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Christopher's Cool Barry Manilow Page!

PAGE INITIATED:  JANUARY 22, 2000.

LAST UPDATED:  FEBRUARY 9, 2003!

This is my tribute page to another of my favorite artists, Barry Manilow.

No other artist or group from 1974-1985 scored as many hits on the Adult Contemporary charts as Barry Manilow.  Critics be darned!  Even Rolling Stone finally gave Barry due credit, with one of their senior writers penning an extensive essay for The Complete Collection And Then Some... box set booklet in 1992.  His own songs have been so well-received world-wide, he was formally inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 13, 2002.  I am very proud that the very first concert I ever went to was Barry's performance at the Spokane Coliseum on September 11, 1985.

His ad jingles from the late '60s and early '70s are still sung today!  Remember 'Like a good neighbor...', 'I am stuck on Band-Aids...', and 'Give your face something to smile about?'  Those and many others came from the pen of Barry Manilow!  :-)  Click here for jingle samples!

Barry's rise to fame started in 1971, when Tony Orlando produced a song written by Barry's long-time collaborator, Adrienne Anderson, featuring Barry as the 'ghost' voice of a ficticious group called Featherbed.   In September, Bell Records (predecessor to Arista) wanted another Featherbed record, and Barry showed the original Manilow-Anderson draft of 'Could It Be Magic' to Tony as a good followup.  Tony took Barry's idea for the slow build-to-a-climax song, and made yet another bubblegum up-tempo tune.  Not what Barry had in mind, but the October 9, 1971 issue of Billboard magazine gave it a good review!  It kept Barry in the minds of the A&R folks at Bell, and influenced the one person who would change his career forever.  More later...

During all of this, Barry was serving as the producer, arranger, and musical director for Bette Midler, who hired him to bolster the musical quality of her shows in the Continental Baths and The Upstairs At The Downstairs, among other NYC clubs, and also try to land a recording contract.  It paid off royally for both of them!  In the fall of 1971, Bette had a recording contract with Atlantic Records, and made her TV debut on The Tonight Show, with Barry on board!  Barry co-produced most of The Divine Miss M (1972) with Atlantic founder Ahmet Ertegun and Geoffrey Haslam, and co-produced her 1973 self-titled followup album with Arif Mardin (whom Bette and Barry both still work with from time to time).  The Upstairs At The Downstairs also asked if Barry and Bette's trio would do a few songs to open the shows before Bette went on stage, for an extra $50 a week.  Bette approved, and 'Sweet Life' and 'I Am Your Child' were two of four songs Barry penned.  In June 1972, Bette landed a gig at Carnegie Hall, and Barry and the trio played their four-song set during the intermission.   Barry was very nervous about following up Bette's first act closer, 'Do You Wanna Dance', but they were warmly received by the audiences.  Based on this success, Bell signed Barry "as a composer/singer, but only for singles," as Barry would later recall.  He thought the fastest way to get the songs he wrote to the public was to record an entire album of them, so REAL singers would hear them and try to make them hits.

He staged a showcase of himself for Bell at the Continental Baths on June 3, 1973, trying to fool Bell into believing he was a great performer. Modest Barry had no such dreams at that point; he only wanted to get his songs out there.  Bell was so impressed by Barry and his cast of the best studio musicians in NYC, that they did sign him to record an album of his songs.   "I recorded it, believing that I would tour for a short while and then never do it again."  Boy, was he in for a surprise...

Barry Manilow was released July 7, 1973, just 34 days after the showcase.  Barry's co-producer was no slouch, either:  Ron Dante, the lead vocalist for The Archies ('Sugar Sugar'). Ron would co-produce and sing backing vocals on all of Barry's albums through 1980.  Even though it wouldn't have any hits for 2 years, it was good enough to garner a request for a second album from the Bell brass, and influence the future CEO of the label... Enter Clive Davis!

The year is now 1974.   Barry had already started recording Barry Manilow II when Columbia Pictures, the corporate parent of Bell, brought in Clive Davis, fresh from his stint as the head honcho for CBS Records, to run their troubled record label.  They gave Clive complete control for the new label, Arista, contributed the entire Bell catalog to the new label, and also gave him the authority to decide which artists from Bell's current roster would stay with Arista.  He listened to the tapes of 40-50 artists, and kept the big names like The 5th Dimension and Tony Orlando & Dawn.  Two artists with one album each on the label, but very little commercial success, caught Clive's attention:  Melissa Manchester (who was one of the backing singers during Bette's '72 Carengie Hall shows), and Barry Manilow.

Clive Davis was unsure about keeping young Barry on Arista, even though Clive loved his first album.  So Clive went to see Barry opening for Dionne Warwick in Central Park, NYC, and was floored by Barry's vocal interpretive talents.  Barry saw himself more as the songwriter, not the singer.  Clive suggested the Scott English-Richard Kerr tune 'Brandy', which had been a brief Top 10 hit in the UK for Scott English.  Barry slowed it down to a ballad as he was learning it, and when they went to the studio the night of August 20, 1974, Barry played it up-tempo (as Scott English recorded it), and Clive hated it. When he switched to the ballad mode, Clive loved it. They changed the name to 'Mandy' because of the Looking Glass's hit 'Brandy' of a few years earlier.

'Mandy'.  Three takes, all recorded live.  Take One is on the box set.  Take Three appears on Barry Manilow II, released on October 3, 1974, one of the last albums on the Bell label.  'Mandy' hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart for the week ended January 18, 1975.

...and the rest is Rock 'N' Roll history!

SOME OF THE JINGLES BARRY WAS INVOLVED WITH!

Kentucky Fried Chicken (Al Gorgoni-Rob Nolan) KFC official web site
State Farm Insurance (Barry Manilow-Jerry Gavin) State Farm official web site
Stridex (Barry Manilow)
Band-Aids (Barry Manilow)
Bowlene (Barry Manilow-Lois Wise)
Dr Pepper (Randy Newman-Jake Holmes) Dr Pepper official web site
Pepsi (Ellen Starr-Joe McNeil) Pepsi World official web site
McDonald's (Kevin Gavin-Sid Woloshin) McDonald's official web site

BARRY MANILOW DISCOGRAHPY

Release dates listed through 1992 are the original release dates/months as listed in the booklet for The Complete Collection And Then Some... or from on-line CD sites, except '*', which are approximate dates.

The code numbers listed are for the original album releases, from my own personal collection or the discography link to the right.  Complete discography information is available from The BARRYnet.

*SPRING, 1971 (?)   'Amy' (Single) -- Featherbed Featuring Barry Manilow.
Produced by Tony Orlando. (Bell 971)

SEPTEMBER, 1971  'Could It Be Magic' (Single) -- Featherbed Featuring Barry Manilow.
Produced by Tony Orlando. (Bell 45133)

All albums 1973-1980 Produced by Barry Manilow and Ron Dante.

JULY 7, 1973   Barry Manilow Bell B 1129.
Features 'Could It Be Magic' (6:49 version), 'Sweet Life', 'Sweetwater Jones', 'One Of These Days', 'Oh My Lady', 'Friends', 'I Am Your Child' (from the motion picture Parades), and 'Cloudburst'.
(The Arista version was issued in 1975 as Barry Manilow I, Arista AL 4007, with a different cover and remixes of 'Could It Be Magic', 'One Of These Days', 'Sweet Life', and 'Oh My Lady'.)

OCTOBER 3, 1974   Barry Manilow II Bell B 1314/Arista AL 4016.
Features 'Mandy, 'It's A Miracle', 'Avenue C', 'I Want To Be Somebody's Baby', 'Sandra',
'Early Morning Strangers', and 'Something's Coming Up'.
(Outtake:  Take One of 'Mandy', where Barry flubs the lyric and sings 'Brandy' (oops), included on the box set.)
(The 1996 remaster (Arista 18944) also includes 'Halfway Over The Hill'.)

OCTOBER 15, 1975   Tryin' To Get The Feeling Arista AL 4060.
Features 'Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again', 'I Write The Songs', 'Beautiful Music', 'New York City Rhythm', 'Bandstand Boogie', and 'A Nice Boy Like Me'.
(Outtake:  A lost bridge on the title track, included on the box set.)
(The 1998 remaster (Arista 19040) also includes 'Marry Me A Little'.)

JULY 30, 1976   This One's For You Arista AL 4090.
Features 'This One's For You', 'Daybreak', 'Jump Shout Boogie', 'Weekend In New England', 'All The Time',
'Riders To The Stars', and 'Looks Like We Made It'.
(Outtakes:  'My Girl/'No One In This World' (w/Melissa Manchester), and a demo version of the title track;
both included on the box set.)

MAY 11, 1977   BARRY MANILOW LIVE Arista A2L 8500. (2 LP/1 tape/edited CD)
This #1 album features 'A Very Strange Medley (V.S.M.)' (famous ad jingles Barry was involved with), 'Studio Musician' (a Rupert Holmes tune), 'It's Just Another New Year's Eve', 'Jump Shout Boogie Medley',
and the world-famous 'Could It Be Magic/Mandy' Medley.
(Outtake:  'I Want To Be Somebody's Baby', included on the box set.)

JANUARY 13, 1978   Even Now Arista AB 4164.
Features 'Even Now', 'Can't Smile Without You', 'Somewhere In The Night', 'Copacabana (At The Copa)'.
(Outtake:  Alternate first take of 'Can't Smile Without You', included on the box set.)
(The 1996 remaster (Arista 18946) also includes 'No Love For Jenny'.)

JULY 12, 1978   FOUL PLAY (ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK), Arista AL 9501.
Barry's featured tracks: 'Copacabana (At The Copa)' and 'Ready To Take A Chance Again'.

*NOVEMBER, 1978 (?)   Greatest Hits (Original issue), Arista A2L 8601. (2 LP/1 tape/edited CD)
Features 'It's A Miracle' (REMIX), 'Ready To Take A Chance Again', 'Daybreak' (from BM LIVE).

SEPTEMBER 25, 1979   One Voice, Arista AL 9505.
Features 'Ships', 'One Voice', 'I Don't Wan't To Walk Without You', 'Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed'.
(The 1998 remaster (Arista 19042) also includes 'They Gave In To The Blues'.)

NOVEMBER 19, 1980   Barry, Arista AL 9537.
Features 'I Made It Through The Rain', 'The Last Duet' (w/Lily Tomlin), 'Life Will Go On', 'Lonely Together', 'Bermuda Triangle', 'We Still Have Time' (from the motion picture Tribute).
(Outtake:  Original recording of 'I Made It Through The Rain', before Barry, Bruce, and Jack rewrote the lyrics, included on the box set.)

*NOVEMBER, 1981 (?)   If I Should Love Again, Arista AL 9573.
Features 'The Old Songs', 'Let's Hang On', 'If I Should Love Again', 'Somewhere Down The Road'.
(Outtakes:  'Ain't It A Shame', demos of 'Wild Places', 'Joey', and 'Somewhere Down The Road', and alternate takes of 'The Old Songs' and the title track, all included on the box set.)
(The 1998 remaster (Arista 19041) also includes 'You're Runnin' Too Hard'.)

*FEBRUARY, 1982 (?)   Manilow Magic, K-Tel/Arista NU 9740.  16 songs spanning 1973-1981.

APRIL, 1982   BARRY LIVE IN BRITAIN, Arista ARTV 4 (CD code: 261 320) (UK import).

*JUNE, 1982 (?)   Oh, Julie! (EP), Arista AB 2500.
Features 'Oh Julie', 'Some Kind Of Friend'.

*NOVEMBER, 1982 (?)   Here Comes The Night, Arista AL 9610.
Features 'Some Kind Of Friend', 'Here Comes The Night', 'Memory' (from Cats).

NOVEMBER 3, 1983   Greatest Hits Vol. II (Original issue), Arista AL8-8102.
Features 3 new tracks: 'Read 'Em And Weep', 'Put A Quarter In The Jukebox' (w/Ronnie Milsap), 'You're Lookin' Hot Tonight'.

NOVEMBER 15, 1984   2:00 A.M. Paradise Café, Arista AL8-8254. [DDD]
This Top 10 jazz album features performances by many of jazz's greats, most of whom are no longer with us now.  Featured songs include 'When October Goes' (one of the lyrics Johnny Mercer left for Barry to complete), 'Big City Blues' (w/Mel Tormé), and 'Blue' (w/Sarah Vaughn).
(1996 remaster (Arista 18945).)

*MAY, 1985 (?)   The Manilow Collection (20 Classic Hits), Arista AL9-8274.
(An 18-track CD with an alternate track list was issued in Japan (BVCA-169).)
Features 'Run To Me' (w/Dionne Warwick).

NOVEMBER, 1985   Manilow, RCA AFL1-7044.
Features 'I'm Your Man', 'In Search Of Love', 'He Doesn't Care (But I Do)', 'At The Dance', 'Sweet Heaven (I'm In Love Again)' (from the TV movie Copacabana), 'It's A Long Way Up'.  Soon-to-be Chicago bassist and vocalist Jason Scheff sings backing vocals on 5 of the songs.
(Outtake:  'Don't Talk To Me Of Love' (w/Mireille Matthieu), from the French release, included on the box set.)

JANUARY, 1986   COPACABANA (ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK), RCA SML1-7178.
Features 'Copacabana (At The Copa) 1985', 'Who Needs To Dream', 'Sweet Heaven (I'm In Love Again)'.
This album was only available through mail order (address in the Manilow liner notes).  Issued on CD in 2001 from Copa Direct.

OCTOBER 12, 1987   Swing Street, Arista AL-8527.
Jazz/swing album featuring some of the jazz greats from Paradise Café, as well as modern jazz/swing performers.  Featured songs include 'Brooklyn Blues', 'Swing Street', 'Hey Mambo' (w/Kid Creole & The Coconuts).
(1998 remaster (Arista 18947).)

APRIL 4, 1989   Greatest Hits Volume I (new), Arista AL-8598.
10 songs.

APRIL 4, 1989   Greatest Hits Volume II (new), Arista AL-8599.
10 songs.  Features new track 'You're My Only Girl (Jenny)'.

APRIL 4, 1989   Greatest Hits Volume III, Arista AL-8600.
10 songs.  Features new track 'Dirt Cheap'.

APRIL 27, 1989   Barry Manilow, Arista AL-8570.
(also known as the 'Take the Manilow Challenge!' album)
Features 'Please Don't Be Scared', 'Keep Each Other Warm', 'A Little Travelling Music, Please'.

APRIL 17, 1990   LIVE ON BROADWAY, Arista AL-8638.
Broadway show tunes and classic Manilow tunes, as well.

SEPTEMBER 25, 1990   Because It's Christmas, Arista AL-8644.
A #1 album featuring guest appearances by Exposé and K.T. Oslin.

SEPTEMBER 24, 1991   SHOWSTOPPERS, Arista 18687.
More Broadway show tunes.
(Outtake:  A Barry-Bruce-Jack original called 'Let Freedom Ring', written and originally performed for the Statue of Liberty Centennial bash in 1986, finally recorded, and included in the box set.)

NOVEMBER 10, 1992   The Complete Collection And Then Some..., Arista 18714. (4 CD/tape set plus video)
Features 30 rare, outtake, demo, and alternate recordings (many of which are mentioned above), plus 5 new songs:  'The Best Of Me', 'Another Life', 'If Tomorrow Never Comes', 'I Can't Teach My Old Heart New Tricks', and 'Let Me Be Your Wings' (solo version of the song from the motion picture Thumbelina).

(Highlights from the box set were released in Australia as Hidden Treasures.)

*JUNE, 1994 (?)   THUMBELINA (ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK), SBK/Capitol 29126.
Songs by Barry Manilow, lyrics by Bruce Sussman and Jack Feldman; underscore by Barry Manilow and William Ross.
Features 'Let Me Be Your Wings' (w/Debra Byrd).

OCTOBER 11, 1994 (?)   Singin' With The Big Bands, Arista 18771.
This Big Band tribute album features guest appearances by surviving members of the greatest Big Band-era orchestras, plus Rosemary Clooney and Debra Byrd.  Produced by Phil Ramone and Barry Manilow.

*1995   THE PEBBLE AND THE PENGUIN (ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK), Kid Rhino/WEA R2 71996 .
Songs by Barry Manilow, lyrics by Bruce Sussman.

OCTOBER 29, 1996   'The Arista Masters' remasters of Manilow II, Even Now, Swing Street, Paradise Café.

NOVEMBER 19, 1996   Summer Of '78, Arista 18809.
Featuring cover versions of classic 1978 pop songs.  Produced by Michael Omartian and Barry Manilow.

NOVEMBER 10, 1998   Manilow Sings Sinatra, Arista 19033.
Barry's tribute album to Ol' Blue Eyes.  Produced by Phil Ramone and Barry Manilow.

NOVEMBER 24, 1998   'The Arista Masters' remasters of Feeling Again, Love Again, One Voice.

NOVEMBER 13, 2001   Here At The Mayflower, Concord 2102.  (The Japanese edition (2109) contains 2 bonus tracks.)
A concept album based on the brownstone Barry grew up in.  Barry performs almost all of the instruments, wrote all of the music, and a good chunk of the lyric writing, too!
Featuring Dave Koz on sax, and the return of Ron Dante doing backing vocals on two tracks, along with the return of past collaborators Adrienne Anderson, Enoch 'Nick' Anderson, Marty Panzer, Eddie Arkin and Mindy Sterling.
Features 'Turn The Radio Up', 'They Dance!' (Top 30 hit in June 2002), 'Talk To Me'.  Produced by Barry Manilow.

FEBRUARY 5, 2002   Ultimate Manilow, Arista 10600.
A 20-track single CD covering most of Barry's hits for Arista 1973-1984.

NOVEMBER 12, 2002   A Christmas Gift Of Love, Concord Jazz/Columbia 86976.
Features more Christmas music, including covers of "My Favorite Things" and the Joni Mitchell tune "River" (which is popping up on a lot of Xmas albums in recent years), plus a new Manilow-Sussman tune "A Gift Of Love".

THE LINKS!