Pages

Friday, June 27, 2008

I'm All Yours For A Song

Are you the kind of person who:
  • Loves Barry Manilow's music, but hates, Hates, HATES being called a fan?
  • Hate the term "Fanilow" unless it applies to children under 10?
  • Not into merchandising?
  • May not be in love with every little thing the man has written/produced/recorded/arranged but can appreciate it nonetheless?
  • Loves cutting lose and getting a little emotional and crazy at a concert - but keeps that emotional overflow in the venue where it belongs?
  • Not into fan clubs but enjoys in-depth discussions about the music and performanes with other fans? (Yeah, see point #1 above, but what other word is there?)
  • Doesn't give a rat's behind where Barry lives?
  • Doesn't give another rat's behind about aspects of his personal life that he doesn't choose to reveal?
Me too!

In fact, there's a lot of us.

Where are they?

Some of them landed at the new Manilow Network that Stiletto set up a couple of months ago.

Back when the Network was launched I blogged about questions of how heavily moderated the site would be, what opinions would be allowed, etc. (Changing the Taste of Love) The reason didn't have to do with Barry, per se. Over the years I've both watched first-hand and heard war stories about "artists" flipping out at their fans if anyone dared not adore their latest effort. These people weren't interested in making music as they were in getting their asses kissed unconditionally. One is a creative drive. The other is a psychological pathology.

So those of us who love to delve into the music - what we love, what we're not sure about, what we really can't stand, why we think or feel a certain way about each piece, our hopes for what's coming next, analysis of shows or records - can coexist peacefully with fans who get excited about different things. And also with TPTB. As far as discussions go, everyone can bring whatever they want or feel to the table. When music and a personality who wants to understand and experience it come together, something new is created, and Stiletto seems to be letting that go where it will. (There's moderation - videos and music were pulled unexpectedly and the prevailing assumption is it had to do with copyright issues.) But creativity and inspiration - positive as well as negative - are allowed to grow.

It's a great feeling!

So even if you're just a "casual fan" and the whole OCD-type of fandom turns you off, you can probably find a place on that Network if you give it a fair shake. It's worth it to find something new in music that we have in common.

2 comments:

  1. Yes, yes and yes!!!!!!

    I do get a little curious about some things which are 'not all about the music' but don't LUUUURVE everything the man does. I thought there was just a small handful of us like that, but there must be more. Thanks for your blog YBA - always enjoy it.

    Kathy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Add me to the list. When I was in Vegas this past week, I experienced and met both "kinds". I had a lovely conversation one evening with a woman from the UK. It was refreshing to hear a true lover of the "music" talk about how it moved her. Now that's what this is all about.

    ReplyDelete