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Gary Portnoy | |
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| Born | June 8, 1956 (age 67) |
| Origin | Long Island, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Vocalist, musician, songwriter |
| Years active | 1980–present |
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 sitcom Cheers , "Where Everybody Knows Your Name".
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. [1]
Prior to that, Portnoy's songs had been recorded by various artists, including Dolly Parton's "Say Goodnight" (co-written by Susan Sheridan) and Air Supply's "I'll Never Get Enough of You" (co-written by Jeanne Napoli and Judy Quay). He also recorded and released a self-titled album in 1980 for Columbia Records.
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" . Portnoy also received an Emmy nomination for the Cheers theme, as well as six consecutive ASCAP awards 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 and Mr. Belvedere , performing the former himself, while Leon Redbone 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 Mr. Belvedere (whose original version was sung by Leon Redbone). 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 "Where Everybody Knows Your Name". 2017 saw the release of Pushing Sixty, Portnoy’s fifth full-length CD.
Cheers is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from 1982 to 1993, with a total of 275 22-26 minute episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association with Paramount Network Television and was created by the team of James Burrows and Glen and Les Charles. The show is set in the titular bar in Boston, where a group of locals meet to drink, relax, socialize and hide from their day to day issues.
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She is known for her decades-long career in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album debut in 1967 with Hello, I'm Dolly, which led to success during the remainder of the 1960s, before her sales and chart peak came during the 1970s and continued into the 1980s. Some of Parton's albums in the 1990s did not sell as well, but she achieved commercial success again in the new millennium and has released albums on various independent labels since 2000, including her own label, Dolly Records.
Joey Scarbury is an American singer and songwriter best known for his hit song, "Theme from The Greatest American Hero", in 1981.
9 to 5 is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Colin Higgins, who wrote the screenplay with Patricia Resnick. It stars Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton as three working women who live out their fantasies of getting even with and overthrowing the company's autocratic, "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" boss, played by Dabney Coleman.
Heartbreaker is the twentieth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. It was released on July 17, 1978, by RCA Victor. The album was produced by Gary Klein and Parton with Charles Koppelman serving as executive producer, and was an even more direct aim at the pop charts, with several of its songs verging on disco. The album topped the Billboard Top Country Albums chart for nine consecutive weeks and peaked at number 27 on the Billboard 200. The album produced two number one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, "Heartbreaker" and "I Really Got the Feeling", while "Baby I'm Burnin'" peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album has been certified Gold in the United States and Canada.
The Fairest of Them All is the fifth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. It was released on February 2, 1970, by RCA Victor. The album was produced by Bob Ferguson. It was the first of Parton's albums on which she wrote the majority of the songs. The Fairest of Them All peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. The album's only single, "Daddy Come and Get Me", peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
Jay Leonhart is an American double bassist, singer, and songwriter who has worked in jazz and popular music. He has performed with Judy Garland, Bucky Pizzarelli, Carly Simon, Frank Sinatra, and Sting. Leonhart is noted for his clever songwriting, often laced with dry humor. His compositions have been recorded by Blossom Dearie, Lee Konitz, and Gary Burton. His poetry is published both in, and outside of, the venue of song.
Coupled With is a compilation album by The Wildhearts, released on Gut Records in March 2004. The album collects almost all the B-sides recorded by the band and released on various CD and vinyl singles during their reformation and comeback in the 2001-2003 period. The A-sides of most of these single releases appear on the 2003 studio album The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed. The exception to this pattern is "Stormy in the North, Karma in the South" which was recorded as a non-album A-side for its own single release. One B-side not included here is the instrumental version of "Dancin'" from the 7" single for "So Into You".
The Great White Monkey is an acoustic live album that was available to buy at acoustic performances by The Wildhearts frontman Ginger. The album was recorded at the Rugeley Rose Theatre in Staffordshire England on 27 September 2003. The show itself consisted of two sets, however the recording was a single CD that was one condensed set featuring a mixture of tracks from both sets. The album proved incredibly popular, with early copies of the album fetching over £80 on eBay. An expanded 2-CD version containing both sets was released by Round Records on 1 June 2009.
Chris Seefried is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman of the bands Gods Child, Joe 90, and Low Stars, and as producer and co-writer for the neo-soul band Fitz and the Tantrums.
"Where Everybody Knows Your Name", also credited as "Theme from Cheers", is the theme song from the television sitcom Cheers, as well as the debut single for Gary Portnoy. The song was written by Portnoy and Judy Hart-Angelo, and performed by Portnoy in 1982. Shortly after the premiere of Cheers, Portnoy went back into the studio to record a longer version of the song that made the U.S. and British pop charts.
"The Sweetest Sounds" is a popular song, with words and music written by Richard Rodgers for the 1962 musical No Strings. The song opens and closes the show for characters Barbara Woodruff and David Jordan, performed by Diahann Carroll and Richard Kiley in the original Broadway theatre production and subsequent cast recording.
"The Story" is a song released as a single by American folk rock singer Brandi Carlile, written by Phil Hanseroth, from her 2007 album The Story. It was featured in Grey's Anatomy in 2007 and is on Grey's Anatomy Soundtrack album 3.
Jeanne Napoli 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, "Let's Make Love".
The first season of the American television sitcom series Cheers premiered on September 30, 1982, and concluded on March 31, 1983. It consisted of 22 episodes, each running approximately 25 minutes at length. The show was created and produced by director James Burrows and writers Glen and Les Charles, who previously worked on Taxi, another sitcom. Cheers was produced by Charles Burrows Charles Productions in association with Paramount Television. The concept and production design of the show were inspired by a public house in Boston, the Bull & Finch, which is now called Cheers Beacon Hill.
Always There is the fifth solo album by English actress and singer Marti Webb, primarily known for her work in musical theatre, released in 1986 on the BBC Records label. It consists of theme tunes from television shows that had been given lyrics which are sung by Webb.
Robert Eric Hegel is an American singer-songwriter best known for writing the Air Supply top twenty hit "Just as I Am" and the top ten disco hit "Sinner Man" for Sarah Dash.
The Kids from "Fame" is the first album released by the cast of the American TV series Fame. It was released in 1982 and featured the hit singles "Hi Fidelity" and "Starmaker". The album was a major global success, most notably in the United Kingdom, where it stayed at the top of the UK Album Chart for 12 weeks.
"I'll Never Get Enough of You" is a song by Australian singer Samantha Sang from her 1979 album, From Dance to Love. It was written by Jeanne Napoli, Gary Portnoy and Judy Quay.
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