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| June 21, 2002 | The Salt Lake Tribune | "Even Now, Manilow Goes On" by Dan Nailen, promoting Barry's appearance at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, UT (June 27, 2002) |
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| Don't call it a comeback -- Barry Manilow has been here for years, kicked around by critics but adored by enough rabid fans to sell about 60 million albums holding 38 Top 40 hits. The strange thing is, the man who built an empire on poppy love songs such as "Mandy" or "Looks Like We Made It" abandoned pop back in the '80s, favoring swing, show tunes or Sinatra covers until releasing a pop concept-album last fall, "Here at the Mayflower." He doesn't even listen to pop music on his radio anymore. "When I listen to the radio, I just don't hear it," Manilow explained from his Palm Springs home. "It's not for me. It's for kindergarten kids, maybe, and for the young people that's all right, but it's not for me." So what does the man who writes the songs that make the whole world sing -- but didn't write "I Write the Songs" -- listen to in 2002? "The Basement Jaxx, that's my favorite music now," Manilow said. "Basement Jaxx and Everything but the Girl, that's all I listen to. I just got the U.K. version of the new Groove Armada thing." Does he drive around Palm Springs pumping electronica and big-beat dance music from his car stereo? "Oh yeah, it's me and Underworld, I'm telling you. I like the electronica, dance stuff. For some reason, that's the closest to jazz that I can get. Some of it is junk, but I'd rather wade through that stuff than the Top 40." Manilow thinks at 56 he might be too old to collaborate with these young acts -- "I'd love it, but I think they'd probably hang up on me if I called" -- but let's face it: some of those "Copacabana" threads from Manilow's '70s stage shows would fit right in with the glow sticks, glitter and feather boas at a rave. When Manilow appears at the Delta Center on Thursday, it won't be to debut his new DJ set, but it will be on the kind of roll few of his adult-contemporary peers can boast. The all-new "Mayflower" album, released in November on a small independent jazz label, [Concord] Records, continues to place on the indie sales charts. The recent "Ultimate Manilow" compilation, showcasing 20 Manilow standards, debuted at a stunning No. 3 on Billboard's Top 200 album-sales charts this spring. "I'm a grateful guy," Manilow said. "If it had just been the greatest hits coming out and exploding like that, it would have been wonderful of course, but I don't think it would be as sweet as it is now, because I have one [album] celebrating the past, and one album celebrating the future. Together, it really feels like the full package. It doesn't feel like, 'Oh, he's just an oldies act.'" "Here at the Mayflower" is Manilow's first genuine collection of pop songs in years, and he began working on it, in concept at least, in 1982. At that point he was already burning out on life on the road and as a love-song specialist, and he began toying with the idea of the Mayflower Apartments, where every room could be a different story. The result is a collection of loosely related story-songs unlike the rest of Manilow's catalog. "Instead of writing a typical 32-bar love song over and over and over, this album enabled me and my collaborators to write about people and situations and get a little bit deeper than a typical love song. I wanted to make an interesting album instead of just another album of pop songs you can wash the dishes to. After 30 years of making albums, if I'm going to put a pop album out, it better be interesting." Thus far, the approach seems to be working. Sales are solid, and songs from "Mayflower" have found a place in the hearts of Manilow's live audiences. Instead of leaving for a break when he introduces new songs, audiences stay for the "Mayflower" numbers -- and, Manilow said, feel a little let down when he returns to his old hits. But Manilow knows the people are there for the hits. And despite playing songs such as "Can't Smile Without You" or "Even Now" thousands of times through the years, he has no problem giving them what they want. "Those [hits] are solid, well-written songs, and when you have solid, well-written songs, if you're a good performer, you can crawl into them every night. I know they've come to see 'Copacabana,' and I know going in that's what people want, that that's what I have to give them. I'm there for them. I'm not there for me. There's a lot of performers I see who just want to do their new album. I don't think that's what the audience came for." At a Manilow concert, the people come for a joyful shot of nostalgia, a genuine love of the man's songs and to deliver a little bit of the idol-worship that keeps folks such as Tom Jones, Neil Diamond and Manilow hugely popular no matter the critical slings-and-arrows. And with a tight, six-man band in tow, he can deliver the songs old and new that keep the fans coming back. "I'm trying to effect people emotionally with music and lyrics. What a concept! No dancers. No fireworks. No hydraulics. No nothin.' Just me up there trying to move you, which is what I've been trying to do for 30 years. If you're not moved by 'This One's For You' or some of the other songs, I don't know whether fireworks and hydraulics would help." |
| June 21, 2002 | Arizona Daily Star | ¡Caliente! Music - "Manilow laughing now: Once-derided entertainer basking in fans' adulation" by Cathalena E. Burch, promoting Barry's concert at Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater in Tucson, AZ (6/22/2002) |
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| Barry Manilow looks out into his sold-out audiences every night and can't believe his eyes. "Either I'm going crazy or everybody has gotten a face lift and tummy tuck ... There are these beautiful, young people screaming, with their fists in the air, singing along, shouting out loud. There seems to be a new generation that is embracing this music that I have stood behind for so many years." Long the butt of critics' jokes and lampooned by everyone from The New York Times to Rolling Stone magazine, the 1970s-80s king of the 32-bar love song is cool again. Thirty years into his music career, Manilow scored his highest chart debut ever last February with "Ultimate Manilow," a greatest-hits package released by his former label, Arista Records. The album debuted at No. 3, behind Jennifer Lopez and Alan Jackson. "Ultimate Manilow" - and a prime-time CBS TV special of the same title - rode the wave of publicity generated by Manilow's 2001 indie-label debut, "Here at the Mayflower." The Concord Records album, released last November, is his first project of new material in a decade. "I think this young generation has discovered this catalog, and they are the ones that go into the record stores and make it No. 3," Manilow said from home in Los Angeles earlier this month. A six-week tour to promote "Mayflower" blossomed into a six-month-plus road trip that stops at Casino del Sol's AVA Amphitheater on Saturday. "I'm heading into my dotage and I'm having a great time," Manilow, 56, says with the excitement and conviction of a pop artist who's getting his first taste of true success. "I feel like I'm just beginning." Which makes his next revelation all the more confusing: Once this tour wraps in August, Manilow is stepping out of the spotlight and into the footlights. He plans to write and guide other artists, including his label mates Curtis Stigers and Diane Schuur. In September, he goes into the studio with Schuur to produce her new album, which he penned with writing partner Eddie Arkin. He's also putting the final touches on his self-penned musical, "Harmony," which he hopes to launch on Broadway in February. "I just want to back off from the performing thing for a little while," he says. "Maybe if I start to miss writing and singing my own stuff, I'll go back in a year or so. That's what usually happens." Truth be told, Manilow never pictured himself as an entertainer. He was perfectly content to coast as a musician and songwriter, tickling the ivory for such stars-in-waiting as Bette Midler. But he hit the mother lode with his first No. 1 pop single, "Mandy," in 1974 ... His songs - with their easy-to-remember lyrics and hard-to-forget melodies - were derided by critics as schmaltzy even as fans gobbled up about 60 million albums. "The best revenge was continuing to be able to make the music that meant so much to me," Manilow says of the criticism. "The audience and the crowds and the public ... didn't care about the jokes, the put-downs, the mean-spirited writeups and reviews." Today those same critics are singing his praises and calling his recent flush of good fortune a comeback. Manilow calls it a resurgence. "The 'comeback' is the audience, not me. I've been doing this the last 30 years ... It's a resurgence from the public that's discovering this catalog and discovering that I'm still here." The fan enthusiasm hasn't waned over the years. Each night, Manilow finds himself enveloped in deafening applause that stops him in his tracks. "In those quiet moments for me, there is a feeling of gratitude and amazement that goes over me that makes it hard to speak... I know they are saying thanks for 30 years." |
| June 19, 2002 | Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona | "Manilow's Tucson concert will preview Jewish-themed musical" by Marvin Glassman, promoting Barry's concert at Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater in Tucson, AZ (6/22/2002) |
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| [Barry Manilow] has sold more than 60 million records and has had 25 consecutive top 40 hits over the past 28 years. However, instead of being known simply as the singer who wrote the songs that the whole world sings, Manilow wants to be known as the composer who wrote a great musical set during the Holocaust called Harmony. "Without a doubt, this is the one piece of work that I want to be remembered for," said Manilow in a telephone conversation from his home in Palm Springs, Calif. Sussman and Manilow were inspired to "tell a story of a unique and talented group of individuals who touched the lives of millions in their time. They set out on a quest to find harmony in what turned out to be the most discordant chapter in history ... "The writing of the music has been the most challenging and creative journey of my career. I immersed myself in the musical style of the 1920s and �30s, including listening to klezmer and cantorial songs," Manilow continued. "Despite what happened, the story is uplifting. The tragic part of their story moves me because I�m Jewish and because my relatives went through the Holocaust." "What is ironic," said Manilow, "is that I have been turned off from Judaism for years, believing in the simple concept that if I wasn�t good, God would punish me. I feel different now. What we learned from the 9/11 tragedy and Harmony is that we all should be tolerant, accepting of ourselves and feel uplifted. It is the best way to fight tyranny. The best part of my success in my career is uplifting people�s spirits with my music." Putting his words into action, Manilow performed in a benefit last month in England for the Israel Aliyah Centers for children and raised more than $500,000. "The Israel Aliyah Centers do fine work and I was honored to raise money by my performance," he said. Harmony has achieved box office and critical success and Manilow expects the show to hit Broadway by January. He will offer his fans a preview of the musical by singing two songs from the show -- "Every Single Day" and the title song "Harmony" -- in his Tucson concert. Although he has never performed in Israel, Manilow was voted as the number one performer there in 1980. He sang "It�s a Miracle" at a televised special of performers honoring Israel in 1978, and performed at a benefit in Washington for then-Prime Minister Begin and his wife in 1983. Manilow is involved in humanitarian efforts, such as the Starlight Foundation for terminally ill children and has contributed to the Simon Wiesenthal Institute in Los Angeles. B�nai B�rith International honored Manilow for his humanitarian efforts in 1978. [ For more, see articles from Aventura magazine (May 20, 2002),
Jewsweek (May 2, 2002), and The Jewish Star Times (April 10, 2002) ] |
| June 17, 2002 | The Kansas City Star | "Manilow delivers the schmaltz and then some at Starlight show" by Timothy Finn, review of concert at the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City, MO (6/16/2002) |
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| Right before the finale -- the over-the-top patriotic blowout featuring a two-story American flag and a large gospel choir -- Barry Manilow thanked his audience for their loyalty over the decades. "It hasn't been easy being a Barry Manilow fan," he said, vowing to stick around for them, no matter how cruel his critics are: "I'm like jock itch. You can't get rid of me." He's being modest. Whatever affliction he might be, it's something more systemic and untreatable than a nagging rash. Just ask any of the 20- to 60-year-old zealots who caught his show Sunday night at Starlight, an excessive 100-minute extravaganza that proved, disproved and established a few things. First, the guy has as much stamina as he does schmaltz. He stopped only twice during the entire show -- once to change his jacket; another time to blow his nose. Second, he's the original male diva. [His] stature among some of his fans is nearly biblical, like Cher's or Tina Turner's or Celine Dion's. For example, during "I Can't Smile Without You," several dozen fans -- including a very grown man -- broke out their signs and placards, begging and screaming to be "picked." ("I've been trying since '76," one read). Manilow settled on an ecstatic 30-something woman, who'd come over from Denver, where she'd seen his concert on Friday. She was "picked" to go on stage and sing "Smile" with Manilow, which she did surprisingly well... Third, he's quite the polished Vegas showman when he wants to be -- funny even. Before "Could It Be Magic," Manilow sat down at the keyboards and exhibited the song's connection to the Chopin prelude that he said inspired it; before "Miracle" he hauled out an old reel-to-reel tape recorder and showed how he once used it to stack vocal parts on his demos. [He did] "Mandy" and "Looks Like We Made It" and "Even Now" and "Weekend in New England" [and] "Copacabana." He followed that with, "I Write the Songs" ... singing that while wearing a white dinner jacket under a starry June sky backed by a 15-piece orchestra. |
| June 16, 2002 | Colorado Springs Gazette | "Manilow christens City Lights in style" by Bill Reed, review of Barry's concert at the CityLights Pavilion in Denver, CO (June 14, 2002) |
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| OK, I'll admit it. I went to a Barry Manilow show and ... I didn't hate it. In fact, I kinda liked it. The brand new City Lights Pavilion was christened by the Ultimate Manilow on Friday night. While it wasn't the hottest spot north of Havana, nearly 5,000 fans came out of the closet to hear the "king of schmaltz" work his magic. The first sign of Manilowness was the beverage booth - where the line for margaritas was 20 deep. The guys serving beer were a bit lonely. Yes, the estrogen was flowing. For ladies of a certain age, Manilow is the ambassador between the planets of Mars and Venus, and they're ready to jump on his love ship. "So for you gentlemen who were dragged here tonight," Manilow said with a wink, "you're gonna thank me in the morning." Ooh la la. CityLights is going for an upscale feel (for example, the food booths served sliced roast beef with horseradish cream sauce). The illusion is almost effective, until you realize you're sitting on a folding chair in the middle of the Pepsi Center parking lot. The setting struck Manilow as a little odd. "This is a very festive place," he said. "It's like tent city, with the circus (Cirque de Soleil) on one side, and people screaming on the other side (referring to Elitch Gardens' roller coasters). What's that? Is that a train? For God's sake, where the hell are we?" So it's not exactly Red Rocks. On the other hand, the crowd enjoyed a beautiful Denver night, with the breeze and the soft hits washing over us. "Ready to Take a Chance," "Daybreak," "Somewhere in the Night," "Looks Like We Made It," "Can't Smile Without You" (featuring a cameo by Buttmaster hawker Suzanne Somers), "Mandy," "Even Now," "It's a Miracle," "I Made It Through the Rain," "I Write the Songs." Manilow's self-knowing kitsch, the same act that has inspired scorn for nearly 30 years, almost seems hip now. Manilow is in on the joke, the crowd is in on the joke, and even cranky critics are starting to get it. He's a guilty pleasure, like a Lifetime original movie and a pint of Haagen-Dazs. "Thank you for your loyalty and friendship," Manilow said. "I know it hasn't been easy being a Barry Manilow fan." But the crowd Friday night had no shame. We stood as one screamed, "I love you Barry!" and sang "Copacabana" as if there were no tomorrow. Admit it, you're humming the tune right now. |
| June 15, 2002 | Denver Post | "Smoothie Manilow pleases fans at CityLights opener" by Ricardo Baca, review of Barry's concert at the CityLights Pavilion in Denver, CO (6/14/2002) |
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| Leisure Suit Barry, the King of Chord Changes, has left the tent. Watching Barry Manilow smoothly skip through his greatest hits, assertively poking at the piano keys with a perky perfection, is like watching a ravenous lion track down and devour a crippled gazelle. It's in his nature. Expectedly, Manilow pleased his (predominantly female) fans Friday night as he opened Denver's spanking new CityLights Pavilion. The ever-mawkish Manilow entranced the hook-hungry crowd with his climactic choruses, his practiced wit and his Branson, Missouri-esque antics. Manilow's a pro. His routine, polished. He's a crowd pleaser, heavily leaning on material from the '70s and '80s and sneaking in a few new tunes from his latest CD, "Here at the Mayflower." Manilow was Manilow, and Friday's crowd wouldn't have it any other way. He started the night on a tour of his 2002 greatest hits collection "Ultimate Manilow," playing "Ready to Take a Chance Again," "Daybreak," "Somewhere in the Night" and "This One's For You" in an opening medley. Since it was CityLights' first night, Manilow confessed: "I promise I'll be gentle." After riling the audience with "Looks Like We Made It," Manilow took to the piano for his hits "Can't Smile Without You" and "Mandy." "Even Now" and "It's a Miracle" again roused his fans before he bravely played four new tracks, starting with the steadied "Apartment 2H: Turn the Radio Up." "Are those rides still going," Manilow asked at one point, referring to Elitch's roller coaster over his left shoulder. "Did I hear someone throwing up during 'Mandy?'" CityLights enjoyed a prosperous opening night. The temporary tent venue in the Pepsi Center parking lot provided Manilow and his band with proper acoustics, save for a few rumbling interruptions by Auraria-crossing locomotives. The thundering trains were a nuisance, but Manilow jokingly played off his surroundings, which also included the Cirque du Soleil Grand Chapiteau (big top) to his right. The audience reacted almost wildly to his "I Made It Through the Rain," proving yet again that Manilow is best loved when singing ballads. That standing rule has one exception, and "Her name is Lola ..." He pulled up the rear of his set with "Copacabana." The night held two major surprises. Manilow, a newly declared fan of electronic music acts such as Daft Punk (who sample the Man in its recent track "Superheroes"), walked on stage to the blaring electronica of Underworld's "Born Slippy" (well known from 1996's "Trainspotting" soundtrack). Surprise No. 2 came in the form of Suzanne Sommers, who Manilow brought onstage to join him in "Can't Smile Without You." Her unannounced appearance wasn't as bizarre as the crowd's reaction to her; you'd think Manilow's former boss Bette Midler was crooning, staring deeply into Manilow's so-honest eyes. Are we that celebrity-starved in Denver that an infomercial icon brings us to our feet? Apparently so. |
| June 15, 2002 | Rocky Mountain News | "CityLights off to bright start with Manilow" by Mark Brown: CityLights had a dazzling debut (June 14, 2002), aided by a gorgeous sunset, a sliver moon and a balmy evening. The tented pavilion has the relaxed but vibrant atmosphere of a nightclub, albiet a huge one. You can sit down and intently watch the show, or you can hang out in the back and chat. Clear Channel officials have been touting their new state-of-the-art sound system, and with good reason. It delivered flawless sound in every area of the venue; even the sound in the parking lot was pristine and clear ... Opening with "Ready To Take a Chance Again," [Barry] Manilow served up hit after hit in a Vegas-style revue, including a '70 kitsch overload in a duet with surprise guest Suzanne Somers on "I Can't Smile Without You." He was clearly glad to be there and thrilled the crowd with hits. The [venue is] clearly a fine place to see music, especially if the sound mix is as clean and clear as it was for its debut. |
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| June 14, 2002 | The Kansas City Star | "Barry Manilow says" by Timothy Finn, promoting Barry's appearance at the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City, MO (June 16, 2002) |
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| His greatest-hits package hit the Billboard chart at No. 3 the week it was released in March, putting Barry Manilow, 56, in hot, contemporary company -- alongside young pups like Creed, Ludacris and Jennifer Lopez. Then The New York Times ran two features on him, including a piece in its esteemed Sunday magazine. But like most stars who have toiled in the periphery of pop music after years of fame and prosperity, Manilow insists the new record and the gush of commercial success are not signs of an unlikely comeback. "I never went anywhere, so it can't be a comeback," he said last week from Palm Springs, Calif. "I've been working steadily for 30 years, and my audience never went anywhere either." Not only did his fans never go away, he said, even more of them have "come out" -- or decided it's OK to admit they like his old songs. Manilow insists he's not serving chilled revenge to his critics, who flogged him mercilessly early in his career ... "I think my audience is finally proud to say they liked this music. Years ago it wasn't a cool thing to admit you liked 'Trying to Get the Feeling' or 'Mandy' because they were so melodic and romantic. It was much cooler to say you liked whatever crazy brand of rock 'n' roll was out there. This year, for some reason, they're not afraid to come out and say, 'I like this music, and (bleep) you if you don't.'" Manilow still remembers the sharp, verbal assaults he suffered way back when he was a multiplatinum pop artist that poured through the radio ... "Oh, you know, I'd go down for about an hour in the morning after reading some really nasty putdown, and it always surprised me how meanspirited these writers felt they needed to be to someone they'd never met. So I'd pull the blankets over my head and go into self-pity for a while, but it never stopped me from believing in what I do. Really, the last thing I think about is revenge" -- then he pretends to start screaming -- "or getting back at some little (bleep) critic who gave me trouble all those years, and -- oh, sorry. Sometimes it just comes out...." Manilow unceremoniously left Arista last year for Concord Records, the small California label that is home to jazz artists, including Karrin Allyson. "That was a little traumatic but not nearly as bad as you'd imagine, given all the years I'd been there. You'd think it would have been like having the rug pulled completely out from under me, but it all happened so fast and seemed so right. When Antonio (Reid) took over for Clive (Davis), I, like a lot of artists, didn't know where I fit in or what I was going to do. Then I met the guys from Concord and had a great conversation with them. Never once did they mention the charts or Britney Spears or 'N Sync. All they cared about was great songwriting and arranging, and they said they thought I represented that." "[Here At The] Mayflower" is a collection of 16 songs based on people who live in the same Brooklyn apartment building. He's been working on some of the material for more than 15 years, Manilow said, but he started refining the project in earnest about three years ago. The album's first single, the chipper and airy "Turn On the Radio," broke into the Top 20 on the adult-contemporary charts -- the very audience he's built to please though not the kind of music he listens to. Aside from Sting, Manilow said, his favorite contemporary artists are electro-pop acts like Everything But the Girl, Groove Armada or the Basement Jaxx. "What I hear in their music is someone breaking the rules, people trying out different things," he said. "They're not classically trained songwriters, but I connect with their music much, much more than I do the pop music on the radio. I can't do that stuff -- all those kindergarten melodies." But before he starts sounding like one of the critics who made him hide under his own blankets, Manilow nearly apologizes: "It's music made for the masses. It has been like this forever. When 'Weekend in New England' was on the charts, it was right next to 'Kung Fu Fighting,' so it was going on even then." Speaking of kitschy pop fashions, Manilow insists that this revival he's enjoying is bigger and more substantive than one generation's renewed interest in the trivia it grew up with. Reminded that cable networks like the Game Show Channel and TV Land -- and reruns of "The Match Game," "Let's Make a Deal" and "The Rockford Files" -- let 30- and 40-somethings relive the garish fashions and bad haircuts of their youths, Manilow dismisses the suggestion that his music fits in with any of that. "It's bigger than that. You can't go to No. 3 on the charts with that -- nostalgia and camp. I think it's because the music is so solid. I've always believed that if the songs were well-written, well-crafted and well-produced, they'll outlive all of us. They'll be ruining my music in elevators all over the world for years to come, and I'm proud of it."
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| June 14, 2002 | Rocky Mountain News | "A Barry big opening" by Mark Brown, promoting Barry's concert at CityLights Pavilion in Denver, CO (June 14, 2002) |
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| Barry Manilow has opened so many new arenas he can't keep track of them all. The Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim. Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa. "And I opened that real big one in Washington, D.C. (MCI Center). I hope CityLights has its toilets working. Every time we do this, they're late with some part of it, and it's usually the toilets backstage," Manilow says, only half-joking. Everything will be in place, running, working - and flushing - just fine, vows Clear Channel promoter Chuck Morris, the driving force behind the new amphitheater on the grounds of the Pepsi Center. Tonight's show will be the inaugural run of the much-discussed new venue. Clear Channel says it's a state-of-the-art amphitheater that'll bring another touch of class and culture to downtown Denver ... It's 5,500 seats under a tented pavilion, with upscale food, drinks and sound system (upscale for concerts, anyway). All seats are close to the stage, making it one of Denver's most intimate amphitheaters, despite its larger capacity. Manilow vows to make it a night. "A lot of the hits, as many as I can squeeze in," Manilow promises, along with a scattering of new material. "I have a funky band this year. I decided it was the Average White Barry tour - a little more edge, a little more horn-driven, a little more funk to it." Manilow, who became a '70s superstar with soft-rock smashes such as "Mandy," "Trying to Get the Feeling," "Cobacabana" and "I Write the Songs," is on another career high. He's been in the studio recording demos for jazz great Diane Schuur ("Don't call her Dinah Shore. That's what I've been getting with idiotic interviewers," Manilow says. "She's on my new record label, and I've always been a fan"). He took several years off from writing pop songs because his mentor, Clive Davis, told him the time just wasn't right. "He wouldn't know how to sell the kind of music I would give him because of this drastic change in pop music over the past 10 or 15 years - rap, R&B, hip-hop," Manilow says. Instead, they recorded concept albums, with Manilow singing everything from Sinatra to showtunes. He also wrote for other artists, including singer Nancy Wilson, "keeping my writing chops sharp." He came back with the critically acclaimed Here at the Mayflower, a concept album of diverse songs looking at the various lives inside a large apartment building. He'd had the concept for nearly two decades, and just put away songs that fit it, working with lyricists who had helped craft his biggest '70s hits. "I put songs in my trunk, piled them up in a box - story songs, interesting idea songs," he says. "When I pulled them out five years ago, they were all still good. They were diverse, but they worked." Between that and working on Harmony (a Broadway musical based on the Comedian Harmonists group in Germany in World War II), he was reminded "of how much more fun it is to write those instead of those 'I love you' songs. Those 'I love you/come back to me' songs are hard to do. I look at that blank page, trying to write a love song, and I just blank out. Writing a pop love song? I just don't know how to do that. I've done it, but it's the hardest thing." He's also back with Ultimate Manilow, a greatest-hits set that exploded on the Billboard charts, decades after his heyday. "I don't think anyone was ready for this, including the record company," he says. "We've had greatest-hits albums out there over the years and they'd all done OK, but nothing like this, not this kind of explosion. Nobody seems to really have an answer to how this happened. My take on it is there's a new generation who is discovering this wonderful catalog of music I've been able to create over the past 25 years. I look out at the audiences and I see very young people staring back at me." The newfound popularity also confounds the critics who have only lately started to give a grudging respect to Manilow's longevity and body of work. "They tried to annihilate me in the early years," he says with a laugh. "They never succeeded. The public never bought into it. My family and band never bought into it. Most of all, I never bought into it. I like what I do. I listen back to 'Trying to Get the Feeling' and 'Weekend in New England' and I say 'I like it.' If it had to do it all again today, that's exactly what I'd do. I'm proud of it now; I was proud of it then. I have no problem with it." And neither do many of his contemporaries. When prodded, Manilow repeats the famous exchange he had with Bob Dylan years ago. "We were at a party together. We shook hands, and he whispered in my ear," Manilow says. "Now, maybe I'm nuts. But this is what I heard. He said: 'Keep doing what you're doing, man. You inspire all of us.' Now maybe I just wanted to hear this. Or maybe he actually said it. But that's what I heard." |
| June 13, 2002 | The Associated Press | "Jackson, Manilow Get Songwriter Honor": NEW YORK (AP) - Michael [Jackson] was among those to be inducted in the Songwriters Hall on Thursday night. Others include Barry Manilow, Sting, Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, and Randy Newman ... One of Manilow's biggest hits was "I Write the Songs," which, ironically, he didn't write. But he did co-write some of his most successful songs, including "Could It Be Magic," "Even Now" and "Copacabana (At the Copa)." ... The show will be taped for broadcast on the Bravo network Oct. 7. |
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| June 9, 2002 | Denver Post | "Curtain rising at CityLights: Manilow to open new concert era" by G. Brown, promoting Barry's appearance at the CityLights Pavilion in Denver, CO (June 14, 2002) |
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| Is there an audience that doesn't want to go to Red Rocks Amphitheatre, the legendary outdoor venue? If so, it's a crowd that's a little older. They work downtown, and a lot of them live there, so they want to see acts in a more convenient urban environment where they can grab a nice dinner and cocktails. They want a reserved seat and all the amenities. They will determine the need for Denver's newest concert hall - CityLights Pavilion, the 5,000-seat "boutique" amphitheater on the grounds of Pepsi Center. The first performer at CityLights will set the tone for the type of artists Clear Channel Entertainment has booked there. It's due to open Friday with a concert by the top, male, adult-contemporary artist of all time - Barry Manilow ... CityLights is a joint project of Clear Channel, the nation's largest concert promoter, and Kroenke Sports Enterprises, owners of the Pepsi Center next door. Manilow, Friday's opening-night attraction, has become, well, cool. The pop icon has made it back to the top of the charts with "Ultimate Manilow," a collection of 20 of his best-known songs. It came in at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, his highest-debuting album ever. And critics who raked him over the coals for many years seem to be coming around. Praise is being parceled out for "Here at the Mayflower," his first album of original material in more than a decade. "I've got one album that celebrates the past and one that celebrates the future. That's what makes this successful year so sweet for me," the affable Manilow, who turns 56 in a week, said recently from his home in Palm Springs, Calif. Manilow looks back with a sense of humor on those days when his songs were ridiculed as "processed cheese." "I forgive the (jerks)," he said with a laugh. "If I got angry or frustrated, I did it in private. I've always taken pride in being a gentleman and making my fans family and the people that work for me proud of me. Doing it the other way doesn't work. It's not becoming." In 1984, Manilow walked away from middle-of-the-road pop, deciding to engage in other creative forms. "As radio turned to R&B and rap in the late '80s and '90s, Clive [Davis] couldn't figure out how to sell a white-boy pop singer's record. He kept encouraging me to make records that he could sell, that wouldn't need to be played on the radio. And I always wanted to experiment with all these other styles that I grew up loving, from show tunes to big band to Christmas albums to Frank Sinatra tributes. So I had a ball for those 10 years. We came up with one idea after another, and I would get the chance to sing these fantastic standards like 'Where Or When' and 'Once In Love With Amy' with these unbelievable musicians and orchestras and conductors and arrangers. It was great. I loved it. But at the same time, I missed the songwriting part of what I do. I had amassed this entire album called 'Here at the Mayflower.' It was all ready to go. I had written the songs and played all the instruments on my computer over the years." The pop-oriented concept album, named for a building near Manilow's childhood home, bears a distinct resemblance to his older style. There's no denying that he has a gift for turning out tuneful singles. "Turn the Radio Up" and "They Dance!" somehow seem to have been around forever. "It's not your typical "I Made It Through the Rain' album. It's still pop, but it's got all sorts of my favorite styles in it - a little jazz and funk, Broadway musical ideas, ballads. Because it's about different lives in an apartment building, I think the diversity of the music works for it." Because he's had the last laugh, Manilow feels more comfortable in his skin now. At one time, he acknowledged, his status held him up. "There were a good three to four years when I was working in commercials and going on the road with Bette that it was pretty intense, pretty wild. Certainly no drugs, drinking and 13 women in a room, none of that. But it was more show business than I thought I'd ever experience. And I must say that I did not like it. It's not my favorite memories. I was a very confused young guy, and even though I was a hugely successful young guy, I was not a happy man. I like it better now." Manilow is overseeing a new project for jazz vocalist Diane Schurr, writing and producing songs for an album. And clearly, he is drawn to the musical theater. He wrote a Broadway show based on his song "Copacabana." Next up, he wants to stage "Harmony," a musical he has written based on the pre-World War II story of the Comedian Harmonists, a popular German singing ensemble that was disbanded by the Nazi regime because some of its members were Jews. "Everybody in the pop world thinks, 'Oh, yeah, I can write a story-song, so I can write a Broadway musical.' You can't! It's the hardest thing. I'm the only one who understands what this is. I come from that world. There are rules and regulations that you've got to adhere to, and most pop guys don't know it until they get into it, and then they realize they're in over their head. You've got to go to school for this. You've got to read the books. You've got to study all the greats who invented the bona fide Broadway musical, where the song doesn't become a showstopper in the worst way. The song moves the story along, and most people don't understand that, that these performers on the stage cannot sing unless they can't speak anymore. They just say, 'Oh, I'll just drop a little story-song here,' and it's a showstopper, all right - it just stops everything! I respect it so much, that it makes me wince and frustrated when I see $11 million being spent every two years on some other cockamamie musical where everybody thinks it's an easy thing to do, and they'll walk out all battered and bloody because they didn't do their homework." |
| June 2002 | BMI.com | "Barry Manilow Withstands the Test of Time" by Rob Patterson |
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| Barry Manilow is truly a complete musical entertainer. Since first hitting the charts in 1974 with "Mandy," he has scored 11 number one hits on the adult contemporary charts and won Grammy, Emmy and Tony awards as well as being nominated for an Academy Award. He is a performer, composer, arranger and producer (on Grammy-nominated albums by Bette Midler, Nancy Wilson and Dionne Warwick) who has enjoyed success on Broadway, television and in the movies. And after becoming a pop music phenomenon in the 1970s, Manilow spent the 1980s and '90s spreading his musical wings to explore jazz, big band music, show tunes and classic pop crooning. By the turn of the century, it might have seemed to some that Manilow, despite his historic achievements and continuing popularity as a concert attraction, was ready to be relegated to "where are they now?" status. But the reality is that Manilow himself was thinking, "What can I now do for an encore?" And what a career encore he has come up with. Here at the Mayflower, Manilow's 31st album, is a concept disc and song cycle filled with his most creative, thoughtful and emotionally compelling music to date. Set within the context of an apartment building in his native Brooklyn, the disc allows Manilow to do what he does best: sing about people and their lives. "It was everything I wanted it to be," he enthuses. "It's enabled my collaborators and me to write songs about people of all ages and walks of life. This album is about people and friendships, and the cycle in life that we all go through." It is also on musical tour de force on which Manilow played almost all the instruments. Here at the Mayflower has literally been decades in the making. "I woke up with an idea 20 years ago for an original album based in an apartment building," he explains. "I really put myself into this album." The new disc has landed Manilow back on the adult contemporary charts. And at the same time, a greatest hits collection, Ultimate Manilow, debuted on the Billboard charts at number three and has a new generation discovering this wonderful catalog of well-crafted songs. The primacy of Manilow in American pop music as well as his revived high profile was exemplified by his appearance on the pre-game show for Super Bowl XXXVI on Fox TV. Joined by Patti Labelle, James Ingram, Yolanda Adams and Wynonna Judd, he performed "Let Freedom Ring," the song he wrote commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the American Constitution. The song and accompanying pageantry created a touching moment of national unity in difficult times. Manilow's return to prominence has been gratifying to him, especially after many years of being derided by critics as a peddler of schmaltzy sentiment. But Manilow knows that what he's been doing is touching the hearts of his many listeners. "I stand for something that most guys don't stand for: honest emotion," he states. He has also withstood the test of time, suggesting that a reevaluation of his place in popular music is long overdue. "I was always cool," he says. "Everyone else is just catching up now." |
| May 28-June 10, 2002 | What's On - The Last Vegas Guide | "Mellow Manilow" by Charles Tatum, promoting Barry's appearances at Mandalay Bay's Storm Theatre in Las Vegas, NV (June 6-8, 2002) |
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| Barry Manilow is a well-loved singer worldwide. When he comes to Las Vegas this musical giant is warmly embraced by fans who sung along with him to "Mandy" on the radio when they were kids. Last year Manilow maniacs were thrilled when he released his first CD of original songs in 15 years. "Here At the Mayflower" is a concept album that takes listeners into the lives of ordinary, but intriguing, people living in a Brooklyn apartment building. The album weaves tapestries about a fictitious cast of characters dwelling in the Mayflower, a very real, red-brick Brooklyn apartment house located not far from where Manilow grew up a half century ago. In a collection of 16 songs we meet some fascinating people, including a man in Apartment 5F who's desperate to reconcile with his ex-lover ("I'm Comin' Back") and a solitary young woman in Apartment 2G, who shuns small talk with neighbors, preferring to stay up all night listening to music alone ("I Hear Her Music Playing"). Born Barry Alan Pincus in 1946 in Brooklyn, Manilow displayed musical gifts as a child and was invited to study at the prestigious Juilliard School of Music in New York. He went on to a very successful career writing commercial jingles in the Sixties and early Seventies. The man who would later "write the songs that make the whole world sing" penned catchy TV jingles for McDonald's, Johnson & Johnson's Band-Aids, State Farm insurance and other corporate giants. The soothing State Farm musical tagline ("Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there") was penned by Manilow three decades ago and is still in use today. "And I got $500 for that thing! When you write them, they buy you out. I was so young, I was so happy to get the gig and I needed the $500," said Manilow, who also worked as Bette Midler's piano player, arranger and record producer before the single "Mandy" catapulted him to solo fame in 1974. Over the years, Manilow has been called a musical genius, a national treasure and a genuine nice guy, but the word "cool" is seldom if ever used to describe him. In fact, he's often cited as the poster boy for everything that's uncool. Manilow said he's pondered this phenomenon and believes it's a knee-jerk reaction to a man showing his sensitive side. "I'm not the only one. I've heard that expression about Michael Bolton, about Richard Marx, about Lionel Richie, about Michael Jackson -- about all us guy singers who are not angry artists," Manilow said, noting that his fans also bear the burden of being labeled uncool for liking his music. "It's easier to say you're a Bruce Springsteen fan or a Mick Jagger fan because they're more angry. But if you're the slightest bit sensitive or sing about a little bit more gentle subjects, I guess then it's not cool to be a Richard Marx or a Michael Bolton fan or a Barry Manilow fan. And I feel badly about my fans having to go through this because they put up with more crap than I have to. But it never really got me down, honestly. The only thing that ever got me down was when the critics couldn't see past the image... and they would just walk in and slam me before they gave me a chance." |
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