Barry’s Private Life Spilled?             

                                 

The last couple of weeks have been a very interesting time to be a Manilow fan.  The Internet has been buzzing about the story that appeared in The National Enquirer about a ceremony between Barry and his manager Garry. This ceremony, which took place last April, has been described as a marriage ceremony with no paper work filed and as a commitment ceremony. According to the story this ceremony was so private that the guests were told they were going to a luncheon finding it was a ceremony on arrival. Unlike most stories the National Enquirer prints, mainstream news picked up the story adding their own sources and details. Fan boards got right down to business with “discussions” to put it nicely, on the truth of the story. Especially considering the source.

Barry’s private life has always been of great interest to fans. He has chosen to live out of the spotlight when not performing or promoting a project. That just makes Barry more alluring and mysterious.  Fans range in varying degrees of the respecting his private life from what I see but then I’m not on every Internet site or fan group. Heck, I got booted from My Manilow Network for some unknown reason.  So I don’t know if some people go to Barry’s house every week to catch a glimpse him. I've read that happens.  The press story claims that Barry and Garry are wearing matching rings and that Barry has been wearing his ring onstage.  This discussion has been going on for years whenever Barry has worn any kind of ring in public.  From the pictures I've seen this ring does look different from ones I've seen in the past.  However, being that I only see Barry in concert about every two or three years, it’s not like I would know about his ring wearing habits. (But I did see a photo of him wearing his bracelets for vertigo. I know what they are. I use them myself.)

Mostly the belief or disbelief of this story depends a lot on what a person believed about Barry’s private life before the story broke. The majority of the people on the Internet that believe the story have been overwhelming positive and supportive of Barry and Garry. Some people who are skeptical of the resource of the story are sitting on the fence waiting for word from the Manilow camp. One group doesn't believe the story at all. Isn't that how it always has been in the Manilow world? It has been the whole time I've been here. Of course all sort of people are weighing in on how the story should be handled by Barry’s people.  It’s easy for people who aren't personally involved in the situation to give advice.  I think Barry and especially Garry are intelligent enough to figure out to handle the situation in the way that seems best for them. After all, couple or not, it’s their lives being affected. No one else’s.

Only one thing concerns me about The National Enquirer story, as well as other stories that have popped up.  This is the mention of Barry’s health. Failing health has been reported as a reason for the ceremony. Barry’s health. I hope that is not true. It is generally thought that because Barry is on tour that means his health is fine. This I hope is true. To me, Barry looks like a strong wind could blow him away but I've always felt Barry has a deep inter-strength. A determination and drive that pushes him beyond the physical.  I just don’t want Barry to push too hard.  I want for Barry what I want for everyone, to be loved, happy, and healthy. Nothing else matters. 

Nightmare or Dream?   

                                

So here I am back writing my Manilow Blog.  Does anyone care?  That is a question I really don’t know how to answer.  I backed on off this blog for a few reasons; some personal and some because I didn't care for the direction this blog seemed headed.  Negativity and truth are not necessarily the same thing. I was writing too many negative things that while true just plain made me feel bad writing them. Of course if you look at the title of this blog post, I’m sure you wonder if I am double talking. No. If you read further you’ll see that my feelings about Barry’s latest CD has no negativity about the body of work. The issue is how I feel about the concept.

Now you’re thinking a review of My Dream Duets is coming. Nope. I can’t review the CD because I haven’t listened to it or purchased it. By choice. I did watch Barry on QVC when he sang cuts from the Dream Duets CD. My husband was even surprised when he liked Barry’s version of “Wonderful World.” My husband loves Louis Armstrong and he had his doubts about the song working as a duet.  It’s nothing personal about Barry’s performance or anything like that. It’s the concept. I don’t like live artists singing with dead people no matter who does it. I didn't care for any of the people who have sung with Elvis and most of you know how much I love Elvis. I didn't even like the songs Lisa Marie Presley recorded with her dad. It’s just weird to me.

Technology is a wonderful thing. I enjoy the benefits and am amazed by it most every day.  Just some this particular technology doesn't work for me. The concept of the Dream Duets presents the technology in the best way, I’m sure. I have read various discussions about why people like or don’t like the CD. That’s fine. I have no problem with how anyone feels about Dream Duets. I will admit I was happy to hear Barry has not made it a regular part of the earlier shows on this tour but has been doing a song off the CD recently. By June when I go to see the show he maybe be including more songs from the Dreams CD. I’m sure Barry does a great job with the live performances of these songs, as he does with all the material he performs.  I wouldn't leave to go get a coke or anything if Barry does a Dream Duets song. (Then I’d have to leave again to hit the restroom.) Who knows? Barry just might win me over, curing me of my dislike of live and dead folks singing together.  That is the way I became a fan in the first place - seeing Barry perform live.

Keeping with my positive theme, maybe Barry will do a song off My Dream Duets during the Charlotte concert that will be life changing for me. So wonderful that I will run, not walk, out into the concourse to buy the CD. Right then. Not even wait until the show is over. Personally, I doubt it happening, I don’t run anywhere any more, but who knows? Stranger things have happened. If it does, you guys will be the first to know; right here on my blog. Now I ask you, what better reason could you have to keep reading this blog? To see if “It’s A Miracle” is more than just a song one summer evening in June.

The Hijacking of a Manilow Blog

This past week I experienced just a tiny bit of what it must be like for Barry and other artists when their work is used without permission. My blog, the very one you are reading, was hijacked and a post from here put up on My Manilow Network. All this was done without my permission I might add. To give some background on what transpired:

The first of last week I got a friend request from someone over on MMN. Not only did this person want to be my friend, but she asked permission to post my Queen Bee blog on the network. She said, and I quote, “It’s time.” Besides having no idea who this person was, I had no clue what she meant when she said it was time to re-post that blog. Right then and there I made up my mind to deny both of her requests but I didn’t have time to reply at that time. I put off answering her until the next day.

Waiting was a mistake or maybe not. Anyway before I replied to her requests, I checked MMN. Can you guess how this plays out? Of course you can, the blog post was already posted. My suspicions are the blog was already posted when I was asked for permission to put it on MMN. The permission asking may have been an after thought triggered by a couple of people commenting on the fact that I wrote the piece.

See, I don’t post on that many places. Not because I don’t have anything to say, quite the contrary, I have tons to say. I’m just not into all the drama that comes with posting on the majority of Manilow sites. Every place, including the scarce newsgroup, has its own dramas. That’s not my cup of tea. The Internet is a very hard place to access what people are trying to express.

The printed word leaves out all the clues such as body language, tone of voice, facial expressions, etc. that are used in conversation to help people understand what is being said. Reading what someone writes on the Internet might not come across in the way the writer meant. So how is it determined which individuals like to cause the drama on Manilow or any other sites? (FYI, Manilow sites are not the only places where fans disagree. It happens all over.) History. That’s how drama queens are identified. The pattern of behavior is repeated over and over, no matter where they go, making it easy to know who is going to stir things up.

The woman who posted my blog on MMN, (did I say it was without my permission), I don’t know if she causes problems. I do know she caused me anguish by taking it upon herself to hijack my blog for her own personal use. I don’t participle enough on the network to know what is going on. I don’t even post by blog on MMN anymore. I post the title and a link to my blog on my page. That way people can make up their own mind if they want to go read it, or not. I did post when I saw my blog on MMN, because I wasn’t sure how people were reacting to the post. I wanted everyone to know I had nothing to do with the blog being posted or any part of any issue that was being addressed.

If this person felt so strongly about issues she felt needed to be addressed, then she should have expressed her feelings – not mine. Like I said at the first of this post, maybe this week I felt just a minuscule bit of what Barry feels when he sees his work, illegal videos of the shows or copyrighted material on the Internet without his consent. It’s a terrible jolt to come across something you created being used in a way you never intended it to be used. I understand that so much better now.

As I said, I rejected that friend request. I couldn’t see myself being friends with someone who would take such advantage of me. The decent thing to do would be to at least apologize to me. I haven’t heard from her as of this writing and I don’t expect I will. To finish off the hijacked blog story; after I posted about my unhappiness on MMN, I went out to dinner. I had great food and a wonderful time with good friends. By the time I returned home, my blog had been removed from MMN. By whom? I don’t know. I was glad it had been taken down.

Please, feel free to read my blog posts. I welcome that. Comments are welcomed too. Just when you are finished reading my blog, leave it right here on the Blogspot site. This is where I put it and until I decide otherwise, this is where I want my blog to stay.

Leaving the Building

It isn’t often that I get to write about my two favorite singers in the same blog post but thanks to a tweet by Garry Kief I get to do that very thing. December saw the end of Barry Manilow’s run at the Las Vegas Hilton, and to commemorate this event, his manager tweeted, “Elvis has left the building.”

Discussions on a few fan boards had some Manilow fans wondering if this tweet compared Barry and Elvis Presley. The Hilton is famous for the shows Elvis did there from 1969 until his death in 1977. At the end of each show Elvis did on the road, it was announced, “Elvis has left the building. Thank you and good night.” That was true. Elvis did no encore. He went straight off stage, into a waiting car, and was gone. After his death, the announcement came into popular usage. Was this a tweet that compared Barry to Elvis?

Not to brag but I am probably one of the few Manilow fans who could actually compare the two entertainers. I saw Elvis in concert around twenty-five time in the mid- 1970s. The Barry concerts I have seen are too numerous for me to count. Seeing concerts by both Barry and Elvis would put me in a good position to do a comparison.

I won’t do that. Both Elvis and Barry are great performers. They have different styles but both of them connect with their audience in a very special way. Sadly Elvis has left the building never to return. This is not the case with Barry. He is moving to a new gig at the Paris on the Vegas strip. Manilow fans can still enjoy Barry’s shows. As unbelievable as it is to me, the number of people who actually saw Elvis perform is rapidly shrinking.

Back to the question of if the Kief tweet was comparing Barry to Elvis. Personally, I think the tweet was just the use of a pop culture statement. It fit with Barry leaving the Hilton. My husband once asked my son the meaning of a post on Facebbook. His reply seems to sums up the meaning of the tweet about Elvis leaving the building – it’s only Facebook, or in this case. Twitter. Nothing more; nothing less. No hidden meaning. One good thing did come from this tweet; a few interesting conversations. That’s a good thing.

Mayflower Photos

I love to read behind the scenes information about the way people come up with creative ideas. One of my favorite Manilow CDs is Here at the Mayflower so this article is especially interesting. The photos on the Mayflower CD help advance the storyline of the songs and this background story tells how the photographer developed the concept for the pictures on the CD.

Here At The Mayflower, Barry Manilow

November 14, 2009 by steinphoto

It’s one of my favorite situations when personal work became published and paid work. I was asked to scout a building and photograph it to give the record company (Concord Records) an idea what the real Mayflower (the building in Brooklyn Manilow grew up in which inspired the songs) looked like, so they could come up with something similar to shoot the artist in LA.

They loved my photos so much they ended up using them on the CD cover and package and superimposed the photos of the artist (Barry Manilow) over my photos. Then they asked me to go BACK and shoot some more and ended up using them all over the notes! Cool. I love that they took my vision and loved it and used it!

Blog address: http://lisastein.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/here-at-the-mayflower-barry-manilow/

Welcome, Barry!

Where are my manners? I have been meaning to write and officially welcome Barry to the fan Internet world. My welcome is a little late; real life has kind of gotten in the way. My oldest son just got engaged and will be getting married in February. Also, I am no longer an unemployed blogger – I got a job! Anyway, enough about all that, back to my welcome.




A debate had been going on for quite some time among Manilow fans. The issue contemplated was if Barry read Internet fan sites. That question was settled once and for all by a letter Barry wrote that appeared on Sunday, October 4th. The letter was in the form of a hotline to UK fans as well as being on the main page of Manilow.com for a brief time before vanishing into that great void of cyberspace that swallows any postings that don’t go along with the elusive party lines of TPTB. Funny, I thought Barry was one of TPTB. Shows how much I know about such things.




How cool is that? Barry joined the ranks of all the people who have had postings pulled off official Manilow sites. Even he doesn’t know what’s allowed and what’s not. I was glad to see the letter. For a brief moment there was dialogue between Barry and his fans. If it had or does continue, this could lead to fans becoming the friends that Barry referred to in his letter.




In the letter it seems that real life is dealing with Barry too. Not the happy events going on in my life, but in the form of more surgery. I was sorry to read that. I hope it all goes well and Barry gets relief from his problem. Prayers and positive thoughts are sent his way for a speedy recovery. Take care of yourself, Barry!




So welcome, Barry. Now that you have gotten your feet wet, so to speak, come back any time. We know you can speak if you choose to when ever you want. Your friends on the Internet are very interested in what you have to say. Don’t be such a stranger. We look forward to hearing from you more. You sure got all the boards and sites buzzing. Keep these dialogues going and you may discover that fans can be articulate and intelligent, if given the chance. Give us the chance.

Manilow Lemonade

Barry Manilow is playing the Hollywood Bowl on October 24^th. Fans have known that for quite a few months but a few days ago an announcement added a charity component to the event. Barry’s Hollywood Bowl concert will now raise money to put musical instruments into the hands of public school students in the LA school district. Music programs all over the US have suffered, like all arts programs, or for that matter education in general, in the recession. California has been very hard hit. Sounds like a very good idea. Yet some fans found fault with this turn of events.

Earlier a hotline had been sent out to some west coast fans and an alert posted on Facebook with the information that seats for the Hollywood Bowl priced at $9.99 were available. This was seen as a sign that the ticket sales were doing poorly. This was all speculation. Announcing the fundraiser fueled this speculation. Just for sake of argument, and I am meaning that in the terms of a point, not fighting with anyone, the speculation is true. Barry and his management came up with the idea of trying to increase ticket sales by making this a charity project. It’s not clear how this helps out tickets sales. Donating to the music project is only done by buying packages. Maybe the thinking is a lot of people will be convinced to buy tickets because Barry is giving something to the schools, or to save face in LA for Barry’s supposed poor ticket sales? Not sure about that thinking. Would it still be a bad thing, only to rip-off fans, as the fault finders say?

One of the key sticking points about how fans are being taken advantage is the packages being offered. The charge is that fans are being asked to pay a huge amount to meet Barry. Only one person on one board pointed out that maybe these packages were aimed at corporate sponsors. This makes perfect sense when reading what is included in the packages. Fans wouldn’t care to have their name put in ads or merchandise. The packages were designed to get corporate money. Probably these sponsors have already signed up. Meeting Barry is put in only as something for the guests who attend the concert in behalf of the company who buys the packages. It was never intended for fans. The cheapest package maybe aimed at fans but that’s all. Some people are so obsessed with the idea that meeting Barry is only done for a price that they lose all common sense.

How can this not be a good thing? It will put musical instruments into the hands of students who could have missed the opportunity to learn music because of budget restrains. Personally, I like this charity above all the others. In the case of Palms Springs, the donors saw the instruments get into the hands of the students. How many charities are able to show concrete proof that what they raised money for actually reached the people it helped? This is one of the few.

The Hollywood Bowl fundraiser looks like a win-win situation to me. This could be a case of having lemons and making lemonade out of them—Manilow Lemonade. Barry gets to help put musical instruments into student’s hands. Corporate sponsors or whoever buys the packages get to help Barry put the musical instruments into students’ hands and see a concert. Most importantly, students in LA will get the chance to learn to play musical instruments because of Barry’s Hollywood Bowl concert. Anything that aids kids is a good thing in my book. Maybe the next Barry Manilow will learn to play his music on one of the donated instruments. That would be awesome.

Hints, Moles and Videotapes

Things have really been busy in Manilowland for the past few days. For years a fan in Europe has been supplying fans with music, photos, and videos of Barry Manilow. Not only did she post this material on her own site, she posted it on Internet sharing sites. Last week she got caught; an email from an attorney representing Stiletto arrived in her in box. Of course she had to share the pain of receiving such an email with all of her many online friends, one of whom she suspects turned her into TPTB. Fans have been up in arms about the treatment this fan received. Closer examination shows that she and her friend left TPTB very little alternative.


Many times fan has commented what a caring person this lady is to have taken the time to edit and post so many videos. Trouble is her concern didn’t go far enough to obey the laws that protect an artist’s material. Her sharing has another name – copyright infringement. The only way copyrighted material can be used legally by anyone other than the copyright owner is to obtain permission from the copyright holder, which this person clearly did not do. Claims have been made that this person didn’t think she was doing anything wrong but only helping by promoting Barry.


She did know and her own words prove it. On August 2, 2009, she posted a reply on the forum board about her videos being removed from the Daily Motion site. In the reply she says not once, but twice that, “I was expecting this to come one day…” and “As I said, I was expecting this one day or the other but I was hoping this day not to come that soon.” (Now before I get angry emails that I used quotes off a private forum, I want to pass on this bite of information. The discussion boards on the Manilow Network are not private. I was able to look this up and pull it off without even signing on to the network. Anyone can see what is posted there. The only reason to sign on would be to reply to a discussion. All goes back to nothing is private on the Internet.) So she knew what she was doing was wrong.


Copyright seems to be brushed aside by fans as not being relevant when money does not change hands. That is not true. What she knew or didn’t know became a non-issue when TPTB pulled all her videos off the public site. Big clue there that this fan was doing something that wasn’t supposed to be done. Not only that, but that she was being watched.


This rather large hint did not get through to this person. She came up with another plan to keep sharing copyrighted material. Once again she shared this information around the Internet on email strings. See where this is going? Where it always goes. Once again back to that nothing is private on the Internet (doesn’t that get boring that I have to keep saying that? But some people never get it.) It is supposed that someone, trying to score whatever it is moles get, turned her into TPTB. Tons of finger pointing and names named as to who this was has been going on all over the fan sites. It can be narrowed down to one place; My Manilow Network.


Some well meaning person posted on the MMN discussion boards that this lady was going to keep posting her videos but she couldn’t tell how the fan planned to do this because then TPTB would know. Think maybe this person, who all but dared TPTB to stop this fan had anything to do with tipping then off that something was afoot? (I went back to find the post but in true cult fashion, it has been removed. Good covering of tracks.) It is not hard to imagine that after reading this post, on their own official site, that TPTB knew that hints and being nice wasn’t going to work. It was time to get serious and they did.


I’m a black and white person. Rules and laws are to be obeyed in my book. I’m not naive to think that most everyone hasn’t shared a video or something with a friend. That is not the case with this lady. She had great amounts of material. Her material wasn’t limited to videos; she claimed to have unreleased music. Someone here in the United States supplied her with material. Trying to put a spin on it that she was “helping Barry” and other fans does not change the fact that what she did was not only morally wrong but against the law. She got away with it for years but her run is over, or I hope it is. Surely she got the message this time. Maybe this fan can use the skills she acquired in editing and posting Barry’s material into a new hobby—one that is legal.

Seeing Barry through Different Eyes

Last weekend quite a few fans got to see Barry perform in two different venues. Reviews and pictures appeared of both concerts. What I really found really interesting was how various people saw Barry’s performances through very different eyes. By sharing their accounts of what was experienced, I was able to see the many ways fans relate to a concert. In a way it was like the life cycle of a fan.

New fans saw the concert with child-like eyes. It was all new and exciting. Just being in the same place as Barry was nearly enough. Every aspect was enjoyed and savored with the awe of a wonderful Christmas morning when Santa fulfilled all the wishes. Oh, to have that joy again.

Older fans, (and I don’t mean in years as age, but more in years as a fan) tend to not only appreciate Barry’s performance but also the event itself. Friends and being together was a vital part of their experience. As people grow older they tend to be grateful for friends and the opportunity to do things mutually enjoyed. Maybe the show wasn’t exactly what it used be but that doesn’t matter. Knowing that there are still shows to attend makes them happy.

Last are the die hard older fans; the senior of the fans who have been there for the whole time. Long memories of days past sometimes hinder their ability to enjoy the concert. Seeing the changes reminds them that not only has Barry grown older, but so have they. That can be hard to accept. The concert is viewed with a more critical eyes of what it should have been based on what Barry once did. The past can’t be relived. Some will understand and accept that; others will not.

My thanks to all the people who shared their concert going experience from last weekend. I hope people continue to do that. Seeing Barry’s concerts through different eyes gives insight to how people think and feel. That always interests me.

Barry Manilow: On and Off

A couple of weeks ago Barry went to a listening party for Whitney Houston’s new CD in LA. Photos were snapped which got fans talking. Then last week, an article appeared in the Yamaha 360 magazine about Barry. Some very nice pictures accompanied this article but these pictures didn’t generate nearly as much conversation. Why was that?

The pictures taken at the listening party showed a more causal Barry. He didn’t look as put together as he did for the photo shoot done for the magazine article. Photo shoots are planned, like a show. Hair, make-up, clothes, the whole nine yards. Barry appeared in those pictures just as he would if you attended a show in Vegas. Probably a lot of pictures were taken during the photo shoot with only the best being used in the article. Not so with the listening party photos.

Caught on his way in or out, you can’t really tell, Barry looks like a mature man going out after work. No make-up, fancy hair, or show clothes. His appeared tired and pale. This is what caused the talk. Some fans like the natural look and some worried Barry was ill. These feelings were expressed in comments that appeared on the TMZ page with Barry’s picture. (I don’t put much stock in the cancer comment posted under the name of a former family member of Barry’s manager/employee. This same person sued and settled with his former father-in-law. I’m sure there was some kind of confidentially agreement involved in all that.) Most old time fans were very familiar with how Barry looked; they had seen it for years when he was on the road. Tired always shows on Barry’s face.

The two sets of photos illustrate the difference between Barry’s private and public life. Like the photos, the Barry seen onstage is not the same person his family and friends know in his private life. It’s nice when fans get a glimpse at the causal Barry and without invading his private time. I know some fans have a problem with the tabloid press, like TMZ, where the picture of Barry appeared. Attending an event like this listening party, Barry, or any other celebrity, knew that their presence was wanted to attract media attention. I would have a problem if I saw photos taken by someone of Barry in his backyard or photos taken with a telephoto lens of him; say out shopping, without his knowledge. Barry went to this listening party knowing the paparazzi would be there. He chose how to look. I applaud his choice. It shows a comfort with yourself to appear so causally. Thank you, Barry.