Tryin' to Get the Feeling

Tryin' to Get the Feeling is the third studio album by singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, released in 1975. It featured the title track, "Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again", with other hits including "New York City Rhythm", "Bandstand Boogie" (the theme from the long-running ABC series American Bandstand) and the chart topping "I Write the Songs". The album debuted on the Billboard Top 200 Chart on November 8, 1975, reaching number five in early 1976. The album was certified triple platinum. The Piano Player sculpture on the album's front cover was created by Italian artist Dino Bencini. Both front and back cover art were later parodied by Ray Stevens on the cover of his 1979 album The Feeling's Not Right Again, which contains the song “I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow.” One of the album's commercially overlooked songs was "She's a Star". Enoch Anderson's lyrics paint the picture of a female singer's struggles with fame and stage fright from a band member's perspective, which some listeners could reasonably presume to describe Bette Midler's feelings about Manilow when he became a successful solo act in his own right. The song got a modern uptempo makeover to fit the male lead (as "He's a Star") for Manilow's 2011 rock opera 15 Minutes.