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Barry Manilow Biography |
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Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus in Brooklyn on June 17 1943) is an United States singer and songwriter best known for his hit recordings "I Write The Songs", "Mandy (song)" and "Copacabana (song)".
Manilow dominated the charts for much of the 1970s with a string of Billboard Hot 100 and RIAA certification albums. His music has often been considered by some to be "kitsch" or "Camp (style)", owing to its difference in style from the majority of the Pop music or rock musics. Despite barbs from critics, as well as lampooning by comedians, he continues to maintain a large fan base, especially among baby boomer women in his native United States. This is evidenced by the No. 1 debut of his 2006 album The Greatest Songs of the Fifties. In 1990, Rolling Stone proclaimed him "the showman of our generation".
He has sold more than 75 million records worldwide.
Manilow was born to humble origins in Brooklyn, New York on June 17, 1943. Shortly after his birth, his father, Harold Pincus (born to a Russians-Jewish father and Irish people mother) and his mother Edna Manilow divorced. The young Manilow was then brought up by his mother and grandparents, Russians-Jew immigrants who had a strong influence on his life. He began singing shortly before his Bar Mitzvah at the age of 13. At this point, he legally changed his surname to his mother's maiden name of Manilow. He took up the accordion, but preferred and switched to the piano - a move which would one day prove to be vital for his future career. Career 1970s Manilow's record label, Arista Records, took three years off his announced age when he was really 32 (in 1975) and made him 29 years old so he would appeal to teens; Arista public relations staff announced his birth to be in 1946, eschewing his actual birth year of 1943. Early in his career, Manilow was a commercial jingle writer/singer, writing the theme for State Farm Insurance, "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there" and the "Stuck on Band-Aid" song, among many others. Reportedly he also wrote the breakthrough McDonald's ad campaign theme, "You Deserve a Break Today." He then worked as a pianist, producer and Arrangement, accompanying Bette Midler among others at the Continental Baths in New York City. Manilow's major solo hits include "Mandy (song)" (1974), "Copacabana (song)" (1978) and "I Write The Songs" (1975). Several years after its release, Manilow's Copacabana (musical) was turned into a stage musical that ran for two years in the West End theatre. The show toured the US in 2000 and 2003. His greatest UK hit was "I Wanna Do It With You" (1982) which reached no. 8 in the UK charts, his only top ten hit there. Manilow's first album was released by Bell Records (later known as Arista Records) in 1973. The album contained an eclectic mix of piano-driven pop, Big Band remakes, and guitar-driven rock. His second album, which was named Barry Manilow II (Bell/Arista, 1974) contained Manilow's huge breakthrough hit "Mandy." This led to a string of hit singles and albums that lasted through the rest of the 1970s, ending in the early 1980s. While Manilow is known as a songwriter, he did not write "I Write The Songs", which was actually written by Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys (written about Brian Wilson). Manilow also did not compose, or receive any composer credit on, many of his most popular hits: "Mandy (song)," "Tryin’ to Get the Feeling Again," "Weekend in New England," "Looks Like We Made It," "Can't Smile Without You," and "Ready to Take a Chance Again." 1980s Manilow is also well-known for his 1975 cover of "Bandstand Boogie," the Les and Larry Elgart-arranged song that was the longtime theme for the TV show American Bandstand. Bandstand executive producer/host Dick Clark used Manilow's version as the show's opening and closing music from 1978 to 1987. After his landmark Concert at Blenheim Palace in August of 1983, Manilow started to venture into a jazz-driven style, starting with the 1984 album 2:00 AM Paradise Cafe. The album was recorded with jazz greats Sarah Vaughan, Mel Torme and Gerry Mulligan. Manilow would return to the genre in 1987, with the release of Swing Street. The techno-jazz-inspired album contained performances with Dianne Schuur, Phyllis Hyman, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, and Tom Scott (musician). From 1985 to 1986, Manilow was involved with the pop album Manilow (album) (RCA, 1985), and began a phase of international music, as he performed songs and duets in French language, Italian language, Portuguese language and Japanese language, among other languages. The 1980s saw a number of singles released, such as "Bermuda Triangle" 1981, "Let's Hang On" 1981, "Stay" 1982 and "Please Don't Be Scared" in 1989. The only one of these songs to chart in the U.S. was "Let's Hang On". 1990s In the 1990s, Manilow switched from being primarily a singer-songwriter to a cover artist. Beginning with his 1990 Christmas LP Because It's Christmas he began recording "event" albums, guided by Arista's President, Clive Davis. The albums include: 1991's Showstoppers, a collection of Broadway theatre tunes, to a big band album, Singin' with the Big Bands (1994), a 1970s collection Summer of '78, (perhaps the weakest effort of his career), the decade ended with Manilow recording a tribute to Frank Sinatra Manilow Sings Sinatra (1998), shortly after Sinatra's death. Manilow's music connected with a new generation when top British boy band Take That reached number 3 in the UK charts with "Could It Be Magic" (1992) . Later, Irish boy band Westlife reached number 1 with "Mandy" (2003), in a version clearly based on Manilow's hit version (differing only in that they omitted the piano introduction and inserted a different non-fade-out ending). 2000s After the turn of the century, Manilow's contract with Arista Records was not renewed due to new management. He then got a contract at Concord Records, a jazz-oriented label in California, and started work on the long-anticipated Here at the Mayflower album. The album was another eclectic mix of styles, almost entirely composed and produced by Manilow himself. 2004 saw the release of both a live album, 2 Nights Live! (BMG Strategic Marketing Group, 2004), and a soundtrack album of his musicals Scores (Concord, 2004). Two Christmas albums, many live albums and compilations have rounded out a very large body of music. Manilow appeared as a guest judge and arranged music for American Idol on April 24, 2004, the year in which he also embarked on his "One Night Live! One Last Time!" final tour. Some fans were unhappy that Manilow charged his fans $1,000 to meet him after the show, but most knew that the majority of the money was earmarked for different charities, which Manilow is actively involved in supporting. Ticket sales were robust, landing Manilow's tour into the Top Ten club for box office grosses in 2004. Manilow co-wrote, with lyricist Bruce Sussman, a musical, Harmony (musical), which was originally scheduled to preview in Philadelphia in 2003. After financial difficulties and a legal battle, Manilow and Sussman won back the rights to the musical. It is currently unknown when the musical is slated to reach Broadway. On the heels of his Farewell tour, Manilow opened a standing show in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2005 at the Las Vegas Hilton, where he will reside in the penthouse where Elvis Presley lived for 8 years (Newsweek/MSNBC). Manilow returned to the Arista label and released a new album on January 31, 2006 called The Greatest Songs of the Fifties. The album includes classic songs from that decade, like "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" and "Unchained Melody". It was an unexpected hit, debuting at number 1 in the Billboard 200, marking the first time a Manilow album debuted at the top of the album chart as well as the first time a Manilow album has reached number 1 in 29 years http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9257827/manilow_blige_top_the_chart?rnd=1139452891828&has-player=true&version=6.0.12.1465. It was eventually certified Platinum in the U.S., and sold over three million copies worldwide. A sequel album, The Greatest Songs of the Sixties was released on October 31 2006, including songs such as "And I Love Her" and "Can't Help Falling in Love". Movie & Television Work In the late 1970s, ABC aired four variety television specials starring and produced by Barry Manilow. The Barry Manilow Special with actress Penny Marshall and Manilow's backup ladies Lady Flash as the guest stars, premiered on March 2, 1977 to an audience of 37 million, was nominated and won him his first Emmy and vaulted him into being a household name. The special was nominated and won in the category of "Outstanding Comedy-Variety or Music Special" against Neil Diamond, Carol Burnett, and magician Doug Henning. Manilow followed up in 1978 with The Second Barry Manilow Special with Ray Charles as his guest; in 1979 with The Third Barry Manilow Special with John Denver as his guest; and in 1980 with his One Voice Special with Dionne Warwick as his guest. All specials had high ratings. On cable, Home Box Office (HBO) in 1979 aired a concert from Manilow's sold out dates at the Greek_Theatre_%28Los_Angeles%29 in Los Angeles, California which was the first pay-television show to seriously challenge network primetime specials in the ratings. A concert from the same tour also aired in England from Manilow's sold out concert dates at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC). In 1980, England aired a concert from Manilow's sold out shows at the Wembley Arena while he was on his "One Voice" tour. In 1981, Manilow's sold out concert at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania aired nationally on Showtime and locally on Philadelphia's now defunct Prism, a movie and local sports channel. In 1982, England aired a concert from his sold out Royal Albert Hall shows where he premiered the song "Stay" as a trio sung with Kevin DeSimone and James Jolis, his then back-up singers who are also the song's co-writers. In 1983, Showtime aired Manilow's record attendance breaking outdoor concert at Blenheim Palace in England where an estimated 40,000 were on hand. In 1984, Showtime aired a special of Manilow recording his 2:00 AM Paradise Cafe album with jazz legends Gerry Mulligan, Shelly Manne, Sarah Vaughn, Mel Torme, Mundell Lowe, and George Duvivier. In 1984 and 1985, England aired two one-hour specials from his NEC concerts where he sang "Jingle Bell Rock" with the audience and "Come With Me" on the other. In 1985, Japan aired an 84 minute concert Manilow did there where he played "Sakura_%28folk_song%29" on the Koto_%28musical_instrument%29. In March 1988, CBS aired Manilow's Big Fun on Swing Street that had special guests from his Swing Street and 2:00 AM Paradise Cafe albums including Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Phyllis Hyman, Stanley Clarke, Carmen McRae, Tom_Scott_%28musician%29, Gerry Mulligan, Diane Schuur, Full Swing, and Manilow's band within his band Uncle Festive. The special was nominated for an Emmy, but had low ratings. In 1989, Showtime aired the one-hour special Barry Manilow SRO On Broadway where Manilow was at the Gershwin Theatre, formally called the Uris Theatre the same theater where Manilow's concert shots from his first ABC special were filmed. The special was a sampling of Barry Manilow Live On Broadway a 90 minute video of the same show that was released the following year. England also aired another NEC one-hour concert Manilow did on the same tour. Manilow also wrote original songs for a handful of films such as the 1978 slap-stick comedy Foul Play starring Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase where "Ready To Take a Chance Again" and "Copacabana" originated, the 1980 drama Tribute_%28movie%29 starring Jack Lemmon and Robby Benson where his song "We Still Have Time" was featured and the Walt Disney cartoon movie Oliver & Company (1988) where Bette Midler's character sung Manilow's song "Perfect Isn't Easy". He also co-wrote the Broadway-style musical scores for the Don Bluth animated films Thumbelina (film) (1994) and The Pebble and the Penguin (1995). Manilow was also contracted to score a third Don Bluth movie, Rapunzel, but it is not known to ever have been released or made. Manilow was supposed to be the voice of a cricket in it. Manilow has appeared in two movies. He portrayed Tony Starr in a 1985 CBS made-for-television film based on Copacabana that had Annette O'Toole as Lola Lamarr and Joseph Bologna was Rico. He also portrayed himself in the 2002 Kathy Bates and Rupert Everett comedy Unconditional Love, in which his hit "Can't Smile Without You" plays a key role in the plot. Manilow made an appearance (performing "Can't Smile Without You", "Mandy", "I Write The Songs" and songs from his latest album) on the Oprah Winfrey show on April 7, 2005, and also made a guest appearance on the hit show Ally McBeal, playing himself and singing to Ally. He was also a guest star on Will & Grace. Trivia Discography Albums Hit Singles { " " " " " " " " " " " 
Courtesy of: http://www.wikipedia.org/ |
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