A good number of Barry Manilow‘s fifty Top 40 songs, including “Could It Be Magic,” “Mandy,” “Looks Like We Made It,” & of course “Copacabana,” will certainly sound familiar to anyone who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s. He has 85 million record sales. He’s taken home two Emmys, a Tony, and a Grammy. Furthermore, he has now given more performances in Las Vegas than Elvis Presley.
It was all a great surprise to Barry Manilow. “I didn’t understand why anyone would like what I did on that stage,” he stated.
His explanation for why? He laughed, “I’ve never figured it out!”
However, perhaps we should begin at the beginning, in the walkup on the fourth floor where he grew up in the Brooklyn, New York, Williamsburg district.
Was he indigent? “Oh, I see. I was poor,” he chuckled. “Very, very poor. This is not a pleasant memory. You should know, I hope.”
However, Willy, his stepfather, changed everything: “He brought a stack of albums that could have passed for a pile of gold, as I had never heard music like that, including pop and jazz singers, Broadway musicals, and classical pieces.” Then I got a small spinet piano from Willy. Then everything was altered. I knew this was going to be it for me as soon as I touched the keys.
Manilow was hired by CBS, of all places. He did, however, follow his true passion at night: musical theater. He remarked, “I’d never met people like that.” “People who worked in theater were intelligent, humorous, witty, and trendy. I simply cherished our time together.
When Manilow was just a young man in 1971, he was already creating a name for himself. He composed commercial jingles in addition to serving as Bette Midler’s musical director. ( “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there!” “I am stuck on Band-Aids brand, ’cause Band-Aids stuck on me!” ) He claimed, “Because pop music is all about 15- and 30-second hooks, I learned more making these commercials than I did anywhere else.” I went to college for those two years.”
A producer offered him a recording contract in 1973 after hearing his voice on a demo tape. “I played the piano! I made the plans! He smiled, “I was receiving the record contract as a singer-songwriter? “It was just ridiculous.”
However, his viewers didn’t agree. Barry Manilow became a celebrity overnight. “That’s how most people pray for success. “I didn’t,” he declared. “It was big, and everything was very confusing to me.”
The disparity between the fans and critics seemed particularly noticeable. Manilow remarked, “It was the most hateful review.” “One may assume that I had harmed their family. For about 10 to fifteen years, it just kept getting worse and worse.”
Manilow did not write all of his hits; the record companies forced him to sing songs written by other songwriters. Among the tunes he didn’t compose? “I Write the Songs.” It took him a long to get up to that music, he admitted. It seemed awkward. However, upon realizing it was an anthem to the musical spirit, I thought, “Oh, I can arrange an anthem.”
“And you really did plan the whole damn thing,” Pogue remarked.”You mean to say you switched keys three times?”
“Yes. However, you would use an anthem in that manner.”
Perhaps for that reason, 80-year-old Barry Manilow is set to premiere his first Broadway musical. It is important to note that this is not “Barry Manilow: The Life Story.” Bruce Sussman, Manilow’s lifelong partner, stated, “We were having dinner when a woman came by and said, ‘Excuse me for interrupting.'” But I can’t wait to see the show this evening. “I Write the Songs” is my favorite song, therefore I hope you sing it too!”
The play “Harmony,” written and penned by Sussman, will premiere in two weeks. It narrates the actual account of a German vocal sextet consisting of three Jews and three Gentiles that rose to international fame shortly before World War II. Sussman remarked, “They were The Beatles in their day.” Their record sales totaled millions. They produced 13 films. Hitler then seized power in 1933. Selling or playing their records became forbidden. They served as the ideal representation of what Germany could have been: a place where Jews and Gentiles could coexist in perfect harmony and produce truly beautiful things. That was not on the agenda of the Third Reich. They were so completely destroyed.”
For thirty years, Manilow and Sussman have been making adjustments to this program. Furthermore, Manilow’s versatility as a composer when freed from pop song traditions may surprise the “Fanilows” with the variety of music he produces. However, he managed to slip in “Every Single Day,” a pop hit, at least once during the program.
Maybe Barry Manilow will always see himself as the man behind the piano. He was caught off guard by the pop career, but he’s not moaning about it. “This is an insane profession that’s happened to me,” he replied. “It’s just an unbelievably wonderful experience for this thin guy from Brooklyn to live this kind of life!”