I am a tremendous fan of
Barry Manilow, thus the name
'ManiNut'.
'Mandy' was the first
Barry Manilow record I ever bought - at the beginning of Barry's career. I
was hooked. I've been one of his greatest fans ever since!
I attended my first Barry
Manilow concert in Stuttgart, Germany. Years later, my daughter and I
attended another concert. My husband and I attended another one a few
years later. (I remember that I was outside waiting to purchase tickets
long before sales began). Each concert was better than the previous one
(if that's possible).
I was privileged to see Barry during his 'One Night, One
Last Time' concert during the fall of 2004. My husband and I drove
about 8 hours to attend the concert. Since we have family in
Jacksonville, we made a mini-vacation out of the trip.
We had seats in the second row - the closest ever. During
the concerts we attended previously, we were further back. It was
absolutely one of the greatest nights of my life. I don't think I sat down
once during the entire performance. His performance was a pure delight, as
always!
The Manilow concerts have been minimized.
After putting up with 'Fanilows' for all these years, he deserves being able to
limit his travel. Barry is now performing in Las Vegas in his 'Music &
Passion' show.
Whenever I need a boost, all I have to do is put on one of his
fantastic CD's or DVD's. Within minutes, all my troubles have faded away.
Barry, thanks for all the wonderful music and memories. I wish you nothing
but the very best!
On October 14th, 2006, my husband and I drove to Atlantic City, NJ for an
absolutely fantastic evening of 'Music and Passion.' Words can't
express how much fun I had. Here are a few
photos from that performance.
On Thursday, March 27th, 2008, we attended Barry's concert in
Raleigh, NC. We had seats in the 6th row floor section. I was in
heaven again throughout the entire performance. All I can say is WOW
... what a show! Barry, you get better and better with each show.
Since I didn't want to miss a moment of the show, my hubby took the pictures
shown HERE. I hope you
enjoy them.
Barry Manilow was born Barry Alan Pincus in
Brooklyn on June 17, 1946. After graduating from New York's illustrious Julliard
music school and changing his surname to the smoother-sounding Manilow, he
embarked on a varied musical career that included everything from a
piano-playing stint at Bette Midler's notorious NYC bathhouse shows, to writing
commercial jingles for State Farm Insurance and Dr. Pepper, to serving as music
director on the Emmy-winning TV show Callback. It wasn't until 1973 that
he released his self-titled debut. Things took off pretty quickly after
that. By 1974 he'd scored his first No. 1 hit,
"Mandy." Almost 25 years later, with an astounding
30 albums, 25 top 40 hits, and 58 million in record sales to his credit, he now
stands as the top adult-contemporary artist of all time.
His nearly 30-year career has spanned practically
every possible aspect of showbiz--television, film, musical theater, record
producing, even advertising. It's no wonder that Rolling Stone magazine
once dubbed him "The Showman Of Our Generation."
Manilow has won several trophy cases' worth of
awards, including a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance ("Copacabana"),
an Emmy for The Barry Manilow Special, the Songwriter Hall Of Fame's
Hitmaker Award, and a special Tony Award for his 1976 run at the Uris Theater
(which also earned him a spot in the Guinness Book Of World Records for
the fastest sellout and largest ticket gross on Broadway). He's sung at
President Clinton's Inaugural Ball, Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, the Super Bowl,
and several command performances for Prince Charles and Princess Diana. He's
composed several movie soundtracks (Foul Play, Thumbelina and The
Pebble And The Penguin), produced albums for Dionne Warwick, Nancy Wilson
and longtime friend Bette Midler, and even starred in the made-for-TV
Copacabana
movie. His songs have been recorded by Dionne
Warwick, the Carpenters, Donna Summer, Andy Williams, Helen Reddy, Olivia
Newton-John and the Captain & Tennille just to name a
few. Barry has even become somewhat of a holiday institution with his
annual performance of "It's Just Another New Year's Eve" on Dick
Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve specials. (Incidentally, he also co-wrote
"Bandstand Boogie," the theme to Clark's long-running TV show American
Bandstand.)
Aside from the Sinatra Sings album,
Manilow's latest endeavor is his original musical, Harmony, which he
co-penned with his longtime songwriting partner, lyricist Bruce Sussman. The
musical--about a 1920s troupe of German song-and-dance men that comes under fire
from the Nazi party--debuted October 7, 1998 at the La Jolla Playhouse near San
Diego, California.
