John P Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 I've been a long time fan of the 1st album by 70's 1 hit wonders Looking Glass. The music is somewhat reminiscent of early Doobie Brothers. I hear that the singer/guitarist Elliot Lurie has put together an all new version of Looking Glass and is playing live shows. Has anyone seened them or have any info on this supposed new incarnation? Elliot has been working in the movie soundtracks industry for the last 20 years. The original bass player after Looking Glass went on to join the group Starz and is deceased. The others fell off the face of the earth. Would like to know about this alleged new incanartion. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bessieboo Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Did they sing Brandy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Marshall Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Yes...and 'Jimmy Loves Mary Anne'...a mid charter from the spring/summer [or was it summer/fall] of '73. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulie Mississippi Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 That first, self title LP was incredible. I hadn't made the Doobie Brothers connection but can see it; I'd always thought a lot of the stuff sounded a little like Lynyrd Skynyrd. Especially "Catherine Street" and "From Station to Station" while "One By One" might have been the first true "contemporary Christian" tune.I had read that Lurie was totally disenchanted with the single of "Brandy" as it was far more orchestrated than they originally performed it live and of course that their live act was far grittier than the slick production of the LP. I acquired a CD a couple of years back off of eBay, a compilation from Sony's "Collectables" label. It essentially had the first LP plus a few other songs. Jimmy Loves Mary Ann and Rainbow Man were the other singles I was a ware of but my God... the guy who took over for Elliot as lead singer... I could not stand a single track aside from the first LP and those two singles...IF Lurie's assembled a band and they perform the first LP's material, I'd love to hear them or see them.Here's a pretty cool bio from CMT.com LOOKING GLASS BIO at CMT.COM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanTylerVO Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Peter Sweval was the other very strong voice from Looking Glass who went on to join Starzand died years ago. I just wondered without his voice, how the overall "true" sound will be without him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlesteve Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 A guy named Barry Manilow wrote a song called "Brandy" but changed the name to "Mandy" just prior to recording because of the Looking Glass recording. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnniekNY Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 I don't think Barry wrote "Brandy/Mandy" - I think Clive Davis gave it to him and said "this will be great for you!" Barry was skeptical but changed it and the rest is history..maybe Ron Dante wrote it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susana Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 1. Cool news about Looking Glass - always did like them.2. No, no, no!!! Right idea, totally wrong song and composer. Barry Manilow's "Mandy" was orginally titled "Brandy". Was written by Scott Enlgish and Richard Kerr. English recorded the original 1971 single of "Brandy". Yes, Clive Davis sent him the song and wanted it to stay uptempo like the demo. Manilow played around both with the ballad and faster versions, playing the uptempo for Clive who hated it even though it was what he claimed he wanted. Manilow hauled out the ballad version and the rest is history.Manilow has recorded other Kerr compositions including: "Somewhere in the Night" (written with Will Jennings), "Life Will Go On" (with John Bettis), "Looks Like We Made It" (again with Jennings). The story about "Brandy" being about a dog isn't true. Apparently English was awakened at 7a one day by a reporter who asked who Brandy was. To make him stop, English says, " 'It was about a dog like Lassie and I sent her away. Now you go away!' I said and hung up on him. I guess I'll have to live with that story."OK, I'll stop now...back to taxes. (Bleah!)S* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy K. Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Lurie was actually a record company excecutive for some period of time. I remember sending demos to him in the late 70s/early 80s(of course rejected).Also, "Jimmy Loves MaryAnne" was covered by Josie Cotton...it was really funny seeing that video on MTV when it first came out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy K. Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Will Jennings was also the co-writer of Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Will has written with Steve Winwood over the years as well, and I'm pretty sure that he wrote that song from Titanic which Celine took into the stratosphere.Marv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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