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| May 12, 2002 | Sunday Express
(London) | "Suddenly, Manilow's The Man: A new generation of music fans is succumbing to Manimania" by Alan Jackson, promoting Barry's concert at Wembley Arena in London, England (May 12, 2002) |
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| Life has taken a most unexpected turn for Barry Manilow. One morning, a few months ago the veteran entertainer woke to find that something very strange had happened. Overnight, and after some 30 years in the recording industry, he'd become, well, fashionable. "All across the US, it's been the same," he says, "Suddenly, these wildly diverse, enthusiastic, young and early middle-aged crowds have been turning out to see me play. So many other artists have been dying a death at the box office lately, but the demand for my shows has been nothing short of incredible. And then there's the reviews. Things have gone insane." Not that he's ever been short of adulation. Unlike most other artists whose hit singles career was contained within the Seventies, Barry has retained the ability to sell out stadiums whenever and wherever he chooses to tour. Britain is succumbing to his charms once again as I write. But this renewed wave of Manimania has taken even record company bosses by surprise. When a Greatest Hits collection was released 10 years ago, it struggled to get a toe-hold in Billboard's Hot 100. This past February, re-packaged and TV promoted, Ultimate Manilow crashed in at No 3, the highest first-week placing of his entire career. Why? Reasons the singer himself: "If I'm honest, I think it's because I offer comfort." Post September 11, that's a commodity in high and constant demand. "I know myself I don't feel like seeing the latest most talked-about but angry new movie, or listening to this week's hippest but angriest rock or rap act," he says. "I've wanted to stay away from all that for a while and, I think, a great many other people have been feeling the same." Thus we have it. Courtesy of his sincerity, his considerable personal charm and that fabulous back catalogue, Manilow, 55, has been reinvented as an all-inclusive, everyone-loves-him American hero. Can the same thing happen here? Though early reports from his UK arena dates have female 40 and 50-somethings continuing to dominate, it can only be a matter of time. For a man who's confessed to being short on self-esteem, this revival has been a timely blessing. "I'm told I seem more comfortable with myself than I've ever been. Hey, you get to this age and you'd better be. This is no dress rehearsal. This is it, this is your life. When I meet other people my own age, I'm struck by how many look older than their years. They seem tired and as if they've given up. There's no real belief in any future and all the talk is of the past - the so-called good old days. I've never looked at life that way and don't intend to start now. What I'm left with when I walk away from encounters like that is an enormous sense of gratitude for being healthy, for continuing to be engaged with life and for remaining passionate about what I do." He has more projects lined up now than ever before. "So many, in fact, that when they're carrying me to my grave I'll be saying, 'Hang on a minute. There are still all these other things I need to finish.'" Chief among them is a musical, Harmony. Based on the exploits of a real-life comedy vocal group in Weimar-era Germany, it had a successful try-out in California last year. Now its producer is busy raising the necessary �10 million to bring it to Broadway next spring. "He's fearless and thinks he's on a mission from God to make that happen. And I believe that if anyone can do it, Mark Schwartz can." Manilow, who wrote the show with oft-times collaborator Bruce Sussman, will not star. But, he says, "Watching it being performed on stage was probably the single most profound moment of my professional life, and one that I want again." Another personal goal is to restore old-style musical variety to mainstream TV. "The young are already well-catered for by MTV, VH1 and the like, but where's the show that allows you to hear Natalie Cole or Nancy Wilson singing standards or jazz? I'd love to introduce this great new audience I have to artists like that, and I intend to try and do it." How? Quite simply, by picking up the phone. "I'm a self-starter, and always have been. I could wait forever for the call from some network executive saying, 'Barry, how'd you like your own series?', so it's up to me to ring and let them know it's what I want. All my life, it's been me who's placed the first call. I used to think it was what everyone did. It took a while for it to dawn on me that a lot of other people just sit around and hope that things will happen." With professional demands increasing by the minute (concert after concert is being added to his US schedule to meet current demand), Manilow admits he is putting an extra premium on his private life. He and long-time partner Linda Allen live quietly in a desert community outside Los Angeles. "We relish the peace and quiet, and the view of the mountains. My working life is so filled with noise, and home isn't. I sit on my deck. I read the papers. Now and again, I look up and watch the birds. Simple, but I love it. And the people around about are very respectful. They pride themselves on not bothering me. There's none of this 'Barry, can you do this?' or 'Barry, will you give me that?' that happens everywhere else I go." "There are a couple of youngsters - the children of close friends - who I hope I've had a good and strong influence on, and that's been enough. I think I've done for those two all the positive things I might have done for children of my own, but without any of the negatives. You hear it all the time, the kids of famous actors or singers saying that their father wasn't there for them when they needed him, because he was always on the road." His own childhood is at the centre of a new studio album, Here At The Mayflower, released tomorrow. It's title refers to a fictional apartment block based on the one in which he was raised in Brooklyn. "The strongest songs he has ever written," said the city's Daily News of a collection that is told from the various perspectives of residents and neighbours. Rocketing record sales ad sell-out tours are one thing, but it's such critical acclaim (the rock magazine Rolling Stone recently hailed him as "one of the great entertainers of the age") that is setting the seal on the Barry Manilow revival. What does pop's Renaissance Man, newly beloved and respected, make of it all? To answer, he has to reach for the title of one of his own vintage hits, "It's a miracle," he declares, and grins. "I'm one very happy guy." |
| May 9, 2002 | The Western Mail
(icWales.com) | "The Master does it again" by Emma James: Returning to Cardiff this week for two nights (May 7-8) of utter devotion at the International Arena, [Barry Manilow] wowed the crowd of thousands of wives and the odd reluctant husband with all the favourites and a few surprises. The gravel-voiced Curtis Stigers who had a number of hits in Britain in the late 1980s, was the perfect warm-up act getting the crowd in the mood for the master. There always seems to be a welcome in the hillsides for Manilow - the all-American superstar and the piano-playing idol was certainly welcomed with open arms last night as women from across Wales sang, whooped, cheered and even cried along with such hits as "Mandy," "Could It Be Magic" and getting a devoted fan up on stage to sing along with "Can't Smile Without You." It cannot be denied; the fans love Manilow and he loves them. |
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| May 9, 2002 | The Sydney Morning Herald | "Manilow has a nose for success" - promoting Barry's UK tour dates (May 2002) |
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| He's got a mantelpiece full of Grammy, Tony and Emmy awards and sold almost 60 million records worldwide but the man who's the butt of the world's nose jokes, is still known for his reputation as the housewives' favourite. Despite 25 consecutive Top 40 hits, Barry Manilow has found his music routinely savaged by the critics for the past three decades. But the singer is having the last laugh. His new album Here At The Mayflower has been acclaimed in the US, Manilow has cast aside his Copacabana past, while his greatest hits compilation, Ultimate Manilow, entered the US charts at No 3. In the flesh, at the start of a UK regional tour, he is far removed from his caricatured, permatanned, bouffant-hair image. Charming, despite severe jet lag, and relaxed in a GAP sweatshirt and dark jeans, he is delighted to finally be getting praise for his music. He spent 20 years working on Here At The Mayflower, a concept album set in a fictional apartment block in Brooklyn, New York. The songs, a mix of styles including big band, jazz and pop, tell the tales of the various residents. "This is what I really do, the other stuff is work, the pop stuff has always been work. I've always had to figure out how to do that, this is where I gravitate towards naturally," he said. "I woke up with this idea about 20 years ago and I just jotted down some ideas for songs. I put the idea away for a couple of years, then I'd take it out again, and it went on for years. During those years I was making albums, still touring. It was just a little pet project of mine that I kept writing and putting away. Two years ago I listened to all of them, and by that time I'd written about 20 songs, and they all seemed to hang together. What was interesting about it was I had grown as a person over those years I'd been writing and the styles were all over the place, and I liked it because that's what you would get in an apartment building." The 55-year-old drew on his childhood memories of being brought up in a similar block by his mother and grandparents. "I can't say they were literally people I grew up with, but I've met these kinds of people along the way. Although there's an older couple in the Mayflower that I made up, and I called them by my grandparents names, Esther and Joe, but it really isn't literally about my grandparents." One of the old couple's songs, "Not What You See," is one of his favourites. After going through a divorce at the age of 22, he lives with his long-term partner Linda Allen. While he has no plans to remarry, he loves the idea of a couple staying together for half a century. "My grandparents did stay together for 50 years, it's a beautiful idea. I admire so many people who can last that long." Now, instead of the "brutal" criticism he is used to, he is getting praise for some unexpected quarters. Rock magazine Rolling Stone called him "the showman of our generation", while Radio & Records newspaper wrote: "If you looked up consummate professional in the dictionary, Barry Manilow's picture would be staring back at you." And with the new release, a new generation of fans are beginning to listen. "The reviews I've been reading have been coming from oddball places," he says. "It's not like the New York Times or Billboard magazine, it's from rock'n'roll magazines and young websites, so there might be a different generation that like this better than the old tunes. The audience has turned very young, at least in the US. Either everybody out there has had a facelift or there's another audience out there." His next goal is to have a show on Broadway, which should be realised next year... But he believes it's important to tour this year following the September 11 attacks on his home city. He now lives in California, but travelled to New York to visit Ground Zero last October. "You're never the same once you've seen that. I think it's scary out there, I think it's comforting to be hearing all this material that we all grew up with." Fans going to his concerts will find the old favourites very much in evidence. "You can't compete with the old songs. I've got this catalogue of music that comes equipped with memories for the audience and you can't top it, you just can't top it. It's thrilling, it's just thrilling. People ask me, don't I get tired of it, but I really don't. If you were there you would see how I could not possibly get tired of it." [ See May 7, 2002, Ananova article for more ] |
| May 8, 2002 | Sony Musiclub | "Barry Manilow - By Critical Acclaim" by (IG/WNWCAN/CPT): Veteran crooner Barry Manilow is [amazed and] delighted with his new album - because critics are praising it too... (For more, refer to May 7, 2002, Ananova article "Barry Manilow happy with praise for new album") |
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| May 8, 2002 | Femail.co.uk | "Prepare for Manilow mania!" by Isobel Fox, promoting Barry's UK Tour (May 2002) |
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| Barry Manilow mania is descending on Britain as the celebrated music maestro kicks of his world tour in Britain. Over the coming few weeks, any fan worth their salt will be heading to arenas in Scotland, Wales and England as the showbusiness stalwart embarks on a tour of duty that will take in America, Australia, Japan and Europe. To coincide with his time on the road, Sony have released Here At The Mayflower, Manilow's first album for ten years. It's a concept album, and by all accounts, it's pretty good. While many critics in the past have accused Manilow of being guilty of some "evil crimes against disco", this latest offering seems to buck the trend. Daily Mail entertainment reporter Baz Bamigboye comments: "Someone gave me a copy of his new album Here At The Mayflower, and when I played it in Los Angeles recently I found myself listening to the WHOLE disc. Manilow has a certain vibe these days. It's now cool to admit to liking him." His popularity has always been high among his legions of fans - collectively known as the Barry Manilow International Fan Club. The BMIFC are behind barrynethomepage.com, the definitive internet guide to everything you never knew about Barry and much more. Although your typical Manilow fan may cheerfully admit to being a woman of a certain age who enjoys gyrating madly to Copacabana while waving an "I Love Barry" banner frenziedly in the air, that's not necessarily always the case. One of Manilow's higher profile fans is Victoria Beckham. Posh was mesmerised when her mother Jackie took her to one of his concerts when she was a child. "He was definitely my inspiration." His younger fans are also in evidence at his concerts. One 30-year-old Barry devotee, Charlotte Harding, who is travelling to Wembley to see him on the London leg of his latest tour, said: "I went to my first Barry concert about eight years ago. My mum had the tape when I was little and so I knew all the songs off by heart. Judging by the number of 'younger fans' - kids who grew up in the 70s - at the concert he's got quite a following among this generation as well as his traditional 50 plus fans - a relief as I was starting to question my sanity!" So what has Manilow been up to over the past decade? Although this latest album is his first original offering in ten years, the Manilow music machine has never stopped working. In the early 1990s, Manilow toured the world before returning to the studio in 1994 to record a tribute to big band music Singin' With The Big Bands. He then signed a three-picture deal to compose music for three animated movies, Thumbelina, The Pebble and the Penguin and Rapunzel. Two more albums and two more world tours later and it was back to the studio to record his 39th and latest album, Here At The Mayflower, a collection of pop and swinging jazz tunes hung on the notion of an imaginary hotel. Whether this latest album hits the right note with fans remains to be seen. But with Manilow's record sales exceeding 58 million worldwide, and his trophy cabinet containing Grammy, Emmy and Tony Awards, it will have little impact on his career either way. As Rolling Stone Magazine says, Manilow is "a giant among entertainers, the showman of our generation" and his popularity seems anything but on the wane. |
| May 7, 2002 | Daily Telegraph | "Mad about Manilow: Lynsey Hanley reviews Barry Manilow at the NEC, Birmingham" |
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| If there's anything a seasoned touring performer can rely on, it's a hardcore of dedicated, solvent and, some would say, plain daft super-fans who will follow their favoured act around countries - even continents - attending every date that's played. Bob Dylan, on his never-ending tour, is plagued by them. The Grateful Dead were sustained by them for decades. Barry Manilow has more than most, and the Barrionettes came out in force to celebrate the first British date of his latest tour. After an opening medley of up-tempo hits and anthemic ballads that was ear-warpingly loud, Manilow - looking admirably - turned out in a double-breasted suit and almost suspiciously smooth-skinned for a man of 56 - soon segued into live staple "Can't Smile Without You." On cue, several hundred banners, a thousand flashing wands and a million lighters were raised, transforming the auditorium into a scene more associated with teenage hysteria than middle-of-the-road gentility. It became clear that the vast majority of those in the stalls knew that this was their chance to be hand-picked to sing with Barry. "Virgins only," warned the singer, before being rewarded with confident first-timer Elaine, who had evidently been rehearsing her moment of glory for years. His patter, chatty and self-deprecating to the point of Woody Allen-ness ("In 1978, I looked like Britney Spears - before the boob job"), was smooth enough to make the threat of new material seem like a good thing, as he introduced an extended foray into songs from his latest record ("Here at the Mayflower"), a concept album about a fictional New York apartment block. [Barry] introduced the title song of his latest musical, Harmony, about a real-life singing troupe in Nazi Germany, but stopped short of a downer by returning for the finale to his greatest and most danceable hit, "Copacabana." Sated for one night, Manilow's legion of super-fans could have their encore tomorrow. |
| May 7, 2002 | Ananova | "Barry Manilow happy with praise for new album" - promoting Barry's UK tour dates (May 2002) |
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| Barry Manilow says it's great to receive US acclaim for his forthcoming album (UK release) after years of "rotten press." He has spent 20 years working on tracks for Here At The Mayflower, set in a fictional apartment block in Brooklyn, New York. The singer begins his UK tour in Cardiff tonight. The album is released in the UK on May 15. He says he's still happy to be known as the star loved by housewives. "After all these years of rotten press, it is very nice. The American reviews were great, wonderful, the best reviews I've ever gotten. It certainly is better than being called an idiot in print every morning, especially for an album like this which really I've put a lot of personal effort into. I've always believed in what I do, I wouldn't do it if I didn't think I was doing a good job, it just took a little while to catch up. Right from the very beginning I thought we were making good music. So it was always surprising to see the critics having trouble. 'Mandy' was great, even 'Copacabana' puts a smile on your face, I couldn't work out why anybody had trouble with it. I am proud to be the housewives' favourite, I got no problem with that. These are great, great people." Manilow says his next goal is to have a show on Broadway next year, but plans to reduce his workload. "I'm slowing down, on purpose. It's not difficult to perform, I kinda like that, it's leaving home, leaving your life. I think I choose my life rather than my career these days. I don't see myself stopping completely but it's going to be less and less. I love creating, I love writing, I love putting it all together, I'll always do that. I started off wanting to be a musician, I didn't care about performing." |
| May 5, 2002 | icBirmingham.com | "Manilow reveals tough childhood", promoting Barry's appearances at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England (May 4-5, 2002): Crooner Barry Manilow [reveals] the secret heartache of his tough childhood ... "Like any child of an alcoholic, you just get out of the way. When you have a child and you have problems, it's the kid who gets it. Music was my refuge. I would run home from school and hit the piano. Before I knew it the sun was going down and my drunken parents were coming home. But despite the drunken binges they were good people getting through their lives. I spent my own adult life dealing with those problems - but they were good people." It is the singer's troubled childhood to which he turns his attention on his latest album, Here At The Mayflower. The Mayflower was an apartment in Brooklyn where he grew up and the album is something that he has had on his mind for 20 years now. "It's about life behind closed doors," he said. "A chance for me and my collaborators to write songs about people and situations. Each song is set in a different apartment." Barry has been with his girlfriend Linda since the 1960s. After an earlier failed marriage, he says he's just not the marrying type and that he and Linda are happy to live life as they are. |
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| May 4, 2002 | Birmingham 101 Magazine | "Barry Manilow" - Mike Davies, promoting Barry's concerts at the NEC in Birmingham, England (May 4-5, 2002) |
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| Here At The Mayflower (Sony) is Manilow's first album of original material in a decade. It's been worth the wait. Working with the same writers with whom he penned things like "Could It Be Magic" and "Even Now," it's a concept album about a fictitious New York apartment building (but based on a Brooklyn house near where he grew up) and the diverse characters that live there. Somewhere between a Neil Simon play, Broadway show and Love Boat-style TV series, it also provides a potted history of Manilow's musical styles embracing as it does big band, swing, jazz, Latin pop, R&B, and show ballads. Apparently gestating over some 20 years, it's arguably the finest and most cohesive piece of work he's produced in his entire career as the songs explore heartfelt tales of loneliness, growing old, love and death. Opening with a scene setting "Do You Know Who's Livin' Next Door?" it proceeds apartment by apartment to spotlight the guy who's always going to get it right tomorrow ("Come Monday"), the reclusive new neighbour ("I Hear Her Playing Music"), the splintering relationship ("Talk To Me"), the devoted old couple ("Not What You See"), the loud-mouth murder witness who winds up silenced ("Freddie Said"), a hopeful hopeless romantic ("Some Bar By The Harbor") and, in the tango swaying "The Night That Tito Played," some guy remembering a gig by Latin legend Tito Puente. If they're looking for singles, "Say Goodbye" positively screams out 'pick me!'. It's pure cut MOR naturally, but nobody does this sort of thing better and while the tour will inevitably have to include the old hits to please the fans, the Mayflower album certainly warrants a full show in its own right. So maybe a couple of years down the line it's not impossible that there'll be a proper Broadway production on the lines of Copacabana to give it the justice it truly deserves. |
| May 3, 2002 | South Wales Argus | "Manilow magic!" - article in promotion of Barry's concerts at International Arena in Cardiff, Wales (May 7-8, 2002): Barry Manilow is promoting his latest acclaimed album Here at the Mayflower which is released on Sony on Monday May 13. A concept album, The Mayflower is composed of 18 vignettes exploring characters in a fictional apartment building. The occupants' emotions, issues and frailties, such as loneliness, restlessness, romantic betrayal, enduring love, old age, and death are detailed ... The Mayflower refers to a very real, red brick Brooklyn apartment house located not far from where he grew up. The music is classic Barry: "I was raised with one foot in the classic song writing arrangements of the '30s and '40s and then one foot in the rock'n'roll of the days when I was a teenager," he said. "I love the muscle of the contemporary stuff, but I love the craft of the '30s and '40s. Maybe that's what's reflected in this album, which is just a hodgepodge of everything I love." |
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| May 3, 2002 | Goldmine Magazine | "Barry Manilow Here At The Mayflower (Concord CCD-2102-2)"
"Barry Manilow Ultimate Manilow (Arista 07822-10600-2)"
- Album Reviews by C. Brian Jasper
Article now in print, EXCLUSIVELY PREVIEWED ON THE BARRYNET -
ARTICLES AND REVIEWS: MARCH 5, 2002 (click here) |
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| May 2, 2002 | U Entertainment Daily News | "Looks Like We Made It" by Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith |
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| Barry Manilow wants us to know his CBS "Ultimate Manilow" special will be a television special "like they used to do." Along with a bevy of dancers and a full orchestra, Manilow will perform many of his old hits, including "Copacabana" and "Can't Smile Without You." Says the veteran singer/songwriter of his song choices for the special, "We're hoping to expose my music to a whole new generation." Manilow has some 31 albums to his credit, including the greatest-hits compilation release of "Ultimate Manilow," which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard music charts in February. "I've been working steadily for 27 to 30 years -- and this year my career seems to have exploded. I must say this type of success is sweeter the second time around. The first time was very confusing for me because it happened so quickly, but this time there's a real sense of gratitude," declares the 58-year-old crooner. When "Ultimate Manilow" airs on CBS May 18, the man himself will be in the U.K. on a month-long tour. At month's end, Manilow says he expects to return to the States to begin producing an album for jazz singer and Concord Records labelmate Diane Schuur. |
| May 2, 2002 | Jewsweek | "Manilow Finds a New Harmony: Barry Manilow has rekindled his Jewish roots with 'Harmony,' his new musical set in the Holocaust" by Marvin Glassman, article about Barry Manilow and Harmony; includes photo of Barry performing during a concert at the Sunrise Musical Theatre (April 11, 2002) in Fort Lauderdale, FL |
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| May 1, 2002 | The Weekly News (UK) | "New Album 20 Years in the Making" - article promoting Barry's appearances in the UK during May 2002: The last time Barry Manilow toured the UK, he ended up with laryngitis and a broken foot. Now, the legendary American singer is hoping for a clean bid of health as he begins his 14-date Live2002! tour which takes in venues all over the country. Barry, who's 55, is crossing the Atlantic after a five-month U.S. tour for which he's received plaudits for his gentle mix of his old hits and tracks from his new album. Here At The Mayflower is a project that's been 20 years in the making and is very close to Barry's heart. It's a concept album rooted in show tunes, with each of the 16 songs exploring the situations and characters of a fictitious apartment building. The Mayflower is reference to a real red-brick Brooklyn apartment house in Barry's native New York. "It had lots of people in it, and a lot of families and stories," recalls Barry. "I just thought, wouldn't it be fun to write an album about people's lives in an apartment building? The songs are about fictitious people, though I get my inspiration from life, from people. As I grow older, I see different things about different people." |
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| April 27, 2002 | The London Times | "Could It Be Magic?" by Alan Jackson, interview with Barry promoting his 'sell-out tour of Britain' in May 2002 |
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| Here, the fan base is almost entirely female, white and of a certain age: Maniloonies, the most organized call themselves, and proudly. But that could change if, as is so often the case, we follow in US footsteps. Across the Atlantic, he is Renaissance Man, newly-beloved, newly-respected. Ten years ago, a "Greatest Hits" collection struggled to enter the Billboard [Top 100 Album] charts. This February, repackaged and promoted, ["Ultimate Manilow"] debuted at Number Three, the highest first-week position of any album in his near 30-year career. You could call him the Comeback Kid, were it not for the fact that he's never really been away. When, the following morning, I ask if there is any simple explanation for America's renewed love affair with his music, I am offered the title of an old Manilow hit. "It's a miracle," is what he says. "It's not like I've suddenly started doing anything differently yet, these past three or four months, I've really been turned around here. What you saw last night has been happening for me all over the country, and it's insane. This noticeably younger, wildly diverse and enthusiastic crowd turning out everywhere to hear what I have to say... Just a miracle. Nothing less." Such emphatic rehabilitation would thrill any veteran performer, but Manilow, I suspect, is particularly grateful. That's because it carries with it the possibility (even the likelihood) that, finally, his talents will be properly and publicly validated. Imagine how that must feel, after years as pop's unwilling king of kitsch. I suggest it all comes down to two things. First, his back catalogue has proved impervious to fashion, staying alive on the world's airwaves in much the same way as those of the Bee Gees or Abba. Secondly, one must take into account the spirit of the times. One of his past fortes as a composer has been the epic, breast-bearing ballad about making it through the emotional storm, emerging stronger on the other side. And that kind of irony and attitude-free song is exactly what many Americans have wanted to hear in recent months. He has absolutely no argument with this theory. "I think it's fair to say that I've offered some comfort over the years. I hope so, anyway. And comfort is what a lot of people need right now. You push me to think of the one thing that's set off this revival? Well, yes, the horrible events of last September may just be that thing." Manilow lives in California these days but, on the first trip back to his native city, post-9/11, he went straight to Ground Zero to pay his respects. "No matter how big you'd imagined the crater to be, you'd have been underestimating its size. I stood at the lip and the bulldozers were like children's toys down below. The site was still burning, 12 weeks on. After seeing what I saw, you could never be the same again." Accordingly, he gave the proceeds from the first of his five Radio City shows to a fund benefitting those widowed or orphaned by the terrorist attacks (Bill Clinton appeared on stage to receive the cheque). [ Stiletto's message at manilow.com | Barry's message at barrynethomepage.com ]"Justice, yes. But revenge, I think, is dangerous," the singer explains. "Early on, there was a sense here that people wanted to blame just anybody who looked as if they might come from that part of the world. I was trying to say, 'Hold it!' You can't take a whole race of people and hold them all to blame for the actions of a small minority. I'm a Jewish man. Of course I didn't experience it personally, but what about the Holocaust?" [Barry on 'faith']: "I have trouble with separatism of any kind. In fact, with anything that keeps people from people. Individual cultures, individual races, are beautiful, but I don't think any single one is better than another. And when it comes to religion? I believe there's something out there, but I have no idea what it is. So I don't believe the answer lies in getting down on our knees and begging for the help of an amorphous god right now. We have to face up to this ourselves." [Barry on 'the ousting of Clive Davis from Arista']: "Like everyone in the business, I couldn't quite believe it would happen. Clive had just had the most successful year of an amazing career, having engineered the revival of Santana. Impossible. Then it did happen. The schmucks actually went and got rid of him, and all because of his age." Davis founded a new label, J, and had near-instant, massive success with its first young signing, Alicia Keys. Manilow, meanwhile, like other white Arista stalwarts, was left in limbo. Was Arista's new producer-turned-executive, Antonio Reid, interested in developing the career of one of his most illustrious inheritances? "I've never even met him, so I don't actually know. My bet is he was relieved when I asked for my release. Look at Arista now. Total hip-hop. Total r'n'b. I can't think he would have known what to do with me." Yet when his former property signed to a jazz-based label, Concord, and began to tour in support of his first release for them, a concept album titled "Here at the Mayflower," Reid was swift to act. The "Ultimate Manilow" package of old Davis-era hits was aggressively promoted on nationwide television, and became the sales surprise of the year-to-date. "Yes, they took advantage, but in a good way," is the singer's take. "Two successful albums out at the same time? I'm a happy guy." [Barry on 'Concord']: "I found myself surrounded by music people. No mention of Britney or the Backstreet Boys. Of who was selling what amount of units, and where they stood on that week's charts. All the talk was of song arrangements, good players, favourite standards. And when they got round to talking about me, it wasn't in terms of the guy who makes the housewives cry, or even of the showman of a generation. It was as one of the very best songwriters around, and that is so very much the territory in which I want to live." ... [Manilow] has finally achieved total creative control, plus the invitation to write and produce for fellow label mates whenever he pleases. There is an outside project, too. He has high hopes that a stage musical written with oft-times collaborator Bruce Sussman will reach Broadway next spring. Set in Weimar-era Germany, "Harmony" is based on the real-life story of a male vocal group described as part Marx Brothers, part Manhattan Transfer. Manilow will not star, but says that watching it try out successfully on the West Coast recently "was probably the most profound experience of my professional life, and I want it again." [Barry on 'children']? "When I was much younger, there was a moment when I thought I should have them, but that moment quickly passed." He laughs shortly on saying this, then adds that no, there are no regrets. "Carrying on the line, the name, isn't an issue for me. Anyway, we hear it all the time, the children of famous singers or actors saying their fathers were never there for them when they were growing up. That would have been me, always on the road." These days, the itinerary stretches ever further into the future, with shows being added constantly in the struggle to meet current public demand. If possible, he works Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights only, flying back to California by chartered aircraft immediately after the week's final performance. "I love the musicians I work with. And I love being out on stage, seeing the reaction of all those people. But there comes a point when all the packing and the planes and the room service and the repacking... Well, when it becomes just a chore. I miss my own home, my own bed. I miss them a lot. That's why the idea of nearly four solid weeks in Europe is scaring me a little right now. I wouldn't want to say this will be my last British tour, but I'm not sure that I'm going to want to run back and do it in quite the same way again"... Barry Manilow's UK tour begins at the Birmingham NEC next Saturday. "Here at the Mayflower" is released by Concord, via Sony, on May 13. "Ultimate Manilow" is released by Arista on July 1. |
| April 24, 2002 | Billboard.com | "Billboard Bits ... Manilow" by Barry A. Jeckell and Jonathan Cohen: Barry Manilow's performance tonight (April 24) at Hollywood's Kodak Theater will be taped for an hour-long CBS television special scheduled to air May 18 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Like his recently released Arista collection, the special will be dubbed "Ultimate Manilow," and will feature the artist performing a selection of songs spanning his entire career. Beginning May 4, Manilow will embark on a 12-date U.K. tour. He'll spend the summer on the road in the U.S., kicking off a stateside run with four shows June 6-8 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The tour is set to close Aug. 2-4 at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, N.J. Released in February, "Ultimate Manilow" debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Internet Albums chart and No. 3 on The Billboard 200, marking Manilow's highest bow on the latter tally. His latest studio album, "Here at the Mayflower," was released last November as part of a new deal with Concord. The set debuted at No. 90 on The Billboard 200. |
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| April 19, 2002 | Yahoo! News
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ABCnews.com | "Manilow -- Looks Like He's Made It to CBS" by Josef Adalian: CBS has signed veteran crooner Barry Manilow to headline a one-hour concert for the network's May sweeps schedule. Dubbed "Ultimate Manilow," the special will tape Wednesday (April 24) at the Kodak Theatre for broadcast Saturday, May 18, at 9 p.m. Manilow will belt out a slew of his adult contemporary hits, including "Mandy," "Copacabana," "Can't Smile Without You" and "Daybreak." The special continues CBS' tradition of broadcasting shows from such popular artists as Celine Dion, Shania Twain and Garth Brooks. It also coincides with Manilow's "Live 2002!" tour in support of his latest original album, "Here at the Mayflower," and his recent greatest hits compilation. Manilow has released 31 albums over his career, scoring 38 top 40 singles.[ Article also at ABCnews.com ] |
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| April 19, 2002 | Zap2it - TV News | "Manilow Is Man Enough for CBS": CBS will look to duplicate -- or at least approach -- the performance of its November Michael Jackson special with a May sweeps concert by another top-selling but critically panned singer. In this case, the performer is Barry Manilow, and the special "Ultimate Manilow!" will air Saturday, May 18. The special, to be taped next week at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood -- home of the Oscars -- will feature a number of Manilow's best-known songs, including "Ready to Take a Chance Again," "Can't Smile Without You" and "Copacabana." He'll also perform a "piano-bar style" set of other tunes, including songs from his latest album, "Here at the Mayflower." CBS' Michael Jackson special scored big ratings for the network in November sweeps, pulling in more than 25 million viewers. |
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| April 19, 2002 | TV Guide Online | "TRYIN' TO GET THE FEELING AGAIN": Barry Manilow will headline a one-hour concert for CBS to air during May sweeps, Variety reports. The special -- dubbed Ultimate Manilow - tapes Wednesday at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood and will air Saturday, May 18 at 9 pm/ET. |
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| April 19, 2002 | Guardian Unlimited | Album Review: "Barry Manilow Here at the Mayflower" by Betty Clarke: [Barry Manilow's] first album for a decade is a collection of gentle pop and swinging jazz hung on the notion of an imaginary hotel. It's Rear Window meets An American in Paris, an ultra-slick production that gives Manilow the chance to reinvent himself as the Gene Kelly of MOR. Manilow shows he has still got a talent for creating sympathetic characters. He fixates on what the new girl down the hall does behind closed doors in "I Hear Her Playing Music," the singalong pop rhythm negating the stalker connotations. From Ken and Diane, who see their bad hair and weight problems as a metaphor for their messy lives, to the heartbroken elevator man, who watches the woman he once loved ride with someone else, Manilow pulls off this labour of love with style. |
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