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| August 28, 2011 | The Vindicator | "Manilow, YSO make magic for Covelli crowd" by Robert Guttersohn |
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| Youngstown - The lights at the Covelli Centre lowered, leaving as the venue’s only light source the green glow sticks held by the sold-out crowd of 5,900. But soon the stage looked like the Las Vegas strip with its mix of bright lights and revealed Barry Manilow center stage Saturday night with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. "A true blue spectacle," he sang in the opening song "It’s a Miracle." Referencing his tour with YSO to the Covelli Centre crowd, Manilow said, "They are fantastic. They represented you so beautifully. So, I kind of feel like I know all of you already." But the spectacle surrounding the concert began much earlier in the restaurants and caf s downtown. Groups of women and wives dragging their husbands from as far as Cleveland and as close as Struthers created a multiplier effect for local businesses. At Cassese’s MVR Restaurant, it was one of the rare nights they had to turn away call-aheads at the restaurant. "It’s been a great night," said Joe Cassese, the restaurant’s manager. "The crowd here is fantastic. We’ve had people from Cleveland and Pittsburgh staying in hotels and calling about coming for drinks after the concert." At Caf Cimmento there was a Struthers High School reunion of sorts that took place around the tables outside the restaurant. Karen Minotti, Laura Kramer, Mary Bicchiottino and Charlene Carabbia, all 1976 graduates of the school, yelled out "Mandy" when asked about their favorite Manilow song. Only Minotti’s younger cousin Laura Schaller disagreed, saying she would wait for "Copacabana" before she started dancing. Despite being a lifetime fan, Saturday night’s show was Minotti’s first time seeing Manilow in concert. She said she had tickets to see him 10 years ago, but the show was canceled after his mother died. "I thought I’d have to see him in Vegas until they announced he was playing here," she said. Her three sons pooled together money to buy her tickets as soon as they went on sale in June. Cars jammed Front Street by 6 p.m., and fans poured into the Covelli Centre’s open plaza well before the doors opened. He may no longer draw the fans with the long, brown hair he sported when his first album hit the shelves in 1974, but concert-goers said he still has a stage presence that surpasses most others. "You feel like you are watching a Broadway show," said Elaine Matz of Ashland while sitting with friend Vicki Stull from Wooster. They have seen Manilow perform 15 times including one of his shows in Las Vegas. Don Tice, who saw Manilow for the first time with his wife, Rosemary, at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena, could not help but be engrossed with his showmanship. While the couple of 52 years waited for the show to begin, Don Tice said Manilow told the Cleveland audience, "Husbands, I know you’re upset that your wives brought you here, but in the morning you’ll be happy,’" Don Tice said. "And I was. He is just phenomenal." |
| August 26, 2011 | Montreal Gazette
Canada.com
Windsor Star | "Barry Manilow on the fame game" by Ted Shaw
"Barry Manilow tours again: Could It Be Magic?" by Ted Shaw
"Manilow's 15 Minutes" by Ted Shaw |
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| His days as an American idol long behind him, Barry Manilow is back on the road playing the star again. The 68-year-old pop sensation of the 1970s is touring after an absence of eight years. Manilow was in his early 30s and already a successful songwriter and Grammy-winning arranger when he scored his first No. 1 solo hit "Mandy" in 1974. By then, he had served as Bette Midler's music director and composed a number of popular product jingles for TV and radio. But "Mandy," which was a cover of the Scott English-Richard Kerr song, gave Manilow international fame and shot to the top of both the pop and adult contemporary charts. Over the next decade, Manilow experienced many of the highs and lows of superstardom, as many of his own songs reached the upper echelons of the charts -- "Could It Be Magic," "This One's For You," "Copacabana" and "Some Kind of Friend" among them. He also put his signature to many songs he didn't write -- "I Write The Songs," "Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again," "Weekend in New England" and "Looks Like We Made It." But for the last 10 to 15 years, Manilow's skills as a songwriter have been overshadowed by a series of highly successful and commercial cover projects. He was getting itchy to get back in the game, and just this past June he did exactly that with 15 Minutes, his first completely self-composed album of songs in several years. "Right after The Greatest Love Songs of All Time came out (January 2010), I started talking with my collaborator Nick (Enoch) Anderson about ideas for a new record," said Manilow earlier this week during a tour stop in Toronto. "We looked around and what we saw were these reality shows that were making young people into household names overnight." Manilow has a personal connection with Fox Television's American Idol -- one of his backup singers is a voice coach on the show. He appeared on three American Idol telecasts, and later guest-starred on Idol alum Clay Aiken's Christmas TV special. "I saw firsthand on that show what was happening to talented young people who are thrown into the spotlight without any experience, and it scared me." Manilow and Anderson developed a song cycle about an idol's rise and fall. But a funny thing happened on the way to 15 Minutes. "Interestingly, I hadn't thought of myself in any of the songs while writing them," he said. "But as I began to sing them, I realized, yeah, I've been down that road. I've experienced every one of those songs." The album opens on with the bright, if tentative, title song that takes off from the famous Andy Warhol quote about 15 minutes of fame. In fact, the album is subtitled: Fame ... Can you take it? Despite the optimism of a tune like "Bring on Tomorrow," a sobering sense of reality runs through the music. "There are times when the songs really hit close to home," he said. One is "Letter From a Fan / So Heavy, So High" about one fan's obsession with the performer. "Around the time we were putting the album together," Manilow said, "there were these horrible stories about fans following Britney Spears everywhere she went. She couldn't go to a Starbucks without being harassed by these people. Is that the price of fame these days?" The album's most dramatic track is "Trainwreck," in which Manilow's fictitious star comes face-to-face with failure. "I'm a Broadway baby, you know. I love stories and I love writing songs that have a situation and a character in them. The hardest thing for me to write is a simple love song." After 15 Minutes, Manilow said he was ready to take on the next challenge -- hitting the road after a long hiatus. "I'm basically retired from touring," he said. Five years ago, Manilow signed up for what his calls "a sit-down gig" at the Las Vegas Hilton. It suits his age and lifestyle, he said, to be in one place for an extended period. He has since moved down the strip to the Paris Hotel and revamped the entire show. But Manilow yearned to perform his music in front of larger audiences, so now and then he does a series of one-nighters during breaks from his Vegas stint. Last year, too, for the first time in his more than 40-year career, Manilow performed in front of a symphony orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl. "It was a thrill for me to do that. Hearing 'Weekend in New England' played by 75 musicians plus my band is something else, I'll tell you." With that in the back of his mind, Manilow set out on the road with the entire Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. "Oh my God, it's amazing. It's incredible." Manilow performs in front of a symphony orchestra Sunday, Aug. 28 at 8 p.m. at Caesars Windsor's Colosseum. |
| August 26, 2011 | Youngstown Vindicator | "Youngstown Symphony Orchestra strikes a chord with Manilow" by Gus D'Astolfo |
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| When the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra was asked to perform with Barry Manilow at the Covelli Centre and three other venues, orchestra officials didn’t hesitate to say yes. "We were thrilled," said Randall Craig Fleischer, music director and conductor of the YSO. "The more the symphony name gets out there, the better. It’s putting the Youngstown in front of an audience that didn’t come to hear Bach and Beethoven." Because Manilow has his own music director, Fleischer will not be part of the event. However, more than 40 members of the orchestra, including the string, woodwind and brass sections, are accompanying Manilow. Many of the songs in Manilow’s vast repertoire of hits -- including "Mandy" -- are arranged to include orchestration. But how did the Youngstown orchestra get hooked up with Manilow in the first place? It happened when Eric Ryan, director of Covelli Centre, submitted a bid for the show that included the YSO. "I had known that Barry was doing dates outside of Las Vegas with a symphony. [Manilow’s management] said they would bring a symphony, and there were a few who already had been playing with him. I mentioned having the Youngstown symphony play. I thought it would be great for them and everybody, and when I submitted my offer, it included the YSO." Not only did Manilow’s camp agree to use the YSO at the Covelli show, but they asked if the orchestra could also do a few concerts. The orchestra left Tuesday on a bus trip to Toronto. Manilow, backed by the YSO, was to play Wednesday night at Rexall Centre in that Canadian city, but a thunderstorm forced the show to be rescheduled to tonight. The YSO got its first rehearsal with Manilow on Tuesday afternoon in Toronto, said Pam Pesa, office manager for the Youngstown Symphony Society. From Toronto, the orchestra traveled to the Saratoga Performing Arts Centre in Saratoga Springs, NY, for a concert Thursday night. After returning to Toronto for tonight’s rescheduled show, the YSO will return to Youngstown Saturday for a concert Saturday night at Covelli Centre. The YSO’s final show with Manilow will be Sunday at the Colosseum at Caesars in Windsor, Ontario, which is close to Detroit. Saturday’s concert at the Covelli Centre was close to a sell-out as of Thursday. Ryan said Thursday morning that about 300 seats in all price ranges — including $47. 50, $67.60 and $87.50 — were still available. He expects the show to sell out. Those who attend the concert can expect a full-blown production, the kind for which Manilow is known. "The stage will be huge. It’s a sizable production. They are touring with five trucks full of production gear," said Ryan, noting that the average tour needs only two or three trucks. Although it’s an honor to be asked to back a musician of Manilow’s stature, it’s not the first time the YSO has done such work. The orchestra most recently took the stage at Covelli Centre in 2008 to accompany a Christmas concert by touring Christian pop star Michael W. Smith. Saturday’s concert at Covelli will be part of Panerathon, a two-day event sponsored by Panera restaurants to raise money to build a breast-care center in the Mahoning Valley. If you go... Who: Barry Manilow with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. When: 8 p.m. Saturday. Where: Covelli Centre, 229 E. Front St., Youngstown. Tickets: $47.50, $67.50 and $87.50 at the box office. |
| August 25, 2011 | The Vindicator | "Barry Manilow challenges himself on new album" by John Benson |
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| Ever since Barry Manilow arrived on the scene in the mid-’70s, opinions of the pop singer have fallen into one of two categories: love him or hate him. However, over time, this black-and-white stance has softened. Just like Neil Diamond, longevity with good reason has painted the 68-year-old entertainer -- with record sales exceeding 75 million and hit singles such as "Mandy," "It’s A Miracle," "Could It Be Magic," "I Write the Songs," "Tryin’ To Get the Feeling Again," "This One’s For You," "Weekend In New England," "Looks Like We Made It," "Can’t Smile Without You," "Even Now" and the Grammy Award-winning "Copacabana [At the Copa]" -- as a living legend. Now the artist known for decades as the man who writes the songs that make the whole world sing returns to Northeast Ohio for a special Saturday night show at Covelli Centre. Supporting Manilow will be the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, which actually is playing four dates on his mini-Midwest tour. The Vindicator recently talked with Manilow about the impetus behind his new album, "15 Minutes," which is his first original studio effort in a decade, as well as his chances of induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and what Youngstown can expect from his live show. Vindicator: Let’s start with the new album. What was the idea behind "15 Minutes?"
Barry Manilow: I had a good string of cover albums over the last eight years or so, and it was great to sing songs written by these wonderful composers. They were all very successful, but I did miss songwriting. I really did. And I have to tell you, during that eight years of cover albums, I was playing it safe. I know how to do that kind of thing. I needed to challenge myself. I wanted to write an original album based on something that I really wasn’t sure of. And that’s how "15 Minutes" started. It’s a very different-sounding album for me. VN: Thematically speaking, what’s the narrative behind "15 Minutes?"
BM: I wanted to do an album that wasn’t full of beautiful ballad standards, violins, oboes. I needed to find something that I wasn’t sure of, and that’s what this is. Nick (Anderson) is my songwriting partner. We looked around and said, "OK, what’s going on out there?" What we found was these reality shows making these young people into household names overnight. It was right around the time they were driving Britney Spears crazy; the paparazzi wouldn’t even let her get into her car to go to Starbucks. And Nick and I said, "Is that the price of fame these days? You can’t even get into your car to go to Starbucks." So that seemed like a really good thing to write about: fame and success. How do you handle fame or success when you’re young? That’s where it started. VN: Though you’re known for upbeat, popish material, some of the songs on "15 Minutes" are pretty dark.
BM: Yeah, the story is pretty dark, and hopefully it comes back to a more positive ending, and it’s the truth. You see it all the time — these young people who want to be successful and they get it; because they have no experience, they blow it. They wind up on TMZ doing something silly, and with a little luck they start all over again with some experience. That’s what this is about. VN: Thinking about your rise to stardom during the ’70s, how would you handle becoming a pop star today?
BM: I don’t know whether I could have handled it. I had my own problems with becoming famous because when it hits you, you’re never prepared. So many of us worked so hard to get where we are, but when that moment happens and you become well-known, there is no school to show you how to behave. There’s no book to read. You better be grounded, otherwise it’s going to throw you for a loop, and it did me. I was 30 when "Mandy" came out. I was a musician and a conductor making records and performing and accompanying other people. And when "Mandy" hit, it knocked me over. VN: Considering last year Neil Diamond finally was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, any thoughts about whether the doors will ever open up for Barry Manilow?
BM: Oh geez, I don’t think I’d ever be there. If there was a pop hall of fame, I might be able to make it there — or an adult- contemporary hall of fame, I might be able to make that one; but the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — I don’t think I’ll be there. That’s a stretch. VN: Regarding your upcoming show, how much will it mirror your current Las Vegas concert?
BM: Maybe the songs, but certainly not the production. We can’t move that production out of Vegas; it’s crazy. But we’re working with your own Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, so that’s a thrill to have them behind me playing "Weekend in New England." That should be fantastic. My conductor will work with them for one full day, and that’s all they need. They just have to read it, play it well and we’ll do all four shows. So they’re my band; the 75 men and women are my band. VN: Finally, the notion of an orchestra backing up the legend Barry Manilow seems quite apropos.
BM: Thanks. If you go -- Who: Barry Manilow with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. When: 8 p.m. Saturday. Where: Covelli Centre, 229 E. Front St., Youngstown. Tickets: $47.50, $67.50 and $87.50 at the box office. |
August 23,
2011 | CBC News | Q INTERVIEW: I Write the Songs |
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| Barry Manilow released 15 Minutes, his first record of original material in a decade, earlier this year. The American singer, who has sold 80 million records, had great success with cover albums over the past eight years, but said he's missed songwriting. So, he challenged himself in his songwriting when planning 15 Minutes, he told Terry O'Reilly, guest host of CBC's Q cultural affairs show. While Manilow still "likes a catchy melody," he moved beyond his comfort zone by writing for guitar. A concept album, 15 Minutes has a story arc about dealing with fame, a subject Manilow knows from his own career. He recalled being unprepared for how the song "Mandy" launched him to popularity in 1974. On his current concert tour, he is accompanied by the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra and mixes songs from the new album with his old hits. Manilow plays Toronto's BlackCreek Music Festival on Wednesday and Caesars Windsor on Sunday. |
| August 23, 2011 | Toledo Free Press | "'15 Minutes' with Barry Manilow" by Vicki L. Kroll |
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| Most singers are used to taking requests. Barry Manilow isn’t most entertainers. He’s got a request for you. "I ask the public, just give me one shot, put ['15 Minutes'] in your car and listen to it from the beginning to the end. Just give me one full listen and, after that, it’s up to you," he said. The songwriter is talking about "15 Minutes," his disc released in June. It’s been 10 years since he recorded a CD of original material. The thematic work is named after Andy Warhol’s notion that everybody will be famous for a short time. "My collaborator, [lyricist] Enoch Anderson, who I’ve worked with many years, and I looked around and what we saw in the world of entertainment was a lot of reality shows -- 'American Idol' and 'X Factor' and this one and that one, and young people becoming household names overnight," Manilow said during a call from California. "I did 'American Idol' for three years, and it was young, talented people being thrown into the spotlight and I thought, wow, that’s kind of dangerous. And then we watched as Britney Spears, during that year before we began writing, we saw Britney, the press was driving her crazy; she couldn’t even go to Starbucks without them following her," he said. "Here’s this talented girl trying to just live her life, and they kept following her and driving her nuts. And Enoch and I said, 'Wow, is that the price of fame?' So that’s what started us off with this '15 Minutes' album; is this the price of fame? And that felt like an interesting thing to write about." The legendary showman knows about superstardom. Between 1975 and 1983, Manilow had 25 consecutive Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. The pianist has sold more than 80 million records around the globe. Hits by the Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award winner include "It’s a Miracle," "Could It Be Magic," "I Write the Songs," "Copacabana," "This One’s For You," "Weekend in New England" and "Looks Like We Made It." "These days if you’re famous, you can’t get out of your house without everybody knowing what you’re doing. That wasn’t the way it was with me," he said. "It was complicated and pressured, but there was no Internet, no paparazzi." Working in the business eight years before his career skyrocketed helped ground him, Manilow said. "I was a conductor, songwriter, I did commercials, I was a producer of other people’s work, you know, I was a solid musician by the time 'Mandy' hit, and even then it knocked me over," he said. Manilow’s 15 minutes has lasted more than three decades. "I’ve just been a very fortunate guy. I’ve had great people around me that have helped guide me," the 68-year-old said. "Most of all I’ve had the public who have always been on my side, always, even at the very beginning when I didn’t know what I was doing, they somehow liked what they were hearing, liked what they were seeing, and I just kept going." Last year, the Brooklyn native received a Grammy nomination for "The Greatest Love Songs of All Time." "The Greatest Songs of the Fifties" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart in 2006. Collections from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s proved equally successful. "The whole run of these cover albums was tremendously successful. But personally, I felt that I was really missing writing my own material. Most of all, it felt like I was playing it safe," Manilow said. "I needed to shake it up; I needed to get out of my safety zone." "15 Minutes" debuted at No. 7 on Billboard 200 and was his sixth Top 10 debut in the past 10 years. He talked about a follow-up. "Last month, we did four unbelievable shows in Britain at a place called the O2. We sold out four nights of 20,000 people a night and we recorded it. I played there with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra," he said. "I’ve never been through anything quite like it -- thrilling beyond words -- and we recorded it. And we’re mixing it right now. I think that is going to be the next album." "The power of music has changed the world. And if you do it the wrong way, it could change the world for the worst," he said. "Angry music, nasty music does not do it, but beautiful, inspiring, uplifting music can help make a better world; that’s what I’m here for." Fans can catch that Manilow magic at 8 p.m. Aug. 28 at Caesars Windsor, Ontario. Tickets range from $65 to $210. |
| August 2011 | The Rock Pit | "Barry Manilow: 15 Minutes" by Todd Jolicouer |
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| I know... what is Barry Manilow doing on The Rockpit? You would be surprised. First, I am a huge fan, and have been for years. The first concert tickets I ever bought from a scalper were for Barry Manilow in 1988. I went into the Navy a couple months early and never even got to use the tickets. Put aside your preconceived notions that Barry Manilow is easy listening and give me a minute to explain why this disc belongs here and why it has earned 4-1/2 stars. The subject matter relates to everyone... how would you handle your 15 minutes? Can you handle it? The CD starts off with the title track, "15 Minutes." This song starts like most other Manilow songs, but soon you are being treated to killer drums and even guitar riffs. Do not get me wrong, Barry has not given up on a formula that has worked for him for years – he has simply accentuated it with upbeat music that has solid rhythm section and guitar work. The fun totally continues on the next tune, "Work The Room." This is one of my favorite tracks on the disc. The percussion and rhythm are very contagious and very big to bring this song to the forefront. I even had to back up the disc three times to verify he actually swears in the song. "Bring On Tomorrow" is a solid love song that is typical fare for a Barry Manilow CD, but again, the musicianship is not all keyboard and strings. I keep mentioning musicianship, drums, rhythm section, and guitars. Trust me, I will tie this all out in the end. Next up is "Now It’s For Real" which has more killer percussion, a solid bass line, and great vocals. All the lyrics to this point are setting up the climb to Fame. "Wine Song" doesn’t start off strong, but by the time the percussion and background vocals kick in, you are enjoying a very cool and mellow guitar riff in the distance. A guitar and solid rock feel kicks off "He’s A Star." Another very strong song – this lends itself to both AOR and rock feel at the same time. Barry’s voice is very strong on this one! You may laugh, but how many rockers could cross over and write AOR/Easy Listening stuff? Love him, like him, or hate him - you have to give Mr. Manilow credit for this ability. "Written In Stone" continues the album with a mellower feel. This is standard fare for a Barry CD. Still a great tune, but it might me a little mellow for some rockers. "Letter From A Fan" is another great rock track. The guitar work and rhythm section work together in unison with Barry’s voice to great a solid song. This song features vocals from Nataly Dawn of indie rock duo Pomplamoose. I want to note that about 3:30 in there is some fabulous guitar work and a cool solo and it happens again right around 4:45 minutes. This section of the album details how great life is at the top of that Fame circuit. "Everybody’s Leavin’" is a little opus that features some echoed vocals and keyboards. Quite the eerie lead in for the next track, "Who Needs You?" The piano intro makes me wonder when the party will start. This cool tune really helps guide this section of the disc. "Winner Go Down" has very earthy music and tones. It works very well within the spectrum of this album. To go with the earthy, there is great guitar work and some really layered background vocals, giving this song a very full feel. This song really drives home the point of a fading star when it mentions different celebs that lost their battle with fame. It even uses a news clip to quote Keith Richards. I really like how "Slept Through The End Of The World" wraps up the slide down the Fame cycle. An acoustic guitar guides this song, and very well, I might add. The guitar and Barry’s voice perform a flawless duet that makes this a great song, regardless of how slow or mellow it may be. Piano piece "Reflection" opens the final section of the CD. "Trainwreck" really starts with a very real feel. As Barry sings the lines, "Hey there train wreck, look in the mirror, could it be clearer, end of the line" you can’t help but think of some of the rock stars we have covered here on The RockPit who didn’t get the chance to be as introspective. A reprise of "15 Minutes" uses Barry’s great voice, a killer guitar riff, and solid rhythm section to demonstrate the climb to fame once more. Disc closer "Everything’s Gonna Be All Right" has all the variables... Barry voice, rock guitar, and killer drums. A very funky bridge/breakdown adds to the fun. Okay – I told you I would tie together the musicianship – Barry has a veritable who’s who playing on the disc. Guitars: Tim Pierce (Meat Loaf, Santana, Shinedown) Michael Lloyd - who also produced the CD – worked with 70s rocker Leif Garrett back at the height of his popularity; Bass: Matt Bisonette (Joe Satriani, David Lee Roth, Lita Ford); Drums: Greg Bisonette (Steve Vai, Billy Sheehan, David Lee Roth, Joe Satriani, Ozzy Osbourne) So there you have it folks – not exactly a metal album, but a damn solid effort from Barry Manilow that has different components that qualify it for inclusion on The RockPit. |
August 18,
2011 | Canadian Jewish News | "Manilow to rock out and sing hits at T.O. show" by Marvin Glassman |
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| When singer-songwriter Barry Manilow returns to Toronto for the Black Creek Music Festival this month, expect to hear two songs that are a departure from the upbeat material that made him famous. His new CD, 15 Minutes, features electric guitar arrangements that make him sound more like a rock singer than the romantic ballader who’s known for singing the 1970s hit "Mandy." The album 15 Minutes is about a fictional guitar player who becomes famous, deals with the ups and down of stardom and the many temptations of success that drive many, such as the late singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, to a tragic end. Manilow’s character has a positive end, hoping to rebound from taking success for granted. Because Manilow has released 15 Minutes on his record label and because he recorded mostly standards with much success over the past decade, the new sound of the album is risky. "I don’t want to do an album because it is safe for sales. To be safe is to be dead. I was eager and ready to be a songwriter again, and this album is perfect," said Manilow in a phone interview. "My lyrical collaborator, Enoch Anderson, and I saw how harassed Britney Spears was when she was followed by the paparazzi and we both wondered, 'Is this the price of fame?' So, we ran with this idea, and I wanted the songs to have guitar arrangements and to be more than pretty love songs that I have come to be known for." The 16-song CD has met both commercial and critical success since it was released in June. The album debuted on the U.S. Billboard charts at No. 7. For those who prefer a more traditional Manilow sound, he will perform plenty of his hits, such as "Copacabana" and "Weekend in New England" at his upcoming concerts, both in Toronto on Aug. 24 and at Caesars casino in Windsor on Aug. 28. "I will have two songs from 15 Minutes in the concerts, as the audiences in my Las Vegas shows have reacted positively to the songs. But most of those coming want to hear the hit songs, and I never, ever get tired of performing them or pleasing my fans." Although Manilow understands the perils of fame, he personally has never experienced the low points of stardom. Growing up Jewish in a close-knit family from Brooklyn has helped him avoid the pitfalls of fame. "You can’t fall into the trap of forgetting your old friends and family when you become famous. I always go back and listen to the people I know who have been close to me for years to make sure I stay grounded." Manilow has become a legend, who, at 68, still has an impeccable voice that resonates with emotion. For his shows in Toronto and Windsor, he will be accompanied by the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. Manilow was raised by his mother, Edna, and his grandparents, Esther and Joseph Manilow, Jewish immigrants from Russia who raised Barry in a small Brooklyn apartment. Although born as Barry Pincus, he changed his surname to Manilow shortly before his bar mitzvah out of love for his zaide. Manilow’s first instrument was the accordion and later he moved on to the piano – he got one as a bar mitzvah gift. For a time, life was traumatic for Manilow both financially and emotionally. He nearly went bankrupt twice and had married and divorced his high school sweetheart by the age of 25. Early in his career, he coached singers who wanted to audition on Broadway and he wrote commercial jingles. Then he became Bette Midler’s musical director, and he went on to produce her first album, and many more for several singers, before releasing his own in 1973. Very little has gone wrong in Manilow’s career since. In addition to selling 80 million albums over his career, he showed his theatrical flair by co-writing a musical based on his hit song Copacabana, which was also made into movie for television. Another show he wrote, Harmony, based on the lives of a musical group who lived in Nazi Germany in the 1930s, failed to make Broadway despite positive reviews when the show debuted in San Diego in 1997. Although Manilow is in Canada this month, he has stopped doing year-long tours and performs mainly at the Paris in Las Vegas near his home in Palm Springs, Calif. For tickets to the Toronto concert, at the Black Creek Music Festival at Rexall Centre on Aug. 24, 8 p.m., call 1-888-860-7888 or go to www.blackcreekfestival.com. For tickets to the Windsor concert on Aug. 28, 8 p.m, call 1-800-991-7777 or go to www.caesarswindsor.com. |
August 18,
2011 | The Star | "Barry Manilow: He still writes the songs" by Richard Ouzounian |
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| Barry Manilow is waiting for his 15 minutes of fame. Wait a minute. That doesn’t seem like the right thing to say about a guy who’s sold 80 million records in his career and had 25 consecutive Top 40 hits on the Billboard charts back in the day. Maybe I should say that the artist appearing on Aug. 24 at the Rexall Centre as part of the Black Creek Musical Festival is waiting for his 15 Minutes of fame, because that’s the title of his latest album and it’s his pride and joy. Taking Andy Warhol’s now-infamous quote about how "in the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes" as his theme, Manilow explores the music scene today and looks at how it makes young people famous too soon and then grinds them down into nothingness when it’s through with them. Speaking on the phone from Los Angeles, the 68-year-old star sounds every bit as fresh and energetic as he did the first time I interviewed him, 11 years ago, having come through a decade where hip surgery and atrial fibrillation took their temporary toll. "Thank God my health is okay, except for my rotten hips. I look decent and there’s still an audience out there who wants to see me and I’ve got a million ideas that keep me going. I’m feeling young because I’m so passionate about this music I’m doing. The last eight years, I’ve been doing a series of cover albums. They were all great and it’s an honour to sing songs by Bacharach and Sinatra, but it was all so safe. I knew how to do these things. When I finished them, I just had to get out of the safety zone. I had to scare myself and nothing does that for me like writing new songs." Manilow got together with Enoch Anderson, who had written a lot of his early hits like "I Want to Be Somebody’s Baby" and they pondered what they should write about. "It was around the time Britney (Spears) was being hounded by the press. She couldn’t even go to Starbucks without the paparazzi hounding her and I thought, 'Is that the price of fame today? Everything you do winds up in a photograph or on the internet. Look at that, wow, he took a shower!'" Manilow had also served as a celebrity mentor for American Idol on 3 occasions and although he enjoyed the experience, he was kind of scared at what he saw there. "These young people are seriously underequipped for dealing with the real world. They start to make it and then you sadly count down the days until they wind up on TMZ. They didn’t pay their dues. They had never worked in bars fighting the daiquiri machine the way we did. They really do need help, teaching mentoring. You don’t just put Armani and lip gloss on them, throw them out there and say 'Go!'" When he thinks back on his life and career, he now says that "I’m grateful for the 10 years I had in the background in the business before I broke out with Mandy. I worked with everybody from Bette (Midler) to Bernadette (Peters), but they were the ones up front. I just played the piano and later on I got lucky and got commercials and jingles and that kept me going until I made it. The kids today, you wonder if they even really want to make music. I think they just want to be famous. And I didn’t know what that felt like until it happened to me." But Manilow didn’t like what happened to him once he became a star. "My life turned upside down. I hated what the spotlight did to me. I turned into an asshole. I think anyone who makes it big goes into an asshole period for the first five years of success. Well, it finally got to me. I remember the moment clearly. I was in Florida, sitting by the pool after a show one night and I looked up and realized everybody who was around me was on my payroll. Whoa, where did my life go? Where did I go? Where was that guy I used to like?" Manilow realized there was a simple way to stop it. "I changed. I called up all my old friends. That’s the one piece of advice I can offer anybody when fame happens. Keep your family and your old friends around you, they’ll tell you the truth." With all these feelings inside him, Manilow joined with Anderson and "we made up a character, a guy about 23, 24, who played the guitar and began to make it big." They put the guy on the road to success that leads up rapidly, and then points downward with even greater speed. And the songs that chart the journey have the ring of hard-earned wisdom about them. One number called "Work the Room" offers the cynical gem that "Nobody wants to know you, but tomorrow they’ll be talking about you," while songs like "Slept Through the End of the World" picture someone so dazed that he asks. "What’s the deal? Did I miss something real?" Substance abuse has always been one of the scariest parts about success in the music business and Manilow candidly admits that "It was never for me, but it was all around me. People kept offering me stuff, but I didn’t come from that world and it didn’t interest me." But it did interest Amy Winehouse and even though her tragic death took place after Manilow wrote 15 Minutes, he admits "I watched it happening to her from a distance, like we all did. Sure, she had a problem, but her parents were there for her. I have to think that she kept hanging out with the wrong people." After virtually running the pop music market in the 1970s and 1980s, Manilow’s star dimmed a bit, but it’s never really lost its sparkle for a large and faithful audience of fans. "I sing what I sing because I enjoy singing it. Yes, I like 'Weekend in New England' and I always will. I don’t look up at what’s happening elsewhere because if you sniff the trend machine as an artist, you’re lost. "If I had done what other people told me to do, I would have had no hit records and you wouldn’t be talking to me today." With an audience of fans who love the hits from 35 years ago, it did indeed take courage for Manilow to come up with a new album, one filled with different songs, with a different message. "Change is always terrifying to people and this was a big change, but, mercifully, they seem to be taking to the new things I have to sing to them." He laughs. "We all know that the most horrible words to an audience are 'Now I’d like to sing some songs from my new album,' and you can hear them running out to buy some orange juice." Barry Manilow will be singing his old hits and some new songs from 15 Minutes at the Rexall Centre in North York on Aug. 24 as part of the Black Creek Music Festival. He also will be appearing at Caesars Windsor in Windsor on Aug. 28. BARRY MANILOW’S FIVE FAVE SINGERS Bette Midler - She can sing any kind of song and do it beautifully. And she taught me everything I know about showmanship.
Frank Sinatra - He wasn’t just a great singer, he knew how to pick great songs. That was part of his strength.
Ella Fitzgerald - She didn’t seem like a swinging lady until she started singing and then there was nobody cooler.
Rosemary Clooney - Especially in her later years, she always sang from the heart and there’s nothing that beats that.
Peggy Lee - Was there ever a sexier vocalist? I don’t think so. She knew how to fill a lyric with innuendo but always kept it classy.
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August 15,
2011 | Palm Desert, CA Patch | "Barry Manilow's Mission to Save Music: Valley resident Barry Manilow's mission to make the whole world sing carries through to kids in music programs who can't afford instruments" by Kimberly Nichols |
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| It's hard not to be a "Fanilow," a Barry Manilow fan. And even though he's changed over the years in appearance and age -- from a young man in leather pants and feathered hair, to a sophisticated gentlemen in tails and coat on stage -- he's still been my main musical man. Ever since I saw him perform Copacabana [when] I was 4 years old, he's been the one musical performer who's managed to make me happy my entire life. I had the opportunity to see the Palm Springs resident in Vegas last week performing at the Paris Hotel and Casino to a packed room. His magical gift could still be seen in the audience members, who, regardless of their age that ranged from 10 to 80 years old, still couldn't help singing and dancing in their seats, transformed under the spell of Barry. While on stage, Barry talked with the audience a bit about how music and arts programs in the schools are so severely lacking these days. He noted how budget cuts over the past decade have taken the emphasis off of cultural curriculum and furloughs have hit teachers hard in all of academia, but most specifically music and the arts. He started a foundation called The Manilow Music Project to help out with this epidemic and urged the audience to let people know about this. The project collects, repairs and donates used instruments and money to schools all over the nation to assist their musical programs and the teachers who are elemental to their existence. He's even donated right here in the valley. In 2009, he handed out $500,000 in musical instruments to middle and high schools in the Palm Springs, Coachella Valley and Desert Sands school districts. You can donate instruments or cash through the foundation. His website even lets people know when their donations can result in free tickets to his shows. I love that Barry is a man committed to giving other kids the same opportunities he received as a young man. Without a great music teacher who believed in him early and access to great instruction, who knows where he would be today and where I would be without his influence. |
August 12,
2011 | Digital Spy | "Barry Manilow: 'Britney Spears troubles inspired my new album'" by Justin Harp |
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| Barry Manilow has revealed that Britney Spears's personal struggles have inspired several songs on his new album 15 Minutes. The 'Copacabana' singer explained that he was very sad to see intimate details of Spears's private life reported in the media following her divorce from Kevin Federline. "When we started writing, it was when paparazzi were driving her crazy. She couldn't live a life," Manilow told Parade. "[Spears] was the epitome of the price of fame." Manilow also hinted that his music will be featured on an upcoming episode of Glee, saying: "[Glee co-creator] Ryan [Murphy] sent me an email saying, 'This year, I'm getting your stuff on our show'. But who knows?" The musician's current LP 15 Minutes reached the top ten of the US album charts upon its release in June. |
| August 7, 2011 | Parade | "Barry Manilow's 'Glee'-ful Ambitions" By Walter Scott |
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| The legendary performer, 68, recently released his 29th studio album, Fifteen Minutes. Parade Magazine: Is it true that Britney Spears inspired this album?
Barry Manilow: "When we started writing, it was when paparazzi were driving her crazy. She couldn’t live a life! She was the epitome of the price of fame." PM: Is there anything else you’d like to do in entertainment?
BM: "The only thing left is writing a Broadway musical." PM: Would you ever write jingles again?
BM: "I loved doing it, but they just don’t have them in commercials anymore." PM: Will your music finally be on Glee next season?
BM: "Ryan [Murphy, Glee’s co-creator] sent me an email saying, 'This year, I’m getting your stuff on our show.' But who knows?" |  |
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| August 4, 2011 | Brandon Sun | "Crooner Barry Manilow busts out of comfort zone with new concept album" by Andrea Baillie, The Canadian Press |
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| TORONTO - With a vast catalogue of chart-topping songs, Barry Manilow could be forgiven for milking his well-worn hits into retirement. Instead, the 68-year-old legend has reinvented his sound, injecting his trademark piano pop with guitar-laced rock. "To be safe is to be dead," the "Copacabana" singer said in a recent telephone interview from Palm Springs, Calif. "I needed to scare myself, I needed to do something that took me out of my safety zone. And this album did it." That album is the guitar-driven "15 Minutes," Manilow's first collection of original material in a decade. It's received strong reviews and made an impressive June debut at No. 7 on the U.S. Billboard album chart. In recent years, the singer, who broke out in the 1970s with infectious hits such as "Mandy," "Looks Like We Made It" and "Can't Smile Without You" has found success with a series of cover albums. And while he says it's been an honour to record songs by the likes of Burt Bacharach and George Gershwin, the man who famously crooned about writing songs that "make the whole world sing" missed composing his own tunes. "I'm a creator. We creators are crazy," cracked Manilow, who will play Toronto's BlackCreek music festival on August 24 and Caesars Windsor in Windsor, Ont., on Aug. 28, backed at both gigs by the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. "Over the last eight years, I've had these very successful cover albums ... But I really did miss songwriting." "15 Minutes," a concept album ruminating on the perils of fame, was a risk on several levels, he said. "It was an album that had a story to it, that's No. 1 that's kind of different. It was an album that was about a young guy in my imagination ... and he wanted to be successful and I thought he would be a guitar player. Well, I don't play the guitar, so writing a whole album for guitar, that was another risk ... And then releasing it on my own label, that was another risk. "I was out of my safety zone all the way (and) it turned out to be a wonderful experience as a creator." The idea for "15 Minutes" came a few years back when Manilow and lyricist Enoch Anderson became pre-occupied with the tabloid troubles of singer Britney Spears. "She couldn't even go to Starbucks by herself ... She couldn't even walk out of her house," recalled Manilow. "(Enoch) and I said "Wow, is that the price of fame now? Is that what's going on out there? It just began to emerge as an interesting thing to write about." Manilow noted that times have changed drastically for celebrities since he first became a star over 35 years ago. "There was no Internet back then, and the paparazzi, there was kind of a line that they didn't cross ... Now, the line is absolutely broken," he said. The escalating cost of fame was also driven home to the singer during his stints as a mentor on "American Idol," where he was startled by the swift transformation of contestants. "They were very nice girls and boys (when I started watching)," said Manilow, who spends much of the year performing in Las Vegas. "And when I got there (to mentor them), it was like a couple of weeks later and these very nice girls and boys had turned into major stars. They were wearing Armani, the makeup and their hair was way up and they were putting more makeup on them and more lip gloss! And I said: 'Whoa! That took no time at all ... these days we kind of count down the days until they do something silly and they wind up on TMZ. I fear for these young people. How on earth are they going to handle this fame and success when they're household names within weeks?" That type of sharp observation pervades "15 Minutes," which includes a slow-driving rocker of a title track and the syncopated, rap-like vocals of "Work the Room" as well as more traditional Manilow-esque piano songs such as "Bring on Tomorrow." Despite the success of the new album, however, audiences at Manilow's upcoming Canadian dates will likely only hear a song or two off of "15 Minutes." Ever the old-school showman, the singer is well aware that fans are hungry for his classic songs. "I think that the audiences really want to hear the hits, so that's what we're doing," said Manilow, adding that he tried out the new material recently and was pleased by the reaction. "I put my toe in the water and we tried out two (new songs) in my Vegas show and they stopped the show," he said. "I'm so confused because what I've been taught was that when you make a new album the audiences really just want to hear the hits so you've got to be very careful (when you play new songs) ... I put in one and (it) went over fantastic ... and so I did the title cut -- '15 Minutes' -- and that stopped the show ... little by little I am going to throw in more." He's also having fun these days talking about his favourite songs on the website www.Iheartradio.com, which features a Manilow channel. Seemingly energized by his latest success, Manilow says his next album will be a live concert he recorded at London's O2 Arena and then he'll go back to writing. And, despite his storied career, he still sounds genuinely tickled by the positive reviews for "15 Minutes." "It's a miracle," the singer said with a chuckle. "Really, I couldn't have gone any further away from the kind of music that I'm known for and yet nobody seems to have any trouble. Everybody is kind of patting me on the back and saying good for you, and that's really been great." |
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