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| May 20, 2002 | Aventura magazine | "Barry Manilow: In 'Harmony' with Broadway" by Marvin Glassman: Barry Manilow has completed a successful tour of the United States and England, has sold more than 60 million records and has had 25 consecutive Top 40 hits over the past 28 years. However, he wants to be known more as the composer who wrote a great musical set in the Holocaust, Harmony ... based on the true story of the Comedian Harmonists, a group of young German performers, both Jewish and Gentile, who gained fame in Germany in the 1920s before coming to be a problem for the Nazis in the 1930s. |
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| May 18, 2002 | San Francisco Chronicle | "Looks like he made it: Barry Manilow writes the songs that put him back atop pop kingdom" by James Sullivan, promoting the CBS TV Special "Ultimate Manilow" (May 18, 2002) |
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| Barry Manilow earned a flat fee of $500 for writing one of his most immortal lines: "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there." Thirty years later, they're still using the jingle. "The girl that sang it is on her third Rolls-Royce now," he jokes. These days, though, he has no regrets. In a world of terminal nonchalance, Manilow has been reinstated as the pop-chart king of shameless melodrama. His greatest-hits collection "Ultimate Manilow" is still snuggled into the Top 40 after peaking three months ago at a bewildering No. 3. An album of new material, "Here at the Mayflower," is a big hit in the U.K. And tonight the singer stars in a prime-time concert special on CBS. It's the same network where he began his working life almost four decades ago, in the mail room. Few observers could have predicted the spectacular success of "Ultimate Manilow" upon its release -- least of all the artist. "I've had other greatest-hits albums," says the affable performer over the phone from a tour stop in Scotland, "and they've done decently. Nobody expected any more from this one." Other than a big marketing push from Arista, his longtime former label, Manilow has just one possible explanation for his current resurgence: The 55-year-old singer says his audiences are starting to skew younger, toward the thirty-somethings who would have been at a vulnerable age -- say, 13 -- when agonized love songs such as "Tryin' to Get the Feeling" and "This One's for You" were cruising the charts. "And that's the generation that actually goes into the record stores," he points out. Showbiz legend has it that Frank Sinatra once jerked a thumb in Manilow's direction and pronounced, "He's next!" Given the heir apparent's recent triumphs, there can be no denying that the pastel-suited, rooster-coiffed Manilow is one of the great entertainers of our age. "I'm a very grateful guy," he says. "It amazes me that I got this enormous catalog of songs. It's just a wonderful catalog that I hope will be ruined in elevators for ever and ever." The songs weren't all his from the beginning. "Mandy," for instance, was adapted from a 1972 British hit called "Brandy." Manilow's biggest smash, "I Write the Songs," was actually written by the Beach Boys' Bruce Johnston. An alarming number of people took that lyric too literally, the singer says. "I am music and I write the songs" doesn't imply some megalomaniacal trip. Instead, the song personifies the spirit of music itself -- the indefinable muse that humble writers always credit with the real work of their artistry. Just as he thanks his lucky stars for his continuing commercial success, Manilow says the exuberance of the studio audience on tonight's telecast was something he couldn't contain. "This is what the public is loving now," he gushes. "I just had to put my own fears, my own ego, aside. By the time I got to 'Copa(cabana)' and 'Can't Smile (Without You),' these people were so happy. I just couldn't stop it." He's ready to take a chance again. Could it be magic? That, of course, is in the eyes (and ears) of the beholder. |
| May 17, 2002 | USA Today | Full-page advertisement for the CBS TV Special "Ultimate Manilow" (airing May 18, 2002) |
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| May 17, 2002 | Manchester Online | "Manilow on a high" - promoting Barry's appearance at the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England (May 19, 2002) |
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| Believe the hype and Barry Manilow has become the music equivalent of Mateus Rose. That's because both are products which prompt debate about their noses and both are said to be newly hip. The multi-millionaire American, who will croon his way through classics ranging from "Mandy" to the roof raising strains of "Copacabana" at the Manchester Evening News Arena on Sunday, May 19, is viewed by some as a little bit sickly sweet. To his fans he's something of a master showman, but he is also renowned for an aloof streak. But strip that away and there is no denying that the Brooklyn-born boy has a talent for turning out catchy tunes which somehow seem to have been around forever. To explain the essence of this latest Manilow tour, it is perhaps best to look at one review which said the performance "was straight from the newly hip". How he has achieved that status is an unknown: he doesn't share the rugged good looks or sex appeal of fellow singing stalwart Tom Jones, also a performer whose star is again ascending. Perhaps it's because he really does produce songs "which make the whole world sing." His latest album is Here At The Mayflower, said by Manilow to be "rooted in show tunes." It explores the situations and characters in a fictitious apartment building, a theme influenced by red brick Brooklyn apartment house located not far from where Manilow grew up. However, the tour will also include the classic Manilow magic moments which have earned him Grammy, Emmy and Tony Awards, and helped him to sell over 58 million albums. Manilow says the tour acknowledges the rich and diverse path of his career, "I was raised with one foot in the classic songwriting arrangements of the '30s and '40s and then one foot in the rock 'n' roll days when I was a teenager. "I love the muscle of the contemporary stuff, but I love the craft of the '30s and '40s." |
| May 17, 2002 | The Scottish Mail | "Hail The King Of The Crooners", reference to Barry's shows at Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow, Scotland (May 15-16, 2002) |
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| If music and fashion are truly cyclical, it was only a matter of time before Barry Manilow became hip. But it seems a strange coincidence that his new found coolness - among critics who previously couldn't see pass his nose - has come with the release of his new album. Here At The Mayflower has drawn rave reviews from magazines more likely to be touting bands who gargle with razor blades. Now with a greatest hits collection sitting between the Butthole Surfers and the Barenaked Ladies at the top of the US charts, Manilow is in the unusual position of satisfying his adoring public and the critics as he goes on yet another tour. Forget the orchestral overture, a thumping dance mix of his livelier tunes sets the scene. For a man who never wanted to be a performer, 30 years of touring has obviously warmed him to the delights of a live appearance. He's a wonderfully engaging performer, mixing self effacing humor with a surprising sauciness that gets the gals squealing. He's 56 and well-groomed. Gone are the cha-cha ruffles and the novelty songs that held him up for so much ridicule in the early 1980's. The set includes the best of his back catalog and with the songs like Even Now, Weekend In New England, and Could It Be Magic, no one can deny his craftsmanship and talent as an arranger. But it is the quality of his voice that surprises. Age has matured it and it is now more resonant. A section is devoted to Here At The Mayflower and he debuts songs from his musical Harmony, which is due to open on Broadway in February. The audience is happy to hear a smattering of new material but Manilow is smart enough to know that it is the hits that bring the hall to its feet. Far from the typical picture of overweight, middle-aged spinsters presenting him with crocheted doilies of himself, the audience was a mixed bag. It is clear what his attraction is. He is a communicator. There is a real intimacy in the way that he talks to his audience and his reading of a lyric is quite superb. His version of Garth Brooks' "If Tomorrow Never Comes" which he recorded ten years ago, puts Ronan Keating's insipid version to shame. Manilow loves the adulation but makes it clear he doesn't take it too seriously. It would take a critic with an agenda to experience a Barry Manilow concert and not give at least some grudging respect to his obvious talent. He's never given into fashion but is still here, better than ever. |
| May 16, 2002 | Press Release | "Barry Manilow Magic Continues as the New Ultimate Manilow Hits RIAA Platinum in Less Than 3 Months, and the Complete Collection Boxed Set of 1992 Attains Gold Status; 'Ultimate Manilow' CBS-TV Network Special Airs This Saturday, May 18th" |
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| NEW YORK, May 16 /PRNewswire/ -- With anticipation building up to the CBS network premiere of the "Ultimate Manilow" concert-style entertainment special this weekend, comes news of two RIAA certifications. ULTIMATE MANILOW (Arista/BMG Heritage), the most comprehensive single-CD collection of his career, has been certified platinum in record time by the RIAA for U.S. sales in excess of 1 million copies; while Barry Manilow: The Complete Collection and Then Some ... , his deluxe boxed set of 1992 (containing four CDs and a VHS video) has been certified gold, it was announced today by Antonio "L.A." Reid, President and CEO, Arista Records. ULTIMATE MANILOW, the fastest-selling album in Barry Manilow's storied career, entered the Billboard 200 Album chart at #3 (issue dated February 23rd) -- his highest charting debut ever -- where it went on to spend 10 weeks inside the top 40. At the same time, it entered the Soundscan Internet Albums chart at #1 - where it stayed for 3 weeks -- and remains inside the top 20 this week. The album's 20 tracks include every Manilow hit to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts -- "Mandy," "It's a Miracle," "Tryin' To Get the Feeling Again," "I Write the Songs," "This One's For You," "Looks Like We Made It," "Weekend In New England," "Can't Smile Without You," "Even Now," "The Old Songs," and "Somewhere Down the Road," plus nine more signature songs. "Ultimate Manilow," videotaped earlier this year at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, will include performances of "Ready To Take a Chance Again," "Daybreak," "Somewhere In The Night," "This One's For You," "Weekend In New England," "Can't Smile Without You," and "Copacabana (At The Copa)." In addition, a 'piano-bar' medley sequence will include "Bandstand Boogie" and "Mandy" -- the first Arista record ever to be certified RIAA gold (back on January 31, 1975). "Ultimate Manilow" airs this Saturday, May 18th at 9:00 p.m. (ET). Wrapping up his European tour in the U.K. this week, Barry Manilow will return home to begin the next leg of his winter-spring-summer North American tour, resuming at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, June 6-8th. Manilow will be among the 2002 inductees to the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame, along with Ashford & Simpson, Michael Jackson, Randy Newman, and Sting. The 33rd annual induction and awards dinner is set for June 13th at the Sheraton New York Hotel. |
| May 14, 2002 | Zap2it.com | "Manilow Gives His 'Ultimate' for CBS" by Jay Bobbin |
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| For Barry Manilow, seeing his long-familiar songs become hits all over again is the ultimate. The veteran music star is enjoying the surprisingly strong sales of his greatest-hits CD "Ultimate Manilow," which inspired CBS to commission a same-named concert special. Airing Saturday, May 18 (9 p.m. ET), the show -- recorded at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre -- boasts many of the tunes that made, and have kept, Manilow so popular: "Mandy," "Could It Be Magic," "This One's for You," "Weekend in New England," "Can't Smile Without You," "Ready to Take a Chance Again" and (of course) "Copacabana." No stranger to televised concerts, having also done them for outlets as varied as A&E and TNN, Manilow is particularly pleased that CBS wanted "Ultimate Manilow." He muses, "I seem to have 'exploded' once again this year, and I don't understand why. I've been working for more than 25 years, and it's been pretty steady. I release an album every couple of years, I go out on the road every couple of years, and we do very well ... but something happened about six months ago that I can't put my finger on. It might be that a new generation is listening, or that people want to hear music that comforts them instead of making them angry. Whatever the reason, it's been a great opportunity." The record label Manilow just left, Arista, is also astonished by the "Ultimate Manilow" album's profits. "I've had greatest-hits albums before," the artist notes, "and they've all done decently, but nothing like this. We're all stunned." Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award-winner Manilow took time out from his current tour to tape the special, which he says was "so exciting" for him. "They filled the theater with 4,000 wild, crazy people, and it was just fantastic. The Kodak is a beautiful place to be as a performer, but most of all, it's a dream for technical crews. It was built with that in mind, so performers have lots of room to roam around, and the walls and floors have lots of places to plug in. It's just a great place to do a television show." "Ally McBeal" and "Murphy Brown" poked good-natured fun at Manilow, who showed he was a good sport by appearing on both series. Such acknowledgments-with-a-wink probably couldn't be done now, though, since his work is being taken seriously again. "I think another generation is beginning to appreciate the music I've done," he reasons, "solely on the basis of the music. They seem to like it, and I'm very proud that it's so well-produced." For the countless times he's done his most famous tunes, Manilow still can be surprised by them, as with "Can't Smile Without You" on his CBS show. "It's the full version, and this is the first time I've done that in a long time. Usually in my concerts, I pick someone from the audience to come up and do it with me, and we generally dismantle the whole song. I did it all the way through from beginning to end this time, and it brought the house down. I had forgotten all about that arrangement. The orchestra loved it, too." Manilow keeps turning out new songs, as proven in the CBS special by "They Dance" from his latest release, "Here at the Mayflower." He feels his current resurgence "wouldn't be as sweet if I didn't have both [albums] out. 'Ultimate Manilow' is a nod to the past, but 'Mayflower' is a nod to the future. It's the beginning of my experience with (the jazz label) Concord, and having it played on the radio and getting beautiful reviews for it, it's just a great time." Those who enjoy "Ultimate Manilow" will be happy to know there's more in store, at least album-wise. "There's [going to be] a 'Volume II,'" Manilow reports. "How about that? I keep plugging away, but when I look back for a moment, I realize just how many songs there are in my catalog." |
May 14, 2002
(May 18-24 issue) | TV Guide | "Wild About Barry! Manilow's songs still make the young girls cry" by Tim Williams |
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| Barry Manilow reaches across the footlights of Hollywood's Kodak Theatre to touch the outstreched hands of a few hysterical audience members. "We love you, Barry," screams one young woman, as another calls out for her favorite tune. "Even Now," she screeches - desperate for the 1978 ballad, "Even Now!" Fear not, Manilow fans. CBS will present the man who wrote the songs, in concert (Ultimate Manilow!, Saturday, May 18, 2002, 9:00 PM/ET). He'll sing all the greats -- "Mandy," "Copacabana," "Can't Smile Without You" -- hits that, as one of his best-known songs goes, "make the whole world sing." But this is no mere retro rave. Manilow considers the special a tryout for what could become a weekly musical-variety series. "I would love doing one of these a week with guests," he says. Since previous efforts to jump-start the long-dormant genre have flopped, network executives will wait and see - although they were impressed by the pre-show buzz. "You would be amazed to know how many Barry Manilow fans came out of the woodwork looking for tickets," says Jack Sussman, CBS senior vice president of specials. "This was one of the most requested television tapings we've ever had. I mean, Dennis Franz was in the audience." A collection of [Barry's] hits, also called Ultimate Manilow, recently debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard album charts, Manilow's highest chart position in 24 years. He also just put out a CD of new songs, Here At The Mayflower. What has surprised even Manilow is that his audience is populated by more than just fifty-somethings. "Here comes this guy singing "Somewhere In The Night," and they seem to love it," he says. As Manilow sits down at the piano to sing one of his emotional ballads, the scene could be 1977; the crowd, which includes teenagers who were born in the 1980's, sings along and sways back and forth to the music. "All I know," says Manilow, "is the audience has either all gotten facelifts or they've all gotten younger." Or they all know that Manilow is music - and he writes the songs. |
| May 14, 2002 | Guardian Unlimited | "Barry Manilow: Wembley Arena, London" by John Aizlewood |
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| "Lager! Lager! Lager! Shouting! Shouting! Shouting!" There are many surreal moments during an evening with Barry Manilow ... In Britain his fanatical, overwhelmingly middle-aged and female audience remains sufficiently loyal to justify three nights at Wembley Arena. It is not difficult to understand why. [Attired] in a shirt, tie and shiny blue blazer, the master of key changes knows how to entertain. [He] sits at the piano to croon "Mandy" as the audience sits, sings and sways. He belts out his jaunty new single "Turn the Radio Up" after suggesting everyone telephone radio stations to request it - and he knows they will. Almost everyone dances. As soon as the opening of "Can't Smile Without You" rings out, a sea of banners is raised -- "Barry, I Want To Do It With You"; "Choose Me, Barry" -- because the ritual dictates that Manilow will duet with an audience member. "I don't want anyone who's been up before, I only want virgins." Barbara, a hyperventilating secretary, is selected. "I can't sing," she gasps. "Neither can I," smiles Barry. They make a handsome couple. Tracks from the forthcoming Here at the Mayflower, especially the sweet "They Dance!" [confirm] that he has never been one to coast musically. A hand-clapping choir emerges for the last 20 minutes. "I Write the Songs" and "It's a Miracle" are delivered with exuberant panache. Giant party poppers are released... Barry Manilow plays Newcastle Arena tonight. |
| May 13, 2002 | This Is London | "Barry Manilow, Curtis Stigers" by Paul Clark, review of Barry's concert at Wembley Arena in London, England (May 12, 2002): A fusion of Underworld's "Born Slippy" and Fatboy Slim's "Right Here, Right Now" heralded [Barry's] arrival on a scaffold stage-set at Wembley on Friday. Sporting a royal-blue jacket, he resembled a bingo caller, which probably added an air of familiarity to the full house of mature ladies ... The opening bars of "Can't Smile Without You" prompted the appearance of hundreds of banners pleading for a chance to duet with their icon ... Manilow plumped for Barbara, an Essex secretary so overcome she suffered temporary amnesia before attempting a "tongue sandwich" ... For further fan satisfaction he relived the Seventies, an era in which he claimed he "looked like Britney Spears without the boobs", with croonsome renditions of "Mandy" and the Chopin-inspired "Could It Be Magic." But it wasn't all nostalgic ballads, with his new musical, Harmony - a triumph of high camp over Mein Kampf in Thirties Germany - and his new "concept" album, The Mayflower, featuring strongly. He was joined by a 32-strong choir for his grand exit to the euphoric gospel chants of "miracle". |
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| May 13, 2002 | This Is London | "Blame it on the Barry.." by Claudia Winkleman |
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| I'm always available to talk about Barry! There is a magic to the man, and I think more people are going to realise that this year. Of course, lots of people already know about Barry, but the word needs to be spread still further, in my opinion. Maybe I'm a Barry missionary. The songs are so brilliant - who else could write something like "Could It Be Magic?" I love proper songs, anyway, but you just don't get schmaltzier than Barry Manilow. My mum and stepdad are big fans, too. I remember in my childhood when I was about two being carried around in a carrycot, we'd go in the car and play "Copacabana" at top volume and all sing along: "Her name was Lola..." It was so loud we were probably disturbing the peace, but I've loved him ever since. I've been to see Barry live several times. He really belts the songs out with this big, big voice. But the audience alone are worth going to see, I can promise you that. They really feel the emotions all the way through. And there are probably more lighters lit at a Barry Manilow concert than at any other. I've never met Barry. Sometimes he gets people up on the stage: not often, but I've heard every now and again he does. I'd probably faint if he picked me. I've been told that these days you can even get a Barry Manilow credit card. I'm getting one, I am! But already I do have a Barry Manilow T-shirt, which is one of my favourite possessions. You see, he is a bit of a God. |
| May 12, 2002 | Ventura County Star | "Barry Manilow still strikes the right note with fans" by Dave Mason |
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| Barry Manilow still performs the songs that make the young girls cry. Cry, cheer, applaud ... scream. "Barry, we love you!" yelled a young woman during the taping of a TV concert at the Kodak Theatre. Manilow remains energetic, and as shown at the Kodak Theatre, he wants to get everything just right, never hesitating to perform a song a second time for the TV taping. Even as he worked hard, Manilow kept the mood light with his jokes. His voice remains as powerful as ever. "I think that my voice has got stronger," Manilow said during a phone interview later. "I don't know how." He still hits the high notes with strength. "I haven't changed the keys," he said. The Kodak Theatre concert special, "Ultimate Manilow!," premieres at 9 p.m. Saturday on CBS, Channel 2. Manilow opened the Kodak Theatre, the new home for the Oscars, with a concert there in December. He returned to the theater April 24 to tape Saturday's special. The program shows Manilow performing the classics in his "Ultimate Manilow!" greatest hits album, including "Mandy," "Ready to Take A Chance Again," "Daybreak" and a song that got everyone in the Kodak Theatre dancing: "Copacabana." I asked Manilow which song was his favorite. He said the answer changes constantly. "I've got a 30-year catalog of music. I love them all. This month, 'Mandy' is the one that moves me the most," Manilow said. He said the song's first line, "I remember all my life," means different things at different times in a person's life. Today, Manilow said the line leads him to gratitude to his audiences all these years. "It seems they're getting younger out there. The crowd at the Kodak was a young crowd," Manilow said. "I don't consider myself a singer. My profession is that of a musician," Manilow said. "It (his music) has gotten more mature, edgier, even more passionate than when I started out. I think well-written songs will last a long time," he said. "Mandy" remains a crowd pleaser. About 30 years ago, it gave Manilow his first big single with Arista Records. It led him to his big break in 1975 with a gig on "American Bandstand," and Manilow has remained popular since. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Manilow worked as a young adult in the mailroom at CBS in New York. But music spoke to his heart, and he quit the network to play the piano at clubs across the country. Manilow was working for Bette Midler when she gave him 15 minutes of her second act of a concert. "I made my first album and my second album when (Arista Records founder) Clive Davis discovered me," Manilow said. "When I was working for Bette, I made a living arranging and singing (commercial) jingles." He sang "You deserve a break today" for McDonald's, and he wrote the jingles for "State Farm" and "Band-Aid." He wrote for Kentucky Fried Chicken and arranged for Dr. Pepper. Manilow has written the music for his first Broadway musical, "Harmony." It's about the 1930s, and Manilow said jazz and old standards have inspired him. "I have been influenced by these people (Jerome Kerns, Cole Porter, Ira Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein). They were my role models. Elvis never did it for me. I did like Julie Stiles, Leonard Bernstein, Broadway of the 1950s and '60s." Manilow's other theatrical credits include "Could It Be Magic? -- The Barry Manilow Songbook" and "Barry Manilow's Copacabana -- The Musical." While Manilow has written many songs, he's quick to credit others who have written for him. "The most important thing is to put across the emotion," Manilow said. "If the lyrics are about love, you want to support the lyrics with the melody." Listeners aren't paying attention to lyrics in many of today's songs because of the poor quality, Manilow said. "It's all about anger and curse words. It's not about the craft." And Manilow wanted to make something clear. "I Write the Songs," which closes Saturday's TV concert, isn't about him writing his songs. "It's about the spirit of music." Saturday's special includes the song "They Dance" from Manilow's new album, "Here at the Mayflower." It's inspired by his imagination about what might be happening in each apartment at an apartment house. "I like to write about people in situations. It's so much easier to write about a situation than a straight-ahead love song," Manilow said. Today, Manilow lives in Los Angeles, and his worldwide tour is taking him this month to England. His next California gig is a summer concert in Irvine, where he again will perform songs that have remained timeless. |
| May 12, 2002 | The Independent
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The Daily Yomiuri (in Japan) | "Headline: He still writes the songs" by James Rampton, interview with Barry promoting his concert at Wembley Arena and remaining dates of his UK Tour (May 2002) |
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| Barry Manilow sits at his piano in front of 12,000 adoring fans at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre and recalls his image at the time of his first hit, "Mandy", in 1974. "I had long blond hair, a shell necklace, bell-bottoms and platform shoes," he smiles at the memory. "I looked a little like Britney Spears - without the boobs. I don't know how the hell that song became a hit with me looking like that." His amazement was shared by many others at the time. During the 1970s, Manilow was perceived as the terminally un-hip "King of Kitsch". The New York Times ridiculed his songs as "lachrymose" and - this one really hurt - "processed cheese". Back then, Manilow said that he received "the worst reviews in show business" and that "my songs are like anchovies. Some people love them - some people get nauseous." Now, Manilow - a man not without a sense of humour - looks back indulgently on the days when he was viewed as the singer that taste forgot. He admits that he contributed to his own naff image with a series of fashion faux pas - notably a "hey, let's go party on the beach" shirt he sported when promoting his hit single and musical "Copacabana." "I guess I never should have worn that stupid shirt," he chuckles. "It got me into big trouble. I did it as a laugh. I thought 'How can I perform a novelty song? I know, I'll do it as Danny Kaye.' But, ooh, that turned on me. That image hangs around like a bad smell." But he has had the last laugh because - it's official - Barry Manilow is now cool. If you don't believe me, just listen to what Q, the bible of rock, has to say about his new album, Here At The Mayflower, his first all-new offering in 11 years: "It's hard not to warm to the results. Only a fool could doubt his talent; after all, suckers don't win a Grammy, a Tony and sell 58 million records, let alone sing at the inaugural ball of Bill Clinton." To underline his new-found vibe, the singer's recently-released greatest-hits package entitled Ultimate Manilow went straight in at number three in the US Billboard charts. News of the album's success has Antonio Reid, the president of Manilow's Arista record label, dancing with delight around his office. Reid, more famous for nurturing hipper-than-thou artists such as Pink and Usher, joins the chorus of approval for this re-branded Barry. "Oh, Barry is very cool," he exults, "Very cool." To Manilow's credit, this brouhaha simply washes over him. Sitting attentively on a sofa in his hotel before the Birmingham show, the singer appears a picture of health. He boasts subtly highlighted blond hair, which offsets his all black ensemble. Slim and tanned, he looks a decade younger than his 56 years. At first, he seems a little distant but I soon realise that it's just shyness. He possesses a slow-burning, dead-pan wit; many of his best jokes are aimed at himself. For instance, during our meeting he apologises, "Hold on, I've gotta blow my nose - and with this nose, it might take a second." At one time, Manilow concedes, he was hung-up about his status. "For a couple of years in the late 1970s, all I thought about was the hits and fame and money, and I began to stink. But I snapped out of it because it made me miserable. The thing that had always meant so much to me had turned into a day job where I had to please the boss. I may as well have been working in an office." Now, however, he appears quite unfussed by all the hype about his rehabilitation. "It's wonderful to be appreciated, but there's only one place to go after that - and that's down. If you believe the good reviews, then you've got to believe the bad ones too. I'm happy that the critics aren't calling me an idiot any more - it's always nicer to wake up and not be an idiot - but good reviews don't change anything. It's just cyclical. No doubt the sniping will come back soon enough." After more than 30 years in the business, Manilow has learnt that today's reviews are tomorrow's bird-cage lining. "In the past, the critics haven't treated me very well. They would insult me and I'd wince, lapse into self-pity and pull the covers over my head. But it wouldn't last long. I've been annoyingly popular. The public has never paid any attention to the critics - no one takes them seriously, except themselves. Their criticism never stopped people from coming to my shows or buying my records. For a lot of people, I'm a secret passion. They find it difficult to admit to liking something that touches them and isn't Bruce Springsteen doing angry, rebellious rock 'n' roll. The critics would have loved to have stopped me, but you've just got to keep on going. I'd be doing this whether I was terribly popular or not. My advice to people starting out in the business is always, 'Only do it if you can't not do it.' I'm happy people like my music, but even if they didn't, I'd still be one of those guys playing in some bar on the East Side, complaining that nobody understood me. That's how I started out, after all." Perhaps the fact that Manilow has been around so long means that he was eventually bound to become fashionable. It's as if he's gone through the trendiness tunnel and emerged the other side as a cult icon. The singer Curtis Stigers, who is supporting Manilow on his current British tour, admits that, "Barry used to be perceived as naff. He's not going to be for everyone - somebody who likes Radiohead isn't necessarily going to buy Barry's records. But at a certain point, they just give in and say, 'It's not what I listen to, but it's still good.' He's cool because he's stuck to his guns. He was never a pop sensation or part of a style that was temporarily hot. He has kept to his vision and never let the critics break his heart - and if someone says that everything you've worked at for the last 30 years sucks, that's hard. Look at Tony Bennett, how cool was he 15 years ago? But he kept on being Tony Bennett, and all of a sudden he became the darling of the MTV generation. The same is happening to Barry right now. It's not cool to be popular - for the first year the press love you and then they take you down. But eventually you can't be denied. If you've been around for 30 years, then in the end the critics have to give you your due - even if they're the snobby New York Times writers. You could almost hear the Times's reviewer gritting his teeth when he said he liked Barry's most recent album." For many years, Manilow worked in New York as a struggling arranger and TV jingle writer (penning tunes to such deathless catchlines as "I am stuck on Band Aid 'cause Band Aid's stuck on me") and then as Bette Midler's musical director, until he made his big break-through as a performer with "Mandy". But he has always been passionate about music - he listened to all the show tunes and big-band numbers that his music-loving step-father Willie Murphy used to bring home. "By the age of 13, I was obsessed with music," Manilow recollects. "While the other kids were running home from school to watch American Bandstand, I was memorising the words to 'Lush Life' and 'Blame It on My Youth'. It saved my young life. We all need a haven - and mine was that stack of albums by the stereo system." Born Barry Alan Pincus, Manilow was raised by his mother, a Jewish textile worker called Edna. He had a pretty tough upbringing. "I never felt safe. I come from an alcoholic family and a very rough neighbourhood. If you didn't watch out, you'd get beaten up. Music gave me a direction in life." So is he grateful that his family endowed him with this love of music? "Yes, that was a thing of beauty," he says, before breaking into a characteristic slow, sly smile. "The other things my family gave me I had to work out through therapy." As a native New Yorker, Manilow was deeply affected by the events of 11 September. "Turn The Radio Up", a song from Here At The Mayflower, has been adopted as a sort of escapist anthem in the US, and he gave a moving rendition of "Let Freedom Ring" at the Super Bowl show. "I still can't watch the images of the World Trade Center coming down," he sighs. "Soon after the attack, I went down to Ground Zero. Once you've seen that, your life is never the same again. I'd never seen anything that huge before. These enormous tractors just looked like toys. Everybody there was crying - it was a profound experience." In his own way, Manilow hopes his songs can now provide some solace to people. "Recently, I've enjoyed being in a concert hall with smiling people who like each other," he ventures. "At this time, my music may give people some comfort." Based at an upscale home in California with his long-term partner, Linda Allen, a TV production assistant, Manilow need never work again. So what motivates him to keep going? One fan I speak to reckons that "like a footballer or boxer, the only time he gets a buzz is performing. He needs to be making music." That's how the man himself sees it, too. He is currently working on an album with [Diane Schuur] and a new album of his own, as well as a Broadway musical called Harmony, about a choir in pre-war Germany. "I'm probably a workaholic," Manilow admits. "I don't take holidays. I'm going to try to take a break over Christmas and chain myself to a chaise-longue with a book, but I'm not very good at that. All I've ever wanted to do is break down the fourth wall and connect with an audience. I'm a terrific arranger and putter-together - I know how a song should begin, build, and end - but I never thought I was a great singer. There are guys who can sing rings around me. But I always thought I could communicate with an audience. When you do that successfully, people tend to stay with you. I don't even know who the people in the charts are, although I did hear that when Ultimate Manilow went in at number three, it was between Barenaked Ladies and Butt-hole Surfers. How perfect is that?" I smile. "Yeah, that made me laugh too." But for the rest of the time, Manilow just ploughs his own furrow, oblivious to what's hot and what's not. "I don't look around me. I just keep going. I've always been cool," he says, before dead-panning: "It's just taken a while for the others to catch up with me." Manilow's fans - known affectionately as "Maniloonies" - don't give a flying fig what anyone else has to say about their pop idol. The devotees outside the NEC certainly won't hear a word against him. Many belong to the Barry Manilow International Fan Club, which with 10,000 members, and branches in the US, UK, Australia and South Africa, claims to be the largest in the world. Exploding another myth - that he only attracts people old enough to use a bus pass - Manilow's fans stretch across the age range. These new albums have enticed a whole new raft of fresh devotees. "Either everybody has gotten a face lift, or it's a new generation," he says. "Maybe they're listening to their parents' albums, like I did. My music obviously appeals to a very broad demographic." As proof, one of the first people I bump into outside the NEC is Louise, a sparky twentysomething. She has lovingly made a silver banner, trimmed with a red-feather boa, carrying the unambiguous words: "I'm hot." Does she hope to catch the singer's eye with this none too subtle message? "You never know your luck," she grins. Of course, there will always be casualties with this sort of obsessive following. Rob Pearce is a self-confessed "Barry widower." He has driven down from Knaresborough in north Yorkshire to drop his wife at tonight's show in Birmingham, and will be chauffering her to a further seven dates on this tour. He has been faithfully ferrying her round the country to Manilow's gigs for the past 20 years - but he's not bitter. "You'll find most of us Barry widowers in the bar of the Metropole Hotel during the show - that's where we hang out. I don't resent Barry - he only comes every two years and he allows me to do whatever I like in between ... Manilow is a master showman. He can play with an audience in a way that I've only ever seen two other performers manage - Rod Stewart and Tina Turner. Also, he's not one of those here-today-gone-tomorrow bands. Any man who can make all these women pay �43 every night has my respect." Theres no doubting Manilow's supreme showmanship. Boy, does he know how to sell such finely crafted songs as "Could It Be Magic?", "I Write the Songs" and "Even Now." He simply adores playing to the crowd - at one point he hams it up shamelessly as he removes his tie and twirls it round like a stripper. Working the audience with well-practiced charm, he hits schmooze-overdrive during "Can't Smile Without You." When he announces the song, dozens of women - Louise included - leap up with their home-made banners in the hope of being picked for the now customary on-stage duet with their hero. The messages range from the coy ("Could it be me?") and the suggestive ("Barry, if you don't pick me, here is my telephone number") to the downright brazen ("Desperate virgin"). In a cheeky reference to a previous occasion when the woman called on stage let her nerves get the better of her, one banner reads "I won't pee! Pick me!" Manilow eventually selects Elaine from Southend who is holding up a banner proclaiming, "18 years and still a virgin." She tells him she is training to be a psychiatric nurse - to which he replies, "I could use you." During their duet, he perches on the grand piano and wraps his legs around her. At the end of the song, Manilow - one of nature's great flirts - signs a video of their performance together: "To Elaine, with sloppy kisses. I loved having you between my legs." At that moment, as all the finest football commentators say, the crown goes wild - Beatle-mania has nothing on Barry-mania. He was equally entertaining before the show. As he painstakingly tested the amplifier levels and the lighting cues at the sound-check, he took a moment to laugh at his own perfectionism. "Some people think that all I do is sing ballads." Then he joined the 80-strong crew of managers, creative consultants, technicians, musicians and choir members in the canteen for the pre-show meal. In itself, this is an unusual act from a star of this magnitude. As Stigers comments later, "Barry doesn't wear crazy clothes, and he's not a male model, but women love him because he seems honest. He's not a poseur. He's a guy next door you could have a beer with. You've seen him eating with the rest in the crew-room. I've been on tour with a lot of big artists and I can tell you not many of them do that. You think Prince eats with the guys in the crew-room?" Dressed down in a blue-hooded Gap sweatshirt, Manilow relaxed before the show over a specially prepared bowl of chicken soup. He joshed with the publicity officer about the distinctly unflattering photograph on her backstage pass. "You're a beautiful woman but they've made you look like the Night of the Living Dead." As he slipped off to change into a slick grey jacket and tie for the show, he laughingly told me: "I'm going to have a shave and try to turn into my eight-by-10 glossy publicity shot. |
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