"I write the songs that make the whole world sing,
I write the songs that say those special things,
I write the songs that make the young girls cry,
I am music, and I write the songs…"

Bruce Johnston – “I Write the Songs”

Never one to follow the latest trend in music, Barry Manilow has carved a career out of being a different kind of pop star.  Instead of being the hottest new thing, his old-fashioned, melodic sound has given Manilow a string of incomparable hits that has helped him to become the top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time, selling over 75 million records and counting in his tremendous career.  Incorporating elements from jazz, big band, show tunes and light rock, he’s given us hits like “Mandy” and “Can’t Smile without You” which give us a sense of freshness while warming us up with a familiar comfort uncommon in other musical acts.  For the past four decades as a showman, Manilow has given us an unforgettable link between pop past and present.

Like many artists, Manilow began his music career at an early age, idolizing the works of Leonard Bernstein, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter, among others, and learning to play the accordion at age seven.  He eventually moved on to study at the Julliard School of Music.  While in school, he worked at the CBS mailroom and met Bro Herrod, who asked him to rearrange some public domain music for use for an adaptation of The Drunkard.  Instead of going with what was available in the public domain, Manilow wrote an entirely original score, which helped the turn it from a small-time gig into a successful off-Broadway show that would run for eight years.  In the 1960s, put his talents and innate showman skills to work in the as the musical director for CBS, working for shows such as Callback, and writing a new theme for The Late Show.  He a also grew a thriving side career by composing jingles for products like Dr. Pepper, State Farm Insurance and Band-Aids.  Though he didn’t compose it, Manilow also sang the now-famous “You Deserve a Break Today” for McDonald’s.

Manilow rose to fame alongside Bette Midler, who he’d met in 1970.  Along with other professional pianists, Manilow would perform with the emerging cabaret singer.  He eventually assisted her on the creation of her first two albums, The Divine Miss M and her self-titled second effort.  Midler hired Manilow on as her musical director for The Divine Miss M Tour, and the pair continued working together until 1975.  In the meanwhile, Bell Records had released Barry Manilow, an eclectic collection of piano-pop and guitar-rock that included songs like “Friends,” “Cloudburst” and the lush, Chopin-inspired “Could it be Magic.”  Manilow sang the songs during Midler’s intermission, growing his reputation as a solid performer and showman.

During this time, Bell Records was going through a corporate takeover and a serious amount of restructuring.  With Clive Davis at the helm of what became Arista Records, a great number of artists were summarily dropped.  However, after watching Manilow perform as the opening act for Dionne Warwick, Davis could see the potential inside of the young tunesmith and took him under his wing, becoming his mentor for the decades to follow.  Shortly after, in the spring of 1975, Manilow appeared on American Bandstand to promote a new album, Barry Manilow II.  Not only did this give him the large-scale face time he needed, it also formed another long-time collaborative friendship between Dick Clark  and Barry Manilow, during which Manilow would be a regular part of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, singing an original song that would become a holiday classic, “It’s Just Another New Year’s Eve.”

Barry Manilow II went double-platinum, and its top single, “Mandy” went straight to #1 and sold 4 million copies.  The song was his rendition of a popular U.K. song, “Brandy.”  He renamed it “Mandy” and gave the hit all he had, making a heartfelt, powerful and stylishly produced hit.  The second single from Manilow II, “It’s A Miracle” also proved itself to be a powerhouse, remaining on the charts for months.

The coming years would prove to be among Manilow’s biggest.  He scored hit after hit with songs like the melodic, orchestra-backed “Tryin’ to Get the Feeling Again,” the simple, piano-driven  “Looks Like We Made It,” the Latin-flavored disco hit, “Copacabana,” a reissue of “Could It Be Magic” and the song that would be known as his theme, “I Write the Songs.”  Ironically enough, Manilow didn’t write that song, Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys did.  Though he was a successful songwriter in his own right, Manilow has made hits out of others work, which included two of his biggest, “Mandy” and “Can’t Smile Without You,” a song that remains a sing-along crowd-favorite.  Manilow was also hugely successful with album sales, breaking the platinum mark several times over with Trying to Get the Feeling, This One’s For You, Even Now and One Voice. 

1978 gave Manilow the accolades he had earned.  At the start of the year, he took home Favorite Pop Artist at the American Music Award, and closed the year with an Academy Award nomination for his song, “Ready to Take a Chance Again,” which was used in the movie Foul Play.  The dreamy, lush hits kept coming at the end of the decade with “Somewhere in the Night” and “Ships. 

At the start of the 1980s, Manilow stayed on the charts thanks to hits like the inspirational “I Made it Through the Rain” and the nostalgic send-up “The Old Songs.”  His 1980 television special, One Voice, featured Dionne Warwick and earned him an Emmy nomination for Achievement in Musical Direction.  Manilow stayed on the charts with a string of hits and performances around the world, including five sold out shows at the Royal Albert Hall.  Even back at home Manilow was a big-seller, performing for 10 nights at the Radio City Music Hall in 1984, setting a record $2 million in ticket sales. 

With such success, Manilow was finally afforded the opportunity to do the things he wanted to do, and explore new avenues in music.  By 1983, he reportedly had endowments at six musical departments at major universities in North America, so that new talent would find a way to develop and emerge.  He also followed his passion, by expanding his own musical avenues to include jazz and blues.  2:00 AM Paradise Café and Swing Street brought Manilow together with the likes of Sarah Vaughan, Mel Torme and Gerry Mulligan.  The albums were eclectic mixes of barroom tunes and after-dark pieces that remain favorites in any Manilow collection.  In 1987, Manilow also had an autobiography published, Sweet Life: Adventures on the Way to Paradise.  He closed out the decade with performances, album releases, and even a television special that would give him two nominations and one win at the 1988-1989 Emmy awards ceremony.

Manilow continues to break new ground in his musical career, taking on show tunes on Showstoppers, tackling the big-band style with the aptly named, Singin’ With the Big Bands, writing music for others, and transformed his hit, “Copacabana” into a London musical.  Manilow even sang Sinatra standards on the 1998 tribute to Ol’ Blue Eyes, released just months after Sinatra’s passing, Manilow Sings Sinatra. 

After remaining what appeared to be relatively quiet throughout the 1990s, the 200s saw something of a comeback for Manilow in the form of TV specials, guest appearances on hit TV programs, like The Oprah Winfrey Show and American Idol.  His popularity, though it may go with the ebbs and flows of pop culture, has remained strong proving that there will always be a place for Barry Manilow in a world that yearns for his familiar pop stylings.