Looking Glass

It's never easy when a band has a debut hit with a song which is unrepresentative of their core material, but that's exactly what happened to New Jersey rock band Looking Glass. Concert goers lured to the live shows by the promise of the band's AM radio easy-listening hit Brandy were disappointed to discover Looking Glass were actually a real live rock band. The group themselves were perhaps complicit in the deception because the follow-ups to Brandy were along a similar vein, featuring string and horn overdubs which were at odds with the band's guitar-based live sound. Elliot Lurie, the band's founder and main songwriting talent became disillusioned with the disparity between the band's radio persona and its true character prompting Lurie to quit the group in 1974 to pursue what was to become an unsuccessful solo career. Looking Glass soldiered on for another year before disbanding in 1975. Lurie eventually moved into the film industry overseeing musical scores for films which included The Last of the Mohicans, Alien 3, Die Hard 2 and Dying Young. In 2003 Lurie and bassist Sweval toured with a show featuring various Looking Glass hits and album tracks as well as contemporary popular songs.