Thursday, May 15, 2008

Barry Manilow II Press Kit Stills

Source: http://scootertalk.blogspot.com/2006/08/mr.html

1974 P.R. PHOTO


MR. HIP & HAP'NIN'



Originally posted 8/06/2006 10:02:00 AM

Source: http://scootertalk.blogspot.com/2006/08/1974-p.html

MR. ROCK 'N' ROLL !


1974 P.R. SHOT
Click picture for larger version.



Originally posted 8/04/2006 09:10:00 AM

1982 World Tour Tibits of Barry Manilow

Source: http://scootertalk.blogspot.com/2006/11/british-pressurejanuaryfebruary-1982.html

BRITISH "PRESSURE"
January/February 1982



MANILOW'S FRIEND FLIES IN FOR TOUR

As Barry Manilow continues his grueling sell-out Royal Albert concerts, he is doubtless glad of the company of his close friend and business adviser, American Gary (sic) Kief.

Kief, 30-ish, who flew into London yesterday specially to look after the superstar crooner, is Manilow's chief executive in charge of merchandising.

The pair often stay at the singer's magnificent mountain-top villa in Bel Air, Los Angeles, where Gary helps Barry to relax away from the hurly-burly of showbiz.

In fact, say their nearest chums, Manilow confides in Kief more than his girlfriend, ...film-set designer Linda Allen, who shares the house. Barry has said of Linda: "We love each other, but we're not in love with each other."

Of course, we mustn't forget that the star was once married 14 years ago to his Brooklyn teenage sweetheart. The marriage lasted only a year and now his aides are ordered never to reveal her name.

On the subject of marriage he has remarked: "I tried it once and didn't like it...."

~~~~~~~

500 FANS MOB PLAIN 'MR. PARKER' IN LONDON
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London - Singer Barry Manilow, beginning a sold-out, six-week concert tour of Europe, flew here under an assumed name, but his bid to travel incognito failed when tour promoters leaked his arrival plans and about 500 screaming fans mobbed him at Heathrow Airport.

"What's going on here?" shouted Manilow as he emerged from customs Thursday. "I'm just a kid from Brooklyn."

Manilow was showered with roses and scarves - a personal trademark - and had to be hustled through the crowd by airport security officers.

Reporters, tipped to Manilow's arrival by publicity agents who also let word slip to some fans, discovered the teen idol was booked aboard the flight simply as "Mr. Parker."

Asked about this as he pushed through the well-wishers, Manilow said, "I don't usually travel as plain 'Mr. Parker,' but I use a lot of different names on tour to avoid crowds."

~~~~~~~

BARRY DOES BUNK

Superstar singer Barry Manilow stormed out of his hotel before a sell-out concert last night.

He and his constant companion, Roberta Kent, quit the Grand at Brighton after he was given twin beds instead of doubles in his two suites.

He booked into the nearby Hotel Metropol - and caused another flurry by asking for a grand piano to be brought to his suite.

He later decided that none of the hotel's six pianos were suitable.

Tour manager Les Joyce denied the singer was tense. "He is just fine," he insisted.

Grand Hotel manager Paul Boswell was surprised by Barry's walk out. "We are used to looking after Prime Ministers and other important people here," he said.

~~~~~~~

BARRY'S BED OF WOE

Superstar Barry Manilow and his girlfriend Roberta Kent stormed out of Brighton's top hotel last night.

The couple were angry when they discovered they had been allocated twin rather than double-bedded suites.

The American star walked out of the sea-front Grand - where Prime Ministers have stayed over the years - and marched 200 yards to the rival Metropole.

Manilow, starring in two concerts at the resort, was said by the Metropole to be "very happy." A spokesman added: "When he arrived we did not know there had been a row at the Grand."

A friend of the 35-years-old singer said: "A large bed is important to Barry because he can relax in it. After a concert he likes to lie in bed late in the morning."

~~~~~~~

MANILOW DUCKS FANS

Patient fans of pop star Barry Manilow wept yesterday after their hero slipped into Ireland unseen.

Many had camped out for hours at Dublin Airport hoping to catch a glimpse of the American singer.

But Manilow insisted on keeping a low profile and left by a side entrance.

~~~~~~~

MANILOW FANS IN THE DARK

Officials have snuffed out the traditional climax to Barry Manilow's concert in Dublin tonight.

Organisers of the singer's sell-out stage show have been told that fans must not light candles in the Royal Dublin Society concert hall in Ballsbridge.

After last year's Stardust disco disaster, in which 48 people died, Doublin Corporation want to make sure that every safety precaution is taken when 4,500 fans pack the hall.

A corporation spokesman said: "We have told the society that if evidence of any fire hazard is seen we will object to the continuation of their license."

Manilow left a trail of tearful fans at Dublin Airport yesterday when he left by a side door.

Earlier, he shrugged off a report of a threat to kill him and said: "I heard about it, but as you can see it's not happened."

~~~~~~~

MANILOW FANS IN FURY AT 'RIP-OFF'

Hundreds of furious fans stormed the box office demanding their money back at a Barry Manilow concert.

About 500, many hysterical, complained they could not see or hear their idol.

And the fans who had paid £10 and more or tickets, were disgusted by prices asked for Manilow souvenirs.

Housewife Dawn Paget, who paid £12.50 for a balcony seat at the Edinburgh show, said: "I couldn't hear him sing at all."

Dawn, 26, of Glendon Avenue, Edinburgh, added: "I've been to a lot of concerts, but I've never seen a rip-off like this.

"If you buy good tickets, you expect to at least see the man.

"Barry Manilow sweatshirts cost £12, and T-shirts were £4.50. Even badges were £1 and £2.50.

"The programme cost me £3.50, and it was all pictures.

"Some people had come from as far as London, and at the interval we went to the box office to demand our money back.

"There were hundreds complaining. They started signing cheques for refunds but ran out and told us to get in touch with the promoters."

About 9,000 people packed the McRobert Pavilion at the Royal Highland Showground for the performance on Friday night.

A policeman who took his wife to see the American star said: "We could only see because we had binoculars. It was a disaster.

"The back of the hall was about 200 yards from the stage.

"Most theatres have a sloped floor, but this one was flat so the majority only saw the back of other people's heads.

"It even took us nearly an hour and a half to get out of the car park afterwards."

Last night Barry's management refused to comment on the chaos.

~~~~~~~

PNEUMONIA ENDS MANILOW'S EUROPEAN TOUR

Los Angeles - Singer Barry Manilow, bedridden in a Paris hotel with bronchial pneumonia, has been ordered by doctors to cancel a nine-concert European tour, a spokeswoman said.

Publicist Heidi Ellen Robinson said Thursday the Grammy Award-winning singer became ill in Paris earlier this week after completing a month-long United Kingdom tour. She added Manilow has given about 70 concerts, most of them in North America, since he began touring in August.

"He's absolutely worn down because he has been on tour so long," Miss Robinson said. "I know he's lost a lot of weight."

Manilow, 35, was to have started his European tour with a Feb. 6 concert in Hamburg, West Germany, before continuing on to the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark. However, Miss Robinson said he was ordered to remain in bed for at least a week and would probably return to his Loa Angeles home when he is able to travel.



Originally posted 11/30/2006 09:19:00 AM

Barry Manilow's First Album Press Kit

Source: http://scootertalk.blogspot.com/2007/09/treasure-unearthed-this-is-one-of-those.html

A TREASURE UNEARTHED

Joyce Comments: The following was posted online by a fan collector of Manilow memorabila. This press kit is from the 1974 Barry Manilow II album that included two black and white press stills. Inside the press kit, apparently was two black and white 8" x 10" stills which are shown here. According to the original post: "This kit had evidently been sent by Wendy Morris of Barry's then publicity firm, Tomorrow Today, to a girl who was writing an article for the City University Press in New York City in May, l974."

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BARRY MANILOW

By Jane Doe [Not her real name]

May 11, 1974: The Bottom Line. Lanky, lean Barry Manilow walks on stage, his long blond strands bob up and down with each step he takes. His image is one of pure white, white jacket, white pants and white high shoes. He slides into the piano bench and turns to his waiting audience. Bright blue eyes flash, he grins, and begins joking in an easy, flowing monologue. Barry has totally won his listeners' approval within the first five minutes of the show, and he hasn't yet touched a note on that piano. Some call it charisma.

"Cloudburst," a fast and furious piece bursts forth as the audience begins beating their feet in rhythm. The song is so fast one wonders how he manages to get all the words in and make them comprehensible! There is this skinny young man at the piano, pounding away in glee, with this abundant amount of charm pouring through his face and music. There beside Barry stand his three ladies; Sharon, Robin and Charlotte, Bette Midler's used-to-be Harlettes, and the whole show comes right into your living room or rather, brings you into theirs.

Song after song Barry holds his audience in captivity with heart-gripping ballads such as "I Am Your Child," "One of These Days," and "Sweet Life." The most notable piece performed from Barry's new album titled "Barry Manilow," is the Chopin-inspired "Could It Be Magic." Prior to beginning the song Barry removes his white jacket to sport a shirt with the name Chopin sprayed across it in gold glitter. Ah, glitter rock you say; the shirt, definitely; the music, now that is something for everyone.

May 11, 1974, 10:30 P.M.: The Bottom Line. Standing ovations for Mr. Barry Manilow, probably a first exposure to Manilow for many of the people who were lucky enough to catch Barry at the Bottom Line. He stands to leave and the glittering letters of Chopin's name shine out to his audience; so does his face. So this is Barry Manilow; impressive, very impressive. Who'd have believed, State Farm Insurance, the Pepsi Generation, Dr Pepper, Stridex, Vitalis and the ever famous McDonalds, all behind the scene Barry. Barry Manilow: for the kids, for Mom and Dad, even for Grandpa, bringing Chopin to the masses. He is so wonderfully and charmingly Jewish he could have been Bar Mitzvahed yesterday! What's more, his talent matches his charm; exuberant, effervescent and totally enchanting. I knew then, that I had to meet this man.

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May 17, 1974: I am waiting outside the door of Barry Manilow's apartment for an interview. I press the bell; the door pulls open. Introductions for the City University Press.

"Just give me a second to tuck my shirt into my pants." Barry disappears into his bedroom and reappears in seconds. The living room is large with one wall windowed looking out to a small, heavily flowered terrace area and a piano tucked away in a far corner, a large corner at that! Bette Midler's gold albums hang near several pictures of Barry and books and records are all over the room on various shelves and cases. Bagel, the beagle, jumps frantically at the sight of company, anxious to make new friends. Plop onto the brown plush couch as Barry kindly brings in some coke. Pepsi, I presume! Barry strides into the room, bringing back huge wine glasses filled with Pepsi. In 92 degree weather, a cold drink was greatly appreciated. We sit, all of Barry, all six feet, once again dressed impressively in white.

He just gets comfortable when the doorbell rings. I remind myself that Charlie, our amateur photographer, should be arriving. Barry opens the door and I introduce them, finally getting down to business, yet who wants to?? Barry makes us feel so at home, I'd rather be a friend visiting! The slums of Williamsburg, Barry's start in this world. His family was always interested in music yet not professionally. In fact, the "Barry Manilow" album opens with a small bit of family spirit: Grandpa trying to coax a very young Barry Manilow to sing on one of those old Times Square records. He didn't feel like singing then, but you can't stop him now. Barry says that he wanted his album to be a personal thing and the old self-made record was the nicest thing he could have come up with. Original and intimate, it is a splendid setting for the rest of the album bringing a smile of familiarity to the listener's face. A gift from Barry.

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Thinking that music might be too unstable a job, Barry decided that advertising would be a much better deal. The kind of thing you could "make a living" with! So off to City College he went to study advertising, and out he came soon after, totally discouraged with a stable but unsuitable profession. Lucky for Barry, he never had anything but family support when he made his decision to enter the music world in a career capacity.

Charlie is busily snapping away pictures as Barry tells us that he started on the road to success by first playing piano around the country, as a coach to several singers. Stability was achieved with a position working for CBS, conducting for "The Ed Sullivan Show."

"I didn't care for that though. They didn't appreciate a new young kid coming in and running the show."

"Oh, but wouldn't they appreciate it now?!" I interject, asking when he was born. Just curiosity, astrology: a good conversation piece. Barry is a Gemini. Versatile? Lots of nervous energy? Built slender, agile, tall? Eager? He seems to fit the bill, Gemini, the twins; sort of a split personality. I quickly sum up most of what I know about Gemini and Barry does seem to fit. As do most Geminis, Barry knows where he stands and he knows where he's headed. His favorite color, blue. I reach into my memory for the info on psychology of colors. Blue: calm, sure, confident. He'll make it. He's got all of what it takes, and now the lucky break.

Lucky is not all that Barry is. He has only been touring on his own for two months or so, and he has had an incredible amount of success. That takes more than luck, it takes talent. It startles him to see just how well he is doing and Barry still can't believe it.

"Before I went on at the Continental Baths, following Bette, I was so nervous I was throwing up backstage!" Barry tells us confidentially. He no longer gets nervous before a show for replacing the nervousness is a sweep of excitement and anticipation. Barry Manilow, just getting out on the road, has had a number of successful performances including a round of cafe gigs: The Bottom Line, The Bijou Cafe in Philadelphia, Mr. Kelly's in Chicago, the Continental Baths also in New York, and numerous others. As for what Barry has ahead of him, there is no limit to his abilities.

"I don't want to do any one thing. I'd like to produce, write and sing."

Presently Barry is working on a new album, a follow-up to his first brilliant attempt. His ambition is to reach an excellence equivalent to that of the Beatles' "Abbey Road." The greater influences upon Barry's music have been people like Burt Bacharach (to whom he has so often been compared) and he has recently become extremely interested in the Black Philadelphia sound, mainly the material of Stylistics' song writer, Tom Bell.

"I want to learn from Black music. Basically I'm a white singer, but I'm getting into the Philadelphia sound and there's a lot to be learned there."

Although Barry has studied at Julliard (sic), he feels his musical background is pop oriented and he appreciates well written rock music. When asked whether or not Barry would consider performing some of the material he likes, written by various rock artists, Barry replied thoughtfully.

"I'm not adverse to doing other people's music either, but it would have to be uniquely done. I would have to do it in my own style, and it would have to be all my own sound. Like when I did Bette's "Friends" on my album."

Barry goes on to tell us the story of how he arranged a new arrangement of "Friends" so that Bette would be able to release that particular song from her album as a single. It seems that a tour came up during that time, and Bette never did get to release the new arrangement Barry had worked out. So he asked her if he could do it himself, and that is the smashingly different sound "Friends" presents on the Barry Manilow album.

This ambitious musical man wants to do well, not only for himself but for the people he works with. Barry has an excellent relationship with his fellow workers and as he so sincerely puts it, "I want to do well because the people I work with deserve it. They are experts and great people and when they expect a lot from me, I want to give it to them." What better way to form a working relationship?

As for Barry's style of music, it is soft, swaying, often pumping with a pulsating beat, complex in its production and orchestration.

"My lyrics are simple yet straightforwardly honest. Sometimes they're so simple, if they weren't so real, they would border on idiotic!" Barry laughs confidently at his own self-criticism. Yet his lyrics appeal to all types of people, and right now that is Barry's main goal for his music. What he wants now, is to reach as large and varied a listening public as he can. I told him how I had exposed a group of elderly people, residents of a nursing home, to his music and how well received the music was. The group, incidently, ranged in age from 60-90!

"Wow! Really? That makes me happy. I'm glad you told me that 'cause I'd like to reach all ages, be universal in my music." Barry would like to write for the young as well as the old and be appealing to all. He'd rather not write material which is terribly personal having the effect of losing his audience. Barry also prefers to stay away from creating political commentaries and social statements.

"I don't want people to listen to my music and wonder, 'What's he talking about?' I want people to relate to what I write." And his music can certainly be related to.

As for fame, Barry seems to be headed straight towards it, full speed ahead. He is skyrocketing to the top at an amazing pace and has the potential for staying there a long time. When asked how he is taking his new found popularity, Barry laughs, a look of wonder entering his gleaming blue eyes.

"I still can't quite believe it! The other night my doorbell rang at two o'clock in the morning. I was fast asleep and I got up so tired to ask who it was. Some fan, a girl, was out there and asked if I needed company! I've got to get my phone number out of the book now and watch out for people getting my address!"

Fame: unlisted telephone numbers, hidden addresses. Yes, Barry, you are on your way to the wild, wacky world of the pop star. A "Teen-age Idol." But why not? Barry Manilow seems well adjusted to the idea and perhaps he even looks forward to it, just a bit! Just go out there and make music, make people happy, give millions the desire to dance close once again, weave dreams of love and beautiful notes, sparkle a stage with movement and momentous charm and talent. This, Mr. Manilow, is what you are about.

And here he is folks, Mr. Barry Manilow!

[End]

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~~~~~~~



Originally posted 9/02/2007 09:56:00 AM

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Barry Manilow's Tumor in Mouth Removed

Source: http://scootertalk.blogspot.com/2006/09/woman-magazine-united-kingdom-november.html

WOMAN MAGAZINE
United Kingdom

November 14, 1987

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"THE DAY I THOUGHT I HAD CANCER"
BY BARRY MANILOW

In the month he publishes his autobiography and sets out on a world tour after a lay-off of 20 months, Barry Manilow is counting his lucky stars. For, as he reveals here, less than a year ago he came close to death from an illness for which he is still receiving treatment.

By Mary Fletcher

When he stopped feeling nervous about stepping onto the stage to face an excited audience, no longer found his heart fluttering at the thrill of recording an album, Barry Manilow knew that it was time to quit.

Time to hang up the stage silk shirts with the glittery gold braid, the red velvet waistcoats and sequin-studded belts, pack away the hits like I Write The Songs, Can't Smile Without You and Could It Be Magic, cancel the tours and the television specials.

One way or another, he had to find out whether he could recapture the thrill his music had brought him ever since his mother gave him his first piano as a child, a passion which had somehow grown stale over the years despite the record breaking tours, the hit singles, and platinum albums. Because if he couldn't, he knew he might as well disappear from the entertainment scene forever.

So 20 months ago, Barry Manilow embarked on what has proved to be both the most productive and frightening period he has ever experienced. Productive, because he has come back from temporary retirement convinced he is entering the most innovative time of his career. Frightening, because halfway through, he almost died.

In his dressing room caravan at the back of a Hollywood studio, where he is recording a spectacular new television special for which the sets along have cost £1-million, he's relaxed, suntanned and talks enthusiastically about his coming world tour and the autobiography to be published this week.

But his mood changes and he starts picking nervously at an empty paper coffee cup when he recalls the Sunday in January earlier this year when he faced death.

He starts lightly, not wanting to make too big a thing of the terrifying experience he's only ever talked about to close friends until now. But as the memory comes flooding back, his words betray the fear and bewilderment he felt the day surgeons battled to save his live.

"My old girlfriend Linda had come to stay for a month and we were having a lovely, lazy day at my house reading and doing crossword puzzles, when I suddenly felt this awful pain in my mouth," he says.

"Somehow it didn't feel like toothache. I realised something terrible was happening when the pain became excruciating."

In agony, Barry called every dentist he could think of. But being Sunday afternoon every surgery was closed.

"Finally, I called my friend Elizabeth Taylor, and thank God she gave me the home number of her dental surgeon. I don't know what I would have done without her help.

"As soon as he examined me he said he wanted me in hospital straight away. There was a tumor in the roof of my mouth that had exploded overnight and I was in a real mess.

"At the hospital, they didn't know exactly what it was. I had to have Cat scans and tests, which to me were terrifying because I'd never even been in hospital before. They gave me morphine to deaden the pain, stuck tubes in me everywhere and my face blew up to three times its normal size.

"The worst thing was that they thought it was cancerous. I had to sign a statement saying that if they needed to remove half my mouth I would let them do it."

Barry was operated on next morning. The tumor was removed, but so was much of the bone surrounding it.

"They told me I nearly died. Thank God the surgeons were able to do a good job. Now because of the loss of bone I'm having dental treatment three times a week to save my teeth. But better that than the alternative.

"The shattering thing was that it all happened so fast. I had absolutely no warning. Four days later, I was still in pain but I was back home in the same chair, doing the same crossword puzzle, staring out at the same view.

"Except when you know you almost lost your life you are in such a state of shock that everything looks a little different.

"I'm still recovering from it. But the doctors have told me I'm okay now and they're just repairing the damage.

"Somehow the whole experience was like a climax to this period of self-doubt I was going through, telling me to make sure that everything I did from now on was for love and no other reason. It was like an exclamation mark."

Barry's casual mention of Elizabeth Taylor reveals what must be one of showbiz's more unlikely friendships, which has grown steadily ever since he stood in for a missing artiste at the AIDS fund raising concert she organized earlier this year.

"I'm so happy she has come into my life," he says. "Elizabeth is one of my dearest friends. She's smart, experienced, worldly and classy. She's got a truck driver's mouth when she wants it, but at the same time she's the most feminine person I've ever met -- she really makes you feel like a man. But romance? No, we're just friends. Besides, she's got George (Hamilton)."

Barry's confrontation with serious illness was the last hurdle in his temporary retirement from music-making.

"It had nothing to do with the fact that my career was in trouble," he says. "Business was booming but I was exhausted.

"It wasn't a break-down so much as a mid-life crisis. I always thought that was only for people who were negative and not successful. But there I was asking myself, 'Is this it? Is this what you planned?'

"I could easily have gone on making albums and doing concerts -- there was no lack of lucrative offers -- but the spark had gone."

The respite also gave him time to finish his book Sweet Life, subtitled Adventures On The Way To Paradise, in which he recalls his early struggles in Brooklyn, his mother Edna's suicide attempts, his divorce and the way his career suddenly switched from back room boy to hit pop star.

"I decided to write a book for people who knew a lot about my musical career but didn't know all of it. In the end it took me about three years to finish," he says.

"The first version was my 'kvetching' (complaining) draft in which I whined on about anyone who's ever done me wrong. The publishers wanted me to leave it in, but that's not the sort of book I wanted to write.

"I'm a very fortunate, hardworking fellow and what I really wanted to talk about was the kind of hurricane that hits you when you don't expect success. So I re-wrote it to show what happened to me.

"I didn't seek out stardom -- I would have been happy being a behind-the-scenes musical director. But it was like somebody tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'You're on!'"

The grandson of Russian emigrant Jews, Barry Manilow's story is a classic in the poor-boy-makes-good tradition. At 19, he got a job in the CBS mail room and registered at the New York College of Music for evening classes, playing piano for an off-Broadway theatre production in his spare time. Later, teaming up with a singer called Jeanne Lucas, he did a tour of sleazy hotel cabarets and sang for an audience for the first time when Jeanne contracted laryngitis.

Late in 1970 when his reputation as a singing coach and musical director had grown, one of his clients, Sheila Rae, asked him to play an audition for her at the place called the Continental Baths.

"I arrived in my suit and tie carrying my attache case filled with music and discovered it was an openly gay Turkish baths," he says. "It was an enormous shock to me, conservative, uptight, not very cool Barry from Brooklyn. It was decadent, sexual and illegal -- all the things I wasn't. I did not feel comfortable."

Nevertheless, Barry's perseverance led to a meeting that was to change his life. He was asked to play piano for the new singer -- a girl named Bette Midler -- and the experience hit him like a thunderbolt.

"The Continental Baths period was the beginning of me being thrown into this world that I didn't understand," he recalls. "When I met Bette I admired her but couldn't deal with her because she was so uninhibited and I was so uptight. I wanted to be as spontaneous as she was, but I just didn't know how."

Yet within a year, Barry was in charge of Bette's music and her band, doing her arrangements and orchestrations. They went on the road together, ending up at a Carnegie Hall concert that was released as an album. Barry continued to write songs and started to be offered conducting jobs and commercials.

It was 1972 when he recorded a demonstration tape of some of his songs that Bell Records offered a recording contract for himself. They thought he could make a career as a singer.

"The prospect of becoming a recording artist and performer really frightened me. I was fine backing someone or leading the band, but when I was up front I felt I was making millions of mistakes. I didn't even like the sound of my own voice," he says. "I only saw myself as a songwriter or musical director for other performers."

But he signed, went on the road again with Bette, made his first album and followed up with his own first solo tour.

With his second album in 1974, he released a single called Mandy -- his first number one hit record that set him on the road to stardom.

Since then, he's had another 25 Top-40 singles, sold more than 50 million records, had five "platinum" albums (each one selling over a million copies in the UK alone), won an Emmy, a Tony and an Oscar nomination, had such spectacular Broadway sell-out concerts they have made the Guinness Book of Records, and inspired unique devotion from his fans.

"No matter how professional you are, you're just not prepared for that sort of success," he says. "Your whole world just goes whammo.

"I can understand how people who suddenly become stars turn to drugs, booze and sex, and all that madness because I was there. It's all based on insecurity, not knowing the rules and having yes-men kissing your butt all day long.

"I didn't turn to drugs, but I did turn into a brat. I went crazy. I don't know how people put up with me. When I hear some of the things I said when I was in my asshole period, I can't believe it was me.

"Now I know the only way to keep your feet on the ground is to surround yourself with people who always tell you the truth.

"I still have trouble dealing with being called BARRY MANILOW in capital letters, because I would never have chosen this kind of career in my wildest dreams. But I don't regret a minute of it.

"To be honest, I've never understood what it is they all yell for. And the few times I thought I had, and decided, 'Okay, I'll do a little bit more of that,' I've gotten myself into trouble. Maybe it's better I never find out."

Barry grew up in a Brooklyn tenement, one of the poorest areas of New York, and dreamed only of making a living as a composer and arranger of popular music.

"Gramma Esther gave me total, undivided, unconditional love," he says. "I could have been a serial killer and she would have gone on loving me, no questions asked. She's the only person who has ever loved me in that way and I'm more secure because of it."

Mother Edna wasn't quite so easy to live with. She and Barry's father, truck driver Harold Kelliher, divorced two years after he was born and she married again. But it was a boozing, brawling relationship with Edna attempting suicide.

Barry was 22 when he found Edna unconscious on her bed, an empty bottle of pills beside her. She recovered, but was committed to a sanitarium for a period.

In a chapter that reveals much abut this difficult relationship with his mother at that time, Barry writes: "When her life fell apart, she reacted by trying to take it. I had so many questions: Was she counting on my finding her? Did she do it to make me feel guilty? To make us feel sorry for her? Did she do it out of intolerable hopelessness or to get attention?"

Today, Barry and Edna live on opposite sides of the continent, he in LA, she in New York. They have settled into a loving friendship.

"I see her whenever I'm in New York," he says. "I really do like her. She's turned into a friend. I guess when you're a kid you idolise your parents and then as you grow up you get fed up with them. Now, I'm proud of her.

"She's been singing in New York nightclubs and I'm real happy for her. I saw her act once and she's always sending me video tapes. She's good. She could have had a Broadway career if she'd wanted."

Barry Manilow has an unostentatious ranch house on a hill close to Hollywood, with a superbly equipped studio largely made of glass. He lives alone, except for a daily houseman, and two dogs.

"I can stare out over the mountains and glimpse the Pacific from my little perch. I don't get lonely -- I have plenty of friends.

"But I'm happier now than I've ever been. I've found what I was looking for.

"I've made a contemporary swing album called Swing Street that involves a lot of the new musical technology and I've got the book, the tour and the TV special to come. They're all things I've never done before so I'm nervous about how they'll be received.

"But that's exactly the feeling I was trying to recapture. So I'm on cloud nine."



Originally posted 9/25/2006 10:34:00 AM

Manilow's 1979 Fractured Ankle in Paris

Source: http://scootertalk.blogspot.com/2006/10/paris-teen-stars-today-february-1979.html

PARIS

TEEN STARS TODAY
February 1979

Paris Report
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Barry Manilow's sellout European tour took him to Paris [Oct. 25, 1978], where he fractured his ankle one hour before his scheduled debut at the Olympia Theatre. Barry was rushed to a doctor who taped the injury minutes before Barry stepped onstage. Of course, being a real trouper in the best show business tradition, Barry insisted on going on and doing his complete show, which includes an intricate disco dance in the popular "Copacabana" production number.

Two thousand screaming fans at the sold-out concert gave Barry three standing ovations. The next day's papers were filled with rave reviews.

While in Paris Barry also went to the famed "Casino de Paris" to see the popular cabaret entertainer Line Renaud introduce "Copacabana" in French in her glittering show "Paris Line." Miss Renaud dedicated her first live performance of "Copacabana" to Barry, and coaxed him to come onto the stage at conclusion of her lavish show. Mis Renaud's recording in French of "Copacabana" has been a smash hit in France.

Prior to arriving in Paris Barry did six sold-out performances in London and also performed in Amsterdam. He taped a live concert in London at the Royal Albert Hall for airing in England on the BBC at Christmas.



Originally posted 10/16/2006 10:03:00 AM

Mid-life Maturing Of Barry Manilow

Source: http://scootertalk.blogspot.com/2006/08/tulsa-worldtulsa-oklahoma-january-21.html

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TULSA WORLD
Tulsa, Oklahoma
January 21, 1983

Barry Manilow Keeps Flying High

Critics? 'They Really Can't Hurt Me'

By David C. MacKenzie
World Entertainment Writer

There's at least one guy around that doesn't mind being tagged with the Barry Manilow label and that's Barry Manilow.

He's heard all the jokes. He's read all the saber-rattling critics who've called him Barry Mayonnaise. He knows a lot of people think his music is marshmallows and butterscotch in Cinemascope.

Barry Manilow laughs. His agent sends a press release that tells you everything about him from his waist size (a svelte 31 inches) to his favorite TV shows (among them Family Feud, no less). And Barry Manilow keeps producing, concertizing and writing songs he says he wants to live forever. He says it like a Swiss watchmaker will tell you matter-of-factly his products will tick regularly and tell you the time of day whenever you need it.

Barry Manilow takes the long view.

He admits he doesn't like a lot of contemporary rock. He says calmly that he likes romantic ballads, and there's no defensiveness in his voice. Even though he's a whipping boy of the press, he merely shrugs when the subject arises.

"They say in a review I gotta big nose, what am I gonna do about that, you know?" Manilow said in a recent phone conversation about his upcoming Tulsa concert. "I got nuthin' to say about that. And they say they don't like the kind of music I play. Well, I do."

Manilow takes the long view. He insists he's not interested in making the Top 40, and he talked at length about the 'Songs They Used To Write.'

The guy calling mentioned one, Manilow's I Don't Want To Walk Without You, a reading of a 1941 ballad by Harry James' band.

"My mother used to sing that for me when I was a kid," he recalled. Little Barry probably never figured he'd sing it as a grown man, back when he was growing up in Brooklyn in the '40s and early '50s.

So when Manilow the grown man decided to record the Harry James hit he'd heard his mother sing so often, the tune was a measured and true friend.

"I didn't want it to be campy," he said. "I just left it alone. I remember singing it in one take."

His was the generation that learned to play the accordion. Barry was 7 when he started.

"How long did I study? As little as possible," Manilow said with a shudder. "I was like everybody. I don't even know if I learned to play Lady of Spain. I don't think I got that far."

On stage today, Manilow comes across as a fun-loving, sentimental ham, but he never thought as a kid that he'd be a performer, even though his youthful skill at another keyboard instrument, the piano, soon became apparent. His folks praised his decision to enter the music business - "my parents gave me a little shove" is how he remembers it - and he signed on at the New York College of Music and later at the Juilliard School of Music. The Brooklynite who later won scads of awards payed his rent in Gotham with a job at the CBS mailroom.

The little shove his folks had given him went a long way, though. Only 18, Manilow met a director at CBS who was doing a musical adaptation of the warhorse The Drunkard, and asked the kid to arrange some public domain songs for the melodrama.

With the enthusiasm he still shows, Manilow instead wrote an entire original score. The musical ran off-Broadway for eight years.

But being a performer was the last thing on his mind back then.

"I didn't think of becoming a performer until after I got married, at the age of 21. Before that, it was all a hobby. I wanted to be an arranger. Today, if I had my druthers, I'd stay behind the scenes. I didn't start out planning to be a singer."

But a performer he was, playing in night clubs. Manilow always goes back to those days. He calls them "dives," with the tough-guy affection a Hemingway character would show when he referred to his father as "my old man." Places where the pianists took requests. Clubs that produced a Willie Nelson, singing his own material, San Antonio Rose, Stardust and whatever else the crowd wanted to hear.

He remembers those days the way a Marine remembers taking a beachhead. It gives you a new respect for the Manilow who wrote a salute to every wild bar in the world - At the Copa.

"Any musician worth his salt has to have a background in the music of the '30s and '40s," he said, unthinkingly distancing himself from most of today's rockers. "You play in bars, you play in dives, you get a repertoire under your belt of standards. Guys ask for 'em and you gotta learn 'em. I mean, songs like Lush Life and Gone With the Wind. That's the kind of stuff I grew up learning in bars and night clubs."

Manilow soon learned about the hubba-hubba of show business. He might have started in night clubs, but the performer who won't play in Las Vegas was determined to get away from the smoke and the clatter.

In 1967, at the age of 21, Manilow became music director for the Emmy-winning WCBS-TV show Callback! That was followed by a stint conducting and arranging for Ed Sullivan productions, arranging a new theme for The Late Show, along with writing, producing and singing his now-notorious radio and TV jingles. He also landed a two-season run at New York's Upstairs at the Downstairs, with Manilow half of a musical duo.

A momentous alliance was formed in 1972 (sic), when Manilow met Bette Midler, the Divine Miss M, the Queen of Tack. He became her music director, arranger and accompanist.

They recorded and toured together, and performed in Tulsa at the old Municipal Theater, now the Old Lady of Brady, just as Miss Midler's career was taking off. Current-day newspapermen still shake their heads in wonder over that concert, and Manilow fondly remembered it, too, when the guy called.

Manilow also worked with Bette Midler in the studio, co-producing and creating arrangements for her first two albums, the first of which, The Divine Miss M, won her a Grammy.

But Manilow's own career was forming, too. His first tour, in 1974, was started to capitalize on his hit Mandy, the first of 22 consecutive To-40 songs for Manilow.

There was talk of a rift afterwards between the two artists, but Manilow says he and Miss Midler are still friends. "I saw her last night at her show," he said. "What happened was, she took a year off, and that was the year Mandy took off. By that time, I was doing my own show and there was no way I could go back."

Since then, too, Manilow had found himself amazingly popular.

~ Each of his 10 albums has sold at least a million copies.

~ His 1977 ABC special drew 37 million viewers. Three more specials followed, one co-produced and co-written by Manilow.

~ Manilow's first venture into cable TV sparked a front-page banner headline in Variety.

~ Barry Manilow sold out on Broadway and won a Tony.

~ Barry Manilow was voted Photoplay's top vocalist of the year three years running.

~ Manilow was nominated for an Oscar the first time he recorded a song for the silver screen. The movie, the Chevy Chase - Goldie Hawn romp Foul Play, the song, Ready to Take a Chance Again.

~ By 1978 Manilow had five albums on the charts simultaneously, a record broken by only two other singers, Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mathis.

~ Manilow has sold more than 40 million albums.

The only problem with all this was, Manilow became something of a musical gag. Ray Stevens even had a hit with an uncanny pastiche of the Manilow style titled I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow.

"With the music around now, I have trouble getting play as it is," Manilow grumbled when the subject arose. "They have a point, but I know exactly what I'm doing when I do my stuff. I know exactly how I want it to sound. I do it because that's the way I think the songs should be sung. I laughed a lot when I heard Ray Stevens' song. Hey, when they make fun of me on Saturday Night Live, I know I've made it.

"I might've been burned by the press, but they can't really hurt me. They've given me a fair shake. They're writing their opinion. The more I live, the more I realize everybody gets it. It's their own personal opinion. I don't mind the press."

In 1981, Manilow set 12 box-office records in the United States, including one set by the Rolling Stones, and a year later made his debut (sic) in England, beginning with five sold-out nights at London's Royal Albert Hall. There were so many cops there to handle the crowds, the British press compared the commotion to the heyday of Elvis Presley and the Beatles.

It's possible that Manilow's latest tour, one that will bring him to Oral Roberts University's Mabee Center Wednesday, might bring similar attention.

"We're calling the tour Around the World in Eight[y] Dates," he said with a chuckle. "We're playing the United States, and then I'm going around the world - to Japan, Hong Kong, Manila, Australia and South Africa. Yeah. When they asked me to go to South Africa I wasn't crazy about it. But I'll actually be playing in Sun City, which is its own country. It appears that the international attention I'm getting is just starting, and little by little it's exploding."

That last sounds like Manilow the Superstar, except when he adds a characteristic, boy-from-Brooklyn afterthought. "I've never been to any of those places before."

If Manilow keeps a sense of wide-eyed wonder, he's shrewd about playing in Vegas, even if he sounds like a natural for that town. And he knows that New York is a place you sometimes can't go home to.

"Vegas? I haven't played Vegas in two or three years. I have NEVER liked Vegas. Some of the older entertainers might like it, but I don't know anybody my age who does. They work you to death. You do two shows a night for a lot of drunken people crammed into a room.

"I consider myself a New Yorker, but I live in California now. I've been Cali-fornicated, as my friends say. When success hit me, I tried to go back to New York, but it's not the same. I still have family and come back and visit."

Barry Manilow takes the long view.

"I record songs that live forever, not for six weeks on a radio chart. Sometimes they might sound a little dated. But I've got a catalog of songs that will outlive me.

"And I don't live my life around my career any more. I have my friends and my private interests. At the beginning, when I was working up a Mandy or Ready to Take a Chance Again, I was living it and breathing it. And I thought if it didn't work I would die.

"I don't die any more."



Originally posted 8/16/2006 12:13:00 PM

Manilow's 1986 Blanket License Lobbying

Source: http://scootertalk.blogspot.com/2006/11/billboard-october-11-1986-manilow-bill.html

BILLBOARD
October 11, 1986

Manilow: Bill Would Spell DisasterPhotobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Star Reacts To Source Licensing Moves

By Bill Holland

WASHINGTON: Twelve years ago, Barry Manilow was just another aspiring songwriter. His career, he says, would have been nipped in the bud if Congress had passed a bill it is now considering.

Manilow and three other prominent BMI songwriters came to town late recently for two days of meetings with legislators concerning the ramifications of a so-called source-licensing bill now pending in the Senate and House of Representatives.

The legislation, put forward by local television broadcasters, would mandate songwriter-producer source licensing of theme and incidental music on syndicated TV show reruns and would disallow use of the blanket license now in effect.

Manilow, Bruce Sussman, Tom Scott, and Charlie Fox said that legislators have not been told the whole story and that the bill, if enacted, would be unfair and spell disaster for songwriters.

The songwriters said that many representatives in Congress do not realize that without the blanket license, artists would have to individually negotiate up front with producers, without knowing if a series will be a success. The license now pays according to a per-use formula.

Said Scott, "The source license would be an administrative nightmare. Also, I could never possibly negotiate a deal as well as I do now on a show that proves to be successful. How could I go to a producer and say, 'I've written this song for this show, which I think may last for 10 or 20 years, so why don't you pay me on that basis?' What's he going to say, 'Sure, fine'?"

Manilow said that such a bill would act as a precedent for broadcasters to get rid of the blanket license entirely. He said, "If the system starts to unravel, then everybody's going to suffer -- not only me, but the people who are just getting started, especially the young songwriters. It will not end at the local television stations -- it will go on to the networks; it will go on to radio. Absolutely."

Proponents of the bill have said there are no plans to extend use of a source license to other areas.

Scott countered the proponents' contention that the blanket license serves as a "double dip" for the Hollywood producers, who often own the publishing copyright for the music. "Our concern is not with who owns the copyright. Our concern as songwriters is the fact that we created something that is being played over and over again . . . and what is important is that we get paid on a per-use basis for our creations."

Sussman showed a concern for the careers of up-and-coming songwriters. "If we concede that in the worst scenario this law were changed, we sitting here have the best chance of surviving that catastrophe because we have the resumes and the clout and the attorneys. But we also know the reality that most young writers are going to be thrown to the lions. The producers are going to say, 'We'll pay you $500 for this, and if the show runs 13 years . . . too bad, Charlie.'"

Sussman said that the broadcasters are "taking their dirty laundry into Congress now because they haven't been able to get it through the courts." He added, "We've gotten the feeling from talking to congressmen that they're starting to resent having to deal with this."

Charlie Fox said that for songwriters, "this is a lifeblood issue. They seem to think on the other side that this is just one corporation fighting another corporation. It's not true.

"We are one group of people who will not stop coming here [Congress], because we all have our lives at stake here, musically speaking. The future of music is at stake here."

"We'll be back here if we need to," said Manilow. "It's a passionate subject. Right now, a lot of congressmen think that all songwriters reside in Hollywood and New York; we've talked to many of them who don't think they represent any writers in their districts. So I think it's important that if you're a songwriter, you should write your congressmen. They all told us, 'If I got some letters, I might think differently.'"



Originally posted 11/02/2006 03:00:00 PM

Manilow the lobbyist

Source: http://scootertalk.blogspot.com/2006/08/audio-home-recording-act-of-1991.html

THE AUDIO HOME RECORDING ACT OF 1991

ON H.R. 3204
THE AUDIO HOME RECORDING ACT OF 1991

Before the Subcommittee on
Intellectual Property and Judicial Administration
House Committee on the Judiciary

February 19, 1992

Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, my name is Barry Manilow. I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here today to testify in support of H.R. 3204, the Audio Home Recording Act of 1991. I come before the subcommittee today as a BMI songwriter, but I am also a musician, recording artist, music publisher, and consumer. I am also here today to represent thousands of others in the music industry.

In the time I've been allotted, I would like to stress three reasons why this legislation is of paramount importance to the music community and to consumers. First, this bill provides compensation to the creators, producers and performers of music for the home copying of our works.

Second, it will provide consumers with access to the most innovative and exciting new digital audio technologies that the market has to offer; in addition, the bill protects consumers from copyright infringement lawsuits for home copying of music for their personal use.

Finally, it will continue the great tradition of America's copyright law in fostering the creative spirit by preserving incentives for songwriters, musicians, performers and record companies to produce music. By ensuring a fair return on our investment of time and talent, Congress will guarantee that America's music community will continue to be the world leader in the production of recorded music.

Let me return to my first point as to why compensation to creators and producers of music is so important, by giving you a little insight into this crazy business of music. Like any other profession, it takes a great deal of work to achieve any degree of success. Not to mention a whole lot of luck. I've been very fortunate in my career. I'm proud of my achievements and my music. But I'm not here on behalf of myself. I've made it. My career started over twenty years ago, at a time when technology only presented new horizons, not fears. I'd like to speak to you on behalf of the thousands and thousands of American songwriters, musicians and performers who are struggling right now and who may or may not make it; and even more importantly, for the next generation of talent who will start with the same basic gifts I did and who must have the same opportunities.

As you probably know, success in the music business is a rarity. For every songwriter or performer that you can identify - there are hundreds of names that you'll never hear; hundreds of people who will never achieve any degree of financial success as a songwriter or performer. In addition, there are many other people who contribute to an artist's efforts who will never gain the attention of the public - other songwriters, publishers, recording engineers, mastering engineers, producers, background vocalists and musicians, A & R executives, promoters, marketers, distributors, and, of course, the record retainer - these are just some of the people who help bring music to the public. It is for these faceless and nameless individuals that I appear before you today to support this important legislation.

As songwriters, performers, and musicians we earn our money pennies at a time. We want our fans to enjoy our music, yes, but we also want to be paid for our work. When you're struggling to make ends meet, every little bit helps. For every record we well, we earn some money - a few cents. These pennies add up to be our salary. Only a few of the biggest superstars get paid up front. Most of us only get paid when the record sells. If we are lucky enough to get a hit, it's great news - that people like our songs.

The bad news is that it's the "hits" that get taped. Don't get me wrong. I'd rather have a hit, but when someone makes a copy of our work instead of buying it, this takes money out of our pockets and bread off our tables. Home copying threatens our very livelihood.

Never before has this threat been greater than today, as we enter an age of digital technology. The irony is that, as a producer and an artist, no one appreciates the advance of new technologies more than I. It has been really exciting to work with digital recording in the studio.

However, the advent of new digital audio recording devices for consumer use, such as DAT, Digital Compact Cassette (DCC), recordable CD, and Mini-Disc (MD), has a different meaning for me. DAT, for instance, permits consumers to make perfect copies for many generations. With digital technology, the 100th copy is as perfect as the first. If perfect copies can be made for only the cost of a blank tape, why purchase an original? Why pay for a prerecorded cassette or compact disc when you could get a digital copy from a friend that is as perfect as the original?

It is not a pleasant exercise, Mr. Chairman, to read about blank tape sales. That is why I am so pleased to be here today on behalf of this legislation. In my view, it brings only positive benefits to us all. This legislation will effectively remove the fears associated with digital recording technologies and permit songwriters, musicians and performers to join hands with consumers in embracing these new products. In addition to royalties, this bill provides for a limitation on the ability to make digital copies of digital copies through a requirement that all nonprofessional models of such equipment incorporate the "Serial Copy Management System" ("SCMS").

This leads to my second point, that consumers will gain access to exciting new technologies, free from the legal entanglement of the past. I want to address this point, first as an artist, then on the part of the consumer.

First, musicians want the best possible equipment available to deliver our music. The higher the quality of the equipment, the better our music sounds. No one in the music community has enjoyed being labeled as "anti-technology" just because we were concerned about the need to protect our rights - our copyrights. We've always wanted our fans to hear what we create in a setting as close to studio perfect as possible.

In the past, the consumer has been denied access to developing new technologies because of the legal climate surrounding introduction of DAT and other products. This bill changes the landscape, permitting manufacturers of new digital audio recorders to bring their products to the market without fear of lawsuits or the problems of the past. And, as it should be, the market will dictate the success or failure of these technologies. As an avid music fan, I am excited about all the possibilities that await us. The only dilemma will be for the consumer to decide among all the available technologies. But isn't that the way it should be?

Finally turning to my third point, this legislation will preserve the incentives for American songwriters, musicians, performers and record companies to continue to create music, thus maintaining our pre-eminence in the world market. When American music is played abroad we're not just exporting U.S. product, we're exporting American culture and ideals.

In these tough economic times, American music continues to dominate world trade. This means songwriters, musicians, and performers can continue to work at this business we all love. This legislation fuels investment in a diversity of music - music designed to meet all the tastes and interests of our pluralistic society, such as jazz, classical, gospel, folk, country, rap, and yes, even good old fashioned rock and roll.

By protecting our livelihoods, H.R. 3204 will provide the financial nourishment necessary to produce the quality and diversity of music we've all become accustomed to enjoying. Without this bill, our music industry could be on a downhill spiral that would result in a uniformity of music and career changes for songwriters, musicians, and performers.

Imagine this - without the protection this legislation offers, the music community would surely lose more revenue from home copying at an ever increasing rate. This translates into fewer dollars available to invest in new talent. We could lose a whole generation of young songwriters, musicians and performers solely from lack of adequate protection for our copyrights. Record companies would be less willing, and much less able, to take chances on new talent. Songwriters would be forced to write only those songs that they think would sell. Less popular genres of music, such as jazz, folk or classical, would fall by the wayside. And we'd all be bored and uninspired!

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, and members of this committee, you have taken the opportunity and provided the leadership necessary to prevent this dismal future by introducing H.R. 3204. Please now take the final step by enacting this measure as soon as possible so that American music, in all its richness and diversity, will be around for generations to come.

Thank you.

~~~~~~~

Note: On October 28, 1992, President Bush signed the Audio Home Recording Act into law. The Act, an historic compromise between the consumer electronics and music industries, became effective immediately.



Originally posted 8/06/2006 10:14:00 AM

Dear Abby 1981 Column From Manilow Fan

Source: http://scootertalk.blogspot.com/2006/08/dear-abby-indianapolis-news-december.html


DEAR ABBY

Indianapolis News
December 15, 1981

Dear Abby

By Abigail Van Buren

Dear Abby:

I recently attended a Barry Manilow concert, and I haven't been able to get him out of my mind since. Abby, I am perfectly in tune with all the feelings Barry expresses! All my life I've had the feeling that God put me on earth to love and fulfill the needs of someone like Barry Manilow, someone who has everything in the world but happens to be very lonely. Please don't get me wrong. It's not the money, fame or glamor I'm looking for. I just want to devote my life to someone who wants more than anything in the world to be loved for himself, but has never found that person.

If Barry is involved already, I would like the chance to make Burt Reynolds happy. In spite of his macho confident manner, I sense that Burt is also a very lonely person who needs love.

I am not a fat, ugly old woman who has never had a date. I am 22, attractive and have no trouble getting dates. I just need help to do what the Lord wants me to do.

Can you help me meet Barry Manilow or Burt Reynolds?

Signed: Needs An Introduction....

~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Needs:

Superstars such as Barry Manilow and Burt Reynolds work very hard, and their schedules are so demanding they have very little time to become lonely. However, if the good Lord wants you to meet either one of these gentlemen, trust him to provide the introduction.



Originally posted 8/11/2006 09:09:00 AM

Playboy December 1965 Advice Letter From Barry Manilow

Source: http://scootertalk.blogspot.com/2006/08/playboydecember-1965vol.html

PLAYBOY
December - 1965
Vol. 12, No. 12

Letter:

Music has always been a vital part of my life. Due to financial difficulties, however, I had to stop attending music school and accept a job at a leading radio-and-television network. Through enormous good fortune, I have been promoted very rapidly and at the age of 22 I hold a junior executive position with a very generous salary. The only drawback is that this position has absolutely nothing to do with music.

During these past few years, between working and attending college, I have managed to musically direct and conduct three full-scale musicals at various theater workshops in New York. I now have an offer to take this last musical out of town for a period of six to eight months at a good salary with the promise of a permanent position as a musical director.

My musical wild oats are screaming to be sown, but it means giving up my secure job. Leaves of absence are rare, so it looks like it's either one or the other. Any suggestions?

--B. M., Brooklyn, New York.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Answer:

Follow your real interest and take the musical out of town. At your age, your financial responsibilities are few. If you remain in the secure job, you may regret for the rest of your life that you didn't sow your notes. You can always go back to radio and television; your ability was recognized once; chances are it would be recognized again--if not with your former employer, then elsewhere.



Originally posted 8/09/2006 12:04:00 PM