I have a love-hate relationship with Barry Manilow.
Look at him. He is every Jewish mothers dream. He is clean, polite, well dressed, successful and probably not interested in the JAP's. I hate him because of all these reasons. He is too clean, too cheesey, a parody of himself. Ultimate Vegas lounge act- 2 drink minimum. Hordes of unwashed polyester-wearing masses flocking to see him, buckets of nickles jangling. And the fact that if you even THINK of humming along to one of his tunes and a hip friend hears you- you face a lifetime of geekdom. If "Even Now" were played on the radio right now (AS IF) I could probably remember all of the lyrics without much trouble..and would probably sing along if nobody else was around. Supermarkets use BM on the music system, a subliminal message in every song - "Buy more Stove-Top!".
That brings me to why I love Barry Manilow. You can't say that you haven't sang along with him. Before you could even write cursive, you were singing along with "I Write The Songs" ... and loudly too. No, my daughter is NOT named after his song "Mandy" but she will grin everytime she hears the song. I must say though that the man has some talent and the fact that he is still working and still singing blows my mind…how old IS he? I call him Twinkie-Man, because like a Hostess Twinkie, he has no expiration! He will go on forever, selling out stadiums (ok, pushing it) *ahem* small venues everywhere. Now - the big question - would I go see him in concert? I dunno. That would sorta be like telling your kids friends that you have 2nd row tickets to see Yanni....You want to look cool but face being ostracized for life. Ya, I would go see him, telling people "oh the tickets were free." And once the lights went down and Barry started warbling, I would be the ultimate Fanilow....
(exits while singing Copa Cabana......)
