I WRITE THE SONGS ~ BARRY MANILOW

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Bluedreamer's Choice No 2

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Write the Songs" is a popular song by Barry Manilow from 1975 written by Bruce Johnston. Manilow's version reached #1 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart in early 1976 after spending two weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart in December 1975. It won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year and was nominated for Record of the Year in 1977 and became one of Manilow's signature songs. 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." After persuasion by Clive Davis, then president of Arista Records, Manilow relented and recorded the song, and his version of "I Write the Songs" was the first single taken from the albumTryin' 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. The song is also recorded by David Cassidy