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Barry Manilow, done with oldies, has album of new songs in the works
01:00 AM EST on Saturday, February 7, 2009
BY RICK MASSIMOJournal Pop Music Writer
Multiplatinum pop star Barry Manilow comes to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence Wednesday night.
AP / Chris Pizzello
Barry Manilow had surprising success in the past few years with recorded retrospectives of the greatest hits of the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, but he says he’s through looking back.
“I’ve gotta get back to writing my own stuff,” the multiplatinum-selling singer says. “This has been a lot of fun, and it’s great that it’s always been successful, but I’m done.”
Manilow’s The Greatest Songs of the Eighties came out in November, and it followed the criteria for the previous retrospective albums — the songs had to have been number-one pop hits and they had to have melodies that stuck out for Manilow. So the ’80s compilation features Manilow’s takes on classics such as “Open Arms,” “Never Gonna Give You Up” and “Time After Time,” with mostly straightforward productions and Manilow’s voice, which is as strong as ever.
Manilow says that the whole idea of doing that kind of looking back wasn’t his, anyway; it was label head Clive Davis’ — “I would never in a million years do anything like this,” he says. “I’ve fought [Davis] on every single song he’s given me,” Manilow says, but since Davis was the one who encouraged Manilow to record a little ditty called “Mandy” back in 1974 — you may have heard of it — Manilow always gives Davis’ ideas a listen.
That’s how The Greatest Songs of the Fifties came to be, and when that disc was a smash, it made sense to keep going. But no more.
Manilow says that as he has worked through the decades, he’s found that melody gradually took a back seat to the rhythm. “The rhythm got much more aggressive, as people got into computers and drum machines. But what I kept looking for was the melody. Little by little, the melody kept taking a back seat.”
He adds that “I doubt very much that I [could] go into the ’90s, because there was very little melody in the ’90s,” and although he admits he thought that about the ’80s before he started wading into the music, he’s also done with looking back simply because he’s ready to do a record of his own songs.
Next up for Manilow is a new original album, and while he’s still writing the songs for it, he says of the tunes he’s done so far that “It’s more of a rock ’n’ roll album than I’ve ever done. …
“If you dig into my earlier albums, you’ll see that there are a lot of moments where I try to break the rules and go away from the adult-contemporary world, into some aggressive, guitar-driven songs. I really loved writing them, and I don’t think I sound too bad on them.”
Now, though, the priority is another road jaunt, which have been getting shorter and scarcer over the years.
Manilow’s been doing a greatest-hits show in Las Vegas for three years, and he calls Vegas “home.” He doesn’t go on the road for extended jaunts anymore; short trips are more his speed. He recently got back from four nights in London, and says, “As long as it wasn’t a month-long tour, I was able to handle that.”
Sure, but at age 65 and with a successful show in your adopted backyard, why go on the road at all?
The key, he says, is in the titles of the Vegas show and the road show. The Hilton shows are called “Ultimate Manilow: The Hits”; the road show is called “Ultimate Manilow: The Hits … and Then Some.”
“The audiences in Vegas, it’s finally gotten to what they warned me about: no fans, or a handful of fans, and the rest are strangers. Sold out, but strangers. And they want to hear the hits. So I can’t be too inventive at the Hilton.”
On the road, he says, he gets to play for more dedicated fans, so he can stretch out beyond his 39 Top 40 hits. “They know my work, but they can’t afford to drag themselves to Vegas. So I can be more inventive in my shows on the road. And I will. And I do. I sing songs on the road that I don’t do in Vegas.”
But that’s not all Manilow is working on. “I’ve got such a list of projects,” he says. “It’s always been excellent for me,” and some of them may finally be bearing fruit.
Manilow says his latest musical, Harmony, about the true story of the Comedian Harmonists, a German singing group that found international acclaim before being forced to break up by the Nazi regime, is progressing apace. He’s found a producer who has the show booked in three theaters outside New York this fall. When it’s pointed out that he said the same thing in an interview five years ago, he agrees and says, “I’ll believe this all when I see it.”
Manilow’s other passion these days is his Manilow Music Project, a charitable foundation that, among other things, brings musical instruments back into public schools. Recently, he bought $500,000 worth of instruments for every school in the Coachella Valley, and he hopes to have a similar effort at each of his road stops starting later this year.
“It was so rewarding to all of us.… You wouldn’t believe the letters I’m getting about these bands in these schools — playing music again!”
Getting musical instruments back in kids’ hands is crucial, Manilow says; he remembers his own childhood when he testifies to the importance of music.
“I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t had some of that. Forget about becoming famous or making records; I don’t know what I would have done as a person if I hadn’t landed in the band. That was my social life. My other grades got better! I know that’s what happens to these young people.”
Barry Manilow performs at the Dunkin’ Donuts
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Barry Manilow, done with oldies, has album of new songs in the works
01:00 AM EST on Saturday, February 7, 2009
BY RICK MASSIMOJournal Pop Music Writer
Multiplatinum pop star Barry Manilow comes to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence Wednesday night.
AP / Chris Pizzello
Barry Manilow had surprising success in the past few years with recorded retrospectives of the greatest hits of the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, but he says he’s through looking back.
“I’ve gotta get back to writing my own stuff,” the multiplatinum-selling singer says. “This has been a lot of fun, and it’s great that it’s always been successful, but I’m done.”
Manilow’s The Greatest Songs of the Eighties came out in November, and it followed the criteria for the previous retrospective albums — the songs had to have been number-one pop hits and they had to have melodies that stuck out for Manilow. So the ’80s compilation features Manilow’s takes on classics such as “Open Arms,” “Never Gonna Give You Up” and “Time After Time,” with mostly straightforward productions and Manilow’s voice, which is as strong as ever.
Manilow says that the whole idea of doing that kind of looking back wasn’t his, anyway; it was label head Clive Davis’ — “I would never in a million years do anything like this,” he says. “I’ve fought [Davis] on every single song he’s given me,” Manilow says, but since Davis was the one who encouraged Manilow to record a little ditty called “Mandy” back in 1974 — you may have heard of it — Manilow always gives Davis’ ideas a listen.
That’s how The Greatest Songs of the Fifties came to be, and when that disc was a smash, it made sense to keep going. But no more.
Manilow says that as he has worked through the decades, he’s found that melody gradually took a back seat to the rhythm. “The rhythm got much more aggressive, as people got into computers and drum machines. But what I kept looking for was the melody. Little by little, the melody kept taking a back seat.”
He adds that “I doubt very much that I [could] go into the ’90s, because there was very little melody in the ’90s,” and although he admits he thought that about the ’80s before he started wading into the music, he’s also done with looking back simply because he’s ready to do a record of his own songs.
Next up for Manilow is a new original album, and while he’s still writing the songs for it, he says of the tunes he’s done so far that “It’s more of a rock ’n’ roll album than I’ve ever done. …
“If you dig into my earlier albums, you’ll see that there are a lot of moments where I try to break the rules and go away from the adult-contemporary world, into some aggressive, guitar-driven songs. I really loved writing them, and I don’t think I sound too bad on them.”
Now, though, the priority is another road jaunt, which have been getting shorter and scarcer over the years.
Manilow’s been doing a greatest-hits show in Las Vegas for three years, and he calls Vegas “home.” He doesn’t go on the road for extended jaunts anymore; short trips are more his speed. He recently got back from four nights in London, and says, “As long as it wasn’t a month-long tour, I was able to handle that.”
Sure, but at age 65 and with a successful show in your adopted backyard, why go on the road at all?
The key, he says, is in the titles of the Vegas show and the road show. The Hilton shows are called “Ultimate Manilow: The Hits”; the road show is called “Ultimate Manilow: The Hits … and Then Some.”
“The audiences in Vegas, it’s finally gotten to what they warned me about: no fans, or a handful of fans, and the rest are strangers. Sold out, but strangers. And they want to hear the hits. So I can’t be too inventive at the Hilton.”
On the road, he says, he gets to play for more dedicated fans, so he can stretch out beyond his 39 Top 40 hits. “They know my work, but they can’t afford to drag themselves to Vegas. So I can be more inventive in my shows on the road. And I will. And I do. I sing songs on the road that I don’t do in Vegas.”
But that’s not all Manilow is working on. “I’ve got such a list of projects,” he says. “It’s always been excellent for me,” and some of them may finally be bearing fruit.
Manilow says his latest musical, Harmony, about the true story of the Comedian Harmonists, a German singing group that found international acclaim before being forced to break up by the Nazi regime, is progressing apace. He’s found a producer who has the show booked in three theaters outside New York this fall. When it’s pointed out that he said the same thing in an interview five years ago, he agrees and says, “I’ll believe this all when I see it.”
Manilow’s other passion these days is his Manilow Music Project, a charitable foundation that, among other things, brings musical instruments back into public schools. Recently, he bought $500,000 worth of instruments for every school in the Coachella Valley, and he hopes to have a similar effort at each of his road stops starting later this year.
“It was so rewarding to all of us.… You wouldn’t believe the letters I’m getting about these bands in these schools — playing music again!”
Getting musical instruments back in kids’ hands is crucial, Manilow says; he remembers his own childhood when he testifies to the importance of music.
“I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t had some of that. Forget about becoming famous or making records; I don’t know what I would have done as a person if I hadn’t landed in the band. That was my social life. My other grades got better! I know that’s what happens to these young people.”
Barry Manilow performs at the Dunkin’ Donuts
