1970s, Pop

I’d Rather Leave While I’m in Love

November 30, 2014

Co-written and first recorded by Carole Bayer Sager (1977).
Also recorded by Peter Allen, co-writer (1979).
Hit version by Rita Coolidge (US #38/MOR #3/C&W #32/CAN AC #1 1979).

From the wiki: “I’d Rather Leave While I’m In Love” is a song co-written by Peter Allen (‘Don’t Cry Out Loud‘) and Carol Bayer-Sager, and popularized in 1979 by Rita Coolidge, was first recorded in 1977 by Bayer Sager. Co-writer Allen recorded his own version of ‘I’d Rather Leave While I’m In Love’ in 1979 for his album I Could Have Been a Sailor.

“The song about breaking up was sung originally by its two songwriters, who both had married and later split up with famous spouses: Allen, from Liza Minnelli; Bayer Sager, from producer Andrew Sager.

I Honestly Love You

November 23, 2014

Written and first recorded by Peter Allen (1974).
Hit version by Olivia Newton-John (US #1/MOR #1/C&W #6/UK #22/CAN #1/AUS #1 1974).

From the wiki: “‘I Honestly Love You’ was written by Jeff Barry (‘Chapel of Love‘) and Peter Allen (‘Don’t Cry Out Loud‘); the latter recorded it around the same time as its composition for his album Continental American. It would later appear in the juke-box musical about Allen’s life, The Boy from Oz.”

From Songfacts.com: “Olivia Newton-John recorded ‘I Honestly Love You’ in London. She remembers [being] ‘in a little tiny rickety studio, it was so small. The control room was upstairs and John Farrar was up there with the engineer and I was underneath and they had to sit still because it would creak, and you’d hear it in the microphone.’ Her recording 1974 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance. It was Olivia Newton-John’s first ever #1 in the US and Canada, and it also topped the charts in Australia.

Don’t Cry Out Loud

January 26, 2014

First recorded (as “We Don’t Cry Out Loud”) by The Moments (R&B #79 1976).
Also recorded by Peter Allen (1977).
Hit versions by Elkie Brooks (UK #12 1978), Melissa Manchester (US #10 1978), Rita Coolidge (JPN 1979).

From the wiki: “‘Don’t Cry Out Loud’ is a song written in 1976 by Peter Allen (‘I’d Rather Leave While I’m in Love‘) with lyricist Carole Bayer Sager (‘Arthur’s Theme’, ‘That’s What Friends Are For‘). Bernadette Peters, who toured with Allen in 1989, has stated that Allen told her that ‘his mother taught him to always put your best face on’ in response to Allen’s father committing suicide when Allen was 14 years old. The references to ‘baby’ in the song refer to Allen’s younger sister.