Maps of Music

One Voice (1979)

Where the lyrics of One Voice take you, and where it was really made.

The title track of this 1979 album ended up in a British sitcom, where a drunk Del Boy starts a riot by singing it outside a block of flats late at night.

Key places

Recorded at United Western Studios, Hollywood (1979)

Recording site The Music Grinder (Hollywood) — The album was recorded at United Western Studios in Hollywood. The marker uses the city-centre coordinate, so it does not show the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Allen Zentz Recording, Hollywood area (1979)

Recording site Chappell Studios (Encino) — Allen Zentz Recording is named with United Western Studios as a Hollywood recording location. The marker uses the city-centre coordinate, not the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• One Voice: sixth studio album by singer-songwriter Barry Manilow
• Released in 1979 on the Arista label, distributed by BMG
• Produced by Manilow together with Ron Dante
• The title track is credited to Manilow alone as writer
• Eleven tracks across two sides: six on side one, five on side two
• The CD edition adds four bonus tracks, including demos on the 2006 remaster

Background

• The album produced three top-40 singles: 'Ships', 'When I Wanted You' and 'I Don't Want to Walk Without You'
• 'Ships' is written by Ian Hunter and 'When I Wanted You' by Gino Cunico, so the album mixes Manilow originals with outside songs
• 'I Don't Want to Walk Without You' has music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Frank Loesser
• The Italian article says the last of the three singles came out the year after the album
• The title track became a cultural moment outside the charts, as described in the trivia

Recording

• Recorded at United Western Studios and Allen Zentz Recording in Hollywood
• Engineer: Michael DeLugg
• Manilow sings lead and plays acoustic piano; Ron Dante adds backing vocals on most tracks
• Bill Mays and Jai Winding play keyboards; Michael Boddicker plays synthesizers
• Mitch Holder plays guitars, and Will Lee and David Hungate handle bass on different tracks
• Ed Greene and Jim Gordon share the drum parts
• Artie Butler arranged the orchestration

Cover

• Photography by Victor Skrebneski
• Art direction by Donn Davenport

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1943, in Brooklyn, New York City.
• Began as a commercial jingle writer and singer in the 1960s, writing and singing TV jingles for brands such as Band-Aid and State Farm.
• Signed by Columbia/CBS Music vice-president Tony Orlando, and recorded as Featherbed on Bell Records.
• Bette Midler chose him as her pianist and producer in the early 1970s.
• Breakthrough hit "Mandy" (1974), the start of a long string of hit singles and albums.
• Hits include "Could It Be Magic", "I Write the Songs", "Copacabana (At the Copa)", and "Can't Smile Without You".
• Has released 51 Top 40 singles on the Adult Contemporary chart, including 13 number ones.
• Has sold more than 85 million records as a solo artist worldwide.
• Nominated for a Grammy Award 15 times from 1973 to 2015, winning once.
• Performed a long Las Vegas residency at the Las Vegas Hilton and the Paris Hotel.

Members

• Solo artist; Featherbed was a studio group name used in the early 1970s.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

Records

• Billboard 200 peak: #9, placing the album in the top ten of the US album chart
• RIAA certification: double platinum, the highest level in the RIAA scale used here
• The album contained three top-40 singles
• 'Ships' peaked at #9
• 'When I Wanted You' peaked at #20
• 'I Don't Want to Walk Without You' hit #36 on the Billboard Hot 100
• Two of the three singles reached the top twenty range of the charts listed
• The album's chart and sales figures are stated in the English article and are the only critical or commercial records given here
• The Italian article confirms the single releases and the Arista label with BMG distribution

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title track appears in a long segment of the British sitcom Only Fools and Horses, in the episode 'Fatal Extraction'.
• In that scene Del Boy, played by David Jason, starts singing the song outside a block of flats late at night after drinking, and it starts a riot.
• Manilow wrote the title track alone, as the Italian article notes.
• 'Ships' comes from Ian Hunter, so the album includes a song from another writer.
• The CD bonus track 'They Gave In to the Blues' was a non-LP B-side of 'Ships' and appears on the 1998 and 2006 remasters.
• The 2006 remaster adds three demos: 'Learning to Live Without You', 'Where I Want to Be' and 'I Let Myself Believe'.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

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