It’s a shame that you’ve withdrawn your participation in this thread, as there are several of your comments I could respond to, but obviously under the circumstances it would be a waste of my time. So I’ll just say “Thank You” for your well thought out, intelligent reply, and hope that you drop by and read this post.

Platinum is what, a million copies? Of course given all the diversities and different tastes in the world it’s an achievment for anyone, but in a world with BILLIONS of people, a million is still a very few in a “worldwide perspective”. Add up the population of the world and subtract a million and the number you come up with will make a Platinum recording exactly what I said… a very few. Yes, it’s an achievement, by industry standards, for anyone, but in a “worldwide perspective” it’s still almost zilch. And yes, the same can be said about anybody.

“I’ve spoken to people who have met and worked with him that have said apart from the insane levels of perfection he demands from his crew, he’s a very nice person to work with.”

This may very well be true, but just as you are repeating what you have heard from people with first hand knowledge, all I was doing was the same.

“For the record, Barry’s keyboard player (Ron Pedley) and guitarist (Mike Lent) have both been with him for 10+ years. Would he be able to keep his musicians for as long if he were a total asshole ALL the time?”

You’d be surprised what people will tolerate for a good income and the chance to be on stage every night in the limelight. Being on stage and having people cheer and applaud you is VERY intoxicating. It’s a natural high in itself, and a high like no other.

Look at Mick Jagger and Keith Richards… these two guys can’t stand each other anymore, but continue to work together because only together do they make the huge income and play for the huge audiences. I’ve read of other bands as well who put their differences aside and continue to work together for the same reasons. They don’t speak much off stage and travel seperately, record seperately, etc. This isn’t entirely uncommon. It is a business and it is work and not everyone likes their co-workers, but they bite their tongue for the sake of a good payday. Just because people work together doesn’t mean that they’re friends or that they even like each other.

As for being a perfectionist, that is all fine and dandy, but if you treat the people around you like dirt in your quest for perfection, when they had their best intentions at heart, I think that says it all about the man himself. These situations should be handled much more maturely than acting like a child and throwing a temper tantrum. Behaving like that just immediately lessens my respect, if there was any. Axl Rose is another perfect example.

Now I am going to bring an end to my participation on this topic, by saying this:
I have never met Barry, nor have I ever seen him perform, nor do I plan to as he’s simply not my taste. It hasn’t been my intention to bash the guy or take anything away from his accomplishments. All I have said is simply my opinion which is based on things I have read, things a friend told me who has worked for him, and for some of my more general comments, just some first hand knowledge from being a lifelong musician who has worked in numerous bands. (I’m nobody famous that anyone here would know, so don’t ask.)

He’s been selling out shows in Vegas for the last 16 months and is contracted to continue there until at least Christmas 2008. Whilst he may not have been in the public eye over the last 10 -15 years or so, he has continued touring and releasing CDs and his fan base is still very much alive – and there are more of us than you may think! )

As far as him behaving like a “prick” (to use your word) – the man is known as a perfectionist; he demands extremely high standards of workmanship from everyone in his crew both on stage and backstage – including himself. Whilst I don’t condone *anyone* being sacked for making a single mistake – even if the boss IS Barry Manilow – there are always two sides to every story. Perhaps he was having a “diva moment” that night! Goodness knows we all have times like that and he is, after all, just a man! ;o)

I’ve heard musicians from his regular band hit “bum” notes occasionally, and seen/heard his backing singers make mistakes too, but they’re still up on stage with him the following night. I’ve spoken to people who have met and worked with him that have said apart from the insane levels of perfection he demands from his crew, he’s a very nice person to work with. I guess nobody – not even Barry Manilow – can impress everyone they meet.

For the record, Barry’s keyboard player (Ron Pedley) and guitarist (Mike Lent) have both been with him for 10+ years. Would he be able to keep his musicians for as long if he were a total asshole ALL the time?

I liked much of my parent’s music too when I was little, then I avoided it like the plague in my teenage years and discovered my own tastes. Now as an adult I prefer the music of my generation, but appreciate some, not all, of my parent’s generation of music. Actually most of what I like from their generation now is not so much what they listened too, but what I found on my own later. Every generation has it’s share of talent, and this means different things to different people (from me it’s a musician’s perspective of over 30 years). Unfortunately, nowadays the talent that is out there is not so evident. It’s there, you just have to dig a little deeper to find it because the industry’s main concern is making money, not nurturing actual talent. I’ve always seen the term “boy band” to be a joke. A band is comprised of musicians, not dancers who lip-sync 90% of the time.

I agree with what you’re saying for the most part, and if we were talking about The Who or The Rolling Stones I would agree with you completely. Rock music from any generation has always had a more rebellious tone making it more appealing to youth. Barry Manilow in no way can be considered rock and definitely fits your pop analogy, whether or not he’s a good musician.

I just checked VH1’s Bio of him and it pretty much says the same things I’ve been saying but in their own words, especially the second sentence:

“In terms of both record sales and career longevity, Barry Manilow is one of the most successful adult contemporary singers ever. That success hasn’t necessarily translated to respect (or even ironic hipster appreciation) in most quarters; Manilow’s music has been much maligned by critics and listeners alike, particularly the romantic ballads that made his career, which were derided as maudlin schlock even during his heyday. It’s true that Manilow’s taste for swelling choruses and lush arrangements often bordered on bombastic, but unlike many of his MOR peers, Manilow wasn’t aiming to make smooth, restrained background music — he conceived of himself as a pop entertainer and all-around showman in the classic mold, and his performances and stage shows were accordingly theatrical.”

http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/manilow_barry/bio.jhtml

This has turned into an interesting discussion, but I can’t believe I’ve spent this much effort on Barry Manilow, including even a “Barry Manilow” search;)

Very cool. My daughter loves the style of music from my era (70’s and early 80’s) My son is into Classical. a great many of their friends are too. Barry Manalow was the backstreet boys of my generation. good musician but known for his pop fluff type music. (that doesn’t imply the backstreet boys are musicians. My analogy is for the pop style). Many more kids than you may think love our style of Rock.

Rick

Maybe, but but being “a little edgy” is not entirely the same as being a downright prick.

“… every time someone decides to do something like this, they inadvertantly start a CD buying frenzy”
“Manilow must be crying all the way to the bank!”

I honestly don’t see that happening here. After all this IS Barry Manilow were talking about here. His time is long past and he has annoyed far more people than he has enlightened in this world. In a worldwide perspective he appeals to very few, and those who do appreciate him have already had many years to pick up his CDs, and they are not the age of the general CD buying populace. Add to that, CD buying in itself is no longer the preferred method of acquiring music anymore, as numerous statistics show. Anyone who has wanted to replace their LPs with CDs has already done so, (which is another fact the industry always seems to overlook when whining about the decline of CD sales). Sure, there may be the occasional new fan that comes along for these older “artists”, but not in “CD buying frenzy” numbers. After all, how cool is it to openly dig your parent’s music?

At best, he may see a VERY slight increase in download activity;)
But I doubt it.

Rick

Rick