Journale 19

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Showbiz - 1995
"I am a musician. My passion for music has obliterated everything in its path for my entire life. Whenever there was a choice between music and anything else, music won, hands down, every time. No one person or material thing could ever come close to the feeling I get when the music is right. I am totally committed to my music and my fans," so sayeth Barry Manilow. Grammy, Tony and Emmy Award winner, several time Academy Award nominee and holder of the all-time record for fastest sell-out and largest one day box office gross ever on NYC's Broadway, Manilow is in residence at the Mirage May 11-16. Siegfried & Roy, regular showroom incumbents, have disappeared for the occasion. Brooklyn-born Manilow was into music from early childhood; there were accordion lessons at 7, practice sessions on a neighbor's piano, growing up listening, practising and playing. He attended New York college of Music and Juilliard while working in the mailroom at CBS-TV to pay his living expenses. At 18, still at CBS, he was asked to arrange public domain melodies for an adaptation of the classic melodram "The Drunkhard." Manilow contributed an original score and the musical ran successfully off-Broadway for eight years. In 1967, he became musical director for New York City flagship, WCBS-TV's Emmy-Award winning series, "Callback." He also arranged and conducted a new theme for the station's "Late Show." His next upward move was writing, producing and signing some of the nation's top television and radio commercials. Bette Midler and Manilow connected in the early 1970's. There are stories that they once worked together as a duo in public bathhouses in Manhattan. Midler was an immediate cult success and Manilow's acknowledgement still to come when Johnny Carson brought the twosome to Las Vegas to open for him in the Sahara's Congo Room, backed by the Jack Eglash Orchestra. It was not a shinning hour for either of the superstars-to-come. Manilow wrote and co-produced Midler's first long-play album, The Divine Miss M, and her successful follow-up, Bette Midler. Their paths separated with Bette off to Hollywood to make films and Barry in Manhattan, signed to Bell Records, which became Arista Records under the aegis of Clive Davis who had left the top executive post at Columbia Records, now Sony, to start the Arista label. Arista was Manilow's launching pad. He hit immediately with a single, "Mandy," the first of more than 25 consecutive Top 40 singles in a five-year period, 1974-1978. In 1978, five Manilow albums were on the best-seller charts simultaneously, a record equalled only by Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mathis. Record sales internationally are well on their way to the 100 million mark. To date, there have been 28 albums, one a four-CD boxed set. Of these, three have gone multi platinum, four are double platinum, eight are platinum, and another eight have been certified as gold. The sales keep mounting. Each of the 28 releases will eventually achieve at least gold status, a remarkable record in just two decades-plus. Singing With the Big Bands, the latest release, is a milestone album, combining Manilow's vocals with the original sounds of the great Big Bands. Manilow and co-producer Phil Ramone spent last summer recording with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Tommy Dorsey and Jimmy Dorsey Orchestras, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Harry James Orchestra and Les Brown & His Band of Renown. Among the songs are such Big Band classics as "And the Angels Sing," "Chattanooga Choo Choo," "Moonight Serenade," "On the Sunny Side of the Street," "Sentimental Journey," and "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree," as well as the original title song, "Singing With the Big Bands," written by Barry especially for this Big Band Tribute project. Ramone produced Frank Sinatra's No. 1 smash, Duets, and has worked with Barbra Streisand, Billy Joel, Gloria Estefan, Paul McCartney and Paul Simon, plus all the duet acts on the Sinatra release. The full list is a veritable "Who's Who" of the recording industry. In 1984, "2 a.m. Paradise Cafe" was a tribute to jazz and Barry had Sarah Vaughan, Mel Torme, and Gerry Mulligan as guests. "Swing Street" in 1987 featured Diane Schuur, Phyllis Hyman and Kid Creole. "Showstoppers" in 1992 was a Tribute to Broadway and included duets with Barbara Cook, Michael Crawford and Hinton Battle. Manilow co-wrote and underscored seven new songs for Warner Bros. animated feature film, "Thumbelina." More recently, his work is represented in the current release, "The Pepple and the Penguin." Barry Manilow's "Copacabana - The Musical" is a legit theater success in London's West End. Manilow co-wrote the book and 16 new songs for the multi-million dollar musical. Add humanitarian to Barry's list of personal accomplishments. He is National Chairman for "Youth and Volunteers for United Way." He contributed his hit song, "One Voice," to the United Way. The Starlight Foundation, which grants wishes to critically and terminally ill children, recently honored Manilow as its Humanitarian of the Year. Rolling Stone put it this way: "Barry Manilow has become formidable, extremely large, a legend even, in the show business sense... he is a giant. There is always a new album, there is always a world tour... He lives for production values, rich staging, for catchy hooks and big finishes. He wants your goose flesh. Sinatra, it is said, once jabbed a finger at Manilow and portentously announced, "He's next.' "
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Showbiz 1995
Showbiz Giant Barry Manilow Wants Your Goose Flesh BARRY'S BACK. BARRY MANILOW, THE KING OF POP, IS IN residence at the Mirage through May 14. Siegfried & Roy, the regular incumbents, three weeks out of four each month, will reappear on May 16. Rolling Stone magazine had this to say about Manilow recently: "Barry Manilow has become formidable, extremely large, a legend even, in the show-business sense, he is a giant among entertainers. There is always a new album, there is always a world tour." It continues, "Most probably, he is the showman for our generation. He lives for production values, for rich staging, for catchy hooks and big finishes. He wants your goose flesh." Manilow has an impressive body of work. He is the only recording artist to ever string together 25 consecutive Top 40 hits. With sales well over million units and 26 platinum albums, Radio & Records magazine proclaimed Barry "The No. 1 Contemporary Artist of All Time." Barry is much more than just the in-person showman. He is a producer, director, songwriter, singer and musician who has won acclaim in all media. "Barry Manilow's Copacabana - The Musical" has just completed a successful 15 month run in one of London's famed West End theaters. It is now on a heralded tour the entire United Kingdom. He has won Grammy, Emmy and Tony awards and was an Academy award nominee for his performed compositions on the soundtrack for the animated features "Thumbelina" and "The Pebble and the Penguin." One thing for sure about Manilow, there will always be a "next one," another surpassing achievement. This writer's personal favorite Manilow album is the recent "Singin' With the Big Bands," a collection of hit songs using the orignal arrangements from the big-band era, with performances by currently touring versions of the Glenn Miller, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington and Harry James Orchestra, plus still active Les Brown and his Band of Renown. Barry: "I've always been a fan of the big band style and was thrilled to work with those original charts and to work with Phil Ramone, producer of Sinatra's Duets I and II best sellers, plus such wonderful musicans." Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., music was always part of his life. At age 7, he was taking lessons on the accordion, tinkering on the neighbor's piano and beginning to develop his multiple musical talents. Deciding early to make music his career, he attended the New York College of Music and the famed Juilliard School while also maintaining a day job in the mail room at CBS network to pay for his living expenses. Still at CBS, 18-year-old Barry met a director who asked him to arrange some public domain (royalty free) songs for a musical adaptation of the old melodrama "The Drunkhard." Instead, he wrote an entire original score. The musical was such a success, it remained an off-Broadway hit for eight years. Things were beginning to happen. The year 1967 was pivotal. He was now musical director for the award-winning WCBS-TV series "Callback," and he had arranged and conducted a new theme song for "The Late Show." All this was in addition to writing, singing and producing radio and television commercials, a medley of which he occasionally includes in his personal appearance programs. Five years later, in the spring of 1972, Barry met Bette Midler, a coming together that was to change the course of both their lives and greatly influence popular music, the start of two superstar careers. It was somewhere in the mid - or late - 1970s that Johnny Carson used the team of Midler and Manilow as his opening act in the Sahara Congo Room. We were there. The duo was fresh from New York City, with a New York attitude. Part of their performance time had been spent working in Manhattan's public bathhouses. Bette's dialogue was more suited to that milieu. We wrote in our critique that her mouth should be "potty-trained" before being invited to perform in Las Vegas again. Manilow co-produced and created arrangements for Bette's first LP album, the Grammy-award winning "The Divine Miss M," as well as her second album, also platinum, "Bette Midler," Barry's time was yet to come. In 1974, under the aegis of Clive Davis at Arista, nee Bell Records, Barry came into his own with "Mandy," the first of 25 consecutive No. 1 record hits. Barry devotes considerable time, very quietly, to various charitable activities. He believes that an artist must also be a force for good. "At heart I am a musician. My passion for music has obliterated everything in its path for my entire life. No one person or material thing can even come close to the feeling I get when the music is right. I am totally committed to my music and my fans." Sinatra is said to have jabbed a finger in Manilow's direction and said, "He's next." We think you may agree if you are one of the fortunate people to catch his performance at the Mirage through May 14. By Joe Delaney
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USA Today 1985
Manilow acts the songs BEL AIR, Calif. - The fact that critics actually liked his last album, the smoky "2 a.m. Paradise Cafe," was staggering to Barry Manilow. "I nearly forgave them," says the longmaligned singer. But the staggering isn't over. Now his record company has him singing in Portuguese so he can become a "reverse Julio Iglesias." That's just one twist in Manilow's newly churning career: - He just signed a multiyear contract with RCA, leaving Arista Records, where he had a decade of 27 top-40 hits. - He has finished filming his acting debut, the CBS-TV movie, "Copacabana," based on his 1978 megahit. It will probably air in November. - He's near the end of a two-month concert tour of the USA and Japan. - He's readying his first RCA album for September release. A single will be out in August. Unlike "Paradise Cafe," an indulgence of his love for saloon songs, the new album marks a return to a more familiar Manilow. Why did he switch record labels? "Freedom. And encouragement and enthusiasm. I just wanted to fly on my own. RCA is into the business of it. They'll... sell what I give them..." The decision was a surprise not only because it severs Manilow's tie with the label his hits did so much to build, but also with Clive Davis, the Arista boss who gave life to his recording career. "I think Clive's happy for me," Manilow, 39, says. "When you gotta go, you gotta go." No surprise at all is Manilow's fling at acting. He has been studying with actress/coach Nina Foch for five years. The idea to turn the lyrics of "Copacabana" into a film was his. Dick Clark, who is coproducing, and CBS, which has a deal with Manilow for four variety specials, agreed. "I don't think the critics are going to like it. From what I've seen, it looks to easy. I showed it to Nina and she said, "This is not the kind of film that will get you good reviews. Actors will know how hard it was to do, but reviewers will kill you because it looks like you're not working.' But I can't tell you how hard it was." Set in 1948, "Copacabana" is a musical love story about Tony (Manilow), who gets his big break singing at the Copa, and goes to Havana to rescue Lola (Annette O'Toole) from Rico (Joe Bologna). Not only does Manilow die in the big "Copacabana" production number at the end, but his acting debut also includes his first screen kiss with O'Toole. "Your first screen kiss, you say, 'Well, there's 25 people standing around looking at you, you wanna give her a little tongue?' You just dive in! And I did it!" Will he act again? "I did enjoy it, I'm afraid to say. That's all I need in my life is another project. Already I don't sleep for all the stuff going on in my life." Three songs from Copacabana will be included on his new album. He hopes one, My Sweet Heaven, I'm in Love Again ("It's one of those New York, New York razzmatazz numbers"), Breaks out as a single. Meantime, he likes the idea of becoming to Brazil what Julio Iglesias has become to the USA. With a coach's help, he recently recorded in Portuguese five hits (Mandy, Copacabana, I Write the Songs, Looks Like We've Made It and Could It Be Magic?). But he's somewhat skeptical of his chance of success. "I went to Brazil six years ago. I couldn't get arrested with my Berlitz Portuguese book. I ordered scrambled eggs and a taxi pulled up." By Tom Green
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People - 1982
STILL KING OF THE MIDDLE ROAD, BARRY MANILOW PONDERS SOME CAREFUL SIDE TRIPS - INTO MOVIES AND FATHERHOOD Early in his recording career, Barry Manilow went out to breakfast in Philadelphia with two other aspiring young singers barely more famous than he. Their names were Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel. The three had little to say to one another. Suddenly Barry announced, "I'm going to be bigger than both of you put together." While Manilow is not one to underestimate his own talents, the boast was atypical. "I'm usually pessimistic Paul," he says. But although Joel and Springsteen have hardly been languishing, Barry has all but lived up to his indiscreet prediction. His world concert tour, currently in Europe, has attracted sell-out crowds, even with tickets priced near $ 40. "If I Should Love Again" has become his 10th gold album, boosted by his 10th Top hit, "The Old Songs." He also will guest star on Goldie Haw'ns spring television special. All this is according to careful plan; Manilow cherishes order. "They drop in this business like flies," he says. "I dive into every project as if I have to prove myself all over again." His stage show is meticulously choreographed; his latest ballads vary little from popular predecessors. If he has a rehearsal set for 2 o'clock, he says, "I expect the downbeat to come at 2 sharp and not 2:05." He has his own zipper-lipped technicians and musicians (referred to as the Mandy Mafia, after his old hit) who travel with him. He even has a staff comedy writer to provide one-liners. "It's not like I'm not spontaneous," explains Manilow, 34. "It's just that I like the security of knowing where I'm going. If I don't, the earth shakes too much and I'm a nervous wreck. Maybe it's a matter of toilet training." Despite the cinematic flops of such peers as Neil Diamond (The Jazz Singer) and Paul Simon (One-Trick Pony), Manilow is determined to move into films. The first script he was offered, he says, was called "Ants." Last year he almost pulled off a deal to star with Frank Sinatra in a kind of father-and-son version of "A Star Is Born" titled Encore. "He's one of my heroes and I would have given almost anything to work with him," says Barry. "But the demands his people made were so outrageous that we all decided he probably didn't want to do it that badly." Barry has just signed a deal to make a CBS-TV movie about a foster father, due next year. He's also developing a Broadway musical idea with guess who as star. Most of Manilow's creative efforts, however, still go into recording. In addition to composing and arranging new songs for himself, he says, "I've got envelopes with songs for all the artists I want to work with someday." Among them are Diana Ross and Dolly Parton. "To say I am a workaholic sounds neurotic," he says, "but I'm married to my work. My children are my songs." Barry does not discount the possibility of real fatherhood someday. "I would like to have a kid," he says, "but if I did I would take some time off as John Lennon did. I don't exactly have a mother in mind, but I'm opening a door I never thought was there." Barry says that since infancy he has seen his own father, a Brooklyn truck driver, only a few times. When he was 11, Dad dropped by in a brewery truck to give him an old tape recorder.
In 1976 Barry was backstage in a New York theater, he recalls: "I was changing my pants and this guy popped his head into my dressing room and said, 'Hi! I'm your father. I just wanted to see you one more time.' He disappeared again and my pants were still down around my ankles." Manilow remains close to his mother, however, who has access to his checking account and spends much of her time calling disc jockeys around the country to request her son's songs. Manilow's one-year marriage ended in divorce in 1968, and his longtime girlfriend, Linda Allen, recently moved out. That leaves him with his pair of pet beagles for company. Though Suzanne Somers and husband Alan Hamel are frequent visitors, there's hardly a welcome mat at his single-bedroom Bel Air mansion. It is, he says, protected by devices that will "blow your brains out if things go off." At home he listens occasionally to pop music; Stevie Wonder, the Jacksons, Garland and Laura Nyro are favorites. Mostly he watches TV and tries to spot performers he played piano for years ago as accompanist at Broadway auditions (Bonnie Franklin and Bernadette Peters are among them). Of his many awards - including an Emmy, a special Tony and a Grammy - he claims the most cherished is a small Smokenders plaque with the inscription: "Barry Manilow, having smoked three packs a day for 15 years, quiet smoking June 14, 1978." To celebrate such victories, he has always kept a chilled bottle of champagne on hand since he left Brooklyn a decade ago. "It used to be cheap stuff," he says. "Now it's Dom Pèrignon. I've toasted more than I ever thought I would." By Carl Arrington
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Music-Shop - 1983
BARRY MANILOW kommt auf Tour Stimmt. Er ist das, was man einen Schmalzkopf nennt. Aber einer der allerersten Güteklasse, auf den nicht nur die Mamis fliegen, sondern auch deren Kids. Und wenn er jetzt auf eine ausgedehnte Europa-Tournee kommt, wird sich nicht nur das fürstliche Volk auf dem herzöglichen Schloß in Blenheim (nahe London) königlich amüsieren, auch hier wird er die Massen zu Tränen rühren... Und im Gepäck hat Meister Manilow auch gleich eine neue LP: "MANILOW MAGIC 2".  Denn mag man nun denken, was man will, er beherrscht sein Metier und ist auch für Überraschungen gut. Diese LP ist eine "Best Of" Platte, was aber nicht heißt, daß Barry Manilow untätig war. In Amerika ist seine neue Single "You're Looking Hot Tonight" schon ein riesiger Renner. Amerikas zärtlichste Stimme, so nennen ihn liebevoll seine Landsleute, präsentiert sich hier mit einer duftigen, luftigen Swing-Nummer, die auch bei uns Chancen haben sollte, vordere Hitpositionen einzunehmen. Barry Manilow hat in den vergangenen Monaten überaus erfolgreich in Las Vegas gastiert. Mit seinem triumphalen Erfolg stellte er sich in eine Reihe mit Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis jr. oder Barbra Streisand, den umstrittenen Kings der Spieler-, Millionärs-, Ober- und Unterweltstadt. Wenn er dort auf seinem Piano Songs wie "Mandy" oder "Copacabana" intonierte, dann gerieten selbst die distinguiertesten Gäste seiner Show in Verzückung. Manilow ist im US-Showbusiness eine 'Bank'. Natürlich ist er ständig Gast in Fernseh-Shows, auf jedem Sender zwischen Dallas und Denver ist er zu hören. Dem deutschen Publikum stellt er sich jetzt zum ersten Mal in diesem Jahr auf der Funkausstellung vor. Am 8.9. wird er im MUSIKLADEN auftreten, der an diesem Tag live aus Berlin gesendet wird. Dieser Auftritt wird sicher ganz witzig, denn ebenfalls dabei sind die Stray Cats. (Vielleicht kommt es ja zu einem Duett zwischen den Streunenden Katzen und B. Manilow... doch leider ist sowas im Deutschen Fernsehen wohl nicht möglich). Manilow wird seine Single "You're Looking Hot Tonight" vorstellen und es könnte ja sein, daß er damit die Stray Cats meint... Nichts für ungut: Tour und die MANILOW MAGIC 2-LP zeigen, daß Barry in guter Form ist und sein Publikum echt von den Sitzen hauen kann! Ach. Jeh.
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Teen Beat - 1977
All About Barry Manilow Do you find yourself humming commercial jingles like "You deserve a break today...", or "Real goodness from Kentucky Fried Chicken... "? It's not all that unusual that these tunes stick to your memory. They're all sung by your favorite Barry Manilow. Barry Manilow?? The same cute guy that sings "Mandy" and "I Write the Songs"? Yes it's true! The most popular romantic singer on today's music scene sing's these and other tunes from commercials including ones for Jack In The Box and Chevy. As a matter of fact the loudest applause at Barry's concerts sometimes comes at the end of a long medley of these "greatest hits"! Barry is very proud of his commercial jingles and points out that if it wasn't for them he might never have made him a superstar. The money from the commercial jingles also helped Barry over some rough times in his life. Barry was born in Brooklyn, New York June 17, 1946 and grew up financially poor but musically rich. His step-father was a jazz fan and also introduced young Barry to the wonder of Broadway show tunes. Barry began accordion lessons at the age of 11 (huh?) and switched to the piano to sound like an entire orchestra," he says. He decided that he wanted to be a composer-arranger for a well-known singer someday. Barry spent many years working towards this goal. He worked days in the mailroom at CBS and attended music school at night. He became the musical director of several CBS shows and at the same time earned a reputation as a piano-accompanist who could supply instant arrangements for performers at Broadway auditions. His big break came when he became the accompanist for the then unknown Bette Midler. The Divine Miss M became a sensation and she let Barry perform as the opening act at her concerts. Barry, in turn, became an even greater sensation. Barry says that one of the most memorable events of his life was the week when his first single "Mandy" became number one on the record charts. He's followed this up with a series of romantic hits including "It's A Miracle", "Could It Be Magic" and "This One's for You". Says Barry, "My music is well thought out and professional. What I'm really trying to do is to bring back intelligent music." Barry's romantic tunes are evidence of the romance in his soul. There's no denying he's a good-looking guy. His blond hair, blue eyes, and adorable toothy grin are enough to make you want him to sing his romantic hits solely to you. To top it off, Barry's single and is still looking for the girl to spend the rest of his life with. Barry lives in a luxurious bachelor pad on New York's east Side, that's alive with color. He's really into plants and flowers - strawberries and roses grow (practically) wild on his terrace. The place is made even more homier with the appearance of Barry's faithful companion, his beagle, Bagle. (Bagle appears with Barry on the back of his 'Trying to Get the Feeling' album.) It's the ideal background to play a game of backgammon with Barry or for the two of you to watch his favorite TV show Star Trek. These days, however, Barry doesn't have much time to relax. He's currently on a 98 city seven month tour that might take him to your hometown soon. And if that isn't enough he's making a TV special for ABC which will be on sometime in March. Check your local TV listings!
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