Sep 24, 20202 min read

Don't Cry Out Loud (1978) 9/25/20

My circle of theatrical friends may know today's “Great Song of the '70s” as a show tune. It is, but it didn't start as one.

The song was written by Liza Minelli's ex-husband, Peter Allen—who was a quite a showman himself, and the subject of “The Boy from Oz.” (“Oz,” as in Australia.), an autobiographical “jukebox” musical using his songs.

Peter composed “Don't Cry Out Loud” with award-winning songwriter Carole Bager Sayer. Ann-Margret and Bernadette Peters, both of whom toured with Peter, have said the song is based on something his mother told him after his father committed suicide when Peter was 14: “We don't cry out loud, so put your best face forward.” The “Baby” in the song refers to Peter's younger sister.

In 1976, long before the musical was created, it was recorded by The Moments, who barely scratched the charts with it at #79.

In 1978, Melissa Manchester was about to release a new album, but Clive Davis, the legendary president of Arista Records and music guru, thought it lacked a big hit and strongly suggested she record “Don't Cry Out Loud.” Melissa resisted. She didn't like the song, saying the lyrics were the polar opposite of the more upbeat songs she was currently writing with—yes--Carole Bager Sayer. (Coincidence? Probably not.)

But when Clive Davis wanted you to record something, YOU RECORDED IT! So Melissa went into the studio and poured her frustration into the vocal. Of course, Clive LOVED the interpretation, and decided to release it as a single.

It went right to #10 on Billboard's Hot 100 and #9 on the Adult Contemporary Chart. In Canada, it reached #9 on the Top 40.

Melissa was still a little ticked off, but the more she listened to it, the more she fell in love with the song, and the history and meaning behind it.

As time passed, Peter himself covered it, as well Liza and Rita Coolidge. In 1998, “The Boy From Oz” opened in Australia, and in 2003, it opened on Broadway with Hugh Jackman starring. The role won Hugh TWO Tony Awards for “Best Actor in a Musical.”

“Don't Cry Out Loud” is sung by Peter's mother in ACT II, a powerful moment when he tries but fails to tell her he has AIDS—mirroring Peter Allen's real life story.

You can hear that power in Melissa's version—which predated not only the musical, but Peter's diagnosis, by almost two decades.

“Don't Cry Out Loud:” A “Great Song of the '70s"...and of Musical Theatre.

Melissa Manchester: