Song Of The Day 3/13/2016: Scott English – “Brandy”
I'm disappointed to report the urban legend about Scott English's UK hit "Brandy" is not true: It's not about his dog. That rumor came from English's irritation at being called by a reporter at seven o'clock in the morning. I'd be irked by that too. As "Brandy" was ascending the charts, a music journalist intent on exposing the truth about the song's subject woke English (who incidentally is American) up at 7am one morning, really wanting to know who Brandy was, because the fifth estate gets anxious when song-title origins aren't figured out before lunchtime. English, wanting to get Jimmy Olsen off the phone, responded "It was about a dog like Lassie and I had her sent away. Now you go away!" Then the reporter ran back to his editor's office, barged in on him right in the middle of a meeting with advertising and cried, "It's a dog! It's about a dog, chief!! Stop the presses, we have a breaking news bulletin that's going to shake the canine population down to its very marrow! It's not a girl like we all were led to believe, or a forest nymph we all imagined when that flu was going around! By God, it's a dog, I tell you! Do you understand what this means? Do you get the implications? Time will now be divided into two eras: The time before we knew Brandy was a dog, and the time after we knew Brandy was a dog! For the love of God, it's a dog!!!"
Vultures. Now, as you no doubt know if you've started playing this song already, "Brandy" was covered by Barry Manilow in 1974. They decided to amend the title to avoid confusion with the 1972 hit by the Looking Glass, "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)." They renamed it "Mandy," and it became Manilow's first #1 hit. When pressed in interviews about who the real "Mandy" was Manilow said, "Damned if I know, I didn't write the thing, but I hear it's popular with dogs." He called English to confirm this, but English replied, "Sorry Bar, but I have to run to the vet to pick up my golden retriever Bropacabana." "Whaaaaaat?" said Barry as a golden stylus descended from the firmament into his hand.
