If there’s one thing studying pop music history can teach us, it’s that just because a song fails to hit the charts once doesn’t mean it won’t be a major success sometime down the road…especially if the track is recorded by another artist or band. That’s the lesson behind the story of one massively popular ’70s ballad, Melissa Manchester‘s “Don’t Cry Out Loud.”
Released as a single from Manchester’s 1978 album of the same name, “Don’t Cry Out Loud” was a huge win for the singer, not only peaking at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 but staying on the charts for so long that it ended up becoming Billboard′s 26th biggest hit of 1979.
Unfortunately for R&B group The Moments, their earlier take on the song didn’t have nearly as much luck on the charts.
When The Moments released their recording of “Don’t Cry Out Loud” (originally written by Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager) as a single from the album Moments With You in 1976, the track debuted at #79 on the Billboard U.S. R&B chart…and that’s exactly where it stayed.
Allen also recorded his own take of the song, according to American Songwriter, which was the version Manchester heard when she agreed to record it (at the suggestion of record label president Clive Davis). But when she got to the studio, she discovered she would be accompanied by a full orchestra.
While Davis said later that Manchester hated “Don’t Cry Out Loud,” in a 2014 interview with Scott Holleran, the singer shared a different recollection, saying, “He remembers history his way and I remember history my way.”
Photo by David Redfern on Getty Images
“He remembers bringing me ‘Don’t Cry Out Loud,'” Manchester continued. “I remember being friends with Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager and hearing ‘Don’t Cry Out Loud’ as a very quiet song, bringing it to him and saying yes, it’s gorgeous, let’s do it the way Peter did it — as beautiful and quiet. When I showed up in the studio and the cannons blew on this huge version — which turned out beautifully, it turned out as a gift.”
Whatever Manchester was feeling when she recorded “Don’t Cry Out Loud” certainly came through in her performance, still considered to be one of the all-time classic vocals of the decade.
Related: 1979 Classic Ballad Won an Oscar for ‘Best Original Song’ 47 Years Ago
