Journale 22

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People magazine - Februar 2006
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Sunday newspaper - 2006
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London Enteraiment Guide - 1993
MR NICE GUY

According to one American magazine he is 'The showman of our generation.' Who? Barry Manilow, of course.
Mike Nicholls investigates the cult of this mild mannered superstar personality.


If you were asked for the formula to make the ultimate pop star - build the perfect beast - construction could well proceed along the following lines: the arrogance of Jagger blended with the chutzpah of Madonna and more than
a soupcon of Keef's cool. Add to that Rod's throaty croak, Clapton's haunted
look, Sting's bare-chested conceit, the myth of Dylan and Sinatra's charisma and surely you have all the ingredients for stellar success.

In actual fact, the man 'Rolling Stone' magazine dubbed 'The showman of
our generation', the dude who surpassed The Beatles in going platinum three times on the trot in Britain, has little in common with any of these mighty icons.
He's a mild-mannered fella with highlights in his mouseycoloured hair, who sports the sort of leisurewear you wouldn't want your father to be seen swanning around in.

Barry Manilow is his name and first reactions are likely to be, 'Christ, him'.
Yet, as it happens, the tide could be turning. The little girls (and their
ma-mas) have known this for years, but there's a yawning gap between
what's commercially and critically acceptable.

With 50 million record sales under his designer belt, there's not much of
a problem in the first department. In terms of being hip, Barry recently appeared on Late Night with David Letterman, the guy whose talk show
inspired Jonathan Ross's career. The singer also gets to go to some good parties. At one, Sinatra apparently pointed a finger in his direction and announced "He's next"

At another bash Dylan went up to him, offered a warm embrace and in-structed: "Don't stop what you're doing, man. We're all inspired by you."

"I wasn't exactly sure what he meant," Manilow later admitted. "He might
have been laughing out of the other side of his mouth but he looked me
dead in the eye and I thought, 'Well, maybe...'"

So what is it about Barry that even has the legends taking note? Why should
a man who to many comes across as being an obsequious dork appeal to so many more?

He knows he is ridiculed - he'd have to be unusually thickskinned not to after almost 20 years at the top - but Barry reckons the reason some people recoil
is the same as why all his followers rave: "Passion," he explains.

"Billy Joel writes better pop stuff and Springsteen is a more energetic performer, but quality isn't everything. I once read somewhere that a true artist is one who can convey his passion across the footlights. I don't either sing or perform so well, but on stage my guts go out there and it's up to the audience whether they take it or leave it. For some people it's very uncomfortable to witness, especially coming from a man."

Now in his late 40s, middle age appears to be suiting Manilow, as for example
it also suited the late actor Peter Sellers. His nose no longer seems so prominent. As one critic quipped, "He has grown into it." But he is still surrounded by a sense of not belonging in any category. Not fitting in. MOR artists like Neil Diamond and Kenny Rogers have their CDs bought by fans of
Dire Straits and Johnny Cash respectively, Barry wasn't even invited to join
the cream of Adult Contemporary salesmen (Jacko, Joel, etc.) to sing on
'We Are The World.'

"I'm not in that clique," he reckoned at the time. "I've never really been a group person, I'm more of a loner," he goes on, perhaps keying into another reason for his huge appeal. "We're all lonely in our lives," he reasons. "I think my music gives hope, encouraging people that they too can make it through the rain."

That, of course, is the title of one of his biggest hits. Since breaking with the timeless Mandy in 1974, he's made the American Top 40 on 25 consecutive occasions. Barry also writes much of his material, having attended the
Juilliard Music School in New York while working in a record company mail-
room.

By the age of 18 he'd written a score for an Off-Broadway production prior
to meeting and working with Bette Midler. His own recording career began
as a result of being the musical director, arranger and pianist on her Grammy award-winning album 'The Divine Miss M' and they remain good friends.

"Bette's one of the few celebrities I might hang out with," says the divorcee who lives in virtual isolation high above Hollywood in upmarket Bel Air. "She's
the first person I thought of turning to when my mother came down with cancer. I called her and said, "Okay, how do I get through this?"

"Basically I am a big admirer of her as a human being as well as an artist.
She has the great qualities of honesty and commitment. I envy them and
hope I picked some of them up from her."

Many of his fans doubtless share this hope. Many more are probably con-
vinced he already has.

Barry Manilow plays the Royal Albert Hall from March 24 to April 4. See Music listings.
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Five things you never knew about Barry 'Bazza' Manilow


Barry Manilow is one of the world's most successful touring artists. His return to Broadway two years ago played to full houses for over eight weeks, while
his 1989 Big Fun Tour De Force grossed over 28 million dollars. Beat that
Peters and Lee!

Barry is currently writing his very first film score. It's for an animated feature called 'Thumbelina.'

Bazza has had 25 consecutive top 40 hits. There was 'Copacabana,' 'Can't
Smile Without You' and... ooh, loads more. Contrary to popular belief, he
didn't chart with 'Puss/Oh The Guilt.' That was Nirvana and The Jesus Lizard.

Baz's first UK hit was 'Mandy,' it reached number 11 in 1975 and pre-dated
the far more popular 'Copa' by over three years.

Even though 'B' is one of the greatest megastar type people in the whole
world - more famous than John Birt in some countries - he has never had
a number one single in the UK.
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Bubbly balladeer changes his tune


Barry Manilow angers die-hard fans with new style
By Howard Reich


The first time Barry Manilow received hate mail from "more than just an occasional crank" was right after his latest album came out.
"Here Comes The Night" was Manilow's attempt to step beyound the image of the cuddly balladeer. The LP wasn't exactly avant-garde, but it did inch away from his long-established, kissing-sweet songs toward country, funk and rythm & blues.
"I've been around for a good seven years now - even though everyone thinks it has been about 20 - and I've never gotten mail like this.
"Mostly, it has been from people who like to hear me do only the ballads, and they kept complaining about how I'm 'joining all the lousy rock 'n' rollers.' It sounded like it was all coming from my mather."


When it came time to decide which would be the first single released from "Here Comes The NIght," Manilow leaned toward "Some Kind of Friend," a danceable single that represented all that Manilow thought was new about the LP. The tune had funky instrumentation, driving rhythm and a dark, minor-key color.
Manilow's managers, however, pulled for "Memory," the teary-eyed ballad from the Broadway musical "Cats."
Management won. " 'Some Kind of Friend' turned out to be a pretty big hit when it finally was released," Manilow says, "but I think it could have been bigger, had it been the first single of the album."


The irony here is that being a singer whose ballads make libidos quicken is the last thing Manilow ever wanted. Never having been "a fan of my own voice," the Brooklyn-born, tenementbred singer orginally figured he ought to keep his talents hidden behind the scenes.
After graduating from the Juilliard Conservatory, Manilow plunked chords as a vocal accompanist "in assorted dives" (including the Continental Baths, a homosexual strip joint in Manhatten) during the early '70s, then became Bette Midler's pianist and a composer of TV jingles for McDonald's ("You deserve a break today"), Bowlene toilet cleaner, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Stata Farm Insurance, Dr. Pepper and the like.
And there, in ad-land, Manilow learned how to write the songs that make the girls cry.

"As much as I appreciated the very technical training I got from Julliard," he says, "it didn't help me as much as actually going out into the business and working on the jingles."
A record performer's career usuallylasts about five years, but Manilow, who had his first hit with "Mandy" back in 1975, is the exception.
"What's happening to me now is that the new group of kids is discovering me. My audience is younger than ever."
Part of Manilow's staying power is likely due to his hard-work approach. He has been on international tour since October and won't get off the circuit until a European jaunt late this fall. Meanwhile, he has been hop-scotching between recording studios and concert dates, hoping to have a new LP out by Thanksgiving. TV specials will follow, resulting from a "big deal" he expects to sign soon with CBS-TV.

None of which has dulled Manilow's nagging feeling that the world doesn't yet realize he can do more than make three-minute pop tunes. For years, he has flirted with breaking into movies, particularly with a much-talked-about vehicle called "Encore," in which Manilow would play a pop singer whose career is outshining that of his dad, a big-band crooner played by Frank Sinatra.
"There are always plans in the works," Manilow says, "but they don't seem to want to come through yet."
So Manilow now contents himself with "being proud of the LP and concert work that I do" and enjoying some of the peripheral pleasures of being a singer whose reputation extends beyound the world of pop music.
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Manilow Doesn't Shortchange His Fans
By Dick Richmond / Of the Post-Dispatch Staff

There have been other sell-out performences for singers at the Checkerdome in the past. However, the one for Barry Manilow on Wednesday night reportedly broke a gate record. With a $15 top, the 20,000-plus people there paid more per ticket. Did they think it was worth it? You bet. He put on one heck of a show, opening with "I Write The Songs," moving around the lighted revolving stage to give the crowd a good look at him in his pink suit.

As soon as the opening number was over, he removed his coat and tie. But even in just sweater and slacks, he worked up a sweaton "Jump Shout Boogie." That song was so active a viewer couldn't really appreciate the staging as much as on a ballad like "Can't Smile Without You."

He introduced several new numbers, the first was a ballad about old songs bringing back old times. He worked that into a medley that featured a couple of oldies - "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" and "Let's Hang On To What We've Got."

Manilow has always had the ability to "chat with" an audience just as if it was a one-on-one conversation. "How many people have had a love affair?" he asked. Then said, "How many people have had a lousy love affair?" When the applause was greater for that than for the first question, he observed that "it always seems that when you're going through that experience some creep comes on the radio and tears out your guts with a song that just fits what you're going through. Now what kind of a guy would record songs like that?" he asked, knowing he is as guilty of that as anyone. It was an introduction to "Trying to Get the Feeling Again" and "Even Now," two of his biggest ballads.

Then it was memory time as he talked a bit about his early days in the business, which was his opening for a song called "Nickels and Dimes," the amount he said he was earning then. From his school days he brought out a clarinet. On that he played one note for "Hold That Tiger." Then it was his first instrument, an accordion. "It's every mother's dream," he said, "and every kid's nightmare." He grinned at the people and asked what they wanted to hear. Before anyone could respond, he said, "Lady of Spain," repeating "the request" a couple of times just to be sure that no one really had a request.

"The only thing wrong with the accordion," he said, "is that it only plays old songs." Then he proved it by playing a few notes of "Play That Funky Music, White Boy" and "Do You Think I'm Sexy?" Finally it was the piano, the major element in his musical evolution. And the piano bars. To set the stage a checkered tablecloth, two whisky bottles and a lighted cigarette were placed on the piano. To further add to the atmosphere a rotating fan and a mirrored ball were lowered from above as he sang "I Was a Fool (to Let You Go)." In this setting he introduced another new song, a beauty called "Somewhere Down the Road."

Before the first half was over he did "Beautiful Music" and "I Made It Through the Rain." Manilow's entrance for the second half was done in style - like that of a Cuban night club singers from 30 years ago, complete with a shirt with large ruffled sleeves. It was the setting fot his one disco hit, "Copacabana."

It was time for one of his most beautiful songs, "Weekend in New England." For that he once again sat at the piano. "I love that romantic stuff," he said, "Whenever I sing it, I always get this image of people jumping into the back seat of a car. But sometimes I like to do angry songs. It brings out the Brooklyn in me. Which has all the aggravation, the violence and the impatience you'll all be feeling when you're sitting in your cars after the show trying to get out of this joint." That led to a rock medley.

In every Manilow concert there is his "Very Strange Medley," one that he has been doing since he began to tour as a solo artist. It consists of some of the commercials he did to earn a living while he was waiting for his break. To the real ones he added one about Hoover vacuum cleaners, which he said he wrote and the company decided against. (With good reason.) The crowd loved it.

Manilow produced Bette Midler's first two hit albums. More recently he produced one for Dionne Warwick. From that he sang three of her hits, including "Deja Vu." Very nice indeed. These Warwick songs was followed by the title cut from his latest album, "IF I Should Love Again." Just before the concert ended, he performed a medley of his hots, including "It's a Miracle," "American Bandstand," "Daybreak," and "Could It Be Magic." He was, of course, brought back for his two planned encores, which included another new number called "Take All Night." The finale was "One Voice," which he performed with the 35-voice Washington University Chamber Choir. 
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