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A Slice of Life
by Francine Brokaw
Barry Manilow – The Greatest Songs of the Seventies
No one can take a song and turn it into a special event like Barry Manilow can. The seventies aren’t so far in the past, but in a way they are. Let’s face it, thirty years for some people is a long time, but for many of us the decade was just a little while ago. Where did the time go? Barry Manilow takes some of the most popular songs from that decade and puts his own special spin on them for a delightful CD Manilow fans and closet Manilow fans will cherish and enjoy for years.
When we think of the song The Way We Were we most likely associate it with Barbra Streisand, but the special version performed by Manilow is given a unique and heartfelt feeling that even Streisand would love. And what he does to Bridge Over Troubled Water would make Simon and Garfunkle wonder why he never recorded this song before.
Melissa Manchester joins Manilow in a sweet duet of You’ve Got a Friend. And his sincere style makes He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother an impressive track on this collection of 70s hits.
The 1970’s was a time of The Bee Gees, The Beatles, Carol King, Christopher Cross, The Carpenters, Bread, The Hollies, Elton John, and other remarkable music writers and performers, and Barry Manilow takes some of their popular songs and turns them into versions even new listeners in the 2000s can enjoy. Every track on this CD will take listeners back to a simpler time – a time before rap and hip hop, a time of innocence and hope. They Long to Be Close to You, If, The Long and Winding Road, Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word, Sailing, It Never Rains in Southern California, How Can you Mend a Broken Heart, and My Eyes Adored You will spark memories in everyone who lived during that time and for new listeners the Manilow mark makes these songs a poignant collection of music that is not dated and still relevant in today’s society. These songs have melodies we can all sing to and hum, unlike many of the songs of today.
The 1970’s was also a time of Barry Manilow and the decade when he first hit the charts, and this CD contains six popular Manilow songs stripped down in acoustic versions. Mandy, Weekend in New England, Copacabana, Even Now, Looks Like We Made It, and I Write the Songs were some of Barry’s big hits of the decade and his new versions are a bit more mature and endearing, although the originals weren’t chopped liver! If you loved Barry Manilow’s songs in the 70’s you’ll love them even more in 2007.
This CD is the 30th original album of Manilow’s career and is the third in his tribute to popular music which included The Greatest Songs of the Fifties and The Greatest Songs of the Sixties. As of today, 24 Barry Manilow albums have gone gold, and half of those went on to the platinum level.
To many the name Barry Manilow is synonymous with saccharine songs, but those people really haven’t listened to the popular singer and his albums. This CD is a trip down memory lane for many of us. It’s a musical collection of songs from a decade that brought us countless memorable songs. The 18 songs are just a snippet of great songs from that time. But the best part of this collection is that the songs all have the Manilow magic.
© 2007 Francine Brokaw
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