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RutgersRaRa

RutgersRaRa

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Looking Glass was an American pop music group of the early 1970s that was part of the Jersey Shore sound. Their 1972 song "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" sold over a million copies.

Career[edit]
The group was formed in 1969, at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The original version of the band broke up after college, with original members Elliot Lurie and Larry Gonsky recruiting two new members to form the classic Looking Glass lineup:[1]

  • Elliot Lurie (lead guitar and vocals)
  • Jeff Grob (drums)
  • Larry Gonsky (piano)
  • Pieter Sweval (bass)[2]
The group had the #1 hit single for the week of August 26, 1972 with "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)", written by Lurie;[2] and also a minor hit "Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne" (1973), subsequently covered by Josie Cotton. "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" was released in the US in June 1972. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for one week and remained on the chart for 16 weeks.[2] This disc, their only million seller, was certified gold by the RIAA on August 9, 1972.[2]

 
From what I know, I believe that Larry Gonsky co-wrote "Brandy". Was he credited? It's a minor point unless you're Larry. Thanks for the memory...
 
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November 6, 1971 might have been a good time to visit the Rutgers commuters’ lounge known as The Ledge (today’s Rutgers College Student Activities Center). That night three 1970 Rutgers graduates, Elliot Lurie (sociology major), Lawrence Gonsky and Pieter Sweval, in addition to Jeff Grob gave a free concert as The Looking Glass. Ten months later they hit the Billboard #1 spot with “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl).” They charted two other minor hits but soon broke apart. Ironically, The Looking Glass was a hard rock band whose image fell victim to its big “soft rock” hit. Lead singer Elliot Lurie later became a soundtrack producer and music supervisor in movies that include “Perfect,” “Alien 3,” “A Night at the Roxbury,” “I Spy,” and “Spanglish.” The Looking Glass became active again beginning in 2003.
 
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Source said:
November 6, 1971 might have been a good time to visit the Rutgers commuters’ lounge known as The Ledge (today’s Rutgers College Student Activities Center). That night three 1970 Rutgers graduates, Elliot Lurie (sociology major), Lawrence Gonsky and Pieter Sweval, in addition to Jeff Grob gave a free concert as The Looking Glass. Ten months later they hit the Billboard #1 spot with “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl).” They charted two other minor hits but soon broke apart. Ironically, The Looking Glass was a hard rock band whose image fell victim to its big “soft rock” hit. Lead singer Elliot Lurie later became a soundtrack producer and music supervisor in movies that include “Perfect,” “Alien 3,” “A Night at the Roxbury,” “I Spy,” and “Spanglish.” The Looking Glass became active again beginning in 2003.
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Source, are these guys still alive? It would be pretty fvcking awesome to have them play that song at some kind of event if 1) They're still alive, and 2) Can still stand each other.
 
Brandy was not a hooker. There's actually no definitive explanation although it could have been loosely written about one of the band member's girlfriends. Wikipedia states it could also have been about a spinster who lived in New Brunswick from 1750-1828 - Mary Ellis.

Popularity of the name "Brandy" after the 1972 song from the Census Records:
1971 - Brandy was the 353rd most popular name
1972 - 140th
1973 - 82nd (first full year after the song)
 
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I thought Brandy was about that woman who's grave is in the movie theater parking lot on Route 1? She worked at a bar on the raritan & never cheated on her first one night stand with a sailor.
 
Source said:
Ironically, The Looking Glass was a hard rock band whose image fell victim to its big “soft rock” hit.
Click to expand...

This seems to happen fairly often. groups play one kind of music. Then they "slip-up" and use a very different sound for a song.. and it becomes a bigger hit than the rest of them.

There are lots of angles to this, but a good read might be "6 hit songs that destroyed the bands they made famous". I'm sure the usual suspects here can rattle off a bunch of examples of bands changing their sound chasing commercial hits (and not) Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys...
 
GoodOl'Rutgers said:
This seems to happen fairly often. groups play one kind of music. Then they "slip-up" and use a very different sound for a song.. and it becomes a bigger hit than the rest of them.

There are lots of angles to this, but a good read might be "6 hit songs that destroyed the bands they made famous". I'm sure the usual suspects here can rattle off a bunch of examples of bands changing their sound chasing commercial hits (and not) Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys...
Click to expand...
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The Allman Bros. song "Ramblin' Man" almost didn't get recorded because they thought the concept was "too country," and it became their biggest hit. But it was in lockstep with their jamming style, so they didn't have to change much in their other music. It was their only top-10 song when it reached #2 on the charts, being bested only by Cher's "Half Breed." Funny, Greg married her, but they didn't exactly turn out to be a power couple.

As an aside, have you ever really listened to Dickey jamming in this song? He absolutely shreds it.

 
Lurie was in my frosh Phys. Ed class.
Once read that Barry Manilow's Mandi was originally going to be Brandy but changed to to Mandi because of LG hit.
 
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