Can't Smile Without You 1985-1986
October 20, 1985 - Caesar's Tahoe (Early Show) (Atlantic City, New Jersey)
photo by Carol Reading (provided by Marge Meall)
December 31, 1985 - Radio City Music Hall (New York City, New York)
photo provided by Michelle Dunford
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January 8, 1985 - New Mexico State University (Las Cruces, New Mexico)
January 11, 1985 - (Tucson, Arizona)
I vaguely remember the rest of this but I know when I was thinking about being
picked I imagined having all kinds of witty things to say. That didn't
happen. I was scared to death. I remember answering Barry's questions in a
very short and simple manner and I also remember the audience booing me but
Barry said it was only because I was from Phoenix instead of a local from
Tucson. Barry was sweet and our duet was great fun. It was a great
experience . . . one I still brag about even today. My only wish is that they
were video taping the duets back then - but I still have my t-shirt and a
great memory. (5/11/97)
January 18, 1985 - Riviera Hotel (Las Vegas, Nevada)
After all these years I still remember this day as one of the most fun experiences of my life. I have been following Barry since the very beginning and he still amazes me with his music and talent today. They just don't come any better! I can't say enough about this man or his music and talent. As for me, I am still and will always be riding the Barry train! (6/29/2011)
January 1985 - Riviera Hotel (Las Vegas, Nevada)
January 20, 1985 - Riviera Hotel (late show) (Las Vegas, Nevada)
May 24, 1985 - Riviera Hotel (early show) (Las Vegas, Nevada)
I was able to stay on key, but was too nervous to sing well. I remember thinking how tall he was, how great he looked and smelled, and telling him "I love you" when he hugged me. Then, he threw me an autographed T-Shirt, which I have framed, hanging over my piano. It was the thrill of my life... I can still feel his hand squeezing mine during the whole song, as if to say, "You're doing good, hang in there!"
I have been a fan forever. I play the piano myself at a restaurant in San Diego and occasionally at Nordstrom's. I love his melodies and the way he modulates his arrangements. I lost my husband, Paul, to cancer last March, and I used Barry's rendition of "I'll Be Seeing You" as the close of the service. It was perfect!! (Paul and I sat in the front row when "Showstoppers" came to San Diego, and it was one of our favorite concerts!) Thank you Barry, for all of the incredible memories! (1/28/99)
May 24, 1985 - Riviera Hotel (late show) (Las Vegas, Nevada)
May 25, 1985 - Riviera Hotel (early show) (Las Vegas, Nevada)
May 26, 1985 - Riviera Hotel (early show) (Las Vegas, Nevada)
May 26, 1985 - Riviera Hotel (late show) (Las Vegas, Nevada)
June 19, 1985 - NBC (Honolulu, Hawaii)
June 25, 1985 - Five Seasons Center [US Cellular Center] (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
Standing up, then sitting down... then I thought "no, stand up"... this went on a few seconds. Then he pointed saying, "You, in the striped shirt." There was a girl with the same shirt a few rows ahead, and he said, "No, the blonde." It was a blur from then, off and on. I just walked up there, and I think the audience and the [sound] made me more nervous than anything. I do remember most of it. He had the bluest eyes I had ever seen. It was wonderful. A memory I hold so dear as I've become older, married, kids, life... Seeing him on T.V. or in concert [brings] a warm feeling. A friend for years in my life, yet for a few minutes I know someone saw that young girl in her bedroom dreaming and allowed that dream to come true. It's like the line from Willy Wonka that Charlie said... he wanted it more than anyone and that's why he should get it. Ha! I've seen Barry four times since 1985 usually with my two sisters, mom, niece, and friends here and there. I may not be one of his loudest or craziest fans anymore, but it's like a slow ember in me: an old friend, still faithful. He'll be in my heart forever. Thanks, Barry, for the past 30 years! (1/24/2005)
June 28, 1985 - (Chicago, Illinois)
June 30, 1985 - (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
July 5, 1985 - Prairie Capital Convention Center (Springfield, Illinois)
Later, people I had never met came up to me and asked me if it had been set up. I've always enjoyed singing, especially Barry's songs, so I did pretty well up there. It really felt right. Barry put me at such ease, I was having the time of my life. I still remember it as if it were yesterday. What a night! (1/18/2001)
July 23, 1985 - Kingswood Theatre, Canada's Wonderland (Toronto, Canada)
July 31, 1985 - (Holmdel, New Jersey)
August 9, 1985 - Pine Knob (Detroit, Michigan)
August 12, 1985 - Worcester Centrum (Worcester, Massachusetts)
After the song was over, he gave me a signed T-shirt, which I still keep in my hope chest. The amazing thing was there were pictures in three local newspapers, and a fellow fan sent me a wonderful picture of Barry and me which is now signed by Barry. (I went to Radio City Music Hall in New York several years later and waited in line 6 hours in the rain, just to ask him to sign my picture!)
Anyway that August 11th was opening night for Barry at the [venue], so the Worcester Centrum [invited me back] for the next night's show. I brought Barry flowers and his "crew" set it up so he picked me again. This time I walked on stage and gave him the flowers and he carried on like we had met before, but I didn't sing with him again. He kissed me and I happily left the stage.
It was a wonderful experience and I can't believe the pictures Barry's fans have sent me of both nights. I even have a 20 second clip on video that a Boston news station sent me. Great way to keep this memory alive! (7/16/98)
August 23, 1985 - (Baltimore, Maryland)
August 24, 1985 - (Baltimore, Maryland)
August 28, 1985 - (Jacksonville, Florida)
August 29, 1985 - (Tampa, Florida)
September 4, 1985 - Concord Pavilion (Concord, California)
Well, after all of the concerts I dragged my parents to, he did pick me that night, and it was perfect. I still shake when I think about it, and I'm so happy that my mom, best friend and grandma were there to share the experience with me. Barry and I made the front page of our local newspsper (The Contra Costa Times) the next morning and the headlines read "Stardom Strikes". For a young girl who was struggling with emotional times of divorcing parents, this was truly something that changed my life forever. I learned that dreams do come true, thanks to Barry. (6/24/99)
September 5, 1985 - Concord Pavilion (Concord, California)
September 6, 1985 - Concord Pavilion (Concord, California)
September 11, 1985 - Spokane Coliseum (Spokane, Washington)
All of a sudden you hear Barry start whistling the beginning of that all-time favorite song, "Can't Smile Without You". All the girls go crazy. You're standing there, wondering if what you've heard is true, when Barry announces his contest. The only rules are that you have to be a female and you have to know the words to the song. Okay, that's easy enough. Who doesn't know them?! He starts looking around the crowd and you start jumping up and down, as though you were on a pogo stick, waving your arms in the air. You figure, center section, row P, seat 5, is a long shot for this contest. Then, Barry stops, points out into the crowd, and says, "How about that jumping bean right back there?" Immediately, the three girls to your right sit down real fast. In astonishment, you quit jumping, and point to yourself, saying "do you mean ME?", and our man of the hour says, "yes, you!" As you are being escorted to the stage, Barry comments, "she's even wearing my face on her chest!" He is, of course, refering to the Paradise Cafe t-shirt you begged your mom to buy right before the concert.
A once in a lifetime dream-come-true: You are now standing on stage with him... Barry Manilow!! Not even in a million years could you have believed you had such wonderful luck! Barry grabs another microphone and tells you to hold it in your right hand (in which you have your gum that you had just stuck in your mouth - switch it to the left!). Barry then says that he is going to hold your left hand (Oh no! That's where you just put your gum!). You glance down at your hand, looking rather perplexed. Barry asks what you've got there, and upon seeing your gum, he plucks it out of your hand and starts to walk behind his piano. "Oh, I'll just save that for you," he replies, as though it were nothing at all. You then sing with Barry and at the end, he gives you a t-shirt that says "I sang with Barry Manilow!" on which he also writes the date: 9/11/85 and adds his autograph. Later, just after intermission, Barry announces that he's still saving your gum "...Rebecca". This has to have been the best night of your life!
The following week (on September 18), you report to Ft. Dix, New Jersey. Of course, you really didn't need an airplane to fly there, as you were still on cloud #9. You tell everyone about your dream-come-true, but no one believes you until about two weeks later, when the mail arrives containing an envelope, bearing pictures - courtesy of a professional photographer - of you and Barry on stage. Now how many people do you think have gotten the chance to sing with their idol? Not many, besides those of us who have sung with Barry! (9/14/99)
October 3, 1985 - Greek Theater (Los Angeles, California)
October 5, 1985 - Greek Theater (Los Angeles, California)
October 6, 1985 - Greek Theater (Los Angeles, California)
October 18, 1985 - Caesar's Tahoe (Early Show) (Atlantic City, New Jersey)
October 18, 1985 - Caesar's Tahoe (Late Show) (Atlantic City, New Jersey)
Of course, we had to tip the usher to get moved up, "taking a chance" that I'd get overlooked by being up front. But it was worth it. As the show began my heart was pumping, I could feel my pulse and when the first refrains of Can't Smile started, I had palpitations and sweaty palms. This was MY moment. I HAD to be picked!
"Hey, Jack, turn up the lights!" I waived my hands. I screamed. Barry looked right, then left. He searched the back of the room, then looked right at me.
"Hey you, you look like a lightbulb. I have to choose you", were the immortal words of HIM.
There I was being escorted onto the stage to live the dream I had prepared so long for. While walking through this dream, I panicked. I looked out into the audience, then into those baby blues and had to keep myself on my feet while my entire body shook. I was nervous, but "I Made It Through". When Barry climbed onto the piano and held me between his legs, I remember grabbing his knees...tightly, because I just had to touch him. Then I wouldn't let go. There was some kind of peace being right THERE...
Of course, the kiss he gave me lingered in my mind for days, weeks, months, years! In my life's experiences, this is one night that stands out vividly and I am constantly reminded of the happy memories by a large blown-up photograph of this event alongside my bed.
All I did get was a T-shirt, however, I am so very lucky that I was chosen and that my perseverance prevailed.
October 19, 1985 - Caesar's Tahoe (Late Show) (Atlantic City, New Jersey)
October 20, 1985 - Caesar's Tahoe (Early Show) (Atlantic City, New Jersey)
I remember standing up when Barry asked for volunteers, and half-heartedly waving my little penlight while figuring he was going for the other side of the room (again!). Then suddenly, he spun on his heel, came over to our side, shaded his eyes, looked right out at me and said, "You there, in that pretty ruffled dress there..." At first I wasn't sure he meant me...even with my friends screaming their heads off (I waited and pointed at myself, and Barry said, "Yes, you!"). Before I knew it I was stumbling through a mess of chairs, tables and people.
Bruce Weinstein was a crew member working for Barry at the time, and he escorted me to the stage. He was almost as excited as me...he squeezed my hand and remarked, "It's about time, isn't it?" Somewhere in the darkness I remembered that Barry's mother, Edna, was there at the show, and the combination of everything hitting me was really doing a number on my nerves. All the little old ladies sitting at the booths were tapping me on the way to the stage, saying "Congratulations!" I felt like saying, "Don't say that, I haven't done anything yet...I may pass out!!" I also remembered the last thing I said to Carol as we left our hotel room for the show that night: "I can't get picked tonight; I have my high heels on!" to which she had replied, "Well, just take them off, like you always said you would." I'm a little over six feet tall, and I had always vowed that if I was wearing heels when I got to meet Barry, getting rid of them would be the first thing I'd do.
I started to climb the stairs, when all of a sudden a hand loomed out in front of me to help me up to the stage. What a way to meet someone for the first time! Barry had commented on my height on my way to the stage ("This is a very tall person--or Bruce is very short!"), but once I got onstage, he was even more amazed ("You are tall!"). As soon as we got to the piano (even though he still had me by the hand), I spun around and kicked off my shoes, which let us see eye-to-eye for the first time (which was very unnerving at first, but very nice once I got used to those wonderful eyes being so near).
Up until then, I had managed to keep some of my wits about me, but what happened next really floored me--when I told him my name, Barry exclaimed "I know you...you're the famous Marge Meall". Then he told the audience "Marge and I have been writing letters for a long time!" Up until that moment, I didn't have the slightest idea if he even knew I existed, and for me, that was the most precious realization I could have.
The rest of the time (which passed much too quickly) seems like a blur now--I vaguely remember starting to say my name again when Barry asked me where I was from (Margeland??) I managed to remember the harmony line I had picked out for myself after years of listening to "Can't Smile" and hopefully didn't butcher it too badly...at least Barry noticed it, exclaiming after the first verse, "She's singing harmony!"
I also remember the audience's laughter when Barry put me between his knees at the piano--and I knew that what I had suspected might happen was happening--he couldn't see over my head; so, I did the first thing which came to mind, which was bending my knees to shrink down as low as I could without my legs flying out from under me! Barry thought it was pretty funny...and had a deathgrip on my arm to hold me up--and I thought that his thighs made great armrests!!
I felt him pull me sideways and turned to face him as we sang the last note--it was so nice to have him so near, even if for only a moment. When we finished, I gave him a big hug and said in his ear, "Thank you so much, Barry!" Luckily, I remembered to grab my shoes as he led me back to the stairs. He asked me for a kiss (like I'd say no??) but the absolute best had to be just before I left, he leaned over and said to me (off mike), "I'm so glad I finally got a chance to meet you."
By then, I was really on cloud nine--and my friends and I must have been quite a sight; when I got back to our table, they all descended on me, laughing and jumping up and down (I did stop long enough to blow a kiss back to Barry, though)! Carol had snuck down to take pictures of me, plopping down in an empty booth next to Edna and commenting to her, "Isn't this great??" We always said Edna was probably wondering, who are these crazy girls?! Crazy, maybe--deliriously happy, definitely!
Barry sang "Can't Smile" with his mom later that evening for the late show...so I always looked back on that evening with double fondness--knowing Edna and I had matching t-shirts from our "debuts"! Thanks to Barry, it's a beautiful and special memory (the first among many) that I'll always cherish! (12/21/98)
October 20, 1985 - Caesar's Tahoe (late show) (Atlantic City, New Jersey)
October 25, 1985 - Caesar's Tahoe-Cascade Showroom (Atlantic City, New Jersey)
October 29, 1985 - Marriott Center (Provo, Utah)
October 30, 1985 - Boise State Pavillion (Boise, Idaho)
I got to the show and was having a wonderful time. Then it came to the "Can't Smile" part. I leaned over the balcony of the parkay seats and screamed, "Pick me, pick me!" as loud as I could. My friends were all pointing at me and encouraging the same. He then said, "You in the blue and white striped shirt..." I was ecstactic. I killed about ten people getting to the aisle where I was met by the escort to the stage. I sang with Barry!
They did a write-up in the Boise newspaper. They said I sounded like a seasoned performer. I had several people come up to me and ask me if I was a professional singer and just planted there. I assured them I was not. I even got some pictures of the event from a guy that was there that sent me a copy. I will never forget that night. My friends told me afterwards that Barry even put his mic down twice because I overpowered him. I will never be the same person after that night. I thank Barry for the opportunity to perform with him. It was one of the highlights of my life. One I will never forget. (4/4/2001)
November 1, 1985 (early) - Caesar's Palace (Las Vegas, Nevada)
November 1, 1985 (late) - Caesar's Palace (Las Vegas, Nevada)
I remember in the blur of nervous anticipation to try and remember everything that happened because it was only going to happen once! So the whole experience became a very tactile experience to me. I can remember the touch of Barry's hand; how beautiful his eyes were; how he had on more makeup that me; how fabulous he smelled; how smooth his shirt was; how when I was "between his legs", I could hear him singing in my ear an instant before the reverb came from the monitors. I also remember being amazed that even though fans and friends were only a few feet away, the only thing I could see in the darkness were the stage lights being caught in the camera lens, and tiny rings of lights in the dark (so that's how he looks right up the camera lenses!). I remember little else about the rest of the shows, I floated through the rest of the weekend, and of course, couldn't wait till the people I loved in the Midwest were awake enough so that I could call everybody I knew! (2/23/2003)
November 2, 1985 (late) - Caesar's Palace (Las Vegas, Nevada)
We had tickets for the three late shows and the first night (Friday) everything that could possibly go wrong, did. I sent a boutonniere backstage for Barry, he didn't wear it. The battery on my camera died during the beginning of the show. I didn't even bother to raise my hand to get picked, despite being at a table down in front. On November 2 (Saturday) my friend insisted we go out on the Strip. On the way back to the hotel, we passed a florist and on impulse I went in and bought a dozen yellow sweetheart roses. My intention was to walk up the stage and hand them to Barry and hope that he'd squeeze my hand or give me a thank you kiss, some little gesture of affection that I could make a cherished memory. That night when we entered the theater we were taken to the same exact table as the night before and given the same two seats, but my friend insisted we switch seats since I had the closer one the night before. In that moment, she sealed both her fate and mine. I did try to give Barry the flowers after the opening song, but because of the narrow aisles by the time I got to the stage he had started to sing another song. Then my friend made the statement that changed everything, "Maybe if you wave the flowers at him, he'll pick you to sing with him." The moment came for Barry's pick and he stopped right in front of our table. I stood up and started waving the flowers, he looked at me and then walked to the other side of the room saying he wanted to sing with someone who really wanted to do it. By now everyone on my side of the room, thinking he was going to pick from the other side had sat down, eveyone but me that is. Lo and behold, he turned and came back and there I was jumping up and down,waving the roses. He stopped in front of our table again, looked right at me again and said those magic words I'd longed to hear: "How about you with the flowers, would you like to come up here?" The next few minutes were the most magical and happiest of my life. He held my hand,squeezing it every once in awhile to reassure me everything was okay. We kept looking into each others eyes and smiling, until he jumped on the piano and pulled me close to him. When his arm went around my waist, I placed my hand over top of his without thinking, and he kept it there until the end of the song. I managed to sing in tune (up until the last note) and got a great kiss and a hug at the end. And while he was hugging me I whispered in his ear something I had wanted to tell him since I had first become a fan, that I loved him. As I was leaving the stage, before he kissed me, I thanked him. And almost twenty-two years later I still thank him for giving me that wonderful, magical moment that I will hold close to my hear and cherish forever. (9/14/2007)
November 14, 1985 - (Nashville, Tennessee)
November 22, 1985 - (Atlanta, Georgia)
December 31, 1985 - Radio City Music Hall (New York City, New York)
I had a surge of confidence as he strongly clenched my hand in his. Then we chatted about computers. I felt as if I were greeting an old friend... (and I was) and felt very much at ease (hug, hug). Okay, so the blue eyes had me transfixed (Would YOU have looked away?). I teased him by returning his compliment on my blue eyes, and the audience had a good laugh (we gotcha, Barry!).
When it was time for the "leap" onto the piano, I had to put my empty left hand somewhere, so it came to rest naturally cradled around his left (boney) knee cap. I was literally enveloped by Barry's sweeping arms as we reached the last note. As I looked out with flashbulbs going off in front row plus the very bright super-troopers, I also become acutely aware of the merits of having a good day job -- yet I wouldn't have missed it.
My final thoughts: "Soft lips sink ships". OOooo Ahhh! -- Thanks 'Barr' for your professionalism, your sense of good fun, and your creative spirit that keeps us coming back for more. I've always maintained that the fans return for much more than the music; it's for the compassion, care, positive energy and love you share openly, willingly and abundantly. Best of success and health to U always. (5/20/99)
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This Page Created April 24, 1996 (Last Updated May 2, 2020)
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