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| June 27, 2012 | Inside Indiana Business | Manilow Reaches Out to IPS: The Manilow Music Project is reaching out to Indianapolis Public Schools. Singer Barry Manilow recently donated a piano to IPS, and is backing a musical instrument drive. Donors will be offered two free tickets to his upcoming Indianapolis concert. |
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| (Indianapolis, IN) – Legendary singer-songwriter Barry Manilow hopes others will once again follow his philanthropic lead as he donates a Yamaha piano to launch a local instrument drive for the Indianapolis Public Schools. Anyone who donates a new or gently used musical instrument to the Bankers Life Fieldhouse Box Office will receive 2 free tickets (valid for pre-selected seat locations) for Manilow’s August 3rd concert in Indianapolis. "I’m thrilled to be able to help bring the gift of music to these kids," states Manilow. Bankers Life Fieldhouse will be the base for the instrument drive in Indianapolis, from now through August 3rd. "We are excited and most appreciative that Mr. Manilow chose IPS to launch this drive for donated instruments from the community," said Superintendent Dr. Eugene G. White. "IPS has over several years worked to rebuild its instrumental music program in our elementary schools to give our students a good, solid foundation in music education. The donation of new and or gently used instruments will help us expand our classroom efforts." The Manilow Music Project (MMP) is part of The Manilow Fund for Health and Hope. It was formed as a grass roots organization to assist local charities and programs. Its primary focus is to provide musical instruments to high schools and middle schools and to provide music scholarships at universities throughout the US, Canada, and the UK. More information on the Manilow Music Project can be found at http://www.manilowmusicproject.org/. Tickets are available online at Manilow.com or ticketmaster.com, in person at the Box Office, or by calling 1-800-745-3000. With worldwide record sales exceeding 80 million, Barry Manilow is ranked as the top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time with 47 top 40 hits. Manilow has produced, arranged, and released over 40 albums over the course of his career. |
| June 28, 2012 | LAist | July 4th Fireworks Spectacular with special guest Barry Manilow at the Hollywood Bowl |
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| Fabulous fireworks, traditional patriotic music, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the man who took "Mandy" to the top of the charts sounds like the perfect way to celebrate the 4th of July. American pop icon Barry Manilow joins the Bowl’s ever-popular tribute to our nation’s birthday July 2nd-4th at 7:30 p.m. at the Hollywood Bowl. Join the LA Phil and Barry Manilow for a night of nostalgic tunes, breathtaking fireworks, and festivities worthy of America's birthday celebration! |
| June 21, 2012 | Uinterview | Barry Manilow 'Still Not 100 Percent' Recovered From Bursitis Surgery |
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| Music legend Barry Manilow, who celebrated his 69th birthday earlier this month, has not completely recovered from surgery he underwent for bursitis of the hip last December. "I’m still not 100 percent," Manilow told The Kansas City Star. "I’m pretty close -- 85 to 90 percent, but I’m doing great." Manilow, who started a long series of weekend tours in March, was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital in December to repair torn abductor muscles in both of his hips, the result of a lifetime of stage performing. "That's what you get when you jump around to Copacabana for 30 years! Wish me luck," Manilow jokingly told USA Today at the time. Manilow performed his 1,000th concert [in] Las Vegas the night before he went into surgery. Despite the slow recovery from hip surgery, Manilow is maintaining his signature level of optimism and gratitude. "I am so grateful I’m still here and I still have an audience who’s interested in hearing what I have to say and in listening to my music," he said. "I know when I get on stage people want to hear the songs they grew up with. Those songs have turned into more than pop ditties. They’ve become huge memories. They mean so much to me, you’ll never hear me phone them in. I’ll be happy to sing those songs for the rest of my life." |
| June 19, 2012 | Michigan Live | "Barry Manilow's instrument drive for Grand Rapids Schools pulls in 25 instruments in exchange for concert tickets" by Monica Scott |
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| GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Tamara Baldwin-Raglin said she was excited about the idea of swapping new or gently used instruments to benefit Grand Rapids schools for two free tickets to see Barry Manilow last week, whom she says she adores. "My clarinet and the other instruments will be undoubtedly be put to great use in the school system," said Baldwin-Raglin, who is a clarinet, piano and vocal music teacher. "I have been inspired by Mr. Manilow and his contributions to music for literally generations." The top-selling singer launched an instrument drive for Grand Rapids Schools, hoping people like Baldwin-Raglin, who had her clarinet since grade school, would take the deal for kids. At last count, 25 instruments were donated. Manilow kicked it off on June 7, donating a Yamaha piano and giving out two free tickets in exchange for the instrument. The Manilow Music Project, part of The Manilow Fund for Health and Hope, provides musical instruments to high schools and middle schools and music scholarships to universities. Victoria Varela, Manilow’s publicist, said the day before the concert they had received eight instruments, including a keyboard, trombone, oboe, clarinets, flute and a guitar. This week she told MLive the final tally was 25 but an instrument breakdown was not available immediately. As Grand Rapids Superintendent Teresa Neal said, the timing was great, Varela said. She said the district has limited resources and as it prepares next year’s budget and is looking at increasing art and music at the elementary level. "Barry kept hearing on the news the art programs were being drastically cut in schools and that prompted him to take action and make a difference in communities across the U.S.," Varela said. |
| June 18, 2012 | Kansas City Star | "Manilow concert at Starlight is a celebration: Starlight crowd salutes singer’s birthday, and he takes his fans down memory lane" by Timothy Finn |
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| Sunday was Barry Manilow’s 69th birthday, which was evident long before he mentioned it to a crowd of about 5,000 at Starlight Theatre. They serenaded him with "Happy Birthday" and several of the many fans who brought signs to the show expressed birthday greetings. At least one person brought him a gift. The crowd included many folks who were Manilow’s age and older and many who were half his age and younger. It was also Father’s Day, and throughout the amphitheater families of two and three generations sat and sang along together. Manilow’s gift to them was 90 minutes of songs they’d been listening to for most of their lives. Backed by a band laden with keyboards and two background singers, he opened with a version of "It’s a Miracle" that bounced to soft disco beat, then a mashup of "Somewhere in the Night" and "Looks Like We Made It." Last year, Manilow ended a seven-year run at two venues in Las Vegas and he is back on the road for a long series of weekend shows. He may be away from the Vegas lights, but he hasn’t taken the Vegas glitz out of his show. He busted a few low-key dance moves -- he is recovering from hip surgery -- and he showed off his skills on the piano and keyboards. He is a smooth, slick showman, one not above some self-effacing humor. When the video screen behind him showed the "Even Now" album cover, which features the Manhattan skyline, he wisecracked: "My nose looks like one of the buildings." That video screen broadcast lots of images from way back, including Manilow’s first appearance on "American Bandstand" and, before he sang "Mandy," an appearance on "The Midnight Special," in which he was introduced by Clive Davis and Mac Davis. Manilow has never been an elite vocalist, but for the most part he has managed to preserve and maintain the voice he’s always had. After he hit a long high note to close "Even Now," the crowd gave him a loud long ovation. He dropped in some of his lesser-known songs, such as "Brooklyn Blues," which he prefaced with a verse from "Kansas City," and "I Am Your Child," which he performed solo, at the keyboards. Manilow also performed two songs from his tributes-to-the-decades albums: "He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother" and "Can’t Take My Eyes Off You." But the songs that made the crowd sing and wave their orange glow sticks and the couples dance at their seats and in the aisles were the sweeping ballads, like "Even Now," "Weekend in New England," "Trying to Get the Feeling Again" and, his signature tune, "Mandy." He closed with a Vegas version of "Copacabana (At the Copa)," then one of his most beloved songs (and one he didn’t write), "I Write the Songs," which ignited more singing and swaying. After a reprise of "It’s a Miracle," a blizzard of confetti and streamers was unleashed from the stage and rained on the crowd in the front sections. Manilow then brought the night to a slow, quiet close with an a cappella rendition of "One Voice," a song about the power of music and a lone voice. It was an apt ending for a guy whose long career has provided many happy returns. Set list: It’s a Miracle; Could it be Magic; Somewhere in the Night/Looks Like We Made It; Can’t Smile Without You; American Bandstand; The Old Songs; Even Now; Brooklyn Blues; I am Your Child; This One’s for You; New York City Rhythm; Weekend In New England; He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother; Can’t Take My Eyes Off You; All the Time; Trying to Get the Feeling Again; I Made it Through the Rain; Mandy/Could it Be Magic; Copacabana (At the Copa); I Write the Songs; It’s a Miracle (Reprise); One Voice. |
| June 16, 2012 | WTHR-13 Indiana | Barry Manilow honored in Carmel |
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| CARMEL, Indiana - Legendary singer-songwriter Barry Manilow was honored Saturday, in Carmel. It was all part of the first ever Great American Songbook Hall of Fame presentation. Manilow was inducted in the "New Standard" category which is awarded to the artist who contributes songs and music and stands the test of time. "My goal, when I started off was to make music that will outlive me. And it seems to be. If that's correct, some of those songs might outlive me and that would be every composers goal," said Manilow. Michael Feinstein, Palladium Artistic Director, told Eyewitness News, "He (Manilow) has taken the great, classic songs, the great tradition of music and lyrics and brought it to a new generation and continues to do so." Also honored last night were songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman. Cole Porter was posthumously awarded legendary status for his contributions during the early part of the 20th century. |
| June 16, 2012 | IndyStar.com | Barry Manilow, Michael Feinstein, Clay Aiken team up at Palladium |
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| The red carpet has been rolled out tonight at Carmel’s Center for the Performing Arts, where the first class of stars is being inducted into the Great American Songbook Hall of Fame. Superstar Barry Manilow, who is in all black and sparkles tonight, is the only member of the four-person class who is in attendance. The others include Cole Porter, who died in 1964, and Oscar-winning songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman (score of "Yentl," and "The Way We Were."), who couldn’t attend because Marilyn is suffering from the flu. They were chosen for significant contributions to the Great American Songbook, popular music from Broadway and Hollywood musicals prevalent from the 1920s to the 1960s — something that the Center’s Artistic Director Michael Feinstein, who is hosting, has dedicated his career to preserving. Feinstein and Manilow are performing in the event’s show, which is going on now, along with singer Clay Aiken, who is singing Manilow’s "Even Now." The Indianapolis Children’s Choir is here at the Carmel Palladium, too, adding local voices to the show. Before they went on stage, Manilow and Feinstein, who seem to have a lot of mutual respect, stopped to talk to reporters. "I couldn’t be more honored to kick this organization off in the first year," said Manilow. "I believe so much in what Michael and all these people are doing. I was happy to get the phone call. I believe so much in preserving this kind of music... My goal when I started off was to make music that would outlive me." Without Feinstein’s efforts the standards of the Great American Songbook might disappear, said Manilow. "Thank you so much for that," Feinstein responded. "Barry is a person who cares as much about the classic songbook as anybody I’ve ever met, more than most people... He has taken the great classic songs, the great tradition of music and lyrics and continues to do so." |
| June 14, 2012 | The Kansas City Star | "Donate an instrument, get Manilow tickets" by Joe Robertson |
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| Barry Manilow wants to give away two free tickets for his Sunday concert to anyone who donates a new or gently used musical instrument for Kansas City Public Schools. The Starlight Theatre box office, 4600 Starlight Road, is taking the donations and issuing the tickets. The box office will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Manilow is giving a Yamaha piano for Kansas City’s Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts. |
| June 14, 2012 | Broadway World | Hollywood Bowl July 4th Fireworks Spectacular to Feature Barry Manilow, 7/2-4 |
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| The 2012 Hollywood Bowl July 4th Fireworks Spectacular features American pop icon Barry Manilow, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by conductor Sarah Hicks. For three nights, Monday - Wednesday, July 2 – 4, at 7:30 PM, this Independence Day celebration begins with the Los Angeles Philharmonic led by conductor Sarah Hicks treating the audience to patriotic favorites. For the second half, Barry Manilow – the top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time - will perform an array of his hit songs including "Mandy," "I Write the Songs," "Looks Like We Made It," "Can’t Smile Without You," and the Grammy-winning "Copacabana (At the Copa)." The evening ends with what is widely regarded as one of the region’s top July 4th pyrotechnic displays. With worldwide record sales exceeding 80 million, Barry Manilow has been an iconic superstar for nearly five decades with 47 top 40 hits to his credit on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Manilow has produced, arranged, and released over 40 albums over the course of his inimitable career.To date, 29 albums by Manilow have been certified platinum, while Barry Manilow/Live (1977), Even Now (1978), and Greatest Hits (1978) are each certified triple platinum. Rolling Stone crowned him "a giant among entertainers... the showman of our generation," and Frank Sinatra summed up Manilow best when Ol’ Blue Eyes told the British press, "He’s next." In June 2011, Manilow - the Grammy, Tony, and Emmy Award-winning recording artist - celebrated the chart success of his original album 15 Minutes, which entered the Billboard Top 200 at #7. 15 Minutes was Manilow’s 37th charting album, and his 6th Top 10 debut in the last 10 years. The album’s single "Bring On Tomorrow" entered the Top 40 chart making it Manilow’s 47th Top 40 hit. Less than one year later, in May 2012, Manilow celebrated the success of his latest release Live in London which hit the Billboard charts at #1 (Top Internet Albums), #5 (Indie Albums), and #24 (Billboard’s Top 200), marking the highest charting live album since 1977. Recorded in London at The O2 Arena May 4-11, 2011 with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Live in London, features stunning arrangements of Manilow classic hits. The show plays Monday, July 2, 2012 at 7:30 PM, Tuesday, July 3, 2012 at 7:30 PM and Wednesday, July 4, 2012 at 7:30 PM. Tickets are on sale now at HollywoodBowl.com or via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000. For more information, call 323.850.2000. |
| June 13, 2012 | Appleton Post-Crescent | "Interview: Barry Manilow still delivering songs that'll make young girls cry" by Kendra Meinert |
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| Barry Manilow knows better than to try to out-Vegas Vegas, so when it was time to put together his current tour he decided to think small. Or at least small by his standards. We’re talking about a performer who has sold 80 million albums during a four-decade career that has made him the most successful adult contemporary artist of all time. But after a seven-year run of doing residency shows in Las Vegas -- first at the Hilton, then Paris -- that were crammed with special effects, dancers and a small army of musicians, Manilow packed lighter for the road. "When I put this one together, after we left Vegas, I felt like we can’t get any bigger, so I decided let’s go smaller. I’ve got less musicians with me, and the show is beautiful to look at, but it’s more intimate than I’ve ever been," he said. "I really just wanted to go back to communicating with the audience every night instead of being surrounded by so much production and so many musicians that I thought, well, it might be a little bit scary for me to just be able to be one guy up there and an audience, but it seems to be working out just great. I’m having a great time." At 68, Manilow returns to Green Bay Friday for the first time in 15 years when his concert at Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena allowed the audience to use electronic clickers to select from which of his albums he’d perform next. In 1997, that passed for "high-tech," a notion that makes Manilow laugh. Clickers or not, he’s as nimble as ever navigating a mammoth song catalogue that dates back to 1974 with his first No. 1, "Mandy," and spans the many hits that followed into the ’80s, including "I Write the Songs," "This One’s for You," "Even Now" and "Can’t Smile Without You." More recently there have been albums of cover songs, and then in 2011, "15 Minutes," his first album of original material in 10 years. In other words, plenty to pick from on this tour. "I’ve got 30 years of a wonderful catalogue of songs, and my band knows everything, therefore I can change the show every night," Manilow said. "As a matter of fact, I can change songs right on the spot, and I’ve been doing that. I’m not locked into a set, because when we were in Vegas, of course, I couldn’t change anything, because it was such a production." But if there’s one thing Manilow knows better than music, it’s his fans – a hopelessly devoted, eternally smitten, female-leaning bunch known worldwide as Fanilows. While he’ll sneak in a couple of new titles, he won’t deprive them of the songs that made the young girls cry. "I know what they’re there for, and I give them as much of it as I can," he said. "And then there’s a handful of them that would really love to hear songs from '15 Minutes' or some of the album cuts over the years, and I do drop them in periodically. The audiences have been very kind, and they seem to love it ... But the bulk of the show is the big hits, and I’m happy to do them." Night after night, none is bigger than "Copacabana (At the Copa)," the 1978 hit that won him a Grammy Award and took on a life of its own. He has joked in interviews that he blames all those years of jumping around onstage to the tale of Lola the showgirl for the major hip surgery he underwent in December. Originally written as a novelty cut for his "Even Now" album, his record company had little faith in it. "But it jumped off the album and became a big dance record," he said. "Out of all the hits that I’ve had, and I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of them, singing 'Copa' is the one that’s the most requested. That is the song that is the most fun every night. It’s the one they all wait for." The song is a chance for the native New Yorker, who got his start as a jingle writer, arranger and producer, to show off his considerable chops as a showman - a title increasingly bestowed upon him, much to his chagrin. "It’s the biggest surprise of my life that I wound up with the title of showman," he said, laughing. "It never dawned on me, it never interested me, to become a performer or a singer or a showman ... All I was doing was trying to introduce the songs that meant so much to me. Kibitz around with the audience on stage. Be as real as I could be. And as the career began to blossom, I would produce my shows and they would get a little bigger and a little bit more fun. I had a great time doing it and producing it and writing them, but when I had to stand up and do it, that was always the part I was most uncomfortable doing. But nobody seemed to have any problem with it but me ... It was just great that out of nowhere this ability to actually be comfortable standing onstage and leading the band and producing and kibitzing and singing and jumping around, it just never dawned on me that I’d be able to do anything like that." For a performer whose songs and appeal have proven timeless, his recent hip surgery was a bit of a reality check. It forced him to postpone some dates this year, including the Resch Center show originally slated for April. It was "a rough recovery," he said, but he never doubted he’d come back - to the delight of fans who still fill arenas to see him. It’s something he never takes for granted. "I’m a very grateful guy that there’s still an audience out there that’s interested in seeing what I do and listening to what I’ve got to say. I thought this would stop years ago. It would’ve been fine if it would’ve stopped years ago. I would’ve been a very, very happy guy that I had that kind of a career, but it doesn’t seem to want to stop." And as for fans -- many of them parents and grandparents now -- the sweet nostalgia of slipping back into the ’70s with those love songs isn’t lost on the man who will get another year closer to 70 two days after his Green Bay show. He’s as sentimental as they are. "These songs, for me, have become so much more than just pop songs, because these days when I do 'Mandy' and 'Could It Be Magic,' they are filled with memories and feelings about where I had begun and where this whole life of mine began," he said. "They’re filled with so much depth that they’re not just 32-bar pop songs. They mean a lot more to me than they ever have. Like I say, I’m happy to do them, because as far as I’m concerned, these are the story of my life." |
| June 12, 2012 | The Kansas City Star | "Even now, Barry Manilow isn’t resting on his success: With his rock-influenced concept album and a road tour, he’s not resting on success" by Timothy Finn |
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| Fame is one thing; success is another. And Barry Manilow is familiar with both. "The lesson I learned was that when fame hits you, you have this new image that becomes bigger than you," he said. "And that’s who people relate to - that brand-new image, that famous person. That normal person you were before is not there anymore. It kind of drove me crazy for the first four or five years. I became a brat. I think everyone does. But I pulled myself together and got back to where I wanted to be." He also wrote about the process. Last year, Manilow released his first album of original material in 10 years, and it deals square-on with the issue of instant celebrity. "15 Minutes" is a rock album with a fictional narrative about a guy dealing with the rewards and consequences of sudden fame. For Manilow, the mission was three-fold: Return to songwriting; compose in a style he hadn’t tried before; and create something more than just another collection of songs. So he broke his string of successful cover and tribute albums and made one of his own. "I was missing songwriting all those years, and even during that time I was thinking about what my next album would be," he said. "I thought it needed to be something special, an idea, an event, not just 12 pop songs." So he met with his longtime collaborator Nick Anderson, and they came up with a theme, one inspired by the torrent of reality TV shows, especially those that turn everyday people into pop stars, like "American Idol." "When we started to look at what was going on, we kept coming back to reality shows and these young people becoming household names overnight," he said. "I thought of myself when 'Mandy' hit. It’s fame, and it’s rough when it hits. No matter how prepared you think you are, you aren’t when your life changes overnight." How did he regain his bearings? "I went back to my family and old friends, people who knew who I really was," he said. "They grounded me. My advice to anyone is: Keep your family and young friends close to you. They know who you are." The music on "15 Minutes" is vastly different from his other original material, which gave him the chance to step outside his comfort zone and learn a few things. "I imagined that the main character would be a guitar player," he said. "Well, I don’t play guitar. So right away, that was a challenge." Manilow said he listened to some of his classic-rock albums for inspiration: Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, Crosby Stills and Nash. He also consulted with some experts in the field, including Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters. "He comes from a world I’m not in," he said. "So I studied what he did. It’s much simpler music than where I come from - the world of major ninths and flatted fifths (chords). That’s not the world of rock ’n’ roll. So I had to simplify what I do. I had to pull back from the sophisticated chord changes and melodies. It was challenging. And I loved doing it. It’s as close to a rock album as I can make. It’s more guitar-driven than any other. It has one of those big, sweeping ballads. The rest is pretty energetic pop music." Last year was a busy and successful year for Manilow. He ended a two-year run at the Paris Theatre in Las Vegas, which followed a five-year run at the Las Vegas Hilton. He released the new album. He also nearly sold-out the O2 Arena in London three straight nights. At the end of the year, he underwent major surgery to reattach muscles in his hips. "That was nasty," he said. "I blame it on 30 years of jumping around to 'Copacabana.'" In March, he started a long series of weekend tours, though he hadn’t completely recovered. That run includes a stop Sunday night at Starlight Theatre, which will also be his 69th birthday. "I’m still not 100 percent," he said. "I’m pretty close - 85 to 90 percent, but I’m doing great." Asked about the rigors of the road and performing the same songs each night after all these years, Manilow said he feels only gratitude for the chance to keep doing what he loves most: Perform live all over the world and make the kind of music he chooses. That, not celebrity or fame, is the key to success and happiness. "First of all, this isn’t really a tour," he said. "When you say 'tour,' I remember the old days being on the road months at a time in hotel rooms that kept getting worse and worse, and waiting for planes. I won’t do that again. This is kind of fun. We’re doing weekends in cities I haven’t been to in a long time. And we’re having a ball. I am so grateful I’m still here and I still have an audience who’s interested in hearing what I have to say and in listening to my music," he said. "I know when I get on stage people want to hear the songs they grew up with. Those songs have turned into more than pop ditties. They’ve become huge memories. They mean so much to me, you’ll never hear me phone them in. I’ll be happy to sing those songs for the rest of my life. All the people I started out with are gone: dead or retired or fat and bald. I’m still doing it. The audiences are still there and it’s still an amazing experience, deeper than anything I ever expected it to be." Barry Manilow performs at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Starlight Theatre. Tickets are $9.99 to $249.99. Go to KCStarlight.com. |
| June 10, 2012 | Post Crescent | "Mock if you must, but Barry Manilow fans are all smiles as concert approaches" by Cheryl Anderson |
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| In the world of marketing, a super fan is described as a person who not only follows a brand but is involved with that brand over a long period of time. It's most evident in sports - think Donald Driver winning that mirrorball trophy on "Dancing With the Stars." And there are, of course, super fans smitten with musicians. Really smitten. Case in point: Colleen Baehnman, 55, of Appleton, who remembers singing the Barry Manilow song "Sweet Heaven I'm in Love Again" while delivering each of her two daughters. Baehnman has some serious love for Manilow, and she'll be in the house Friday when he brings his tour to the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon - two days before his 69th birthday. Owning up to a Barry Manilow fixation isn't easy. The pop singer -- his worldwide sales of more than 80 million records is a benchmark in popular music -- has been both a musical icon and a punchline since the 1970s. And those fans who long for one more Manilow love song -- including me -- have been mocked right along with him. Apparently writing the songs the whole world wants to sing isn't enough for some people. You don't hear me dissing your Skynyrd, but we Manilow-iacs (I just made that up) never hear the end of it. When I attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, I lived off campus my sophomore year with three roommates who were into rock music. I never questioned their choices in music, but on any given day, with Manilow's "Even Now" album spinning on the turntable, one of the roommates would enter the living room, remove the stylist from the record and say, "Cheryl, don't do that." Such is life for a self-proclaimed Manilow fan. Then and now. Born in 1968, Dan Scharnhorst has listened to Manilow since he was 8. "I would put (a record) on and then go to sleep," said the Manitowoc man who has a ticket for Friday's concert. "Barry kind of sang me to sleep pretty much every night during my elementary school years. You know what? I'm proud of that, doggone it." People think he should be embarrassed, but he's not. "It's guys like him and Neil Diamond and Michael Bolton that men aren't supposed to be fans of," said Scharnhorst, a Christian youth speaker who'll be at Lifest July 11-15 in Oshkosh and serves as executive director of Manitowoc County's Big Brothers and Big Sisters program. "I'm not a big Michael Bolton fan, but I sure love Neil Diamond a lot and Barry; Barry's been my shining star since I was a little kid," said Scharnhorst, who will celebrate his 44th birthday Friday at the Resch Center. Until now, timing has never been in his favor. He has never made it to a Manilow concert. "I'll finally get to be in (Manilow's) presence on my birthday," said Scharnhorst, who will go to the show with his wife. "It's just amazing." He even has a countdown to the concert on his Facebook page with a daily link to a youtube performance by his idol. Baehnman, meanwhile, has seen Manilow in concert about 10 times, which she says is not enough. Someday, she said, she hopes to sing "Can't Smile Without You" on stage with Manilow. "I don't care where I have to go, but that is at the top of my bucket list," Baehnman said. "Barry has a worldwide musical touch like no one I've ever seen," she said. "The very first time I saw him was at Alpine Valley in the early '80s. It was just so much more than I ever expected. He is an amazing performer in all respects. He has an amazing sense of humor, but he can be extremely serious in his songs. The piano, when he plays and sings and he dances (the choreography), it's just an amazing show. You're expecting a piano and a man to sing. And it' just 100 times more than that. When I find a performer that is so gifted in so many areas, writing the music and composing the words with it, it's rare. I don't think his music will ever die because it's just so meaningful." Scharnhorst attributes Manilow's unending star power to the following he garnered in the '70s with his platinum-selling albums. "I think people became a fan and just hung on because he's stayed doing shows and putting albums out," he said. "He continues to be out there and I think people have just stuck with him over the years. That's what I did; I liked him as a kid and he never went away." And speaking of kids, Baehnman passed her Manilow mania on -- to a lesser degree -- to her daughter, Kim Baehnman, 26, of Oshkosh, who was 6 or 7 when she attended her first concert with her mom and godmother, Nancy Pennings of Neenah. "I actually wore a Barry Manilow sweatshirt," said Kim, who said she was having fun at the concert until the entertainer invited children on the stage to help him sing a song. She was terrified, despite her mom and godmother's pleading. "I couldn't do it." Kim knows most of Manilow's songs by heart, including those on the Christmas albums, which were played each holiday season. "I do really like him," said Kim, who admits she gets some ribbing from others in her age group. "But then I say, 'My mom is a huge, huge fan, so growing up I couldn't help but like it.' And he is extremely talented." Kim will attend her second Manilow concert Friday with her mom and godmother. It's a late birthday present for Kim, who originally received a ticket to the rescheduled April 27 concert for her April 5 birthday. "My mom was like, 'Do you want a Barry Manilow ticket for your birthday?' And I said, 'Of course.'" If Manilow asks her on stage this time around, Kim said she wouldn't turn him down. "I wouldn't want to pass up the opportunity," she said. For Scharnhorst, his love for Manilow has been a "badge of honor" he said he wears proudly. "I've never been very good at hiding the fact I'm a big Barry Manilow fan," he said. "People, though, are surprised when they find out ... and you get some comments, but I let it all slide. Hey, I like him, boom." And Scharnhorst is not alone. He recently found out a friend of his has seen Manilow in concert 27 times. "I was in awe of him," Scharnhorst said. Friday's concert can't come soon enough, he said. "It's crazy; I cannot wait." If you go... What: Barry Manilow; When: 7:30 p.m. Friday; Where: Time Warner Cable Theatre at the Resch Center, Ashwaubenon; Cost: $17.99-$117.99; Contact: TicketStar, 800-895-0071 or www.ticketstaronline.com |
| June 8, 2012 | News OK | CD review: Barry Manilow with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra "Live in London (Deluxe Edition)" by Brandy McDonnell |
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| Even music fans who don't care for easy-listening pop or Barry Manilow's bombastic ballads have to admire his undeniable knack for making hits and obvious dedication to pleasing his faithful fans, or "Fanilows." Just consider the 16-track lineup for the "Live in London (Deluxe Edition)" CD, the new concert album the legendary crooner and his band recorded last year with the renowned Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. His chart-topper "Looks Like We Made It" and top 10 hit "Somewhere in the Night" share space in a three-song medley, while his popular ballads "This One's for You" and "Weekend in New England" didn't even make the final cut. Naturally, his signature smashes "Mandy," "Copacabana (At the Copa)" and "I Write the Songs" are prominently featured and provide ideal showcases for Manilow's buttery vocals and the orchestra's nimble musicianship. Recorded over four days last May at the O2 Arena, "Live in London" also includes the earnest ballad "Bring on Tomorrow," from Manilow's 2011 original concept album "15 Minutes: Fame ... Can You Take It?" The singer-songwriter pays homage to his hometown with his Latin-flavored "New York City Rhythm," praises the unsung heroes of the recording industry with his cover of Rupert Holmes' "Studio Musician" and gives an earnest nod to his fans with his rendition of Dave Grusin's "The Best Seat in the House." "Live in London" recently reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Internet Albums, No. 5 on the indie albums list and No. 24 on the cross-genre Billboard 200 chart - not bad for a guy entering his fourth decade as a recording artist. Unfortunately for "Fanilows," the DVD doesn't feature a full-length concert, instead offering an hour-long, 13-track sampling of Manilow, his band and the orchestra in action. Still, it's enough to showcase the singer's theatrical showmanship, whether he's tickling the ivories with many flourishes, donning an array of glitzy jackets or spreading his arms wide as if to embrace the whole crowd while belting his hits. Oklahoma fans can see Manilow live and in person at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Tulsa's BOK Center or 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Oklahoma City's Chesapeake Energy Arena. For more information, go to www.bokcenter.com or www.chesapeakearena.com. |
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