The four members of Looking Glass are alumni of Rutgers University, and the Spring 2009 Rutgers alumni magazine carried an article about this song and the band itself. The pertinent part reads:
"The band recorded the song seven times before they got it right. 'Brandy' - based on the name of (lead singer) Elliot Lurie's high school sweetheart 'Randy' - tells the story of a musician torn between his love for a life at sea and his love for a barmaid. Released as the B-side of 'Don't It Make You Feel Good,' the song was overlooked, as was the A-side, for that matter, until Harv Moore, a Washington DC disc jockey took it up as a personal cause. After years of playing covers and their originals at frat parties and bars in the New Brunswick area, Looking Glass was signed to Epic Records by the legendary Clive Davis. Clive Davis, a famous record executive who has nurtured the careers of many successful artists, including Santana, Billy Joel and Whitney Houston. Davis has a knack for knowing a hit song when he hears one, but he got this one wrong, releasing it as the B-side of their song "Don't It Make You Feel Good." Harv Moore, a disc jockey in Washington DC, flipped the record and played "Brandy" instead. It became very popular in the DC area, and quickly spread nationwide.
The band, appearing on Dick Clark's American Bandstand and at Carnegie Hall, never came close to matching 'Brandy's' success. And by 1973, Lurie had left for a solo career. He was replaced, but the band soon fell apart.
The four members of Looking Glass are alumni of Rutgers University, and the Spring 2009 Rutgers alumni magazine carried an article about this song and the band itself. The pertinent part reads:
"The band recorded the song seven times before they got it right. 'Brandy' - based on the name of (lead singer) Elliot Lurie's high school sweetheart 'Randy' - tells the story of a musician torn between his love for a life at sea and his love for a barmaid. Released as the B-side of 'Don't It Make You Feel Good,' the song was overlooked, as was the A-side, for that matter, until Harv Moore, a Washington DC disc jockey took it up as a personal cause. After years of playing covers and their originals at frat parties and bars in the New Brunswick area, Looking Glass was signed to Epic Records by the legendary Clive Davis. Clive Davis, a famous record executive who has nurtured the careers of many successful artists, including Santana, Billy Joel and Whitney Houston. Davis has a knack for knowing a hit song when he hears one, but he got this one wrong, releasing it as the B-side of their song "Don't It Make You Feel Good." Harv Moore, a disc jockey in Washington DC, flipped the record and played "Brandy" instead. It became very popular in the DC area, and quickly spread nationwide.
The band, appearing on Dick Clark's American Bandstand and at Carnegie Hall, never came close to matching 'Brandy's' success. And by 1973, Lurie had left for a solo career. He was replaced, but the band soon fell apart.
The four members of Looking Glass are alumni of Rutgers University, and the Spring 2009 Rutgers alumni magazine carried an article about this song and the band itself. The pertinent part reads:
"The band recorded the song seven times before they got it right. 'Brandy' - based on the name of (lead singer) Elliot Lurie's high school sweetheart 'Randy' - tells the story of a musician torn between his love for a life at sea and his love for a barmaid. Released as the B-side of 'Don't It Make You Feel Good,' the song was overlooked, as was the A-side, for that matter, until Harv Moore, a Washington DC disc jockey took it up as a personal cause. After years of playing covers and their originals at frat parties and bars in the New Brunswick area, Looking Glass was signed to Epic Records by the legendary Clive Davis. Clive Davis, a famous record executive who has nurtured the careers of many successful artists, including Santana, Billy Joel and Whitney Houston. Davis has a knack for knowing a hit song when he hears one, but he got this one wrong, releasing it as the B-side of their song "Don't It Make You Feel Good." Harv Moore, a disc jockey in Washington DC, flipped the record and played "Brandy" instead. It became very popular in the DC area, and quickly spread nationwide.
The band, appearing on Dick Clark's American Bandstand and at Carnegie Hall, never came close to matching 'Brandy's' success. And by 1973, Lurie had left for a solo career. He was replaced, but the band soon fell apart.