I Write the Songs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from I Write The Songs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
"I Write the Songs"
Song by Captain & Tennille
from the album Love Will Keep Us Together
ReleasedMay 23, 1975
GenrePop, adult contemporary
LabelA&M
SongwriterBruce Johnston
ProducerDaryl Dragon
Audio Recording
" I Write The Songs - The Captain & Tennille (1975)" on YouTube
"I Write the Songs"
Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Single by David Cassidy
from the album The Higher They Climb
B-side"Get It Up for Love"
ReleasedMay 1975
Recorded1975
GenrePop
Length4:07
LabelRCA
SongwriterBruce Johnston
ProducerBruce Johnston
David Cassidy singles chronology
"Daydreamer"
(1973) 		"I Write the Songs"
(1975) 		"Darlin'"
(1975)
"I Write the Songs"
Single by Barry Manilow
from the album Tryin' to Get the Feeling
B-side"A Nice Boy Like Me"
ReleasedNovember 1975
Recorded1975
GenreSoft rock[1][2]
Length3:39 (single version)
3:51 (album version)
LabelArista 0157
SongwriterBruce Johnston
ProducersRon Dante
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow singles chronology
"Could It Be Magic"
(1975) 		"I Write the Songs"
(1975) 		"Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again"
(1976)
"I Write the Songs"
Song by Bruce Johnston
from the album Going Public
ReleasedMay 1977
GenrePop rock
Length4:05
LabelColumbia
SongwriterBruce Johnston
ProducerGary Usher

"I Write the Songs" is a popular song written by Bruce Johnston. Barry Manilow's version reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1976[3] after spending two weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart in December 1975.[4] It won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year and was nominated for Record of the Year in 1977.[4] Billboard ranked it as the No. 13 song of 1976.[5]

The original version was recorded by Captain & Tennille, who worked with Johnston in the early 1970s with the Beach Boys. It appears on their 1975 album Love Will Keep Us Together. The first release of "I Write the Songs" as a single was by teen idol David Cassidy from his 1975 solo album The Higher They Climb, produced by Johnston. Cassidy's version reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart in August of that year.[6] After Manilow's hit, Johnston recorded the song for his 1977 album Going Public.

Johnston has stated that, for him, the "I" in the song is God,[3] and that songs come from the spirit of creativity in everyone. He has said that the song is not about his Beach Boys bandmate Brian Wilson.[7]

Manilow was initially reluctant to record the song, stating in his autobiography Sweet Life: "The problem with the song was that if you didn't listen carefully to the lyric, you would think that the singer was singing about himself. It could be misinterpreted as a monumental ego trip."[4] After persuasion by Clive Davis, then president of Arista Records, Manilow recorded the song, and his version of "I Write the Songs" was the first single taken from the album Tryin' to Get the Feeling. It first charted on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 15, 1975, reaching the top of the chart nine weeks later, on January 17, 1976. Cash Box said of Manilow's version "Good work Barry" describing the song as "melodic, ballad-like beginning grows into an operatic crescendo, all done in clear production that all age groups will appreciate."[8] Record World called it "an uplifting production number" and "perhaps [Manilow's] strongest offering since 'Mandy.'" [9]

Chart performance

[edit | edit source]

Weekly charts

[edit | edit source]
David Cassidy
Chart (1975) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) 85
Ireland (IRMA)[10] 13
UK Singles Chart[11] 11

Popularity

[edit | edit source]

After his version reached number one, Manilow himself composed a novelty song based on this song which he recorded under the title "I Really Do Write the Songs" in which he sings about how he composes each part of a song and the line "Sometimes I really do write the songs" at the end of each verse. In the finale, he sings, "sometimes...ah, what the hell...I write the songs."[25] Unreleased at the time, it was included as a bonus track on the reissue of his album This One's for You in 2006.[26][better source needed]

It was covered by Frank Sinatra as "I Sing the Songs".[27]

See also

[edit | edit source]

References

[edit | edit source]
  1. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ a b Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of #1 Hits, 5th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 425.
  4. ^ a b c Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications), page 177.
  5. ^ Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1976
  6. ^ Official Charts Company info OfficialCharts.com. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  7. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  8. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  9. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  10. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – I Write the Songs". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  11. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  12. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  13. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 4077a." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  14. ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 4058." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  15. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – I Write the Songs". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  16. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  17. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  18. ^ "Barry Manilow Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  19. ^ "Barry Manilow Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
  20. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  21. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  22. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  23. ^ Top 50 Adult Contemporary Hits of 1976
  24. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  25. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  26. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  27. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
[edit | edit source]

Lua error in Module:Authority_control at line 153: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).

Retrieved from "http://70.231.62.181/index.php?title=I_Write_the_Songs&oldid=8662189"