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MUSIC: Barry Manilow, MEN Arena, Mon 8 Dec
David Sue3/12/2008
UPON hearing that his latest album had reached number one in the US Billboard charts, Barry Manilow’s response was typically self-effacing. The performer joked: "I swear, if you live long enough… then anything is possible. Even me getting to number one!"
Barry Manilow – hip? Stranger things have happened, but to his credit, he won’t be getting too carried away with his recent career renaissance.
Indeed, the 65-year-old performer has always cheerily played upon public opinions of him. Whether it’s his generously proportioned features (erm, his famously large hooter), or the OTT cheese of his songwriting, he’s one man who knows every punchline to his own (undeserved) cruel jibes and insults. But consider Manilow’s enduring career, and it’s surely no wonder he’s built up a thick skin.
He began his professional career in the Seventies performing piano for Bette Midler in wine bars, before going solo with huge international success. With classic songs like Mandy and Copacabana, Manilow cemented his reputation as the supreme king of pop schmaltz, with a career spanning almost four decades and and an incredible 60 million albums sold worldwide.
Like all pop veterans of an old showbiz inclination, Manilow has limited most of his live performances to glitzy Las Vegas in recent years.
But thanks to the popularity of his recent album Greatest Songs of the Fifties (his first number one album for 28 years), Manilow is embarking on his first UK tour for five years and treating us Mancunians to his enticing brand of sickly sweet pop.
And this being the festive season, there’s surely no better time than to over-indulge in sugar.
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