"Sandra" is a song written by

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", "I Write the Songs", " Can ...

and Enoch Anderson. A piano-based

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, the song takes the voice of a lonely housewife looking back at missed opportunities, because she married at an early age. It was originally recorded by Manilow on his album, ''

Barry Manilow II ''Barry Manilow II'' is the second studio album by Barry Manilow released in 1974. Propelled by the major success of its lead single " Mandy" and featuring a further international hit in " It's a Miracle", the album was a commercial breakthrough f ...

'' in 1974.

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop music, p ...

covered the song on her 1978 album ''

It Begins Again ''It Begins Again'' is the tenth studio album recorded by Dusty Springfield and the ninth released. Recorded during the middle of 1977, ''It Begins Again'' was her first completed and released album since '' Cameo'' five years earlier. Two of ...

''. In a contemporary interview with ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'', Springfield praised the song's "own inbuilt drama" and considered it to be more personal when sung by a woman. Entertainer

Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was a British entertainer and presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series '' Sunday Nig ...

recorded a version for his 1975 album ''The Bruce Forsyth Album''. This version was Forsyth's first American single release, on

Warner Bros Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

References

1974 songs Barry Manilow songs Dusty Springfield songs {{1970s-song-stub