“Mandy” is the first hit song for Barry Manilow. He had been around the music business for quite awhile before this. He had written musical jingles for commercials including State Farm Insurance (“Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there”) and Band-Aid (“I am stuck on Band-Aid, ’cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me!”). He sang on ads for Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pepsi (“all across the nation, it’s the Pepsi Generation”), McDonald’s (“you deserve a break today”) and Dr Pepper.

From 1971 to 1975 he played piano for Bette Midler. He produced her first two albums and was the musical director for her tour.

The song was originally titled “Brandy” when it was written by Scott English and Richard Kerr. Scott English released the song in 1971 in Britain where it was a minor hit. It was recorded by New Zealand singer Bunny Walters in 1972 where it got up to #4 on the New Zealand chart.

Manilow changed the title from “Brandy” to “Mandy” to avoid confusion with Looking Glass’s “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” for 1971. It ended up on the top of both the Cash Box Top 100 and Billboard Hot 100 for the week of Jan. 12 – 18, 1975.

Manilow has sold more than 85 million records as a solo artist worldwide, making him one of the world’s bestselling artists.