Arranging 101: While he wrote a lot of songs (with trusted colleagues), "I Write the Songs" wasn't one of them. Here are 3 of Barry's biggest hits as first recorded by the original songwriters!
I can’t believe Fil from Wings of Pegasus dissected “Mandy”! I have watched many a video breakdown from him and he’s great. And I am slapping myself for not realizing that Mandy wasn’t a Manilow original. I assumed that the real “Mandy” didn’t want the name Mandy Manilow. All along it was a code for the MANdy he was really singing to.
As you well know, as a life-long Manilow fan, I defend his songwriting and arranging to almost-the-death. Though ”Mandy” has some trauma attached as I misguidedly attempted to sing it at karaoke and butchered the song so bad I had to stop being a vegetarian.
Did you know Fil was on a UK iteration of one of those "reality" music shows several years ago? Shirtless, yet! Can't remember the name of the show or what he sang, but reckon you can find it on YT (I did a few years ago).
To me, Fil's desire and ability to do things apart and away from hard rock, etc is what makes him so credible (and fun to follow)! It's like manic metal maven, Eddie Trunk...when I heard (with my own ears) that The Raspberries were one of his first (and current) favorite bands, his credibility rocketed in my eyes (and ears!), and now, I listen to his every word (even though I couldn't care less about what cereal Bret Michaels prefers these days).
For the Fils and Trunks of the world, hard rock'n'metal are the low-hanging fruit, an easy way to gain the cheap oohs and ahhs from "the cool kids"---"ooh, he listens to Motley Priest and Van Sabbath...cool!"
Wander into Manilow territory, and you risk losing those raging🤟bed-hangers ("Hang your bed!!")...so, it's a brave move to "admit" to digging Eric Carmen's group and/or Barry's Fanilows! Plus, I knew you'd be a Barry-appreciator! Another reason to respect your solid musicality and its attendant wisdom! Plus, you coulda just pulled some Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls out the oven, and they'd be nowhere near as delicious as your "MANdy" quip! "Oh, he went there!"👏
My Karaoke/Manilow experience: Daring to do "Copacabana," but under the careful guise of an audience participation number! I colluded with another regular...."if you hear me doing 'Copa,' you immediately start a conga line throughout the club!" i.e. create a diversion!!! As in "Pay no attention to the man behind the mic!"
Here's hoping you'll dig Part 2, which has plans to drop itself later this week! Four songs in that one, including Ian Hunter's "Ships"! Stay tuned!
The good old days of creating mixtapes! I know we have playlists nowadays, with greater functionality and tons of features we could only dream of back then, but it’s just not the same. Thanks a lot for the mention, Brad. I appreciate it a lot!
Happy to do it, Andres! Your new Vinyl-dedicated presence on the 'Stack is a breath of fresh air in an endlessly streaming universe! Again, Spotify/Schmotify---we had our HANDS on the careful (as you so eloquently described above!) crafting of recording our precious vinyl onto our "home studio" tape....the cassette! We became living room (or in my case...likely yours, too) bedroom producers! Phil Spector had nuthin' on us!!
🥂Andres, here's to many more collabs, drop-ins, visits, and the continued simple sharing of all things vinyl!
Thank you, Brad!! Those were the days, absolutely. There was this element of creativity and, as you rightly point out, “production”, if you will, that modern platforms like Spotify simply cannot replicate.
🥂 Massive, resonant YES to many more collabs, drop-ins and visits! 🎶
I can’t believe Fil from Wings of Pegasus dissected “Mandy”! I have watched many a video breakdown from him and he’s great. And I am slapping myself for not realizing that Mandy wasn’t a Manilow original. I assumed that the real “Mandy” didn’t want the name Mandy Manilow. All along it was a code for the MANdy he was really singing to.
As you well know, as a life-long Manilow fan, I defend his songwriting and arranging to almost-the-death. Though ”Mandy” has some trauma attached as I misguidedly attempted to sing it at karaoke and butchered the song so bad I had to stop being a vegetarian.
Did you know Fil was on a UK iteration of one of those "reality" music shows several years ago? Shirtless, yet! Can't remember the name of the show or what he sang, but reckon you can find it on YT (I did a few years ago).
To me, Fil's desire and ability to do things apart and away from hard rock, etc is what makes him so credible (and fun to follow)! It's like manic metal maven, Eddie Trunk...when I heard (with my own ears) that The Raspberries were one of his first (and current) favorite bands, his credibility rocketed in my eyes (and ears!), and now, I listen to his every word (even though I couldn't care less about what cereal Bret Michaels prefers these days).
For the Fils and Trunks of the world, hard rock'n'metal are the low-hanging fruit, an easy way to gain the cheap oohs and ahhs from "the cool kids"---"ooh, he listens to Motley Priest and Van Sabbath...cool!"
Wander into Manilow territory, and you risk losing those raging🤟bed-hangers ("Hang your bed!!")...so, it's a brave move to "admit" to digging Eric Carmen's group and/or Barry's Fanilows! Plus, I knew you'd be a Barry-appreciator! Another reason to respect your solid musicality and its attendant wisdom! Plus, you coulda just pulled some Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls out the oven, and they'd be nowhere near as delicious as your "MANdy" quip! "Oh, he went there!"👏
My Karaoke/Manilow experience: Daring to do "Copacabana," but under the careful guise of an audience participation number! I colluded with another regular...."if you hear me doing 'Copa,' you immediately start a conga line throughout the club!" i.e. create a diversion!!! As in "Pay no attention to the man behind the mic!"
Here's hoping you'll dig Part 2, which has plans to drop itself later this week! Four songs in that one, including Ian Hunter's "Ships"! Stay tuned!
Lol. Dad joke achievement: Unlocked
The good old days of creating mixtapes! I know we have playlists nowadays, with greater functionality and tons of features we could only dream of back then, but it’s just not the same. Thanks a lot for the mention, Brad. I appreciate it a lot!
Happy to do it, Andres! Your new Vinyl-dedicated presence on the 'Stack is a breath of fresh air in an endlessly streaming universe! Again, Spotify/Schmotify---we had our HANDS on the careful (as you so eloquently described above!) crafting of recording our precious vinyl onto our "home studio" tape....the cassette! We became living room (or in my case...likely yours, too) bedroom producers! Phil Spector had nuthin' on us!!
🥂Andres, here's to many more collabs, drop-ins, visits, and the continued simple sharing of all things vinyl!
Thank you, Brad!! Those were the days, absolutely. There was this element of creativity and, as you rightly point out, “production”, if you will, that modern platforms like Spotify simply cannot replicate.
🥂 Massive, resonant YES to many more collabs, drop-ins and visits! 🎶