Barry Manilow: A Retrospective, 1973-1978

Barry Manilow A Retrospective: 1973-1978

Overview: Barry Manilow was born Barry Alan Pincus on 6/17/1943 in Brooklyn, New York. The singer/songwriter has reached the top 40 of the adult contemporary chart 51 times, including thirteen #1’s. He has thirteen platinum albums and six multi-platinum albums. He has sold 85 million records worldwide. Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Barry Manilow BarryManilow.com (official site) Facebook Wikipedia

Awards:

Compilations: G1 Greatest Hits (covers 1973-78, released 1978) Under each album snapshot, songs featured on the anthologies are noted. If the song charted, the date of the song’s release or first chart appearance and its chart peaks are noted in parentheses. Click for codes to charts.

Barry Manilow (1973): Could It Be Magic (6/21/75, 6 BB, 7 CB, 8 GR, 8 HR, 7 RR, 4 AC, 25 UK, 4 CN) G1

Barry Manilow II (1974): Mandy (11/9/74, 1 BB, 1 CB, 1 GR, 1 HR, 1 RR, 1 AC, 11 UK, 1 CN, 6 DF) G1 It’s a Miracle (3/1/75, 12 BB, 10 CB, 9 GR, 10 HR, 11 RR, 1 AC, 1 CN) G1

Tryin’ to Get the Feeling (1975): I Write the Songs (11/8/75, 1 BB, 1 CB, 1 GR, 1 HR, 1 RR, 1 AC, 3 CN, 1 DF) G1 Trying to Get the Feeling Again (3/13/76, 10 BB, 10 CB, 10 GR, 10 HR, 11 RR, 1 AC, 13 CN) G1 Bandstand Boogie G1 Beautiful Music G1 New York City Rhythm G1

This One’s for You (1976): This One’s for You (9/18/76, 29 BB, 21 CB, 22 GR, 29 HR, 23 RR, 1 AC, 28 CN) G1 Weekend in New England (11/27/76, 10 BB, 9 CB, 7 GR, 6 HR, 7 RR, 1 AC, 9 CN) G1 Looks Like We Made It (5/7/77, 1 BB, 3 CB, 2 GR, 3 HR, 2 RR, 1 AC, 8 CN, 13 DF) G1 Daybreak (10/1/77, 23 BB, 21 CB, 17 GR, 27 HR, 16 RR, 7 AC, 20 CN) G1 All the Time G1 Jump Shout Boogie G1

Even Now (1978): Can’t Smile Without You (2/4/78, 3 BB, 2 CB, 2 GR, 2 HR, 2 RR, 1 AC, 43 UK, 2 CN, 29 DF) G1 Even Now (5/6/78, 19 BB, 17 CB, 15 GR, 20 HR, 17 RR, 1 AC, 17 CN) G1 Copacabana (At the Copa) (6/10’/78, 8 BB, 10 CB, 7 GR, 6 HR, 7 RR, 6 AC, 22 UK, 7 CN, 1 DF) G1 Somewhere in the Night (7/29/78, 9 BB, 13 CB, 11 GR, 15 HR, 8 RR, 4 AC, 42 UK, 10 CN) G1

Greatest Hits (aka “Manilow Magic”) Barry Manilow

Recorded: 1973-1978 Released: November 1978 Peak: 7 US, 3 UK, -- CN, 26 AU Sales (in millions): 3.0 US Genre: adult contemporary Rating: 3.323 out of 5.00 (average of 6 ratings)

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Tracks: (1) Mandy (2) New York City Rhythm (3) Ready to Take a Chance Again (4) Looks Like We Made It (5) Daybreak (live) (6) Can’t Smile Without You (7) It’s a Miracle (8) Even Now (9) Bandstand Boogie (10) Tryin’ to Get the Feeling Again (11) Could It Be Magic (12) Somewhere in the Night (13) Jump Shout Boogie (14) Weekend in New England (15) All the Time (16) This One’s for You (17) Copacabana (At the Copa) (18) Beautiful Music (19) I Write the Songs Total Running Time: 70:52 Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: Ready to Take a Chance Again (9/2/78, 11 BB, 7 CB, 8 GR, 5 HR, 5 RR, 5 AC, 4 CN, 18 DF) G1 About the Album: Barry Manilow’s first compilation featured a snapshot of his five studio albums released from 1973 to 1978 as well as one cut from his 1977 live album. The collection only featured one new song, “Ready to Take a Chance Again,” which was from the movie Foul Play. Reissues of the collection have sometimes replaced the live version of “Daybreak” with the studio version.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Barry Manilow Dave’s Music Database: Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists Wikipedia page for Greatest Hits First posted 12/7/2023.

Elvis Costello “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding” released

What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding Elvis Costello & the Attractions

Writer(s): Nick Lowe (see lyrics here) Released: November 1978 First Charted: -- Peak: 5 CL, 1 CO, 3 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 4.3 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Singer/songwriter, musician, and producer Nick Lowe was born in 1949 in England. He started his career in 1967 with the band Kippington Lodge, which later became the pub-rock group Brinsley Schwarz. He wrote the song “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding” in 1974 for the group. “Like all pub-rockers, Brinsley Schwarz were lapsed hippies, playing folky-funky in flannel shirts and jeans. Unlike most, Nick Lowe combined his hippie roots with an absolute faith in the corruptibility of mankind.” DM Lowe left in 1975 to form Rockpile with Dave Edmunds before launching a solo career. He also wore the producer’s hat for Elvis Costello, helping him launch his career with his first solo album, 1977’s My Aim Is True. Lowe was back for the 1978 This Year’s Model release and 1979’s Armed Forces. The latter album included Elvis Costello’s cover of “Understanding” on the American release. Costello originally recorded it as the B-side for Lowe’s 1978 single “American Squirm.” WK It was Costello’s idea to record the song. He’d been a fan of Brinsley Schwarz, going to see them play. WK Costello said the original “seemed almost tongue-in-cheek, a take on that brief period after flower power when Tin Pan Alley staff songwriters seemed to say, ‘Hey, let’s get in on some of this crazy peace and love stuff that the kids are digging today.’” WK Critic Dave Marsh said “Costello eradicated Lowe’s cynicism and replaced it with joyous acceptance and thinly veiled remorse.” MA Lowe said, “it was he who really popularized that song. It’s been covered by loads of people, and it would’ve disappeared if it wasn’t for him.” WK Marsh called it “the hottest rock and roll [Costello’s] band, the Attractions, ever made.” DM Music historian Steve Sullivan says the song “became the most unforgettable of Costello’s early recordings which established him at the vanguard of British rock’s new wave.” SS Resources: MA Dave Marsh (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New York, NY; New American Library. Pages 385-6. SF Songfacts SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 868-9. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 3/9/2023.

The Police Outlandos D’Amour

Outlandos D’Amour The Police

Released: November 2, 1978 Peak: 23 US, 6 UK, 22 CN, 15 AU, 15 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 3.61 US, 0.3 UK, 6.5 world (includes US and UK), 16.77 EAS Genre: new wave/rock

Tracks: Click on a song titled for more details. Next to You [2:50] So Lonely [4:49] Roxanne [3:12] Hole in My Life [4:52] Peanuts [3:58] Can’t Stand Losing You [2:58] Truth Hits Everybody [2:53] Born in the ‘50s [3:40] Be My Girl – Sally [3:22] Masoko Tanga [5:40] Total Running Time: 38:14 The Players: Sting (vocals, bass) Andy Summers (guitar, backing vocals) Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion, backing vocals)

Rating: 4.292 out of 5.00 (average of 23 ratings) Quotable: “Unquestionably one of the finest debuts to come out of the ‘70s punk/new wave movement” – Greg Prato, AllMusic.com Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album “While their subsequent chart-topping albums would contain far more ambitious songwriting and musicianship, the Police's 1978 debut, Outlandos d'Amour (translation: Outlaws of Love) is by far their most direct and straightforward release.” AM “Although Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland were all superb instrumentalists with jazz backgrounds, it was much easier to get a record contract in late-‘70s England if you were a punk/new wave artist, so the band decided to mask their instrumental prowess with a set of strong, adrenaline-charged rock, albeit with a reggae tinge.” AM “Some of it may have been simplistic (Be My Girl-Sally, Born in the '50s), but Sting was already an ace songwriter, as evidenced by all-time classics like the good-girl-gone-bad tale of Roxanne, and a pair of brokenhearted reggae-rock ditties, Can't Stand Losing You and So Lonely.” AM “But like all other Police albums, the lesser-known album cuts are often highlights themselves — the frenzied rockers Next to You, Peanuts, and Truth Hits Everybody, as well as more exotic fare like the groovy album closer Masoko Tanga and the lonesome Hole in My Life. Outlandos d'Amour is unquestionably one of the finest debuts to come out of the ‘70s punk/new wave movement.” AM The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Next to You The Police

Writer(s): Sting Released: Outlandos D’Amour (1978) Peak: 11 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 23.64 streaming

So Lonely The Police

Writer(s): Sting Released: 11/3/1978 as a single, Outlandos D’Amour (1978) Peak: 10 CL, 5 CO, 6 UK, 11 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.25 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 190.79 streaming

Roxanne The Police

Writer(s): Sting (see lyrics here) Released: 4/7/1978 as a single, Outlandos D’Amour (1978) First Charted: February 10, 1979 (The Police), April 10, 1982 (Sting) Peak (The Police): 32 BB, 31 CB, 26 GR, 39 HR, 1 CL, 2 CO, 12 UK, 31 CN, 34 AU, 1 DF Peak (Sting): 28 AR, 7 CO, 1 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.4 UK, 1.50 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 126.30 video, 911.94 streaming

Awards (The Police): (Click on award to learn more). Awards (Sting): (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Drummer Stewart Copeland told Rolling Stone “That song has been the turnaround for us.” RS500 Punk was hitting London in 1977 and The Police’s brand of art rock wasn’t well received. The group was excited when they landed a gig as an opening act for a punk band at a Paris club. However, upon arrival it turned out there was no other act and the group ended up playing to an empty house. SJ Things got worse when the band’s car broke down after the gig. Sting, the band’s singer and chief songwriter, decided to take a stroll, finding himself wandering through Paris’ red-light district. As Sting recounted, “It was the first time I’d seen prostitutes on the streets…I imagined being in love with one of those girls.” SJ The idea for the song “Roxanne” was born. The namesake was inspired by the heroine in the play Cyrano de Bergerac. A poster for the play was featured in the hotel lobby where the band was staying in Paris. RS500 Sting originally conceived the song as a bossa nova, but Copeland suggested the final rhythmic form as a tango. WK Although Sting wasn’t particularly impressed with the end result, the group’s manager, Miles Copeland III, was “immediately enthusiastic.” WK The single was the first major-label release for the group after they’d released “Fall Out” on an independent label in 1977. SF It didn’t chart initially, but was rereleased after “Can’t Stand Losing You” became a minor UK hit in the fall of 1978. Sting performed the song solo in 1981 for The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball (released in 1982), a benefit for Amnesty International. The stripped down, slower version gave the song a very different feel and demonstrated a trait Sting would exhibit throughout his solo career of being unafraid to revisit classics with new spins.

Hole in My Life The Police

Writer(s): Sting Released: Outlandos D’Amour (1978) Peak: 20 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 10.01 streaming

Peanuts The Police

Writer(s): Stewart Copeland, Sting Released: Outlandos D’Amour (1978) Peak: 31 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 6.06 streaming

Can’t Stand Losing You The Police

Writer(s): Sting Released: 8/14/1978 as a single, Outlandos D’Amour (1978) Peak: 8 CL, 8 CO, 2 UK, 5 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 19.0 video, 131.42 streaming

Truth Hits Everybody The Police

Writer(s): Sting Released: Outlandos D’Amour (1978) Peak: 20 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 8.87 streaming

Born in the ‘50s The Police

Writer(s): Sting Released: Outlandos D’Amour (1978) Peak: 20 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 3.94 streaming

Be My Girl – Sally The Police

Writer(s): Sting, Andy Summers Released: Outlandos D’Amour (1978) Peak: 11 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 4.14 streaming

Masoko Tanga The Police

Writer(s): Sting Released: Outlandos D’Amour (1978) Peak: 40 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 3.85 streaming

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review by Greg Prato RS500 Rolling Stone (12/04). “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” SJ Bob Shannon and John Javna (1986). Behind the Hits: Inside Stories of Classic Pop and Rock and Roll. Warner Books, Inc.: New York, NY. Page 148. WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/22/2008; last updated 8/13/2025.