Awakenings: I Write the Songs

Today in Music History: January 17

Writing songs is an art. Whether singing songs written by someone else or of your own musical poetry, the constant thought, hope, dream is for the song(s) to make the whole world sing. That is exactly what happened to the recording artist in this day's spotlight.

Welcome into the Spotlight...

http://www.goldderby.com/photos/269/3512/14.-barry-manilow.html

Music Legend Who Got Cheated

http://www.biography.com/people/barry-manilow-9542490

Barry Manilow: made the whole world sing with his '70s hits "I Write the Songs," "Mandy" and "Copacabana (At the Copa)."

Barry Manilow took up a variety of instruments at a young age. He wrote successful off-Broadway adaptations and a number of well-known commercial jingles in the 70s. His voice could be heard on many and he even released a medley of his commercials on one of his '70s albums.

How Manilow got his foot in the door of the music world occurred while working as part of a duo with the then-unknown Bette Midler. He was her pianist soon becoming her director and arranger, co-producing and arranging her Grammy Award-winning debut album and its follow-up. Manilow's debut album, however, went nowhere. It was his second album, featuring the hit song 'Mandy' that lay the groundwork for his rise to fame.

1975 'Mandy' was arry Manilow's first hit single and the first song on Clive Davis' Arista Records label (formerly Bell) to hit the Billboard Hot 100.

1976 Barry Manilow scored his second US No.1 single with 'I Write The Songs', written by Bruce Johnson, a member of The Beach Boys. This won a Grammy for Song Of The Year.

Manilow was originally reluctant to record this song, saying to Arista Records chief Clive Davis, "This 'I Write The Songs' thing Clive, I really don't want to do it." Manilow says his worry "was that the listeners would think I was singing about how "I" write the songs, when it was really about the inspiration of music. Clive understood, but didn't think it would be a problem. "Besides," he told me, "You DO write songs!" Manilow says he was concerned about coming off as a gigantic egomaniac, but that he liked the song so much he decided to record it. He adds, "Whenever I heard the song in public, I felt the need to run to everyone who was listening and say, 'You know, I'm really not singing about myself!'" [Source: Songfacts]