"When October Goes" is a ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

 based on a lyric

Lyrics

Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...

 Johnny Mercer

Johnny Mercer

John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...

 had written but did not complete. It was matched up to a melody by Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...

 and published in 1984, becoming one of the top Adult Contemporary hits of that year in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

In his last year, as he was dying from brain cancer, Mercer became extremely fond of Manilow, in part because Manilow's first hit record was of a song titled "Mandy

Mandy (song)

"Mandy", originally titled "Brandy", is a song jointly written and composed by Scott English and Richard Kerr."Brandy" had been a hit in 1971 for Scott English in the UK and in 1972 for Bunny Walters in New Zealand...

," which was also the name of Mercer's daughter. After Mercer's death, his widow, Ginger Mehan Mercer, arranged to give some unfinished lyrics he had written to Manilow to possibly develop into complete songs. Among these was "When October Goes." Manilow applied his own melody to the lyric and issued it as a single in 1984. The song has since been recorded by Kevin Mahogany

Kevin Mahogany

Kevin Mahogany is an American jazz vocalist who became prominent in the 1990s. He is known for his scat singing, and his singing style has been compared with jazz singers Joe Williams and Johnny Hartman....

 , Rosemary Clooney

Rosemary Clooney

Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...

, Nancy Wilson

Nancy Wilson (singer)

Nancy Wilson is an American singer with more than 70 albums, and three Grammy Awards. She has been labeled a singer of blues, jazz, cabaret and pop; a "consummate actress"; and "the complete entertainer." The title she prefers, however, is song stylist...

 and Megon McDonough

Megon McDonough

Megon McDonough is an American folk/cabaret singer-songwriter and actress, from Chicago, Illinois. After her early solo recording career brought national attention, she became a founding member of Four Bitchin' Babes, performing and recording with them from 1990 to 2001 and then resuming her solo...

. Thomas Anders

Thomas Anders

Thomas Anders is a German singer, composer and record producer. Anders was the lead singer of Germany's popular pop-duo Modern Talking in 1984–1987 and in 1998–2003.-Early years:...

 (of Modern Talking

Modern Talking

Modern Talking was a German dance pop duo consisting of Thomas Anders and Dieter Bohlen. Their music has often been classified as Europop. They have been referred to as Germany's most successful pop duo, and have had a number of hit singles, reaching the top 5 in many countries...

 fame) recorded his version in 1997 on the album Live Concert

Live Concert (album)

Live Concert is the title of the seventh album by singer-songwriter & producer Thomas Anders. It is his first solo album to be recorded live....

. Recently, Lea Salonga

Lea Salonga

Lea Salonga-Chien is a mezzo-soprano singer and actress from the Philippines well known for originating the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, for which she won the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Theatre World awards.She was the first Asian to play the roles of Éponine and...

 performed the song on her album Inspired.

This song first appeared on the album 2:00 AM Paradise Cafe

2:00 AM Paradise Cafe

-Side Two:-Personnel:*Barry Manilow – vocals, keyboards, piano*Mel Tormé – vocals*Sarah Vaughan – vocals*Bill Mays – piano, Fender Rhodes*Gerry Mulligan – baritone Saxophone*Mundell Lowe – electric guitar, acoustic guitar...

.

This is also the title of an album put out by Rounder Records

Rounder Records

Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...

 and produced by Christine Lavin

Christine Lavin

Christine Lavin is a New York City-based singer-songwriter and promoter of contemporary folk music. She has recorded numerous solo albums, and has also recorded with other female folk artists under the name Four Bitchin' Babes...

, which features the title song and other fall related songs by singer/songwriters.