Live At the Greek Theater Replacement

I have not ordered the Live at the Greek DVD from Starbiz yet. I am still catching up on things from being on vacation for a week. Somehow I got the idea in my mind that this DVD would be available in stores. Since I am cheap, I didn’t want to pay shipping and handling. Seems I was wrong about that so I need to order it. The Greek theater concert is very special to me. Was I at the concert, hanging out in the trees? No. In fact at that point in my life, as hard as it would be for some of my family and friends to believe, I was not a fan of Barry Manilow. Not that my life was totally void of any Manilow; it wasn’t. Not in the least. You see, I was (and still am) married to a Manilow fan.

My husband has the honor of being the original Manilow fan in our household. At that time I don’t think he had any idea of the impact Barry would have on his family’s life. My husband loves the music. Having a husband who liked Barry is the only reason I saw any of the early network specials. This Greek theater special was exciting to my husband. It was on HBO. No commercials! We also had one of those new fangled machines that recorded TV shows- a VCR. The concert could be taped and played over and over. That happened. It did get played a lot. Just not by my husband. My kids played it.

1981 was the year I had my first child and became a Manilow fan. About four years later, we had another son. Both of my sons loved Barry from a very early age. Live at the Greek was one of their favorite videos. In stores my guys looked for “jive hats.” To this day, they can still sing the Jump Shout Boogie Medley. Other fans told me that a time would come when my children would discover that Barry wasn’t cool. They would drop him in favor of artists popular with their peers. Maybe that happened to their kids. It didn’t happen with mine.

The Greek theater special is one the main reason my husband wanted to see Barry in concert. When a show was announced for our hometown in October, 1981, my husband stood for hours in the cold and dark to get tickets. I didn’t want to go but finally agreed. That is the night I became a Manilow fan. I had to be won over in person. A whole chapter in our lives began with that night; one that is still going on.

Now that original much-viewed VHS tape can be replaced with the newer DVD technology. I guess it’s about time. We were all so much younger then. I like that awkward, geeky guy Barry was back then. I also like the mature performer he has become. Human nature is to change and grow. Barry didn’t stay locked into one type of music. He shared his talent and vision of many genres of music throughout the years. When that HBO special aired I could have never imaged the part Mr. Manilow would play in the life of my family. An even greater thing is that Barry is still sharing his talent. Now excuse me; I have to go order a DVD.