Barry Manilow: The First Television Specials

Strap yourself in, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride. Taking on the Herculean task of watching all five DVDs in the new Barry Manilow: The First Television Specials set, I have come out the other end like Jodie Foster in Contact, not really sure what I saw or how much time went by, but forever altered by the experience. Here is the “man,” the “myth,” the lanky legend that is Barry M. in every conceivable late 70s/early 80s incarnation — playing, dancing, singing and yucking it up with the likes of guest stars Ray Charles, Penny Marshall, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, John Denver and even his mom. This set is more Barry than a passing fan needs; it might even be more than the rabid Manilow junky can stand. I watched them all, straight through and lived to tell the tale.

Starting with the first show, the aptly titled “The First Barry Manilow Special” in 1977, Manilow runs through his hits — in-studio performances mixed with stuff from his frilly-frocked live show. I liked the live stuff better actually, showing the singer at the Ravinia Festival in Illinois running through tunes like “Jump Shout Boogie Medley” and a really great “A Very Strange Medley,” featuring songs he’s written for commercials through the years. Back in the studio, he does a little sketch with Penny Marshall, and she helps out with an in-studio “Bandstand Boogie” (which she really isn’t needed for). It’s when you catch Manilow alone, on songs like “I Write the Songs,” that the man really sparkles. You can’t help but love this guy really; he’s very sincere even on songs for which he didn’t write lyrics, and his live performances are spot-on with a great backing band. This special won an Emmy for Outstanding Music Special.

Disc 2, “The Second Barry Manilow Special,” aired in 1978. This one is pretty clever with Manilow playing an empty Pantages Theater, sitting behind a piano, explaining the songs, one-on-one without an audience in that big house (at least at the beginning of the special). Songs here include “Daybreak,” “I Was A Fool To Let You Go,” and “Copacabana.” The highlights have to be Ray Charles singing Manilow’s “One Of These Days,” and a duet with Charles on “It’s A Miracle.” The special ends with Manilow playing the Pantages again, this time with an audience, singing “Can’t Smile Without You” and “Looks Like We Made It.” This last number is what I see as the typical big Barry Manilow ending — during the very last chorus, Manilow changes keys, the instruments swell, he slows the tempo just a bit and reaches emotional heights to “kick out the jams,” giving his middle-age-housewife-admirers-who-would-never-dare-question-his-sexuality what they really came to see. This DVD also features Barry’s mom in an opening sequence, which is corny, but somehow works.

The third special with the handy title “The Third Barry Manilow Special” aired a year later. This is the Barry M. variety show you knew just had to happen (but feared all the same), and here is where I feel it slows down a bit. There is a rather lengthy dancing tribute to musicals, with Manilow hoofing his way to a too-long “I Write The Songs” (though choreographer Kevin Carlisle did win an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography). Manilow invites John Denver to the stage, and they duet on a rather sedate, but well-sung Everly Brothers medley. We get “Copa” again (less anyone had any doubt how big a hit this would turn out to be). “Even Now” and “Somewhere In The Night” end the show. It’s a well-produced little special, but the big production numbers wear thin. Manilow can pull off the glitz in a live concert setting; however, when it’s all set up in studio, it seems a bit forced and contrived.

The fourth disc comprises the 1980 “One Voice” special, maybe my favorite here (next to the fun live stuff on the first disc). There is a weird World War II scenario for one of the tunes and things do get a bit too Tom Jonesy with Manilow trying to shimmy around the stage on “Who’s Been Sleeping In My Bed” and “Rain.” There’s a bunch of Dionne Warwick stuff here, the highlight for me being when she and Manilow are at the piano, supposedly rehearsing “I’ll Never Love This Way Again.” This special has what I consider perhaps the best few moments of Manilow ever filmed on TV. Near the end, the singer performs two songs about sons and fathers — one called “Sunday Father,” and the other is Ian Hunters’ “Ships” (Ian freakin’Hunter dude!). I remember this moment vividly as a wee lad in 1980. Manilow regaled an obviously startled audience with the story of his estranged father (his dad left when he was 2) coming to see him backstage after one of his shows, telling him he had done a good job ‘out there,’ then going off again. Manilow then sits down and performs “Ships,” and this is one emotional moment, even to a jaded old progressive rock and roll curmudgeon like me. The “One Voice” special ends with one voice, of course, with Manilow teaching a chorus of kids the songs first, then flipping us back to the ‘real' ending, with the full orchestra and the same kids on stage, giving it their all.

The fifth and final disc features the last show. Airing in 1988, “Barry Manilow: Big Fun on Swing Street” is a heavily MTV-influenced piece of fluff. Yeah, Kid Creole is here and so is Stanley Clarke, with some great vocal performances from Phyllis Hyman and Diana Schur, but this special pales in comparison to the other ones. We get Manilow skipping down fake streets, playing in faux ‘dive’ bars, and dressing way too goofy — even for him. With songs like “Swing Street,” “Stardust” (one of the few nice solo Manilow moments) and “Dancin’ Fool,” the highlights here are the songs the guest stars perform, notably Hyman singing to Stanley Clarke’s upright bass on “Not Another Night Of This.” This one is not for the faint of heart, and I’m glad I saw it last.

There are written blurbs on each special inside the box, but no booklet. The five DVDs are presented as they were (as far as I can tell), commercial-free, from Manilow’s first foray on network TV until that last saccharine stroll down “Swing Street.” It’s a lot of information to digest, but if you’re a Barry Manilow fan or if you want to relieve some special TV moments — and some really well-played, catchy tunes — then Barry Manilow: The First Television Specials might just be for you. I got to go take a nap now.

~ Ralph Greco, Jr.