Barry Manilow Recording Best 'Make-out Album of All Time'
by Steve Baltin
In the mid-'70s, Barry Manilow wrote the songs that made the whole world swoon. With tunes like 'Looks Like We Made It,' 'Weekend in New England,' 'Could It Be Magic' and 'Ready to Take a Chance Again,' Manilow was a maestro of the make-out session.
Now, three decades after his crooning heyday, Manilow is returning to romance at the suggestion of music industry titan Clive Davis. "I'm making [a record] he asked me to do called 'The Greatest Love Songs of All Time,'" Manilow tells Spinner. "It's the make-out album of all time."
That's a bold claim, but Manilow and Davis are using the songs of legendary lyricists to back it up. "We picked songs from Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Burt Bacharach and others, and they're gorgeous," he says. "They're the greatest love songs of all time and I tried to make it into the most beautiful album I can make."
On top of that, Manilow may also be spreading his message of love via the big screen. As we previously reported, the production companies of Tom Hanks and R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe are looking to make his music the centerpiece of a film. "I don't know what condition it's in but, boy, it's a great idea," he says. "I haven't heard anything about it in a while, but I hope it happens."
The rumored project would actually tell the tales of Manilow fans gathering for one of his concerts in Las Vegas. "That's what I love about it," he says of the concept. "It's about people that like the music I've done on their way to this concert and what their lives were like. I just think it's great -- it could be funny, it could be moving, it could be sad. I think it's a great idea and some great writer's gonna have a ball with this idea."
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BTW, two of the rumored "Greatest Love Songs" are "Love Me Tender" and "It Had To Be You." :)
Thanks for the scoop, Scooter. I was hoping "It Had To Be You" would be on the new CD. I wasn't counting on yet another Elvis song, however I'm sure he'll do a wonderful job with it.
Two of my biggest hopes for the new CD are "I've Got A Crush On You" and "Embraceable You." He's already done some Gershwin and Berlin songs on previous CDs; as beautiful as they are, I'd like to hear some new interpretations of the classics instead of having them reappear (like "Strangers In the Night" did on the 60's CD).
"Cheek To Cheek" would be a great song for him, though I doubt it'd be considered a make-out tune. "Our Love Is Here To Stay" would be a lot of fun, too. And I have no doubt he'd do an amazing interpretation of "What'll I Do," but that would probably be considered more of a heartbreak song than a romantic one.
On Nov 3, 4:51 pm, meshuga18 <meshug...@aol.com> wrote:
> Two of my biggest hopes for the new CD are "I've Got A Crush On You" > and "Embraceable You." He's already done some Gershwin and Berlin > songs on previous CDs; as beautiful as they are, I'd like to hear some > new interpretations of the classics instead of having them reappear > (like "Strangers In the Night" did on the 60's CD).
> Amy
I wonder if Barry will record My Funny Valentine on this cd; he does such an amazing job on this song live. I'm hoping he'll record the theme from Love Story.
> BTW, two of the rumored "Greatest Love Songs" are "Love Me Tender" and "It > Had To Be You." :)
> -- > Scooter
I can live without "Love Me Tender". I do hope that he includes come Cole Porter songs like "Night and Day", "You Do Something To Me", "Begin the Beguine" and "You'd be so Easy to Love". Porter wrote some fabulous love songs, and it would be a shame to pass some of them by.
On Nov 3, 8:53 pm, Totosmom <BGCh...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > BTW, two of the rumored "Greatest Love Songs" are "Love Me Tender" and "It > > Had To Be You." :)
> > -- > > Scooter
> I can live without "Love Me Tender". I do hope that he includes come > Cole Porter songs like "Night and Day", "You Do Something To Me", > "Begin the Beguine" and "You'd be so Easy to Love". Porter wrote some > fabulous love songs, and it would be a shame to pass some of them by.
> Bonnie
Doing a CD with the ambitious title of "Greatest Love Songs of All Time" assuming this will have 12-14 tracks is tough to do- because just like the decades series, you can't pick as many songs to please all the buyers. Like you, I like Cole Porter too Bonnie, but think Barry would have mentioned Porter among the names of composers, so it would seem unlikely that he will include Porter for the next CD. Barry seems to have narrowed the selections to Bacharach, Berlin and Gershwin- that's still a lot of songs to select from and not easy to do. What I hope Barry and Clive won't do is select only the number one songs of any given year- as was done in the decades series- because so many enduring music has often not made the number one spot. I also hope that Barry really does what he did in Showstoppers, Singing With the Big Bands, and make the songs sound like they come from the era and not have Clive interfere with his song choices or arrangements, as I think Clive did in the decades series. Marvin
> Doing a CD with the ambitious title of "Greatest Love Songs of > All Time" assuming this will have 12-14 tracks is tough to do- because > just like the decades series, you can't pick as many songs to please > all the buyers. > Like you, I like Cole Porter too Bonnie, but think Barry would > have mentioned Porter among the names of composers, so it would seem > unlikely that he will include Porter for the next CD. Barry seems to > have narrowed the selections to Bacharach, Berlin and Gershwin- that's > still a lot of songs to select from and not easy to do. > What I hope Barry and Clive won't do is select only the number > one songs of any given year- as was done in the decades series- > because so many enduring music has often not made the number one spot. > I also hope that Barry really does what he did in Showstoppers, > Singing With the Big Bands, and make the songs sound like they come > from the era and not have Clive interfere with his song choices or > arrangements, as I think Clive did in the decades series. Marvin
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