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In her opening week show last Wednesday, Oprah Winfrey called him "one of our most requested guests of all time." This past June at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Events Center, he dazzled a sold-out audience of 12,000 with his old, new and future hits. For a 61-year-old guy, Barry Manilow is doin' all right.
Promoted as "One Night LIVE!," Vegas was to be Manilow's only scheduled U.S. concert of 2004. But immediately following the visibly spectacular response to the show, his manager, Garry Kief, announced to a private roomful of 1,000 international fan club members that Manilow would tour 22 major U.S. cities over seven weeks beginning in September.
Known as "the showman of our generation," by rock magazine Rolling Stone and as "the undisputed No. 1 Adult Contemporary Artist of all time," by industry bible Radio & Records Magazine, Manilow delivered on his reputation that Saturday night.
In a departure from his usual opening, Manilow turned over the spotlight to a group of his former back-up singers and former musical revue singers (including Debra Byrd, vocal coach for the "American Idol" TV show) in a rousing black/soul version of "Daybreak."
The audience was already on its feet for the opening. When Manilow climatically appeared at its end to a thunderous ovation, and kicked off a greatest-hits medley beginning with "Ready To Take A Chance Again." The audience was jumping. It stayed that way for the rest of the evening.
Most of his top hits were included: "Looks Like We Made It," "Even Now," "Mandy," "Copacabana (At The Copa)" and the audience-duet number, "Can't Smile Without You." A lucky lady from the United Kingdom was chosen to sing with Manilow onstage in front of 12,000 people -- how cool is that?
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1. Barry Manilow didn't write his most famous songs, "I Write The Songs" (Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys did) or "Mandy" (Richard Kerr and Scott English did). 2. On New Year's Eve 1970, after imbibing beer and smoking joints, Barry jumped into the pool at the Continental Baths in New York City naked. 3. He quit smoking in 1978. Before that, he was smoking three packs a day for over 20 years. 4. He married his high school sweetheart, Susan, right after his 21 birthday, four times -- once in a civil ceremony, a second time with a rabbi, a third time with a rabbi in front of Barry's family, and a fourth time with a rabbi in front of Susan's family. However, the marriage ended in divorce, after little more than a year. 5. He went through "primal scream" therapy in the 70s in order to deal with the stress of working with Bette Midler. 6. His mother and his stepfather were both alcoholics. 7. He didn't listen to pop music while he was growing up; he loved jazz, classical, and Broadway musicals. 8. He originally wanted to be a composer and arranger. 9. He got his start composing commercial jingles. He wrote "State Farm" ("like a good neighbor ... ") and Band-Aids ("I am stuck on Band-Aids ... "), but he only sang on McDonald's and Dr. Pepper ads. 10. At the age of twelve, his mother changed his name to "Manilow" from "Pincus" in order to retain her family's name (he was the only boy in the family).
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(Thanks to Dave Hanlon and Carmen for checking and correcting these).
But hardcore fans welcomed the less-performed "Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed," "Turn The Radio Up," "Lay Me Down," and selections from his new Broadway-bound musical, "Harmony," the title song, as well as the heart-wrenching "Every Single Day."
Manilow's typical humor was evident even in this enormous setting. During a ballad, where he was supposed to sit on a stool and sing, Barry mused to himself out loud saying, "Are we going to spin?" (the performance was "in the round" and parts of the stage would turn so everyone could see). Then he said, "Are you going to spin me and make me throw up?" referring to his well-known motion sickness. "Is this what it's like getting screwed?" he jokingly asked while spinning himself around on the stool.
Surprise guests were disco-queen Donna Summer and the six principals from "Harmony."
Large-screen monitors were used to broadcast the event to the entire arena; and video clips from past interviews and shows were used to introduce nostalgic musical segments.
Manilow came back for two enthusiastic standing ovations and his closing included colored streamers shot over the audience as the entire cast sang "It's A Miracle." Finally, Manilow sang a special tribute written for his fans, "Forever And A Day."
Many Hollywood VIPs were in attendance, including TV producer Dick Clark and actress Suzanne Somers.
Born Barry Alan Pincus in Brooklyn, N.Y. on June 17, 1943 (early bios incorrectly listed him as being born in 1946 to make him seem younger for the teen audiences of the '70s), Manilow grew up playing the accordion and piano. He briefly attended the Julliard School of Music. At age 18, he wrote the entire original score for a musical adaptation of the melodrama "The Drunkard." The show ran off-Broadway for eight years.
Manilow started as a commercial jingle writer, and in 1972 he worked as Bette Midler's pianist and arranger in New York bathhouses and nightclubs before he became the first artist on Clive Davis' then-newly formed Arista Records to have a No. 1 hit.
Over his four decade long career, Manilow has sold more than 60 million albums and has released more than 48. The 1984 Guinness Book of World Records gave him "The Broadway Gold Ticket Achievement Award" for the fastest box office sellout in Broadway history.
The internationally known singer, composer and musician became famous with his first No. 1 hit in 1975, "Mandy." Through 1983, he garnered 26 Top 40 hits, including the No. 1 songs "I Write the Songs" and "Looks Like We Made It," as well as such pop classics as "Copacabana (At the Copa)," "I Made It Through the Rain," "Ready to Take a Chance Again," "Can't Smile Without You" and "Even Now."
Manilow has earned Tony, Emmy and Grammy awards. He was inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame in 2002 and received the Society of Singers' ELLA Award in 2003 for his humanitarian efforts.
Despite his pop success, Manilow's heart was not originally into that sort of music. "After I had 10 years of enormous success in that (pop) world," he told the Ventura County Star in 2003, "I was still empty and trying to find the music that really spoke to me, and it was always either jazz or Broadway musicals."
In 1984, Manilow recorded his first jazz record, "2:00 A.M. Paradise Cafe." In 2001, he released the concept album "Here At The Mayflower," which included jazz, swing, and latin pieces. Last year, he produced and sang on Diane Schuur's jazz album "Midnight," and produced and sang on Bette Midler's Grammy-nominated tribute album to Rosemary Clooney which was released on Sept. 30, 2003. And soon on Sept. 28, he's releasing "Manilow Scores," an album of songs from his two musicals "Copacabana" and "Harmony."
"Broadway allows me to say something," Manilow said in 1998. "I've always wanted to communicate ideas and feelings. All I've ever cared about is moving people and connecting with ideas that turn me on."
Manilow is passionate about his new musical play "Harmony," which he hopes will appear on Broadway this fall. It's based on the real-life story of The Comedian Harmonists, six young men of different ethnicities who formed a singing group against the backdrop of Nazi Germany. It was to open at the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia on Nov. 25, 2003, but it was stalled due to financial problems. With a group of new producers at the helm, the show appears to be Broadway-bound.
Yet his concert on June 5 in Las Vegas was spurred by sales in 2002 of his greatest hits album, "Ultimate Manilow," which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard charts, and in April 2004 of his concert album, "2 Nights Live!," which shipped gold.
Fans came from around the world to see Manilow perform. The Barry Manilow International Fan Club reported members attending from the U.K., Canada, Germany, Australia, Japan and Mexico, as well as from all over the United States.
Passy Schuld, 39, a medical secretary, and Jeanninie Van Eyken, 60, a homemaker, endured the nine-hour flight together from Belgium to see Manilow in concert.
"It's his big nose," joked Schuld when asked what made her go to such great lengths to see the singer.
"And, it's his cute personality, his sense of humor and his Brooklyn accent. Seriously, it's the lyrics; I can really relate to his songs."
Van Eyken agreed. "His songs got me 'through the rain.' When my father died and my mom had cancer, 'I Know You're There' and 'We Live On Borrowed Time' touched me so deeply."
Megan Ratchford, 49, a hospital manager from South Dakota, attended the concert with her 22-year-old daughter from Arizona, Mary.
"I've been a fan since 1976," said Megan. "His music is so uplifting."
Tracy Tuscany, 39, a buyer of direct TV from L.A., has attended over 30 concerts during her 27-year fandom.
"It's his talent that attracts me," Tuscany noted. "I can identify with his songs and they make me feel good."
A Registered Nurse from Denver, Colo., Jane Tallerday, 51, has been following Manilow since 1974. "I feel like he's playing just to me," said Tallerday. "His music just makes me feel good. It's so exciting to see him live."
And Manilow fans will have an opportunity to do just that, as additional concert venues have been added to his recently announced tour in September.
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