Gary Portnoy

Gary Portnoy
Born June 1956
Origin Long Island, New York
Genres Pop music, Country music
Occupation(s) Vocalist, Musician, Songwriter
Years active 1980–present
Website http://garyportnoy.com/

Gary Portnoy (born June 1956) is an American musician and singer-songwriter from the state of New York best known for co-writing and singing the theme song for Cheers, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name". He also co-authored and sang the theme song to the NBC family sitcom Punky Brewster and composed the theme music for the long-running television series, Mr. Belvedere.

Career

In the early 1980s, Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo set out to write a theme for Cheers. After their first two attempts were rejected, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" was selected.[1]

Prior to that, Portnoy's songs had been recorded by various artists, including Dolly Parton's "Say Goodnight" (co-written by Susan Sheridan) and Air Supply's I'll Never Get Enough of You (co-written by Jeanne Napoli and Judy Quay). He also recorded and released a self-titled album in 1980 for Columbia Records.

Portnoy also wrote several songs for the NBC television series, Fame, including the Emmy-nominated track for Best Original Song, "I Still Believe In Me" (co-written by Susan Sheridan) as well as "It's Gonna Be a Long Night" (co-written by Estelle Levitt). Both songs were featured on the 1982 album, The Kids from "Fame". Portnoy also received an Emmy nomination for the Cheers theme, as well as six consecutive ASCAP awards during the 1980s for the Most Performed Television Themes of the year.

In 2003, after a hiatus from the music business during the 1990s, Portnoy released the 12-track album Keeper, which includes the full-length version of "Where Everybody Knows Your Name". In 2007, he followed with the release of the autobiographical 12-track album, Destiny, which contains a full-length version of the theme song for Mr. Belvedere (whose original version was sung by Leon Redbone). In 2010, Portnoy released the 12-track album, Songs Along The Way, which includes eleven newly penned compositions as well as the demo version of the Cheers theme song.

Discography

Albums

Songs recorded by other artists (partial list)

Recorded by Gail Wynters for her 1977 RCA album, Let The Lady Sing
Recorded by Mac Davis for his 1978 Columbia album, Fantasy
Recorded by Samantha Sang for her 1979 Private Stock album, From Dance To Love
Recorded by Cheryl Ladd for her 1979 Capitol album, Dance Forever
Recorded by Dolly Parton for her 1980 RCA album, Dolly, Dolly, Dolly
Recorded by Glen Campbell for his 1980 Capitol album, Something Bout You Baby I Like
Recorded by Keith Barrow for his 1980 Capitol album, Just As I Am
Recorded by Air Supply for their 1981 Arista album, The One that You Love
Recorded by Engelbert Humperdinck for his 1981 Columbia album, Don't You Love Me Anymore
Recorded by Engelbert Humperdinck for his 1981 Columbia album, Don't You Love Me Anymore
Recorded by Debbie Allen and Erica Gimpel as featured on the 1982 RCA album, The Kids From "Fame"
Recorded by Lori Singer as featured on the 1982 RCA album, The Kids From "Fame"
Recorded by Valerie Landsburg as featured on the 1982 RCA album, The Kids From "Fame" Again
Recorded by Valerie Landsburg as featured on the 1983 RCA album, The Kids From "Fame" Sing For You
Recorded by Roberto Carlos for his 1990 Columbia album, From Brazil With Love
Recorded by Leon Redbone as featured on the 1996 TVT album, Television's Greatest Hits Volume 6
Recorded by Samantha King for her 2002 SKMG album, This Is Forever
Recorded by Mammoth Jack for their 2002 Broken Bow album, Mammoth Jack
Recorded by Sarah Gayle Taylor for her 2008 Lure album, Texas Sweetheart

References