Written and first recorded by David Pomeranz (1980).
Hit version by Barry Manilow (US #15/MOR #1/UK #48 1981).
From the wiki: “David Pomeranz (‘Tryin’ to Get the Feeling Again‘) wrote ‘The Old Songs’ in 1977 with Buddy Kaye, a Tin Pan Alley songwriter of great note in the ’40s and ’50s (‘The Alphabet Song’, ‘Speedy Gonzales‘), ‘timeless songs, big hits for him,’ according to Pomeranza. ‘He and I got together, we wrote 6 songs together at that time, and ‘The Old Songs’ was one of them. We had written it for Jennifer Warnes – she must have passed on it. I had recorded it on my Atlantic album, and Barry had heard my album, heard the song, and then decided that he would record it, too.'”
Barry Manilow, “The Old Songs” (1981):