswick, New Jersey, [3] has been refuted by Lurie himself. [4]
Lurie was thrilled with the deeper meaning given to the song when its lyrics were used as a metaphor by a father explaining his life's choices to his son in the film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 , which came out in 2017. [5]
In February 1972, Robert Mandel was the Epic Records Promotion Manager in Washington, D.C. He received a test pressing of an album by Looking Glass, then a new group. He took the test pressing around to every radio station in the Washington/Baltimore region. At the time, WPGC AM/FM was one of the leading Top 40 stations in the country and was the number one radio station in DC. Harv Moore was the Program Director. He put the song into a one-hour rotation for two days and as Moore related at the time, "the switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree." He said that he had never received a response like that on a record in his 15 years in radio.[ citation needed ]
Based on the airplay at WPGC and all the other Top 40 stations that followed, Epic rush-released the single of "Brandy". Based on requests alone, two weeks later, when the single finally hit the stores, "Brandy" was the number one record in DC without a single copy yet sold. Other stations around the country started playing it, and it ended up being a number one million seller. A year later when Moore celebrated his 10th Anniversary at WPGC, Looking Glass returned the favor and played at the bash the station held in his honor.[ citation needed ]
Upon the release of the single, Record World called it "a tuneful, soulful effort deserving of heavy action." [6]
Following the song's release in 1972, "Brandy" increased in popularity as a girl's name in the United States. According to data from the Social Security Administration, [7] Brandy was the 353rd most popular name in 1971, 140th in 1972, and, in 1973 (the first full year after the song's popularity), 82nd.
Barry Manilow's 1974 "Mandy" was a cover of a song originally titled "Brandy", released in February 1972 by Scott English; however, Manilow changed the title following the success of the Looking Glass single, so as not to get the two songs confused. [8]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [18] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [19] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Looking Glass is an American pop rock band formed in New Jersey that were active during the early 1970s. They are known for their chart-topping 1972 hit song "Brandy ", which reached #1 on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100 charts, remaining in the top position for one week. They were part of the Jersey Shore sound.
Elliot Lurie is an American musician who was the lead guitarist, songwriter, and co-lead vocalist for the band Looking Glass from 1969 to 1974. He wrote and sang lead on their 1972 #1 hit single "Brandy " and their 1973 Top 40 single "Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne".
"Brandy", later called "Mandy", is a song written by Scott English and Richard Kerr. It was originally recorded by English in 1971 and reached the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart.
Brandy is an alcoholic beverage made by wine distillation. Related drinks include
"Can't Smile Without You" is a song written by Christian Arnold, David Martin and Geoff Morrow, and recorded by various artists including Barry Manilow and the Carpenters. It was first recorded and released by David Martin as a solo single in 1975. The version recorded by Manilow in 1977 and released in 1978 is the most well-known.
"I Don't Want to Walk Without You" is a popular song.
"Alone Again (Naturally)" is a song by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan. Recorded in 1971, it became a worldwide hit. The song did not originally appear on his 1972 studio album Back to Front, but has been included in reissues (often replacing "Clair").
"Let's Hang On!" is a song composed by Bob Crewe, Sandy Linzer, and Denny Randell that was popularized by the Four Seasons in 1965.
"Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again" is a song written by David Pomeranz that became a top 10 hit for Barry Manilow in 1976. It was first recorded by the Carpenters in 1975, but their version was not released until 1994 on their 25th anniversary CD, Interpretations: A 25th Anniversary Celebration. Pomeranz also recorded the song for his 1975 album It's in Every One of Us.
"Bend Me, Shape Me" is a song written by Scott English and Larry Weiss. It was first recorded by The Outsiders as a track on their album In in 1966. The best-known version in the US is the 1967 single released by The American Breed that peaked at No. 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in early 1968, No. 3 in South Africa, and No. 24 on the UK Singles Chart.
Sheldon David "Scott" English was an American songwriter, arranger and record producer. He is best known as the co-writer of "Brandy" which he wrote with Richard Kerr. The song became a No. 1 hit for Barry Manilow in 1974, with the title changed to "Mandy". English had also released a single of "Brandy" which reached No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1971, and entered the US charts in March 1972.
"I Like It Like That" was a 1964 hit song by Motown group The Miracles on its Tamla label subsidiary. This is not the Chris Kenner hit song of the same name but a Miracles original, written by Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Marv Tarplin, and is included on the group's first greatest hits album, Greatest Hits from the Beginning. It was also the title song from their deleted 1964 album of the same name.
Australian-American singer Helen Reddy (1941–2020), often referred to as the "Queen of 70s Pop", recorded 18 studio albums, seven of which have achieved sales of 500,000 units in the US for which they were awarded Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America. One of those seven, I Am Woman, eventually went Platinum by reaching sales of one million copies, and her first compilation album, Helen Reddy's Greatest Hits, was awarded Double Platinum status in 1992 for hitting the two million sales mark. The respective US and Canadian album charts in Billboard and RPM magazine each had appearances by 10 of these LPs during the 1970s.
"It's a Miracle" is a 1975 single by Barry Manilow and was the second release from his album, Barry Manilow II. "It's a Miracle" went to number twelve on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and was Manilow's second number one on the U.S. Easy Listening chart, spending one week at number one in April 1975. The single also peaked at number fifteen on the disco/dance chart, and was the first of four entries on the chart. "It's a Miracle" was followed by "Could It Be Magic".
Looking Glass is the self-titled debut album released by the band Looking Glass in 1972.
When Will I See You Again is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in March 1975 by Columbia Records and was again predominantly composed of covers of recent hit songs by other artists.
I Only Have Eyes for You is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on May 10, 1976, by Columbia Records and included two new songs, "Yellow Roses on Her Gown" and "Ooh What We Do", which was written specifically for him, as well as a contemporary arrangement of the 1934 title track that foreshadowed his recordings of standards that incorporated a disco beat a few years later.
"Ships" is a song written and originally performed by British musician Ian Hunter. The song was first released on Hunter's fourth solo album, You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic in March 1979, and later released as a single in August 1979. Hunter's release of the single never made the charts. The song is said to be about Ian's relationship with his father.
"Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne" is a 1973 song written and composed by Elliot Lurie and recorded by Lurie's band, Looking Glass. It was the first track on their second and final album, Subway Serenade. The title has also been spelled "Jimmy Loves Mary-Ann".
"I Need Your Help Barry Manilow" is a 1979 song by Dale Gonyea, sung by Ray Stevens. It was the first track on Stevens' album, The Feeling's Not Right Again. The single's release in March preceded the release of the album in June.
But for this one song, they caught a gloriously goofy cheese-pop wave.