Barry Manilow.Photo: Sean Zanni/getty
He wrote the songs — nowBarry Manilowis getting his flowers!
On May 1, The New York Pops orchestra will celebrate its 40th season with a special concert of Manilow’s music to honor the pop icon.
Along with music director and conductor Steven Reineke and The New York Pops, a slew of singers — includingDionne Warwick,Megan HiltyandErich Bergen— will perform Manilow’s myriad hits at the tribute show. And concertgoers can expect a show-stopping performance from flamenco iconCharo, who is set to deliver a rendition of Manilow’s fan-favorite “Copacabana.”
Barry Manilow.Jeff Kravitz/Getty
“It’s a difficult song to sing and to pull off,” Manilow says, “but I said, ‘You think you could get Charo to do “Copacabana?"’ And she said she’d love to. Is that perfect or what?”
Manilow isn’t slowing down these days. In addition to his ongoing Las Vegas residency dates, he’ll be performing five nights at Radio City Music Hall in his hometown of New York City next month. Plus, it was announced Friday that Manilow and lyricist Bruce Sussman’s musical,Harmony, will open on Broadway this fall.
Despite wrapping his “One Last Time” farewell tour in 2016, he’s still performing, happily. As for what keeps him going?
Garry Kief and Barry Manilow.Steve Granitz/WireImage
Indeed, and the Grammy and Emmy winner’s catalog keeps him onstage for his fans.
“You would think I’d be bored with this stuff, and I’m not, because the audiences just love these songs, and I’m so grateful for it,” Manilow says.
Theexpert arrangerconsiders all of his songs his “children,” but there are two that, looking back, he is particularly proud of.
Barry Manilow and Clive Davis (ca. 1978).Robin Platzer/Twin Images/Time Life Pictures/Getty
“I do love ‘Could it Be Magic’ because that was on the very first album,” Manilow says. “I was so young. When I look back, I say, ‘How did you have the guts to do something like that?’ A song, based on a Chopin prelude, that’s eight minutes long… I didn’t know anything about pop music. If you want to get it on the radio, you can’t get it any more than two-and-a-half or three minutes. Mine was eight. But some radio stations around the country started playing the eight-minute version of ‘Could it be Magic,’ and the record company edited it down, ruined it. But they did play it!”
And “Copacabana” also holds a special place in Manilow’s heart.
“It was such a surprise that it would be a hit. EvenClive Davissaid, ‘That’s a novelty cut. That belongs on theSonny &Chervariety show,'” he recalls. “So none of us had any ideas that that would be such a beloved song. And so when people mentioned my name and the younger people, they don’t know ‘I Write the Songs’ or ‘Mandy’ or any of the other ones. But when you say ‘Copacabana,’ they’re like, ‘Oh yeah. I’ve always loved that one.'”
And that, Manilow says, is the legacy he hopes to leave behind: “I would hope that I made you feel something.”
source: people.com
