This No. 1 Barry Manilow Song Was Renamed Because Of A '70s Rock Hit

Looking Glass only ever had one big hit — the 1972 chart-topper, "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)." But the heavily harmonizing pop-rock band made an impact more than two years later when a superstar crooner in the making had to change the title of his would-be well-received ballad. That particular Looking Glass track was just that popular. 

Between 1974 and 1979, Barry Manilow reached the top 20 nearly 20 times with a string of sweetly sung and ultra-smooth soft rock classics. A few of them went all the way to No. 1, including "Mandy," Manilow's first hit ever. While he also composed or co-composed many of his most famous recordings, that wasn't the case for "Mandy" — it was a cover of "Brandy," a very minor hit in the U.S. that had been successful in the U.K. for singer-songwriter Scott English, a one-hit wonder you didn't know passed away. The original and the cover ended up being vastly different songs.

In 1974, music industry veteran Clive Davis took over the brand-new Arista Records, and he personally saw to getting Barry Manilow's career off the ground, looking to match the artist to the proper songs. Davis thought he'd found just the right tune for Manilow, and while the artist was recording his first album, he sent over Scott English's "Mandy." The track, a No. 91 hit in early 1972, utilized a rock n' roll style that Manilow didn't care for, so he reworked it, slowed it down, and converted it into more of emotionally driven piano ballad. He liked the song a little more at that point, but he really only did it to appease Davis.

Another big change that Manilow and Davis made: a name switch. English's song was originally recorded and released as "Brandy." Back in 1972, New Jersey rock band Looking Glass headed the Hot 100 for a week with "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)." With that song still fresh in listeners' minds, Davis decided to switch the titular subject of the song to avoid any public confusion. Thus, "Brandy" became "Mandy," and it became a '70s flop song that turned into a smash hit, thanks to Manilow, making it to No. 1 in 1975.