JULY/AUGUST 2011 ISSUE MMUSICMAG.COM Q&A Brian Bowen Smith BARRY MANILOW The dangers of pop stardom inspire his fi rst new songs in a decade

MAYBE BARRY MANILOW’S LATEST Did you ever seek fame? concept. I chose Nick to do this because should include a thank-you to Britney I never went after fame as a performer. he’s a fantastic lyricist, especially when it Spears. “I was watching her being chased All I cared about was the music. So when comes to writing stories about situations by the paparazzi,” Manilow says. “This young, “Mandy” [1974] hit, it threw me for a loop. I and characters. We’d talk each idea down talented singer just trying to live her life, but was grateful, but I was very unprepared for for weeks, then go our separate ways and being followed everywhere. I thought, ‘Is everything that came along with fame. write the song. this the price of fame now?’” The question inspired his fi rst album of all-new material in What did you learn? How has the internet changed things? a decade, penned with lyricist Enoch “Nick” The main thing is to keep family and old The veil between fan and artist is Anderson: a cautionary song cycle called 15 friends around you. About four years into disappearing, and the magic is going away. Minutes. Manilow fans may be surprised by my career I found myself at a beach house You get out of your car or have a roast-beef the uncharacteristically cranked-up guitars in Florida and realized everybody in that sandwich, and everybody knows. Years and funky grooves. “It’s the riskiest thing I’ve house was on my payroll. I couldn’t fi gure ago there were major stars, and nobody ever done,” he declares. “A concept album out where my old friends were, where my knew anything about their lives. We were with music out of my safety zone.” old life went. Everything had changed. It just excited to watch them work and guess was thrilling, but I was very unhappy. I had about their next move. It helped preserve What inspired this album? to make a choice as to what life I wanted. I the magic. These days it’s too easy to get For the last eight years I’ve been making chose my old life—and from that moment on, to performers. It is what it is, but I feel like these albums with [label executive] Clive I’ve tried to balance the new, crazy life with something has been lost. Davis’ guidance. He thinks a person of my the old life as a musician. age with my reputation would not be able Any advice for aspiring artists? to sell an original album. He pointed to my How do you and Nick work? A lot of young people today say, “I want to be contemporaries like Sting, Elton John and The hard part of writing for me is the idea. famous,” and that’s the be-all and end-all. But Joni Mitchell, who were making original “What are you going to write about?” Even if you’re doing this for the money or applause albums and none were selling. So we started just a love song. What’s it going to be or fame, look out. Do it because you believe doing this series of covers albums and it about? That’s what I’ve gone through my in it, because you can’t not do it. You’ll have went on for eight years. Clive was right about whole career. This one, we were not only a better chance of having a happy life. the sales, but I really missed songwriting. writing songs, we were writing a whole –Bill DeMain

‘I really missed songwriting. I needed to challenge myself, to scare myself.’

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