Articles and Reviews
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| August 26, 2008 | Press Release | Manilow Set to Perform in Manchester, UK: Tickets for 8 December Show Available Friday, 29 August |
| "Ultimate Manilow: The Hits...and then some," Barry Manilow's highly anticipated non-stop hit-filled concert, is arriving in Manchester, UK on Monday, 8 December. Manilow fans have clamored for more since the announcement of his performing on 4, 6 and 7 December, 2008 at the O2 Arena so Manilow is answering that demand by adding a performance on 8 December at the Manchester Evening News Arena. Tickets go on sale Friday, 29 August at 9 am through Ticketline at http://www.ticketline.co.uk, Ticketmaster at http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk, or See Tickets at http://www.seetickets.com. After hundreds of sold out performances at The Las Vegas Hilton since opening in 2005, "Ultimate Manilow: The Hits ... and then some" will offer a larger-than-life experience, providing the audience with a truly unique evening of songs and memories! Manilow has been touted in Las Vegas as "one of the most popular singers in America" (NY Times), and is "among the best in the business" (Variety), with the Las Vegas Review-Journal urging concert-goers to "jump out of your seat and join the party!" The show Manilow will bring to the UK will be tailor-made for his beloved British fans. "The British public and I have had a long standing love affair for over 30 years. There is no audience for me like the people who party with me at a concert in the UK." Manilow says, "I am creating a show that I can only do in Britain. If I tried to do the show I'm putting together for the December concerts anywhere else in the world, the audiences would think I was nuts! But my British fans and I know better. We'll have a ball!" With worldwide record sales exceeding 75 million, his work as a singer, songwriter, arranger and producer has earned Barry Manilow the highest honors and the distinction of being a powerful and commanding performer. Last year, Manilow released his 60th album of his career, The Greatest Songs of the Seventies, which became his third top-selling album in the span of two years. Billboard Magazine recently stated: "Among the few things one can count on in life: the taste of McDonald's cheeseburgers, 'I Love Lucy' reruns are still funny-and Barry Manilow never wearing out his welcome at the top of the charts." The pop icon has written hundreds of songs and performed around the globe thrilling millions of fans, winning a Grammy, two Emmys, several Tony Awards and an Oscar nomination along the way. Proclaimed by Rolling Stone magazine "The Showman of Our Generation," Manilow's unparalleled career encompasses virtually every arena of music, including performing, composing, arranging, and producing. A Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, his career includes 25 consecutive Top 40 hits such as Even Now, This One's for You, Weekend in New England, I Write the Songs, Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again and Copacabana (At the Copa). In 1978, five of Manilow's albums were on the charts simultaneously -- a record rivaled only by Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mathis. Industry charts rank him the undisputed Number One Adult Contemporary Artist of All Time. Concert-goers will have a chance to enter a contest to win a wild weekend in Vegas to see his new show, "ULTIMATE MANILOW: The Hits," at the Las Vegas Hilton throughout 2009. | ||
| August 12, 2008 | Chester Chronicle | "Barry Manilow to play Manchester in December" by Michael Green |
| Legendary entertainer Barry Manilow returns to the MEN Arena in Manchester on Monday, December 8 with his new show "Ultimate Manilow: The Hits . . . and then some". Tickets, priced £40, £50, £60 and £70, go on sale 9am Friday, August 29. Described by Rolling Stone magazine as "The Showman of Our Generation", Manilow returns to Manchester for the first time since his sold-out 2002 Arena show. Speaking ahead of his Manchester show – a concert tailor-made for his British fans – Manilow said: "The British public and I have had a long standing love affair for over 30 years. There is no audience for me like the people who party with me at a concert in the UK." Manilow has sold more than 76 million records worldwide - including last year's The Greatest Songs of the Seventies - and has won the American Music Award for Favourite Pop/Rock Male Artist three times. In 1978, five of Manilow's albums were on the best-selling charts simultaneously – a feat equalled only by Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mathis. Manilow's many hits include "Mandy," "Copacabana," "Could It Be Magic," "Can't Smile Without You" and "I Write the Songs." Tickets may be subject to a booking fee and are available via the 24 Hour Ticketmaster Hotline 0844 847 8000; to personal callers from the M.E.N Arena Box Office (10am-6pm: Mon-Sat); via post (send sae & cheque payable to SMG UK Ltd) ; via e-ticket centres at selected zavvi stores (formerly Virgin Megastores) and via the venue's official website men-arena.com. Special Needs Ticketline 0161 950 5229 (10am-5pm: Mon-Fri). Group bookings: 0870 169 6888 | ||
| July 11, 2008 | The Desert Sun | "Secrets Out: Even Hellboy loves Palm Springs' own Barry Manilow" by Bruce Fessier |
| Palm Springs resident Barry Manilow has to be all smiles. His 1978 hit, "Can't Smile Without You" is creating a sensation in Guillermo del Toro's latest film, "Hellboy 2: The Golden Army," which opened Friday. Film critic Peter Hartlaub says the film's soundtrack, featuring music ranging from Manilow to Vivaldi, contributes to its "hip retro charm." Even del Toro has been telling reporters his favorite scene is when Hellboy, played by Ron Perlman, sings "Can't Smile Without You." "I think everybody is a secret admirer of Barry Manilow," del Toro recently told MTV. "When I was kid I used to be fully into punk; you know, the Sex Pistols, the Ramones - and/or progressive rock - Peter Gabriel, Genesis, Pink Floyd. But secretly, at the end of the day, the cassette that went into my car was 'Mandy.'" Manilow's publicist, Carol Marshall, says Manilow often has songs placed in movies. But this one is getting unusual attention. "It is generating a lot of buzz," said Marshall, "but, it seems like anything about Barry generates a lot of buzz." Just last month, Janet Jackson admitted she had such a childhood crush on Manilow, saying, "I used to kiss the screen when he would come on TV." "A lot of people picked that up," said Marshall. "Every day was like, 'Janet Jackson! Janet Jackson!'" "Can't Smile Without You" is creating an even bigger buzz in Great Britain. A new musical by that name is previewing Aug. 28 in Kent featuring 30 Manilow hits. It begins a tour of England Sept. 15 in Liverpool. A reporter for The Mail of London recently interviewed Manilow at Hotel Zoso in Palm Springs for a rare story in which the singer discussed his personal life. Manilow says in the piece, which ran Tuesday, that his mother and step-father had problems with alcoholism. "I got through because of the music," he's quoted as saying, "but it wasn't a fun time and I really feel for young kids raised by alcoholics. I made a decision not to go that way myself." Manilow will go back into the recording studios next week to begin work on his fourth "decade" album for Clive Davis. This one will sample the greatest hits of the 1980s. His "Greatest Hits of the Fifties" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart in 2006. | ||
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| July 31, 2008 | Crosby Herald | Can't Smile Without You, featuring the songs of Barry Manilow, comes to the Liverpool Empire from September 15-20" by Kathryn Carr |
| Fans of singing sensation Barry Manilow are in for a treat this September as Bill Kenwright brings brand the show Can't Smile Without You to the Liverpool Empire. Running from September 15-20, Can't Smile Without You is a new musical love story featuring all the timeless hits from Barry Manilow. It tells the tale of an aspiring young band on a visit to New York who come across an opportunity not to be missed: Auditions for the latest reality TV show to find the next pop music sensation. When the TV company offers lead singer Tony a chance to appear on the show, the other band members give him their unconditional blessing. But before Tony can realise his dream, he is caught up in a tragic sequence of events which leave him fighting for his life. Left with no memory, his dreams are all but shattered. His only hope lies in the power of the music he loves and his feelings for a girl he once knew called Mandy... Barry Manilow, one of the most successful music artists of all time, has sold more than 75 million records worldwide and at the height of his success had five albums on the best-seller charts in the US. This new musical, fully endorsed by Barry Manilow and his music executive Garry Kief, includes more than 30 of Barry's hit songs including "Could it be Magic," "It's a Miracle," "I Write the Songs," "Mandy," "I Made it through the Rain," "Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again" and of, course, "Can't Smile Without You," as well as many more. Tickets range from £8.50 – £30.50. For more information call the box office on 0844 847 2525 or visit www.LiverpoolEmpire.org.uk | ||
| July 24, 2008 | Liverpool Daily Post | "Manilow's music celebrated on stage" by Emma Pinch |
| Theatre impresario Bill Kenwright is to bring his new musical based on the life of Barry Manilow to the Liverpool stage. Can't Smile Without You will feature more than 30 hits from the lengthy back catalogue of the Copacabana singer set to a musical love story, which, though not based on his life, comes with his endorsement. Running from September 15-20, 2008, Monday to Saturday, 7.30pm, Wednesday and Saturday, 2.30pm matinee, at the Empire, Can't Smile Without You tells the story of a young band whose lead singer, Tony, is offered the chance to star in a new TV show to find the next pop music sensation when they visit New York. But before Tony can realise his dream, he is caught up in a tragic sequence of events which leaves him fighting for his life, with no memory and his dreams in tatters. His only hope lies in the power of music and his feelings for a girl he once knew called Mandy. Hit songs featured include "Could it be Magic," "It's a Miracle," "I Write the Songs," "Mandy," "I Made It Through the Rain," "Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again," as well as "Can't Smile Without You." | ||
| July 19, 2008 | The Desert Sun | "Barry Manilow special gets Emmy nod" by Bruce Fessier |
| Barry Manilow's PBS television special, "Barry Manilow: Songs From The Seventies," received an Emmy nomination earlier this week for Outstanding Music Direction. But Manilow said the credit belongs to his music director. "I just want to say how proud I am of Ron Walters that he got the nod," Manilow said in a statement from a publicist. Manilow, whose primary residence is in Palm Springs, is staying at his Malibu home while recording his latest greatest hits album focusing on the 1980s. A report in the Globe newspaper said he was ill and weighing just 100 pounds, but publicist Stephenie Hope denied that. She called to get Manilow's reaction to the Emmy nomination Friday, and, upon asking how he was, she said he jokingly replied, "Didn't you hear? I'm dying!" Actually, he's also rehearsing his new Las Vegas show, planning an arena show and enjoying the beach, Hope said. "Granted, he's pretty trim," she said. "But 100 pounds? Give us a break. Even Mary Kate and Ashley weigh more than 100 pounds. And no, he's not ill." Manilow won an Emmy in 2006 for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program for his PBS special "Barry Manilow: Music and Passion." | ||
| July 10, 2008 | Top 40 Charts | Barry Manilow Adds To O2 Arena Dates In London Due To Popular Response |
| Due to an overwhelming response to his non-stop hit-filled concert, "Ultimate Manilow: The Hits...and then some," Barry Manilow has extended his previously announced appearance at London's O2 Arena on 4th and 6th December by adding a third show on Sunday 7th December. Tickets go on sale Sunday 13th July at 9 am through Ticketline at http://www.ticketline.co.uk, O2 Arena at http://www.theo2.co.uk, Ticketmaster at http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk, or See Tickets at http://www.seetickets.com.
Danny Betesh and Andrew Miller, Manilow's UK concert promoters since 1978, reported that they have never experienced such demand. "It's impossible to make an outgoing call," reported Miller, "as my telephone has yet to stop ringing from friends calling for tickets." After hundreds of sold out performances at The Las Vegas Hilton since opening in 2005, "Ultimate Manilow: The Hits ... and then some" will offer a larger-than-life experience, providing the audience with a truly unique evening of songs and memories! Manilow has been touted in Las Vegas as "one of the most popular singers in America" (NY Times), and is "among the best in the business" (Variety), with the Las Vegas Review-Journal urging concert-goers to "jump out of your seat and join the party!" The show Manilow will bring to London will be tailor-made for his beloved British fans. "The British public and I have had a long standing love affair for over 30 years. There is no audience for me like the people who party with me at a concert in the UK." Manilow says, "I am creating a show that I can only do in Britain. If I tried to do the show I'm putting together for the December concerts anywhere else in the world, the audiences would think I was nuts! But my British fans and I know better. We'll have a ball!" With worldwide record sales exceeding 75 million, his work as a singer, songwriter, arranger and producer has earned Barry Manilow the highest honors and the distinction of being a powerful and commanding performer. Last year, Manilow released his 60th album of his career, The Greatest Songs of the Seventies, which became his third top-selling album in the span of two years. Billboard Magazine recently stated: "Among the few things one can count on in life: the taste of McDonald's cheeseburgers, 'I Love Lucy' reruns are still funny - and Barry Manilow never wearing out his welcome at the top of the charts." The pop icon has written hundreds of songs and performed around the globe thrilling millions of fans, winning a Grammy, two Emmys, several Tony Awards and an Oscar nomination along the way. Proclaimed by Rolling Stone magazine "The Showman of Our Generation," Manilow's unparalleled career encompasses virtually every arena of music, including performing, composing, arranging, and producing. A Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, his career includes 25 consecutive Top 40 hits such as "Even Now," "This One's for You," "Weekend in New England," "I Write the Songs," "Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again" and "Copacabana (At the Copa)." In 1978, five of Manilow's albums were on the charts simultaneously - a record rivaled only by Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mathis. Industry charts rank him the undisputed Number One Adult Contemporary Artist of All Time. Concertgoers will have a chance to enter a contest to win a wild weekend in Vegas to see "Manilow: Music and Passion," which continues at the Las Vegas Hilton throughout 2009. | ||
| July 3, 2008 | Mail On Sunday - You Magazine | "Barry Manilow: why we still love the King of Kitsch" by Lina Das |
| With a career spanning four decades and sales of 80 million albums, there are few artists who can match Barry Manilow's megastar status. As The Mail on Sunday prepares to give away a brilliant 12-track CD of some of his greatest songs, we meet the legend who is attracting a whole new generation of "fanilows." It's a swelteringly hot day in Palm Springs, California, and guests at the luxury Hotel Zoso are quietly wilting into their cappuccinos when Barry Manilow strides in looking cool and crisp in a black shirt, grey trousers and black shoes buffed to a T. He's slim as a whippet, his trademark blond hair is bristling with energy and, at 65, he has the zest of a man half his age. He is just back from a series of sellout dates in Canada, where, instead of the aging audience you might expect, he was amazed by the "young, vibrant" reception he got. "Every year I think to myself, this is it, it's all going to stop. But," he shrugs, looking incredulous, "it just keeps going." It does indeed. In December, Manilow will be playing two dates at London's O2 arena. His songs have been covered by the likes of Take That and Westlife, and though the critics have been savage at times, frankly, what do they know? Sinatra, who knew a thing or two about a good tune, heard Manilow sing back in the 70s and declared, "He's next." Bob Dylan cornered him at a party in the '80s when the critics were being particularly ferocious, and implored Manilow, "Don't stop what you're doing, man. We're all inspired by you." And now the man we love to call King of Kitsch is winning a whole new generation of fans through shows such as American Idol, on which he has made guest appearances to coach the contestants. Two years ago, he made headlines when his new album debuted at number one in the US charts. It would have been labelled a comeback but for the simple fact that Manilow had never actually gone away. And it forced even his harshest critics to concede that the man who had sold almost 80 million records worldwide was worthy of legend status. As legends go, though, Manilow is surprisingly modest. "I come from nowhere and since none of my family or friends had a career in this business, I never took any success I had for granted," he says. "I was just happy being a musician and was hoping to get out of the poverty [he grew up in Brooklyn, the son of Russian immigrants]. I never cared about having hits or money or fame – I just wanted to do what I wanted to do." Certainly no one could accuse Manilow of not singing from his heart. He was the inventor of the power ballad, and the last decade in particular has seen him accorded due respect for his writing talents in his native America. His fan club is thought to be the largest in the world. And it is really only in Britain that he has suffered both from juvenile cracks about his famously beaky nose ("No, that doesn’t bother me at all") and from the perception that his fan base consists almost entirely of females of the screaming persuasion. His most ardent followers have been dubbed "fanilows," but Manilow shudders at the expression. "I don't like the word fan. The people who come to see me are loyal and some of them come to so many shows that they feel like friends now." An intensely private man normally, Manilow has always preferred to let his music rather than his personal life do the talking. Music, he says, provided him with a means of communication and an escape from the difficulties of his upbringing. Born Barry Alan Pincus (Manilow is his mother’s maiden name), he experienced poverty and abandonment in his formative years. The only child of Harold and Edna, who divorced when he was two, he rarely got to see his father. Instead, he and his mother shared their household with Edna's parents, Esther and Joseph. "My mother worked as a secretary, supporting the family, and my grandparents worked in a hat factory. It was a struggle at times. My playgrounds were alleys lined with rubbish bins. But I knew there was a better life out there. And what I had in abundance while I was growing up was love, and that can really take you far. Whatever I did, I was told I was great. My family were like, "Oh my God, he blew his nose! Isn't he amazing?" And when you're told you're great as a child, you believe it. Because of that I've never felt like a failure." His grandparents encouraged him to take up the accordion, and when he started singing tunes for his family, they soon realised they had a huge talent on their hands. "My whole family knew I was musical," he says. "They were unsophisticated and didn't know anything about the music business, but they never stopped encouraging me." A huge turning point came when Barry was 13 and his mother married for the second time. Her new husband, Willie Murphy, "was a truck driver for a beer company – quite a tough, scary guy for a boy who'd been raised largely by women up until then. Had I missed my father? Well, I didn't know the difference at that age because it seemed so normal to me and I was just this happy little moron doing his own thing. But then [Willie] came along; he was the first real father figure I had. He had great taste in music and his stack of albums was like a stack of gold to me. Albums by Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Sinatra – that was like a real epiphany. He also threw out my accordion and got me a piano, and that, basically, changed my life." By 15, Barry had started writing his own music and had formed a jazz band. "I knew I was good at music, and I loved it, and to be young and to know what you want to do with your life is a great thing." Around this time, however, Barry's home life began to suffer. His mother and stepfather had begun drinking heavily and, says Manilow, "they both had problems with alcoholism. I was older by then and able to deal with it, but it does affect you. You spend your life looking over your shoulder, wondering what's going to happen next. I got through because of the music, but it wasn't a fun time and I really feel for young kids raised by alcoholics. I made a decision not to go that way myself." Though his mother died in 1994, his stepfather is in his 80s and very much alive "and he still has the most incredible musical taste." Manilow had no contact with his birth father when he was growing up, although when Barry had become famous, Harold turned up to visit his son backstage. "I was pretty stunned to see him," says Manilow. "My girlfriend at the time, Linda [Allen, a TV production assistant], was blubbing at the reunion, but to tell you the truth, I felt so distant from the entire subject and from him that I was more of an observer to the scene. Willie was the father figure in my life and we're still in touch; he changed my life." After leaving home, Manilow studied at the New York College of Music and the Juilliard School of Music, working in the CBS TV network's post room to pay for his tuition. He began his career as a commercial jingle writer, also singing on adverts for KFC and Pepsi. In 1971 he met Bette Midler and went on to become her pianist and music director; at Midler’s insistence, he helped produce her first two albums. In 1973, at the age of 30, he recorded his debut album, simply called Barry Manilow, and when the label he was signed to was taken over by Arista Records, its founder, the renowned impresario Clive Davis, insisted on keeping Manilow. It was Davis who became Barry's mentor and who gave him his big break by insisting he record a song that Manilow was initially reluctant to sing because he hadn't written it himself. That song – "Mandy" – went on to become his first number one, and he then enjoyed a string of hits through the 70s and the early 80s, including "Can't Smile Without You" and "Copacabana." Success, though, brought pressures of its own. As he says, "You can get books on grief and self-help, but there aren't any books on how to handle success. Generally, you get it when you're quite young, and you get it quickly, and that's a difficult combination. After 'Mandy' came out, I fell into the trap of thinking I was so great," he says. "About three or four years into my success, I looked around and realised that I didn't have any friends left. Everyone around me I was paying, and they were "yes-sing" me to death. So I started calling up all my old friends and pulled myself together, because I wanted a real life. But it's so tempting to give in to the success, and maybe that's what we're seeing with Amy Winehouse and Britney Spears. It's hard because when you become successful the people around you are too scared of losing their jobs to say no to you; I've been there and I know that you have to want a real life and be firm about getting it." With a Grammy, an Emmy and a Tony to his name, there seems little left for the man to achieve. His songs are his "babies" although real babies seem to have eluded him ("Having children just doesn't seem to have been on the cards for me"). His marriage to childhood sweetheart Susan Deixler was annulled in the '60s after less than two years, and since then he has remained tight-lipped about his private life. His relationship with Linda Allen lasted for more than two decades, but they have since split. "We're still friends. I'm a bachelor, but I'm having fun," he says. To echo the words he sang, he writes the songs that make the whole world sing. And if that continues, millions of fans won't be complaining. | ||
| June 12, 2008 | Press Release (Source: Barry Manilow) | Manilow Returns to the UK: Tickets for Exclusive Appearance at the O2 Arena Go On Sale Saturday, June 14 |
| LOS ANGELES, June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Barry Manilow, a true legend of our time, finally returns to the UK with his non-stop hit-filled concert, "Ultimate Manilow: The Hits ... and then some," December 4 and 6, 2008 at the O2 Arena. Tickets go on sale Saturday, June 14 at 9 am through Ticketline at http://www.ticketline.co.uk, O2 Arena at http://www.theo2.co.uk, Ticketmaster at http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk, or See Tickets at http://www.seetickets.com. After hundreds of sold out performances at The Las Vegas Hilton since opening in 2005, "Ultimate Manilow: The Hits ... and then some" will offer a larger-than-life experience, providing the audience with a truly unique evening of songs and memories! Manilow has been touted in Las Vegas as "one of the most popular singers in America" (NY Times), and is "among the best in the business" (Variety), with the Las Vegas Review-Journal urging concert-goers to "jump out of your seat and join the party!" The show Manilow will bring to London will be tailor-made for his beloved British fans. "The British public and I have had a long standing love affair for over 30 years. There is no audience for me like the people who party with me at a concert in the UK," Manilow says. "I am creating a show that I can only do in Britain. If I tried to do the show I'm putting together for the December concerts anywhere else in the world, the audiences would think I was nuts! But my British fans and I know better. We'll have a ball!" Danny Betesh and Andrew Miller, Manilow's UK concert promoters since 1978, reported that they have never experienced such demand. "It's impossible to make an outgoing call," reported Miller, "as my telephone has yet to stop ringing from friends calling for tickets." With worldwide record sales exceeding 75 million, his work as a singer, songwriter, arranger and producer has earned Barry Manilow the highest honors and the distinction of being a powerful and commanding performer. Last year, Manilow released his 60th album of his career, The Greatest Songs of the Seventies, which became his third top-selling album in the span of two years. Billboard Magazine recently stated: "Among the few things one can count on in life: the taste of McDonald's cheeseburgers, 'I Love Lucy' reruns are still funny -- and Barry Manilow never wearing out his welcome at the top of the charts." The pop icon has written hundreds of songs and performed around the globe thrilling millions of fans, winning a Grammy, two Emmys, several Tony Awards and an Oscar nomination along the way. Proclaimed by Rolling Stone magazine "The Showman of Our Generation," Manilow's unparalleled career encompasses virtually every arena of music, including performing, composing, arranging, and producing. A Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, his career includes 25 consecutive Top 40 hits such as Even Now, This One's for You, Weekend in New England, I Write the Songs, Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again and Copacabana (At the Copa). In 1978, five of Manilow's albums were on the charts simultaneously -- a record rivaled only by Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mathis. Industry charts rank him the undisputed Number One Adult Contemporary Artist of All Time. Concertgoers will have a chance to enter a contest to win a wild weekend in Vegas to see "Manilow: Music and Passion," which continues at the Las Vegas Hilton throughout 2009. | ||
| June 13, 2008 | Undercover.com | "Barry Manilow Is Leaving Las Vegas For London" by Paul Cashmere |
| Barry Manilow is getting out of Vegas to take his 'Ultimate Manilow: The Hits ... and then some" tour to the UK. Manilow will perform at London's O2 Arena on December 4 and 6. "The British public and I have had a long standing love affair for over 30 years. There is no audience for me like the people who party with me at a concert in the UK," Manilow says. "I am creating a show that I can only do in Britain. If I tried to do the show I'm putting together for the December concerts anywhere else in the world, the audiences would think I was nuts! But my British fans and I know better. We'll have a ball!" Barry Manilow has had a residency at the Las Vegas Hilton since 2005. Tickets go on sale Saturday. | ||
| June 15, 2008 | TVNZ.co.nz | Barry Manilow: Music and Passion |
| Barry Manilow's residency at the Las Vegas Hilton has been constantly sold out since it began in February 2005 and received a stream of rave reviews. Barry Manilow: Music and Passion is a multi-faceted musical show that features contemporary hi-tech music and effects intermingled with the classic entertainment values of Las Vegas legends like Sinatra and Presley. Starring Manilow and a cast of 14, Music and Passion offers not only a full-scale production but also the intimacy of a state-of-the-art 1700-seat theatre and unique onstage seating. Featuring all the hits like "Copacabana," "Mandy," "Even Now," and "Weekend in New England," as well as songs from his album "The Greatest Songs Of the Fifties," Music and Passion is really the story of Barry Manilow's life told through performance. | ||
| June 12, 2008 | Ticket News | "Barry Manilow tour heads to the UK" by Bob Grossweiner & Jane Cohen |
| Barry Manilow will perform at the O2 Arena in London, England on December 4 and 6 with tickets going on sale June 14. After hundreds of sold out performances at The Las Vegas Hilton in since opening in 2005, "Ultimate Manilow: The Hits ... and then some" will finally make it across the Atlantic Ocean. Danny Betesh and Andrew Miller, Manilow's UK concert promoters since 1978, report that they have never experienced such demand. "It's impossible to make an outgoing call," Miller said in a statement, "as my telephone has yet to stop ringing from friends calling for tickets." Manilow will bring a new, tailor-made show to England. "The British public and I have had a long standing love affair for over 30 years," added Manilow. "There is no audience for me like the people who party with me at a concert in the UK. I am creating a show that I can only do in Britain. If I tried to do the show I'm putting together for the December concerts anywhere else in the world, the audiences would think I was nuts! But my British fans and I know better. We'll have a ball!" | ||
| June 12, 2008 | Event Ticket Report | Barry Manilow Makes Waves Across The Atlantic |
| In only two days tickets to see Barry Manilow's live performance at the O2 Arena in London, England will go on sale to the public. Manilow’s UK concert promoters since 1978 expect a greater demand than they’ve ever experienced before. Manilow is best known for such recordings as "I Write the Songs," "Weekend in New England," "Copacabana," and "Mandy." In the course of his career, Manilow has sold over 76 million records worldwide and at one point, five of his albums were on the best-selling charts at the same time. For the past few years, Manilow has been headlining hundreds of shows at the Las Vegas Hilton. Now, he will finally make his way across the Atlantic to the delight of many European fans. Manilow has two scheduled performances at the O2 Arena, one on December 4th and the second on December 6th. For more ticketing information, visit Manilow’s website at http://www.manilow.com. | ||
| June 7, 2008 | CANOE--Jam! Music | "Concert Review: Barry Manilow in T.O." by Jane Stevenson |
| Manilow mania hit the Air Canada Centre on Saturday night as Barry Manilow brought his Sin City show - An Evening Of Music And Passion - to Toronto for the first time since he began his regular gig of the same name at the Las Vegas Hilton three years ago after releasing three consecutive hit albums of '50s, '60s and '70s covers. "I'm Celine Dion," he joked about the Quebec songbird who recently wrapped up her five-year stint at Ceasars Palace. "Looks like we made it!" added Manilow, 64, whose perma-tan, streaked, spikey blond hair and sharp black suit accented by sequined black tie and fuschia pocket puff and matching lining screamed Vegas showman. "It's been a long time. (July 4, 1997, at Kingswood as a fan reminded him). We've got music, you've got the passion!" he said addressing the "Fan-ilows" who screamed and waved green glow sticks. The Brooklyn-born Manilow, whose began as jingle writer, theatre composer and piano player for hire in the '60s before striking big in the '70s with his first No. 1 hit "Mandy," is nothing if not audience friendly. And he's still in strong voice. A mere 15-minutes into his 95-minute show, he took a tiny lift down to the floor to pluck a female out of the front row and slow dance with her on stage during "Ready To Take A Chance Again." "That was romantic," he said afterwards. "That's what's known as foreplay. This is the main course," he said when his piano magically appeared on stage and he launched into "Weekend In New England" on a platform that raised him up and down again as the song reached its climax. He also made sure to make eye contact and deployed dramatic arm gestures during such songs as "It's A Miracle," "Daybreak," "Bandstand Boogie," and told personal stories like the one about his grandfather taking him across the bridge from Brooklyn to Times Square to a "record your own voice booth" during "I Made It Through The Rain." He even played a snippet of that recording and showed a picture of his grandfather who was the first to stand up when he played Carnagie Hall, just down the street from that booth, prompting the entire audience that night to give him a standing ovation. Aiding Manilow in his quest to entertain was a 10-piece band including four singers-dancers and an orchestra seated behind him on a tiered stage dominated by a lit-up backdrop that showed off video, vintage pictures and footage. [His] tribute to the '60s - he's currently working on a '80s covers album - saw him sitting on a stool on an orange shag carpet beside a lava lamp going through his old record collection and smoking a "funny cigarette," before breaking into a medley that included "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," "Where Did Our Love Go," and "What The World Needs Now Is Love." Say what you will about the schmaltz-factor that such ballads as "Even Now," "Somewhere Down The Road," "Old Friends," "Forever And A Day" evoke, but Manilow has written some major heavy hitters over the last four decades and apparently had famous fans ranging from Frank Sinatra to Bob Dylan. Other highlights on Saturday night included "Could It Be Magic," which he explained what a rip-off of a Chopin prelude; "Mandy," which was preceded by a 1975 clip of him performing it on The Midnight Special and segued to him rising from beneath the floor behind a white piano in a white blazer; and "I Write The Songs" that prompted the first real crowd singalong followed by "Copacabana (At The Copa)" complete with his singer-dancers dressed as Vegas showgirls and a confetti and streamer explosion. | ||
| June 4, 2008 | Canadian Jewish News | "Barry Manilow on tour for the first time in years" by Marvin Glassman |
| When singer/songwriter Barry Manilow comes to the Bell Centre in Montreal June 5 as part of his first Canadian tour in 15 years, many of his fans will consider it a miracle (to paraphrase a Manilow hit song) that the 1970s chart-topper has ventured outside Las Vegas to perform at all. "When I agreed to perform in Las Vegas in 2000, I thought I said goodbye forever to touring," said Manilow in a telephone interview. "I loved the audiences, but hated the long journeys by plane and staying in hotels. But I missed seeing fans in Canada and elsewhere, so I agreed to do a series of one-night arena shows, which will be a little longer than the Vegas shows. Our show will have all the spectacular highlights of the Music and Passion shows that I do in Vegas," he said. Those who go to hear him will be impressed that Manilow, who turns 65 on June 17, still has an impeccable voice that resonates with emotion. And audiences at his arena shows thus far are so familiar with Manilow's 25 top 40 songs from the 1970s, including "Copacabana," "I Write The Songs" and "Weekend In New England," that many sang along with him. Manilow, who has sold more than 75 million records, loves sentiment and nostalgia. A highlight of the concerts will therefore be Manilow recalling his love for his late grandfather, Joseph Manilow, while singing "I Made It Through The Rain." "Grandpa coaxed me to sing Happy Birthday to my cousin in a Manhattan record-your-voice store when I was a toddler, and I wouldn't sing until years later. When I became a star in 1974, Grandpa gave me my first standing ovation and I was so nervous – but I knew that he was proud to see me at Carnegie Hall. How proud he was of seeing his grandson's star just blocks from the old record-your-voice studio," Manilow said. Manilow's willingness to share his emotional vulnerability is what makes him so endearing. Despite being a multimillionaire, he has never forgotten his humble roots, knowing there would have been no career without Grandpa and others in his life. His grandfather was the dominant male figure in the young Barry's life. Manilow was born in Brooklyn as Barry Alan Pincus, but his parents (a Jewish mother, Edna Manilow, and an Irish Catholic father, Harold Pincus) were divorced when Barry was two, and Pincus and his son never bonded from that point on. Manilow was raised by his mother and grandparents Esther and Joseph Manilow, Jewish immigrants from Russia who lived in a small Williamsburg apartment. Barry changed his surname to Manilow shortly before his bar mitzvah out of love for his zaide. He began his musical education on the accordion and refined it on the piano that he received as a bar mitzvah gift. "I hated the accordion. It seems that every Jewish kid had to play one. But when I played the piano, I knew music would be my passion and my ticket out of Brooklyn." For a time, things were dire for Manilow financially and emotionally. He nearly went bankrupt twice and had married and divorced his high school sweetheart by the age of 25. But he knew the craft of songwriting. For a time he coached singers wanting to audition on Broadway and was the musical director for Bette Midler. Manilow produced Midler's first album, as well as many more for several singers, before starring on his own in 1973 and developing a large fan base over the years. In addition to his many hit songs, Manilow also wrote the music for two musicals, Copacabana and Harmony. Harmony, a musical set in Nazi Germany in the 1930s, is based on the real-life story of The Comedian Harmonists, a group of three Jews (one a rabbi) and three non-Jews who were a popular singing group in Europe. The story, a mixture of comedy and drama, recalls how the group fell apart when they returned to Nazi Germany in the late '30s and disbanded because of the Holocaust. "The story is uplifting and may mean more to me because my relatives went through the Holocaust. [It has] songs that I wrote from Jewish cantorials and klezmer music." Harmony has never had the same success as Manilow's other projects, despite receiving positive reviews when the play debuted in San Diego in 1997, and despite many attempts by Manilow to stage it on Broadway, the play has not been seen in over a decade. "It's frustrating, because what is artistically good is not necessarily a commercial success. I am not producing Harmony anymore, but there are some producers that are willing to try again, and I hope Harmony can still come to Broadway. To this day, Harmony is the project in my career that I am most proud of." | ||
| June 2, 2008 | The Gazette (Montreal) | "'A lovely accident' Barry Manilow owes his entire career to mentor Clive Davis, who suggested his latest musical venture: covering classic songs" by Bernard Perusse |
| Scoffers, repent: the story about Bob Dylan and Barry Manilow is true. The oft-repeated anecdote, at first, seems too good to be anything but an urban legend: Dylan stops Manilow at a party in 1988, hugs him and says "Don't stop what you're doing, man. We're all inspired by you." But Manilow, who performs at the Bell Centre Thursday night, confirmed it during a recent telephone interview. "At first I thought (Dylan) was kidding around - or drunk. Or stoned," the singer said. "But I looked at him - and I think he was sincere. I hope he was sincere. It meant a lot to me." Another surprise for dismissive critics? Well, let's just say that Shelby Lynne's ultra-cool decision to pay tribute to the magnificent Dusty Springfield on her latest album, Just a Little Lovin', didn't come out of the blue: it was her friend Manilow's idea. Manilow, it seems, is currently on a commercial roll because he, too, took a career-boosting suggestion. His producer and mentor Clive Davis came up with the concept of the singer doing cover albums featuring No. 1 hits from each decade, starting with the 1950s. The first release, The Greatest Songs of the Fifties (2006), topped the Billboard charts, while its sequel, The Greatest Songs of the Sixties, from the same year, reached No. 2. The Greatest Songs of the Seventies, issued last fall, hit No. 4. No points for guessing the title of his next album, which he said he's working on now. "The whole concept of decades is all around Clive Davis," Manilow said. "Actually, my record career is really all about Clive Davis." Davis, who discovered Manilow, suggested he record a little thing called "Brandy" in 1974. A quick title change - to "Mandy" - and a star was born. "I probably would never have gone into the commercial singles (without Davis)," Manilow said. "I never even listened to the radio. I was on my way to doing everything else but singing and making pop records. I had no desire to do it. I was a musician." Indeed, Manilow's original connections to music came from listening to and playing jazz when he was growing up in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. "I was raised by my mother and my grandmother and my grandfather," he said. "They noticed that I had music in me, but they didn't know very much about music, so they threw an accordion in my hands when I was very young. Every Jewish and Italian kid had to play the accordion. It was the law. You had to play the accordion before they allowed you to leave Brooklyn." When Manilow's mother married for the second time and stepfather Willie Murphy came into his life, everything changed. "His love was jazz," Manilow said. "He brought into my life a stack of LPs that were a stack of gold to me. These records opened the door to my life: people like Bill Evans, Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, big band stuff, Coltrane. And then there were loads of Broadway scores, like The Most Happy Fella, Kismet and Gypsy. His taste was impeccable." Out went the accordion and in came a budget-priced spinet piano, courtesy of Murphy. In spite of the instrument's dubious sound quality, it might as well have been a Steinway. "It was the key out of poverty to me," Manilow said. "I hit the piano and listened to these jazz records and I knew where I needed to be." That key is currently unlocking arenas like the Bell Centre, where he will perform an adapted, expanded version of his Las Vegas Hilton show. The Vegas element in Manilow's shows might have conspired with his easy-listening records to provide some easy punch lines over the years. Comic writer Dave Barry famously used him as an analogy to denounce the weakness of American beer: "All the other nations are drinking Ray Charles beer, and we are drinking Barry Manilow beer," the humourist once wrote. And yet Manilow's sales - 75 million records worldwide, ranking him as Billboard's top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time - seem to make debate a bit academic. Those sales figures also made it awkward to leave Manilow songs off The Greatest Songs of the Seventies. That is, after all, the decade that made him a chart fixture. To resolve the problem, Manilow added a special unplugged selection of his own hits. The Manilow remakes follow the 12 evergreens by the likes of Frankie Valli, the Bee Gees, the Hollies and the Carpenters that make up the album proper. "This whole career of mine is a lovely accident, and I give the credit to Clive Davis for the whole thing," Manilow said. "Of course, I had my part of it. I've made some great records and I'm very proud of all of it." Barry Manilow performs Thursday night at 8 at the Bell Centre. Tickets cost $64.50 to $149.50. Call 514-790-1245 or go to www.admission.com. | ||
| May 29, 2008 | The Gazette (Montreal) | "What's On: Thursday" by Bernard Perusse |
When we recently spoke to Barry Manilow, who appears at the Bell Centre next Thursday (Tickets for his show cost $64.50 to $149.50. Call 514-790-1245 or order at www.admission.com), we decided to push our luck a bit and ask him to give us his current iPod faves. Not only did he oblige, by email, but he didn't even stop at the customary 10 selections. Here are the singer's top 13 - in which you'll notice a few surprises.
"Spotlight" Jennifer Hudson "Waltz for Debby" Bill Evans Trio "Gimme More" Britney Spears "World" Five for Fighting "The Pretender" Foo Fighters "Dindi" Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim "Here's to Life" Shirley Horn "I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore" Shelby Lynne "Bleed Like Me" Garbage "Fine Line" Paul McCartney "Fragile" Sting "San Diego Serenade" Tom Waits | ||
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| June 4, 2008 | What's On Stage | "Barry Manilow's Musical Smile Tours Pre West End" by Terri Paddock |
| Can't Smile Without You, based on the songs of American singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, will hit the stage this year. The new compilation musical opens on 28 August 2008 at Bromley's Churchill Theatre, where it continues until 6 September ahead of a three-month regional tour and planned West End transfer next year. Barry Manilow has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. At the height of his success in the late 1970s, he had five albums on the best-seller charts in the US. His many easy-listening singles include "I Write the Songs", "Mandy", "Looks Like We Made It", "Weekend in New England", "Ready to Take a Chance Again", "I Made It Through the Rain", "Can't Smile Without You" and "Copacabana". The last song was so popular that its story – about showgirl Lola and her jealous lover Tony – was made into a movie musical, which was aired in the US in 1985, starring Manilow himself as Tony. Following a shorter stage rendition in Las Vegas, Copacabana premiered as a full-length stage musical in 1994, running for more than a year at the West End's Prince of Wales Theatre. It was revived for a UK regional tour five years ago. Can't Smile Without You has a book by Tim Prager based on an original idea by Bill Kenwright, who also produces the show and co-directs it with Keith Strachan. The story centres around an aspiring young band who, on a visit to New York, come across an opportunity not to be missed - auditions for the latest reality TV show to find the next pop sensation. When the TV company offers lead singer Tony a chance to appear on the show, the other band members give him their blessing. But before Tony can realise his dream, he's caught up in a tragic sequence of events which leaves him fighting for his life. Left with no memory, his dreams are all but shattered. His only hope lies in the power of the music he loves and his feelings for a girl he once knew called Mandy. The new musical features more than 30 Manilow songs and is endorsed by Manilow and his music executive Garry Kief. The production is designed by Andy Walmsley with lighting by Ben Cracknel, choreography by Carole Todd and musical direction by John Maher. Following Bromley, Can't Smile Without You tours to Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester, Hull, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Northampton, Stoke and Newcastle, with further dates to be announced. Casting and London venue and dates have not yet been confirmed. | ||
| April 30, 2008 | Playbill.com | "Can't Smile Without You, New Barry Manilow Musical, to Premiere in August in U.K." by Andrew Gans |
| A new musical featuring the hit songs of Grammy Award winner Barry Manilow will make its world premiere this summer at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley. Entitled Can't Smile Without You, the musical will begin previews Aug. 28 at the Kent venue before embarking on a national tour that will kick off Sept. 15 at the Liverpool Empire. A West End run will follow. Based on an original idea by Bill Kenwright, the musical features a book by Tim Prager and over 30 Manilow tunes, including "Could It Be Magic," "It's a Miracle," "I Write the Songs," "Mandy," "I Made It Through the Rain," "Trying to Get the Feeling" and the title song. Can't Smile Without You, according to press notes, centers around "an aspiring young boy-band who, on a visit to New York, come across an opportunity not to be missed — auditions for the latest reality TV show to find the next pop music sensation. When the TV company offers lead singer Tony a chance to appear on the show, the other band members give him their unconditional blessing. But before Tony can realize his dream, he is caught up in a tragic sequence of events which leaves him fighting for his life. Left with no memory his dreams are all but shattered. His only hope lies in the power of the music he loves and his feelings for a girl he once knew called Mandy." The creative team also includes Keith Strachan and Kenwright (co-directors), Andy Walmsley (set and costume design), Ben Cracknel (lighting design), Carole Todd (choreography) and John Maher (musical direction). Garry Kief is executive producer. The Churchill Theatre is located on High Street in Bromley, Kent. | ||
| April 26, 2006 | St. Louis Post-Dispatch | "Review: Barry Manilow" by Kevin C. Johnson |
| No amount of chilly, wind-swept rain could put a damper on Barry Manilow's Las Vegas-like concert Friday night at the new Chaifetz Arena at St. Louis University, the first concert to take place at the facility. After a barrage of techno beats and flashy light, the stage opened up and split in half, revealing a back-lit Manilow. He strode out between the stage's two halves, all feathery hair and sequins for opening song "It's a Miracle." "You've come to the right place, because I'm here to warm you up," the crooner told the large crowd. Manilow would later name-check other area venues he has played including the Muny, Fox Theatre, and the amphitheater now known as Verizon Wireless. During the 90-minute show, Manilow served up equal doses of prefabricated cheese and corn to his hungry fans. They had no problem lapping up his nostalgia-stuffed offerings. A medley with "Daybreak," "Somewhere in the Night," and "This One's for You" helped get the crowd primed for his memory lane stroll that included a few low-key production frills, tons of color, and its fair share of emotion. For "Ready to Take a Chance Again," Manilow stepped onto a small lift that carried him to the floor, where he swooped up a female fan to serenade. "That was just foreplay. This is the main course," he said as he launched into "Weekend in New England," which featured Manilow seated at a piano that rose several feet into the air. "Bandstand Boogie" was a '50s sock hop, full of garb from that era. The tone shifted dramatically for "Looks Like We Made It," "I Am Your Child," and "I Made It Through the Rain," a song he paused so he could tell a sweet story about his grandfather. That trio of tunes left some fans teary-eyed. But the mood was lifted again with the yellow smiley-faced "Can't Smile Without You" and later "New York City Rhythm" and "Could It Be Magic." He acknowledged career-restarting CDs such as "The Greatest Songs From the Sixties" and "The Greatest Songs of the Seventies." In a nice visual bit, his performance of "Mandy" was interspersed with '70s footage of his performing the same song (you could also say the vintage footage supported the rumor that Manilow suffers from plastic surgery overload). "I Write the Songs" and "Copacabana (at the Copa)" fittingly wrapped up the cozy evening. Smooth jazz artist Brian Culbertson opened the concert, technically making him the first artist to play the arena. The keyboardist/trombonist was funkier than what he's known for, and for good reason. His "Bringing Back the Funk" CD will be released Tuesday. | ||
| April 27, 2008 | Kansas City Star | "Review: Barry Manilow's signature blend of nostalgia and ecstasy is both entertaining and entrancing" by Timothy Finn |
| Barry Manilow felt connected to the music and connected to the audience Saturday at the Sprint Center. Before the headliner took the stage, the public address system at the Sprint Center blared the percussive club anthem �Right Here, Right Now� by British DJ Fatboy Slim. The song went perfectly with the several thousand glow sticks that had been distributed before the show. Saturday's show showcased Manilow's Las Vegas act. He brought a legion of assistants, including four backup singers/dancers, a large band and an orchestra that included members of the Kansas City Symphony. The show was a brisk, entertaining dash through a 35-year-old catalog of songs that have contributed to album sales that exceed 76 million worldwide ... He has added some new segments, including a vocal/a cappella rendition of "The William Tell Overture" with his backup singers and a high-speed piano relay among Manilow and his keyboardists during "New York City Rhythm." Other highlights: the feel-good anthem "Can't Smile Without You," which set all those glow sticks bobbing and swaying in every direction; the full-blown Vegas-revue rendition of "Copacabana"; and the medleys pulled from his recent tribute albums to the hits of the 1960s and 1970s. Before serving up a creamy portion of "I Made It Through the Rain," Manilow played a scratchy-relic recording of his grandfather encouraging a very young Barry to sing "Happy Birthday." It was made inside an old "record your own voice" booth on a street corner in his native New York City. His grandfather, Manilow said, was the first person to recognize his music talent and encourage him to sing. "It wasn't the singing I liked so much," he said. "It was the music. I felt connected to the music." The 7,000 or so fans in the Sprint Center on Saturday knew exactly what he was talking about. That's how most of them felt all night. Set list: It's a Miracle; Daybreak; Somewhere in the Night; This One's For You; Old Songs; Ready to Take a Chance Again; Weekend in New England; Bandstand Boogie; Looks Like We Made It; I Am Your Child; I Made It Through the Rain; I Can't Smile Without You; William Tell Overture; Brooklyn Blues; New York City Rhythm; Could It Be Magic; 1960s medley: Can't Take My Eyes Off of You, Where Did Our Love Go? What the World Needs Now Is Love; 1970s medley: Mandy, Could It Be Magic, I Write the Songs; Copacabana; Dancing in the Streets/It's a Miracle; Old Friends; Forever and a Day. | ||
| April 25, 2008 | MyFox St. Louis | "Barry Manilow Rocks The Arena" by Sean Conroy |
| Oh Mandy! It was Mandy Murphy welcoming the thousands that packed the new Chaifetz Arena for the Barry Manilow concert. The man [who] writes the songs that make the whole world sing [is] back in St. Louis for the first time in six years and for the first concert in St. Louis University's new arena. And passion is the fashion for Manilow fans at the concert. So for the first concert, SLU and arena bosses are thrilled to have him kick things off. | ||
| April 23, 2008 | The Kansas City Star | "Barry Manilow talks about how he makes the songs his own" by Timothy Finn |
| Barry Manilow didn't write all the songs on his recent album, "The Greatest Songs of the Seventies." But each track has something in common with the others. "They couldn't just be songs we all liked," Manilow told The Star recently. "Clive (Davis) wanted them to be so popular and well-loved that they've gone No. 1." But even more important: "They need to be very melodic. (Clive) wanted a CD filled with melody, filled with comfort, filled with memories." The "Seventies" album, released in September, was the third in a series of cover albums for Manilow. The first two mined the hit charts of the '50s and '60s. All three landed in the Top 5 of the Billboard 200 chart; the "Fifties" album hit No. 1. Manilow said there's a basic reason all three albums are popular: The songwriting and arranging are so good. "I think the craft of songwriting is dying," he said. "Now it's all about the craft of making a record. It's all about the sound of the record, then they put a song on top of it. When I write songs, I don't rely on machines. I know how to work the machines, and I love them and I respect them, but when it comes to writing, I write the way I was taught: melody first, then words, put them together, and then go to the machines." His "Seventies" album includes material from a wide variety of champions who perfected the craft: Carole King, Paul Simon, Elton John, Lennon/McCartney, Bacharach/David and the Gibb brothers. It closes with four songs Manilow made famous, including a couple he co-wrote, such as "Even Now." Covering his own material, Manilow said, made him practice another craft: arranging and rearranging songs. "If you ask what I think I do best, it's not songwriting or singing, it's arranging songs," he said. "I'm a great arranger. I really know my way around that. It's what I would have been if I hadn't lucked into this performing career. I would have been an arranger for other singers. When I produce songs for other people, like Bette (Midler), or when I worked with Rosemary Clooney ... I know how to take someone else's songs and redo them for other people and make them their own. I did the same thing for myself on my solo records. My goal was to keep the originals in mind but make them sound like they were mine. You can only do that if you're an arranger. Can you do that if you're just a singer? Maybe. Can you do that if you're a songwriter? Maybe. But you really need to be an arranger, to take someone else's song and help you make it your own. It's complicated." Is arranging a dying art, too? "Yes it is," he said. "It is. Well - you know, I really don't know. These musicians glued to their drum machines, sequencers and Pro Tools - they may be able to do something like that, maybe not the way I do it: sitting at the piano and walking around the room. Maybe they could do it on machines. But I bet you they can do it. So, no, it's not over." On the "Seventies" record Manilow faced a unique task: rearranging songs he'd made famous three decades ago, including a couple he co-wrote. "I couldn't ignore them," he said, "but it was a big challenge: to redo, 'I Write the Songs,' to redo 'Mandy,' to redo 'Copa' and the others. I thought it would be easy. I thought, 'Here's one way of doing it: I'll do unplugged renditions of all these songs ... Boy, it wasn't that easy. It took months to figure out how to redo those songs. It was really complicated. I sat at the piano when I started to do 'Mandy' and thought, 'What the heck am I going to do now? I already did this.' I wound up feeling that way for every single song. After a while, with the help of musicians and co-producers and Clive, we came up with a way of doing it, but, boy, it was a challenge." Asked whether he has ever been impressed by a straight cover or dramatic rearrangement of one of his songs, Manilow was frank: "Not many people have ever done it. But when they just cover them, they usually ruin them. Name me one, and I'll tell you whether I like it." Told that Kylie Minogue was covering "Copacabana" on her new album, he said: "She's very talented. That could be great. I always thought Ricky Martin should do 'Copacabana.'" And when Dolly Parton's name comes up, he said: "Dolly is so talented. I'm sure she could sit with her guitar, take 'Mandy' and turn it on its ass and make it her own. She could do it. She's very talented." The next logical release in the Manilow catalog, it would seem, must be a collection of "Eighties" songs. Are there enough well-crafted songs from that era, songs he deems worthy of his rearrangements? Apparently, yes. "I thought there weren't, but I was wrong," Manilow said. "I was surprised. I have about 20 songs with good melodies and interesting lyrics: Cyndi Lauper's 'Time After Time' and 'Careless Whisper,' 'Arthur's Theme,' 'Every Time You Go Away' ... I forgot songs like that were there, songs with melodies you can't forget and lyrics you'll always remember." Barry Manilow performs Saturday night at the Sprint Center. Tickets cost $49.99 to $159. Smooth jazz/funk instrumentalist Brian Culbertson opens. Show time is 8 p.m. About the show, Manilow said: "I've got 10 or 11 semi-trucks. There's a lot of stuff on stage. The show is a blown-up version of what we do in Las Vegas; it's not the same, but it has the same feel of the show we do in Las Vegas, but we can do more in these arena shows. In Vegas, we're allowed 80 or 90 minutes so people can leave and go to the casinos and throw their money away. In the arenas, we can stay on longer and do more songs." | ||
| April 23, 2008 | St. Louis Post-Dispatch | "Manilow's arena show will be longer and more personal" by Kevin C. Johnson |
| When Barry Manilow brings his "Manilow: An Evening of Music and Passion" tour to the Chaifetz Arena on Friday night -- the first concert at the new venue -- he promises that the show will be even bigger and better than its Las Vegas counterpart. "It's a little different from the show we do in Vegas, which is just called 'Music and Passion,'" says the classic crooner known for "Mandy" and "I Write the Songs," among other standards. "The 'evening' part means I can go further than just the 85 minutes they allow us to do in Vegas. When we do the arena shows, I'm on my own again, and I can be up there as long as I want and I can throw more hits in." It takes 11 semi's to take his show on the road, and fans should expect a stage that moves around and stairs that come out of the floor, Manilow says. Still, "when you get down to it, it's me sitting at my piano, or standing up and singing to one person out in the audience." In a recent interview in which nine questions were squeezed into a tight nine minutes, Manilow had more to say about his tour, his hits and his series of decade-focused albums highlighting from the '50s through the '70s that have given his career a boost in recent years. Post-Dispatch: Your show has been described as a tastefully over-the-top spectacle. Is that a good description? PD: Are there challenges involved with transferring the Vegas show to the road? PD: Which decade was easier to record? Which was most difficult? PD: Why was it tough redoing your own songs? PD: What happens when you get to the '90s, when songwriting clearly wasn't what it used to be? PD: Nearly everyone has a favorite Barry Manilow song. What's your favorite? PD: What's the secret of writing songs that stand the test of time? PD: Is there a song where you go, "I can't believe I have to do this song again, but I know my fans love it so I have to do it"? PD: You're opening Chaifetz Arena here. How exciting is that? | ||
| April 23, 2008 | The Kansas City Star | Manilow through the years |
| Late 1960s: After attending the New York School of Music and Julliard, Barry Manilow got his first job at a label by working in the mailroom at CBS. He also started writing jingles for commercials and would eventually write themes for major buyers like Dr Pepper and McDonald's. 1971: Manilow became music director, arranger and pianist for Bette Midler. 1972: Manilow's first solo album was released by Bell Records. 1974: Clive Davis, looking for artists for his new label, Arista, signed Manilow off Bell and gave him the song "Brandy" from writer Scott English. The title was changed to "Mandy" to avoid confusion with the Looking Glass hit "Brandy." Between 1975 and 1983: Manilow had 25 consecutive Top 40 hits including "Could It Be Magic," "Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again," "Ready to Take a Chance Again," "Weekend in New England," "Looks Like We Made It," "Can't Smile Without You" and "I Write the Songs," which, of course, he did not write. In 1977 "The Barry Manilow Special" on ABC drew 37 million — today's top show, "American Idol," draws in the low 20s. 2002: The National Academy of Popular Music's Songwriters Hall of Fame inducted Manilow with Ashford & Simpson, Michael Jackson, Randy Newman and Sting. 2006: Much to Stephen Colbert's comic distress, Manilow won an Emmy for his PBS special "Manilow: Music and Passion." His album "The Greatest Songs of the Fifties" debuted at No. 1, his first No. 1 album in 29 years. His only other No. 1 album was the 1977 "Live" album. | ||
| April 17, 2008 | The Telegraph | "[Manilow Magic] turning Chaifetz into the Copa" by Corey Stulce |
| Bringing a taste of Las Vegas to the Gateway to the West, Barry Manilow will serve as the first concert performer at the new Chaifetz Arena on the campus of Saint Louis University on April 25. Responsible for such hits as "Copacabana," "Weekend in New England" and "Ready to Take a Chance Again," he has been wowing audiences in Vegas' Hilton Hotel over hundreds of performances during the last several years with his "Music and Passion" concerts. So, how much Vegas can Manilow bring to town with him? "I think we can do a lot," he told The Telegraph. "We can't bring the ridiculously big stage. In Vegas they build stages the size of football stadiums. We can bring enough. We've got 11 truckloads of crap that we bring all along with us, and when we put it all together it's gorgeous. There are elevators that bring the piano out of the floor and stairways for 'Copacabana.' It may not be literally Vegas, but it's beautifully produced." Manilow said the St. Louis audience would be treated to a full concert, longer than the typical Las Vegas show. "(In Vegas), they throw us off the stage between 75 and 80 minutes so people can go out and waste their money. In an arena, we can stay as long as we want," he said. More than 60 albums in, Manilow isn't done recording. Though travel and the Vegas shows are a full-time job, he is currently recording two albums simultaneously, one a follow-up to the "Greatest Songs" series, which have been best-sellers. For the '70s album, he revisited some of his previous No. 1 hits, which posed a challenge. "It was impossible. I had no idea it was going to be that difficult. It drove me nuts," he said. "I had made the first half of the album, which was all of the songs I had nothing to do with. I got into 'Bridge Over Troubled Water,' 'Sailing,' some beautiful things to sing, arrange and produce. To sit down and redo 'Mandy' or 'I Write the Songs,' I just sat down at my keyboard and said, 'now what do I do? I already did this. How am I supposed to do this differently? Or fresher?' It was a bear. I barely made the deadline, going back to the studio over and over, with a small band, a big band, with an orchestra ... I finally pulled together a rendition of these songs I was happy with." Fans of Manilow's long string of hits as well as cover versions of other favorites should not be disappointed. While a complete set list is not available, during "Music and Passion," he performs songs like "I Made it Through the Rain," "Can't Smile Without You" and does a '50s-style set with "Bandstand Boogie" and "Unchained Melody," then bounces into the '70s with "Boogie Wonderland" and "Hot Stuff." Fans or Fanilows of Barry, as they are known, are fervent as are those would rather make fun. He recently appeared as himself on an episode of Fox's "Family Guy," where the beer-swilling guys on the show are all closet Fanilows and end up swooning at a concert. "As long as they come around and say that they love me, I don't mind if they start off hating," Manilow said. He added that he's always been insulted by snide remarks but also understands why there are a lot of closet Fanilows. "What I sing and what I do is very personal. I'm there," he said. Tickets for Barry Manilow's concert at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 25, range from $9.99 for the upper level of the arena to $159 for premium seating. Visit metrotix.com, call (800) 293-5949, (314) 534-1111 or visit the Chaifetz box office to purchase tickets. The arena is located at 1 S. Compton Ave., St. Louis (the northwest corner of Market and Compton). Illinois residents are encouraged to park in the Sigma lot, which offers easy access to Highway 64/40 East. Visit thechaifetzarena.com for more information. | ||
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| April 4, 2008 | The Desert Sun | "Barry Manilow's gift of music: Donation will buy instruments for all of valley's middle, high school programs" by Bruce Fessier |
| Palm Springs resident Barry Manilow is pledging roughly $250,000 worth of music supplies to the public middle and high schools in the Coachella Valley. In an exclusive interview at his South Palm Springs home, the Brooklyn native said he wants to give Coachella Valley students the same opportunity he received in his high school music class. "I would have been a loser had I not had that music class," Manilow said. He already donated more than $10,000 worth of musical instruments to Palm Desert Middle School in January. Other local educators are thrilled about receiving the instruments, sheet music and music stands in September. "I was extremely excited when I heard about Palm Desert Middle School earlier this year," Jennifer Dean, director of bands at James Workman Middle School in Cathedral City, said during a class Thursday afternoon. "I actually went to Palm Desert Middle School. Then I heard Mr. Manilow was opening it up to other schools and I was very excited for my students." Manilow and a committee of local friends, including Mitch Gershenfeld, director of theater operations and presentations at the McCallum Theatre, and his wife, Sam, are working for those students. Sam Gershenfeld was asked by Manilow to contact every public middle and high school in the valley in order to assess their needs. She said the educators were "almost tearful" that someone was coming to their rescue. "They were emotional phone calls," she said. "When the schools realized this was a sincere effort on Barry's part, they were just so grateful. They said this is such a critical need. They were so happy someone would step up to help the schools." Manilow began his quest to "keep music alive in the schools," as Gershenfeld put it, after a friend passed along a message from his daughter, a student at Palm Desert Middle School. "It started with this one girl, Emma Reinhart, who said the whole school she goes to needs some instruments and would you consider giving them a hand?" said Manilow. "I had never thought about that. I knew schools around the country are suffering. Music classes keep being cut and if they do have classes, they're in terrible shape." After making his donation to Palm Desert Middle School, Manilow attended a concert by its band, sitting against the back wall while parents focused on their children on the bandstand. "It was probably the most moving concert I'd ever been to, and the fact that I had something to do with it was very moving to me," he said. "What I saw was just what I remembered in my high school. When I got into high school, I really didn't know what I wanted to do. Then I hit the music class, and I felt like I was on solid ground. I made friends. I formed a band. I learned how to work with other students, and my grades went up in all the other classes because I had more confidence. It was the music class that did it for me." Manilow said he began thinking about the opportunities other local school kids might miss and, "It killed me." How it came together: He met with a few friends, including his personal manager, production manager, personal assistant and the Gershenfelds, and formed The Manilow Music Project as a program of his nonprofit Manilow Health and Hope Fund. Sam Gershenfeld became the liaison to the local schools. She found four high schools - mostly continuation schools - didn't have music programs at all. Of the eight other high schools and 12 middle schools besides Palm Desert, she said it was "amazing how they were dealing with broken instruments or the kids couldn't afford instruments." Manilow went to the Yamaha music company, which gave him a discount on instruments. His music publisher, Hal Leonard, supplied sheet music. His group then assembled an order form, listing dozens of instruments worth a certain point value. Manilow offered each school 100 points' worth of instruments, so they could choose many smaller instruments or a few large, more expensive items. Each school will receive $12,000 to $13,000 in instruments by the fall semester. They have until April 15 to return their "dream list." Greg Whitmore, band director at Cathedral City High School, has already turned in his request for 13 instruments. The list includes synthesizers for his marching band, a bass trombone he could never afford and a xylophone to replace one that was more than a decade old. "I'm really excited about that," Whitmore said. Those instruments will be used on a 12-day tour of England and at a concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. | ||
| March 14, 2008 | Press Release (Source: Chaifetz Arena; Sprint Center) | Barry Manilow Bringing 'An Evening of Music and Passion' to Missouri |
| LOS ANGELES, March 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Barry Manilow, a true legend of our time, will perform his hit concert, "Manilow: An Evening of Music and Passion" at two very special concerts. First, as the inaugural concert at the new Chaifetz (SHAY-fetz) Arena at Saint Louis University on Friday, April 25 at 8 P.M. and then at Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO on Saturday, April 26 at 8 P.M. Tickets to see Manilow's first performance in Missouri since 2002 are $9.99, $69, $99, and $159 go on sale on Monday, March 17 at 10 a.m. at http://www.Manilow.com, http://www.MetroTix.com, MetroTix outlets at select Schnucks and Macy stores and charge by phone at 314-534-1111. Tickets to see Manilow at the Sprint Center on Saturday, April 26th, can be purchased at http://www.Manilow.com, or available at the Sprint Center Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, http://www.Ticketmaster.com, or charge by phone at 816-931-3330. Manilow, who will be performing the exclusive rendition of his hit Las Vegas Hilton show, ranks as the top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time with more than 75 million records sold worldwide. His career includes 25 consecutive Top 40 hits such as "Even Now," "This One's for You," "Weekend in New England," "I Write the Songs," "Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again" and "Copacabana (At the Copa)." In 1978, five of Manilow's albums were on the charts simultaneously -- a record rivaled only by Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mathis. Manilow recently launched the 60th album of his career, The Greatest Songs of the Seventies, the third in a series of his best-selling tribute albums of popular music which includes The Greatest Songs of the Fifties and The Greatest Songs of the Sixties. Having entered the Billboard charts at #4, he is the only artist to have three Top 4 debuts on the Billboard 200 chart in a span of two years. The Greatest Songs of the Seventies is Manilow's 33rd charting album, his 11th Top 10 and his 10th Top 10 debut. Billboard Magazine recently stated: "Among the few things one can count on in life: the taste of McDonald's cheeseburgers, 'I Love Lucy' reruns are still funny -- and Barry Manilow never wearing out his welcome at the top of the charts." The pop icon has written hundreds of songs and performed around the globe thrilling millions of fans, winning a Grammy, two Emmys, several Tony Awards and an Oscar nomination along the way. | ||
| February 24, 2008 | Palm Beach Post | "Manilow keeps passion in fashion" by Leslie Gray Streeter |
| (The beginning of this review should be sung to the tune of Copacabana.) Her name is Kelly, she lives in Boca Yes, An Evening of Music and Passion, the road version of Barry Manilow's Las Vegas Hilton show is a tastefully over-the-top spectacle capable of inspiring a little goofy spectacle in anyone. Not that there were likely any unconverted folks among the packed house Saturday night at the BankAtlantic Center, singing along and waving their Barry Manilow glow sticks in time to the music. Much like Kelly - the aforementioned Boca Raton resident, who the singer pulled into a slow dance during "Ready to Take a Chance Again" - the whole crowd appeared to be ready to faint from all the excitement. Reliable excitement is what Manilow does, and as a consummate showman he excelled Saturday by injecting just enough surprises - a piano that rose on hydraulics, a sweet recording of Manilow's grandfather's voice encouraging young Barry to sing at a 10-cent recording booth in New York - into the wonderfully expected comfort food that is his music. From the big entrance to "It's a Miracle" to the gorgeously grand "I Write the Songs," Manilow gave the fans what they wanted. And I'm fairly sure that at that moment, they would have elected him president if he'd asked. Or Grand Poobah. It wouldn't have mattered. Among the highlights:
Manilow was in impressively strong voice last night and danced around, hoisted himself onto the piano like Michelle Pfeiffer in The Fabulous Baker Boys and did a lot of grand arm flourishes. He's such a mixture of razzle-dazzle and undisputed musical chops. There is nothing understated about a Barry Manilow show. Then again, Saturdays are not for understated. Just ask Kelly of Boca, if you can scrape her off the ceiling. | ||
| February 24, 2008 | Miami Herald | "Manilow 'Magic' still moves masses" by Howard Cohen |
| There's a reason the line "I AM MUSIC" sits in caps in the lyric sheet for the 1975 track "I Write the Songs" from Barry Manilow's third album, "Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again." The man might not have written all the songs the world sings -- but he's written enough of them to entice at least 10,000 or more fans at Saturday's BankAtlantic Center concert in Sunrise to sing along to a whole host of them. Manilow clearly is "MUSIC" and his joy in delivering it proves palpable, even now, even a good 35 or more years into his pop career. I lost count how many times Manilow thanked his fans for supporting him all this time or how often he referenced what music has meant to him. One such segment, a warm point in the evening, was his midpoint break during the affirming "I Made It Through the Rain" where he played "Sing It," a scratchy recording of himself as a toddler at a 25-cent-a-song booth in Brooklyn. His music-loving grandfather Joseph can be heard urging a reluctant five-year-old kid to "Sing, Barry, sing!" "I didn't know what he wanted me to do," Manilow told his fans. But he says he soon figured it out -- and loved it. Not so much the singing, he said, but the music. For about 90 minutes, and it should have been longer, Manilow delivered his Vegas show, Music and Passion, folding one hit into the other, even a stray "album cut or do we call them iPod cuts now?" "I Am Your Child" and the less-familiar tribute to his fans, "Forever and a Day," as an encore. "I'm so glad you still like these songs," Manilow said after he ran through a concert-opening, super-sized medley featuring "It's a Miracle," "Daybreak," "Somewhere in the Night" and "This One's For You," with hardly a moment to catch one's breath -- his, or ours. It was like Barry Manilow 101 on speed. "All I can hope is that these songs are ruined for years in karaoke bars," he teased. Manilow's a better singer today than he was back when his songs could still make it onto the radio. During another concert highlight, via video screen, Manilow sang a duet with his younger self on "Mandy / Could It Be Magic (Reprise)," taken from 1975's The Midnight Special. (Amusingly, a much-younger Clive Davis, still head of Manilow's label, was seen on that video clip introducing his rising star.) Manilow extends his vocal lines now, singing in a voice turned richer, more confident, more musical. When that vocal instrument, even at less than capacity, is paired with a rousing, dramatic ballad like "Weekend in New England," which he performed on piano on a rising platform during the song's crescendo, it's quite effective. With unflagging energy on stage, Manilow got the reaction he wanted from fans by varying the show from straight songs to chatter to offbeat moments. No, the quirky Very Strange Medley of jingles he wrote for commercials didn't rise from the mothballs of his '70s act. However, an even stranger moment arrived via the singer and his backup vocalists who mimicked music instruments in the key of E-natural on the "William Tell Overture." Manilow continued a long-standing tradition of bringing a fan up on stage, too, when "Kelly from Boca Raton" enjoyed a brief slow dance during "Ready to Take a Chance Again." The changing times weren't lost on Manilow, either, when he quipped about how business has taken over the arts. "I used to play the Sunrise Musical Theatre when I'd come here to Fort Lauderdale. It's become a church, I was the last Jew in the building. Now I'm at, what's this place called, the Bank ... the Bank America Center? ... They name arenas after products now. Any day now I'll be based at the Preparation H Arena," Manilow joked. An amusing '60s medley, staples like "I Write the Songs" and "Copacabana (At the Copa)," and more of that Manilow charisma sent everyone out on a high. (Manilow performs again tonight, Sunday, at Miami's AmericanAirlines Arena). | ||
| February 22, 2008 | Palm Beach Post | "Barry Manilow is bringing his brand of sparkle and spectacle to South Florida" by Leslie Gray Streeter |
| Not long ago, a stranger gave Barry Manilow the nicest compliment. And it wasn't "Copacabana is the best song ever written" or "I've seen your Vegas show 23 times" or even "I've named my last four dogs Mandy." It was, "Thank you for my new tuba." "He couldn't be any higher than my waist ... and the (tuba) must have been taller than he was," Manilow recalls of a nameless middle school band kid whose new instrument, like those of his whole ensemble, was paid for with a $10,000 donation by the singer to a school in California's Coachella Valley. The point of this story is not that Barry Manilow, Grammy-, Tony- and Emmy-winning pop legend, fabulous showman and snappy dresser, wrote a check for an amount that he matter-of-factly admits is "not that big of a deal" to him. It's that Barry Manilow, who brings his "Music and Passion" show to South Florida for two nights starting Saturday, apparently looks at that kid and sees himself. And he's a band geek. "I don't think this guy's gonna be the greatest tuba player, (though) you never know," says Manilow, who is literally taking his Las Vegas Hilton show on the road this weekend. "I went through it myself in high school. I felt like a misfit All The Time, until I got to music class. Then I felt like I belonged somewhere. These kids may never wind up as professional musicians, but that music class is going to help them." And there, ladies and gents, is perhaps the true appeal of Barry Manilow - whether he's doing a sensitive lost love saga like Mandy, a big over-the-top showstopper like Copacabana, the upbeat toe-tappers like Can't Smile Without You or any of the older hits recorded in his Greatest Songs series, there is always a vulnerable sincerity. It's about the risk of revealing too much, but being too in the moment to care. Of course, "vulnerable" and "sincere" are often seen as code words for "embarrassing" and "cheesy," making him a favorite target for critics and others too cool to admit they sing along to songs about women who came and gave without taking. But Manilow's success proves that there are many more people who feel passionately that his music has given them somewhere to belong, a safe place to cry, to sing at the top of their lungs and luxuriate in some honest-to-God spectacle - not for nothing are his most ardent fans called Maniloonies. It's a place to embrace both your inner high school misfit, inner love of sparkle, all at the same time. Recently, Manilow talked about his greatest hits and about letting a love of music "shine, shine, shine," as his hit Daybreak says, all around the world and to future generations, one American Idol contestant and little tuba player at a time. Palm Beach Post: What led you to give money to that school last month in Palm Springs (Calif.), where you live? PBP: That's very cool of you. PBP: Tell me about your "Music and Passion" tour. PBP: Speaking of hits - you've done albums of the greatest songs of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Are the 1980s next, and if so, what's going to be on the album? PBP: I can't wait to hear you do those. I know, as you said, that melody and song structure are a very big deal to you, which is why you were one of our favorite American Idol mentors. You were one of the first to work with the kids and really emphasize taking the musicality and technicality of the performances seriously. I remember you shaking your head after George Huff in Season 3 performed and saying "George, we talked about that" like you were his vocal coach and just there to help him get better. PBP: And it showed. They seemed to get a lot better. PBP: I remember Fantasia's Season 3 performance of your song It's a Miracle, and although I don't think she'd ever heard that song before, it was so clear she was connecting to it. PBP: And that turned out to be one of her best performances. What's on Barry's iPod? The Foo Fighters. Nickelback. Really. He's not kidding. He's making an original album with a rock feel, so he's loaded up on "as much rock and roll as I can. So my iPod is filled with the Foo Fighters, The Fray, Nickelback, Gang of Four ... loads of rock and roll by people you've never heard of." Manilow on Mandy: Record mogul Clive Davis "gave me a demo called Brandy, and I changed it to Mandy. I didn't want to record it. I was a songwriter myself, and I was so young. He finally convinced me to give it a try, so I made it a ballad, changed the chorus around. He promised me that if I did it right, it would be a hit. So we did it right, and I had a Number 1 hit with it. These days, I'm very emotional when I think of it." Manilow on Copacabana: "It was a big surprise to me, because it shouldn't have been a hit. Everything about it said that it's a novelty song and belongs on the Sonny and Cher Variety Hour. Everyone at Arista said it would never be a hit, but it exploded out of the dance clubs and onto the pop charts and surprised everybody." Barry Manilow - 8 p.m. Saturday at the Bank Atlantic Center, 2555 Panther Parkway, Sunrise. Tickets: $7.24-$197.25. He also appears at 8 p.m. Sunday at the American Airlines Arena, 601 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. Tickets: $7.49-$197.50. Phone: (561) 966-3309. | ||
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