The Ideal Barry Manilow Concert

With a month to go until my first "experience" it's hard to just mark time without some kind of speculation. So I imagined if I were completely in charge of a show and money is no object, what it would be like. I already know it won't be the same as what's coming to Phillips Arena and whatever Barry puts together I'm going to enjoy with no complaints. But who hasn't thought about what they would do if they were able to compile their own set? This one is mine.

• Venue: Club/restaurant type. If you're familiar with the Sambucca Jazz Club chain (esp the Rice Hotel location), you get the idea. And close the place down. Private show, guest list of about 150, 200 tops. Age 21+ only, strictly enforced.
• No time limit; whatever he feels up to. Most venues, even major ones have a firm stop time in their contracts, with another time limit for load out. None of that.
• No opening act. With a catalogue like Barry's, you don't need one.
• Simple jazz backup band. Drum kit, stand-up bass, sax, guitar. Maybe a synth to simulate orchestration where needed. Piano is a real 9-foot grand. Not a piano bar, just a piano.

And now for the set list (rubbing hands together)

Paradise Cafe
Talk to Me
[open - let's hear some of the stories about his early days in clubs, things he briefly discussed in Sweet Life, including some of the music he played back then.]
Jump Shout Boogie
Freddie Said
[open - break to slow things back down, transition to more pop stuff]
The Old Songs
segue into Let's Hang On (not a medley but no break between them)
I'd Really Love to See You Tonight (uptempo version)
The Way You Look Tonight (Sinatra song. Barry didn't cover this on his Sinatra record, but it would be the ultimate "dance girl/CSWY" song. If the girl he picks is with a guy, tie him down, this would be intense.)
Somewhere in the Night (better make sure this club has a bit of dance space for the couples to enjoy this on their feet)
See the Show Again

[intermission]

[Pop set - include some stories with these - how they were written, etc etc etc]
Copacabana (acoustic version - need another guitar player for this)
I Made it Through the Rain
Could it Be Magic (original version)
Bandstand Boogie
Looks Like We Made It
Lonely Together
If I Should Love Again
[open - audience requests, within the limits of what he has rehearsed]

[encore]
I Write the Songs
Beautiful Music

It took a couple of hours to put this together. Assembling a set list is a LOT harder than it looks!

Anyone else have an ideal list bouncing around in their head?

What's wrong with the 80s?

I'm an 80s kid. I had heavy metal hair, wore leg warmers in high school and two-tone denim micro minis with granny-boot-style high heels and lacy shirts in college. Including giant white tee shirts over neon spandex body suits (with heels and little lacy ankle socks) to class. My hair was sprayed pink for Easter while wearing white lace elbow gloves, and with red sparkle for Christmas to match my vintage velvet dress. Usually, my hair was dyed purple. A very tasteful shade of eggplant. When going to a frat party, I looked like one of Robert Palmer's models from "Addicted to Love", except I used color gel to paint designs on my slicked-down hairstyle.

In short, I had one helluva great time!

When word got out that Barry was working on a "Greatest Hits of the '80s" record to go with his (read: Clive Davis') "decades" theme, though, I spit out the same reaction that most people today have toward music of this decade. "EeeeewwwWWWWWwwwwww". "ARE there any songs in the 80s that were 'greatest hits'?" "What's it going to be? A Milli Vanilli track that's 4 minutes of instrumentals?"

But in spite of the cracking wise, the 80s had a lot of new innovations that are taken for granted and some great times that were forgotten about in order that the naysayers can appear "cool" or "sophisticated."

• Synthesizer keyboards. This was the decade that some engineer finally got his poop in a group and created an instrument that was easy to use, did not take up an entire room, and could consistently create unique sounds that were impossible to create with "traditional" instruments. Thus you have an entire new world of music opened up for exploring.
• First attempts at electronic facsimiles of standard instruments. You can always tell an early-80s record by the sound of the electronic drums. Instead of a sharp staccato hit, you get a soft burst of sound that almost instantly fades. "Pianos" sounded like bells rather than hammers on strings. No, they did not get it right immediately. But a first step had to be taken so electronics could evolve. 10-15 years later, electronic drums are a staple to most students, before serious kids going pro move on to their larger, awkward, more expensive kits. Plus, more kids can study drums now because their parents don't have to listen to them - they hear themselves on headsets. You don't know how much I wished I had something like this when I wanted to learn to play. Electronic pianos are now the standard for any travelling act, even among high-end professionals. Take a close look at Barry's piano in any video or concert footage from 1999 to today (not counting the LV Hilton): it's not a "real" grand piano, it's an empty shell with an electronic keyboard set into it. Not only is that cheaper to move around (in both labor and insurance costs) you don't have to tune it or replace strings every time it's set up.

On a purely emotional level for me, the "80s sax-and-synth" sound represented something that was light, bright, and hopeful. Even sad lyrics took a different turn with that style of instrumental behind it. (Petra took that contrast to extremes in "Rose-Colored Stained Glass Windows" from More Power to Ya to spell out an indictment of complacency. It sounds like a fun and secure-feeling song, until you delve into the lyric.)

Recently, 1989's Barry Manilow has been on my iTunes. Sometimes, you don't want to have to focus too much to get the message. I don't see anything wrong with that. When you want to really get a mental workout, that is what Paradise Cafe and Mayflower are for. So maybe a Barry 80s record isn't that bad an idea. What in the world is so wrong with just having fun without jumping through someone else's hoops to "get it"?

(The preceding was written by a self-admitted amateur music lover and not a professional musician. Yes, I know my opinions are simplistic and I know precious little about how music is made at all levels. I'm OK with that. ;-) )

PS - there's a great list of 80s songs for speculation here.

Blast from the Past

Roseanne Barr/Arnold/Nolastname's old talk show from the '90s
Bette Midler was set up by Roseanne with Barry and the Harlettes.

Right as Barry enters off-camera, listen to the audience: you can hear the air being sucked out of the room by a low group gasp before he announces himself.

The only thing that would make this clip better would be if everyone in the audience was given a towel to wave. >;-)



Barry Manilow - Midler - Friends
Uploaded by catrin345

Welcome Home

Sometimes I remember
all the days I never knew
If I would ever make it through
But just when I'd give up again
I'd remember when the days were stormy
Home was always waiting for me

When you first get "hooked" on something new - hobby or whatever - you don't realize how much it occupies your thoughts or how it creeps into whatever else you're doing. iTunes got installed on my computer. Then CDs that were in my office started getting loaded in while working on email or other projects. Then money started getting dropped on songs I had forgotten at iTunes store. Then when stopping in Best Buy for computer peripherals, I find myself in the audio section looking for adapter cables for my old turntable and tape deck to plug into the computer. Then it's digging around in the stored CDs for lost gems. Pete's collection was raided too: Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Beatles got lifted. ("Pure Disco" got left behind - geez, for his own good I'm going to have to burn that!) Even a few CDs that the "old crush" had something to do with reappeared. It didn't hurt any more to listen to them - the only memories and feelings now were the original fun ones. I understand there's an iPod coming on our anniversary.

Just as it had done my whole life, music found its way back into my heart and soul before I realized it. Heart and soul were whole again when I heard a song that I bought when I heard it was included in Barry's current set.

"Forever and a Day".

And once our hearts were full
And once we felt the flame
Such hunger then, much younger then
But really we're the same
And once the music played
And once they lit the light
And years ago, we felt a glow so very like tonight

The reaction was one I had experienced only once before in my life. In the past I would often put a CD in the computer CD player and listen to something new while working. Once, a song struck me so suddenly I had my face in my hands, my forehead on the edge of the desk, and sobbing uncontrollably. It was a musical adaptation of a classic book. To get it out of my system I had to repeat the opening song and keep crying until the sobs stopped on their own. "Forever and a Day" found that same place in my heart and had the same effect. It reminded me that the good memories don't have to die and new ones don't have to be thwarted. Enough time had passed and enough lessons were learned that it is safe to let myself feel the full emotional spectrum again.

After those ten years my approach is going to be different. Music didn't fail me - conflicts within fan groups did. So fan gatherings and the like are out of the question. I'm not quite that naive these days. When Barry finally gets to Atlanta I'm going to enjoy watching the reactions of the fan club from afar. (Word on the street is the venue cancelled the January performance due to icy weather; Atlanta's first snow in years! Even though the crew was setting up the stage and the musicians, including Barry I think, were already there. Anyone care to speculate which four-letter words Barry was spewing when that decision was made? >;-D )

Naturally, the date that was selected was one of the busiest in my spring schedule. I'm at a convention an hour away. Guess who's walking out early and racing home that night?? Everyone else can take a number - this is the first and probably the only time I'll see this man perform live. The convention staff will be wise to just get out of the way!

And now I know it will always be that way
For you, for me, forever and a day.

Mayflower

Let's take a break from the melodrama of life for a minute.....

Try this with me:

Listen to the Here At the Mayflower CD - follow along with the words, read the liner notes.

Then watch the first DVD in the First Television Specials collection. The first one w/ Penny Marshall from 1977.

Pay attention especially to the "New York City Rhythm" 'acting' section, with "Sandra" and "Early Morning Strangers".

Is it me or are those two things VERY similar? The whole presentation of different songs representing peoples' lives in different apartments (where was that, Lower East Side?)

Has Barry been working (mentally, at least) on the Mayflower CD concept that long?