Here’s a tip: Don’t talk to Barry if you’re under 30. From a recent exchange the Mandy man had with Time Out New York‘s Christina Black, kicking off with a question asking why Barry’s avoided rock tunes in his ’50s and ’60s revivals (via Paper Thin Walls):
Barry Manilow: Could you see me singing that stuff? I?m really good at what I do, so I leave the rock & roll to the rock & rollers. And they can?t do what I do … Cristina, how old are you?TONY: I?m 29. Will your show at Madison Square Garden cover all the hits I grew up on? I?ve always loved ?Can?t Smile Without You.?
Barry Manilow: Ahhh, 29, huh? Well, it?s a long show in two acts, a blown-up version of the one I do in Vegas. We include many more hits, yes. Look, you got a couple more minutes here. What else do you want to know?
TONY: Well, I know you grew up in Williamsburg, so I was wondering if you?re aware that it?s known as a hot area for music now, and if you?ve ever thought about capitalizing on that and reinventing yourself as a hipster-friendly figure like Neil Diamond or Johnny Cash. I mean, you?re already associated with kitsch, so I think you could be hipper than ever if you would consider? Barry? Are you there? Hello?
Barry Manilow: [Silence]
What’s up Barry’s ass? Still bitter about being a Top 100 wussy?
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nah, barry’s just being a prick.
mannilow has hated hipsters ever since the strokes stole the melody from mandy for razorblade. The interviewer should have mentioned Rick Rubin since he made neil diamond cool and helped Johnny Cash have a resurgence.
The Playlist nailed it, bullshit question trying to goad him into either a rant or a slam … good for Barry …
maybe it was a dropped call.
yeah, she’s trying to get him from the first word.
all the hits i grew up on?
come on. don’t patronize him.
Johnny Cash & Neil Diamond were pretty cool in their own right before they met Rick Rubin (… OK… Cash more than Diamond…though Diamond did write “I’m a Believer”)
Barry Manilow has no interest in being hip or cool…
just playing to middle age women who don’t know he’s gay…
Well … here’s a lesson for the kiddies out there … ask an insolent, thoughtless question … and don’t expect to get an intelligent, thoughful answer. Are you at all familiar with “cause and effect”? How about “garbage in, garbage out”?
Why would you insult somebody and then expect anything resembling a respectful response? Are you that stupid?
Get over yourselves before you chase away every other prestigious artist you ever hope to interview.
Barry’s pretty hip and cool in his own way Joel, and if you’d ever been to one of his shows which you probably haven’t, you’d know he’s a pretty mixed crowd age wise. The last time I was in Vegas the row across from mine was filled with twenty something women and their boyfriends. As for your other comment, I’m not even going to dignify it with a response.
It was a rather rude and insulting comment to make and I don’t blame Barry one bit for ending the interview. Barry’s pretty hip and cool in his own way,Joel and if you’d ever been to one of Barry’s shows which you probably haven’t, you’d see he attracts a pretty mixed crowd age wise. The last time I saw him, there was a row of twenty something women with their boyfriends across from mine, and they were all having a good time. As for your other comment, I’m not even going to dignify it with a response.
I am glad if Barry hung up on her. Her questions were stupid and the last one was insulting to Barry. I think before you interview anyone you must learn how to do it. Maybe if she were more prepared for the interview, she would not be humiliated. Maybe she would have actually gotten some answers. Grow up. Insulting Barry even further in your blog was a very immature way of handling it. He doesn’t need your views of him and he doesn’t need people like you at his concert. Mary
YEAH BOY-EEE, DON’T MESS WITH Mani-LO, HIS CREW BE MAD KEEN TO POP A CAP IN YO ASS!
BRRAAAAP!
The writer has a pretty funny coda to her tale at http://www.timeoutny.com/newyork/tonyblog/?p=511
“After a few weeks of utter dejectedness, I think I?m finally ready to talk about ?The Manilow Debacle.? Let me fill you in on the most humiliating experience of my career: Barry Manilow hung up on me. That?s right, after only three questions.”
After reading it, I think I’m on her (rather smug) side.
P.S. In first grade me and my friends listened to “Copacabana” endlessly in the school library. We called ourselves “The Barry Manilow Midgets.”
P.P.S. No, I’m not gay.
I totally agree with the first poster Playlist
Speaking of Manilow, we’re throwing a kick ass party next Thursday in NYC: the FANILOW TAILGATE PARTY… COME FOR THE MUSIC, BUT STAY FOR THE PASSION! More info here: http://www.oliverlopena.com/?p=83
You know, I just read the blog entry linked to above, and I’ve got to say: I was ready to give the interviewer the benefit of the doubt from the interview excerpt until I read her blog.
I figured maybe she’d just sounded arch and patronizing by accident. But when you read her explanation of the progression of her attitude about Manilow (from sneering with a frown to sneering with a smile), it sounds even more patronizing.
Any self respecting person knows when they’re not being treated with basic respect. No wonder he hung up. He may be weird, but he’s not stupid.
Why would Manilow ever want to reinvent himself as kitsch to appeal to “cool” late-20 burnouts desperately clutching at their disappearing adolescences? Anyone genuinely cool knows that Barry’s been a badass for decades.
I’m with Manilow on this one. He doesn’t need to be “legitimized” by a Pitchfork-approved rescue team; he scored a #1 album a few months back just by being himself. I’ve read interviews that reveal his awareness and approval of much of what’s going on in the current youth-culture climate–even the more indie-friendly strands. Dude gave Ian Hunter his only Top Ten songwriting credit; ain’t that hip enough?
Barry Manilow is a successful and long-established artist who should be accorded the proper respect. However… maybe he is a bit full of himself? He could have taken that question and played along with it, and have a laugh at the same time, and everyone goes home happy. Why so uptight Barry?
Barry’s music is just so cheesy.I would be embarrassed to play his music even around my cat.Some countries even use his muzac to torture prisoners.
Neil Diamond has always been cool.Always reminded me of the Fonz with his leather jackets and macho but sensitive persona.There are many Neil Diamond songs that I have in my Ipod (“Save Me a Saturday Night”,”Solitary Man’,”Holly Holy”,”Jungletime” etc) that fit perfectly with other rock n roll songs.But Barry just doesnt have any rock n roll in him.
her question was stupid.For one,Barry has said in question #1 that he doesnt do rock n roll.That his music is comfort food.”we don?t need any more anger”.Then why ask him the same kind of question again?
all Rick Rubin did with Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond was to return them to their darker,earlier sound.But Barry’s early sound is not that different from his sound today.
Yikes, too many Maniloonies here. All of that cosmetic enhancement has left Barry looking like a total mutant.
The idea that because Rick Rubin has made Neil Diamond “hip” and “cool” he could do the same for Barely Man-ilow is absurd.Neil Diamond was part of the rock n roll singer-songwriter revolution-a Brill Building songwriter in the late 50′s,an unsuccesful rocker in the early 60′s (listen to those early recordings on his ‘In My Lifetime’ cd),then a rock n roll hitmaker when he signed with bang records in 1965.He added some strings in the early 70′s,but the songs were still introspective singer/songwriter music.
Barry on the other hand,became a superstar when people got tired of the whole moody singer-songwriters stuff,and wanted a softer and more upbeat type of music.
Rick Rubin made Neil Diamond sit down and listen to his earlier music for their project(such as his 1968 downbeat rock album ‘Velvet Gloves and Spit’,and his gospel and country tinged 1969 album ‘Brother Loves Traveling Salvation Show’)
But to turn a schmaltzy bombastic Las Vegasy crooner like Barry into a stripped down,glitz free rocker is hard to imagine.
The idea that because Rick Rubin has made Neil Diamond “hip” and “cool” he could do the same for Barely Man-ilow is absurd.Neil Diamond was part of the rock n roll singer-songwriter revolution-a Brill Building songwriter in the late 50′s,an unsuccesful rocker in the early 60′s (listen to those early recordings on his ‘In My Lifetime’ cd),then a rock n roll hitmaker when he signed with bang records in 1965.He added some strings in the early 70′s,but the songs were still introspective singer/songwriter music.
Barry on the other hand,became a superstar when people got tired of the whole moody singer-songwriters stuff,and wanted a softer and more upbeat type of music.
Rick Rubin made Neil Diamond sit down and listen to his earlier music for their project(such as his 1968 downbeat rock album ‘Velvet Gloves and Spit’,and his gospel and country tinged 1969 album ‘Brother Loves Traveling Salvation Show’)
But to turn a schmaltzy bombastic Las Vegasy crooner like Barry into a stripped down,glitz free rocker is hard to imagine.
All I can do is laugh at all of this… Some of you have too much free time on your hands! LOL
Well, let’s see…a snarky, condescending, full of herself 29 year old asks a seasoned, veteran performer a stupid, condescending question, and he hangs up on her. And she’s confused…why? Barry Manilow earned respect, and fully deserves it – he’s been around for a long time and after 30+ years he’s STILL putting out records that go platinum, selling out arenas like Madison Square Garden, and winning Emmy awards. Why should he have to reinvent himself as anything? Seems to me he has it down pat. However, perhaps little Ms. Blog needs to learn some people skills before she attempts another interview. Clearly, she’s out of her league.
Ms. Black probably won’t be around to write her drivel in another 30 years. She ought to have some respect. What a tool.
Such an entertaining read – which is more than can be said for the interview! Bazza has heard it all before a million times from little wannabes and maybe he was just plain bored with it! For the record he DOES play along if the interviewer seems intelligent enough – which quite frankly she obviously wasn’t. As for all of the comparisons with Neil Diamond – I have seen hundreds of concerts all over the world and Mr. Diamond is the only one I have walked out of. Miming to a tape when the audience has paid big bucks to see you perform LIVE is just unforgivable…and he is also so up his own ass at the arenas the staff won’t give him the time of day. Keep it real – keep it Manilow!
You have to appreciate that if he wants to stick to what he wants to stick to it’s his right and he’ll always have adoring fans. I have never seen him live but love listening to his hits. Likewise I love th resurgence in icons out touring again. I saw Marvin Gaye in a crappy auditorium months before he died. I wasn’t all that excited to see him at the time but he was amazing and I’m so glad I went.
Frankie Valli is touring again and making press appearances on tv and is amazing. He has a new cd out called Romancing the 60s (which I just bought) and I hope I am lucky enough to see him live.