I'm Home Again

Carly made it home from her trip across the pond to celebrate her first anniversary with Barry. While she was there she got to see three of Barry's concerts. July tenth, fifteenth and sixteenth. On Saturday night Barry opened the concert with Music Is You. He then sang Leaving On A Jet Plane by Peter, Paul and Mary and Calypso. All three songs were written by Henry John Deutschendorg Jr. Henry was better know to everyone as John Denver. John was one of Barry's good friends. Barry played the acoustic guitar during Leaving On A Jet Plane and Calypso. He did his  little Here At The Mayflower medley. Then he sang two new songs Welcome To The Mayflower and Who Is The Shadow Man. He told the audience those two songs were from Here At The Mayflower II (Many more stories inside.) The album was coming out Sunday November thirteenth.  Fifteen years to the date  in two thousand one when the prequel Here At The Mayflower came out. Barry also explained that there was a new elevator operator named Eddie since Freddie was dead. Freddie loved to blab to everyone so one night while walking home he got shot. Carly called her friend Vicki Smith to tell her all about her trip. She mentioned that Barry and convention coordinator Pamela Harmon were working on next years BMIFC convention long distance. They decided to have the convention in Denver Colorado while Barry was playing Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The convention dates are Wednesday July fifth thru Sunday July ninth. Some of the convention itinerary had already been finalized. Barry had gotten the convention hotel the Sheraton Denver Downtown fifteen fifty court place. There are a total of one thousand two hundred thirty one rooms. Some of the convention stuff that was already finalized was the meet and greet, the two seminars, the New York deli lunch, the tickets for two concerts at Red Rocks, the barbeque at Red Rocks, brunch and Q&A, There would be the usual stuff. Charity walk, disco, fan display room, local fan club room and video watching room. The two seminars would  be
hosted by Dean Schroder head of the Manilow Music Project and Andrew Grammer head of the One Voice Foundation. The One Voice Foundation was Barry's new animal charity dedicated to helping animal shelters. Every Thursday when Barry was not on the road somewhere. Barry volunteered at Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition (BARC) animal shelter. He always brought two twenty five pound bags of Rachel Ray cat and dog food. Barry would take one of the dogs outside to BARC'S outdoor dog area. BARC was where his wife Carly got her latest rescue dog. He was Bailey a one year old male Golden Retriever. Carly had started giving free veterinary services to BARC on her two week days off. Vicki told Carly that fans were on Facebook talking about how happy, healthy and loved Barry was. Oh said Carly Barry's always been happy, healthy and love. I guess some fans just figure that Barry's been unhappy most of his entire life said Vicki. Maybe they were thinking about Brian Murphy when they said that. Barry's still very energized when he does stuff said Carly. Barry's staying  two extra weeks in London. That's because the musical Here At The Mayflower is opening on the West End. The entire Broadway cast will be in the London production. Barry's run at the Palladium ends on Sunday August twenty eighth. Then two weeks later on Wednesday September fourteenth Here At The Mayflower opens at the Palladium. Tickets for Here At The Mayflower go on sale Friday July twenty ninth at 10am London time. After Barry comes home he and I are going on a much needed vacation said Carly. Barry planed our vacation. He wanted to go by Amtrak again. So we're taking The Lake Shore Limited from New York to Chicago. Then we get on the California Zephyr and go to San Francisco. Two days in San Francisco. Then we board The Coast Starlight to Portland. Two days in Portland. Then back on The Coast Starlight to Seattle. Two days in Seattle. Then we board the Empire Builder to head back to Chicago. We'll take The Lake Shore Limited back to New York. Barry said this was a battery recharge vacation when he showed me the itinerary for our trip. He's busy November thirteenth thru the eighteenth with Here At The Mayflower II stuff. Album signing, Rachel Ray, The Late Show with Stephen Cobert, The Late Late Show with Seth Meyers and Today Show on the plaza. December twenty eighth two thousand sixteenth thru January first two thousand seventeen five nights at Radio City Music Hall. March two thousand seventeen Canadian Tour from Quebec City Quebec to Vancouver British Columbia. Then next summer US tour June thru the beginning of August. Outdoor venues from Mansfield Massachusetts to Auburn Washington. Denver and Los Angeles are the only two cities where he's doing more than one show. During the Denver daters at Red Rocks amphitheater he's paying tribute to his dear friend John Denver. Then when he does the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles he will have the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra backing him up said Carly. Sometime in two thousand eighteen he's headed down under to Australia and New Zealand. Now if I remember correctly Barry isn't popular in Asia, Europe and South America said Vicki. That's right said Carly Barry got booed off the stage back in nineteen eighty five in Copenhagen Denmark. I don't think they were interested in a contemporary jazz recording artist. Nineteen eighty five was when Brian Murphy was at his peek popularity wise. Yesterday Marc called to tell me some exiting news The Montreux Jazz Festival organizers called. They want Barry to open the fifty second Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux Switzerland in two thousand eighteen. Marc's going over to London at the end of the week. so he can see Barry's show and tell him the great news said Carly.

Carly's Here

Barry went to Heathrow airport to pick up Carly. He went to terminal  four gate seventeen where Delta flight thirty five would be coming in. Barry took a seat to wait for her flight to taxi in. The plane taxied in to gate seventeen. Out came the first set of passengers. Barry then saw Carly. He gave
her a hug and kiss. Come on lets go get your luggage said Barry. They went downstairs to get her luggage. Then they headed to the front of the terminal to get the shuttle to the parking lot. I've kind of gotten use to driving on the right side said Barry as they got to his rental. So how's things at home?  he asked. Ok said Carly Maggie and Max are fine. What about your new doggie? asked Barry. The guy who couldn't take his beagle with him to Seattle ended up taking him. He actually found another apartment building that allowed dogs. Oh I'm sorry about that he said. That's ok said Carly. Because I got another dog instead. Shirley told me about a one year old make Golden Retriever. He had flunked out of The Seeing Eye training facility. They're like Guiding Eyes for the Blind. They train German  Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers and Golden Labrador mixed to be seeing eye dogs. Shirley said this family adopted him. But because they were to busy to take care  of him they dumped him off at BARC. Shirley called me and asked me if I wanted to take a look at him. I told her sure I can come after work. So last Monday I went over to BARC to take a look at the dog. Shirley took me back to his cage. She told me his name was Bailey. She let me take Bailey to their outdoor space. I sat on one of the park benches and threw a tennis ball to Bailey for him to catch.  He then jumped up on the bench and sat next to me. I started scratching his fur. Then I asked Bailey "Do you want to come home with me?" Bailey just let out a woof which I took for a yes. After he did his business we went back in.  I told Shirley that I asked Bailey if he wanted to come home with me. He let out a woof which I took for a yes. So I told Shirley that Bailey was going home with me. Shirley
said with your husbands two Labrador Retrievers Bailey should fit in very nicely to your family. We went inside so I could fill out the adoption papers. After I did that I took Bailey out to the Jeep. I then opened the front passenger door to let Bailey in. Once he was in I closed the door and went around to get in the drivers side. I started the jeep and we went home. Now on the way home I told Bailey your going to fit in perfectly to our family. There's me, my husband Barry and his two Labrador Retrievers Maggie and Max. I know Barry, Maggie and Max are going to love you. Once we got home I took Bailey around to the backyard so he could do his business. Then I went up the steps to the back deck. I unlocked the sliding glass doors and called Maggie and Max. They both came running to the sliding glass doors to go outside. Once they were outside Max saw Bailey and went running towards him.  Max and Bailey started chasing each other all over the yard. Maggie joined in the chasing too said Carly. Carly got out her iPhone and pulled up a photo of Bailey that she had taken. That's Bailey said Carly as she showed Barry Bailey's picture. I can't wait to meet Bailey said Barry. Steven and Debra
are taking care of the dogs while I'm over here said Carly. They wished us a happy first anniversary. Steven said after Barry gets home we'll take you two out for an anniversary dinner. I told Steven that was fine by me. Time flies when your having fun. Well it does you know. The week had flown by real fast. So here it was Saturday July eighteenth. Carly and Barry went out for dinner before the concert.  The concert was starting at eight pm. Barry's wasn't like Brian Murphy who always started his shows five or ten minutes late. Barry and Carly got to the Palladium at seven pm. Carly gave Barry a kiss on his cheek for good luck. He went backstage to get dressed and up his makeup on. While Carly went into the lobby. Barry decided to wear something different for a change. Instead of his usual black loafers, black pants, white shirt and colorful jacket. He chose to wear cowboy boots, black jeans, white shirt and the tail coat jacket that he wore during The Greatest Hit's and Then Some Tour. Barry had pulled that out of his warehouse of bad clothes. Not all the clothes in his warehouse were bad. It was now time go to his mark to stand. The house lights dimed and Barry's intro number started. Then came the familiar "Right here Right Now" piece. The curtain opened then out came the backup singers Kion, Billy, Dana and Robin. Mike Lent started playing an acoustic guitar. Then you heard Barry singing Music Is You by his friend John Denver. At the end of the song since Barry didn't know how to yodel he hummed. His backup singers said ladies and gentlemen Barry Manilow. Barry came walking out carrying an acoustic guitar in his right hand. He went to the center of the stage. Barry said the song you heard before I came out was called Music Is You. Music Is You was written by my dear friend John Denver. John also wrote these two songs. The first one you might know because folk group Peter, Paul and Mary recorded it. With that Barry began to play Leaving On A Jet Plane. Then he sang that song. After that Barry said the other thing John and I had in common was our love for the ocean. Also oceanographer Jacques Cousteu and his ship the Calypso.  In the eighties John wrote a song about the Calypso. Barry played and sang that song also. Another one of my hidden talents playing the acoustic guitar. Summer two thousand seventeen I'm going on the road again in the US. I'm going to be playing the outdoor venues. Or as I like to call them the sheds. I'm starting in Boston and finishing in Seattle. During my summer tour next year I'm playing three nights at Red Rocks Amphitheatre outside of Denver Colorado. Aspen Colorado was where John lived. He had this beautiful home set on the mountain. His songwriting space was glass enclosed. That's where John wrote his songs. While John still lived there I got to visit him there a few times. One time when I was there John and I wrote some songs together. Maybe one day I'll record the songs that we wrote together said Barry. From John's songwriting space you could see the rocky mountains. It was breath taking Barry said. When I do my three concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheatre July seventh, eighth and ninth I'm going to pay tribute to my dear friend John.  That is also when the BMIFC is having their next convention. BMIFC members you can go the Barry Net website for more information on the convention. What do you say we go back to the Mayflower said Barry. Barry did a few songs from Here At The Mayflower. Then he did two songs off the sequel Here At The Mayflower II (Many more stories inside.) Those last two songs Welcome To The Mayflower and Who Is The Shadow Man are from my next album all original material called Here At The Mayflower (Many more stories inside.) coming out Sunday November thirteenth fifteen years to the date the prequel Here At The Mayflower came out in two thousand one. Welcome To The Mayflower is sung by the new elevator operator Eddie. Eddie took over after Freddie blabbed to much and got shot in an alley on his way home from work. Who Is The Shadow Man tells the back story on who the Shadow Man really is.
Just wait a minute "See I flew in from the west coast just the other day." Barry then sang Brooklyn Blues from   his Swing Street album. Barry continued on with songs off of New York State Of Mind, Barry Manilow nineteen eighty seven, Showstoppers, 2:00AM Paradise Café, 15 Minutes (musical) Something's Comin' Up (Barry's album recorded for fan club members only.) Barry then did the Spanish guitar version of Copacabana. He ended the show with Every Single Day. Before he left the stage. The audience yelled Barry Barry Barry to get him to come back on stage for an encore. Barry came back out and said to the audience. I never done this one live. It's Carly's favorite off Barry Manilow my album from nineteen eighty seven. With that Barry did In Another World from the album. To bad we can't stay here all night and order Chinese. But the Palladium wants us out of here. So good night everyone said Barry as he waved to the audience.

Facebook Post July 10th



Hi Gang

It's me Barry having a blast here in merry old England. The Palladium shows are going great. The shows are sold out every night. Great news US fans I'm hitting the road once again. This time I'm playing the outdoor sheds. MANILOW LIVE kicks off on June second at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield MA. The tour ends at White River Amphitheatre in Auburn WA.  And yes I'm going to brave the bugs once again.  There are only two cities where I'm doing more than one show. Denver

Colorado July seven, eight and nine. Those shows coincide with the BMIFC'S Denver Convention Wednesday July fifth thru Sunday July ninth. During the convention we are going to have a barbeque in place of the formal sit sown dinner. Red Rocks has picnic areas where you can eat. I'll also being doing a Q&A after the Sunday brunch. If you signed up get your questions ready.  The other city is Los Angeles July twenty third, twenty fourth and twenty fifth. Now the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra will on stage with me for those three show. Right now Carly is here for a week. Carly left last Friday on Delta Airlines flight 310.  Tuesday July twelfth we'll celebrate our first wedding anniversary. You know there is someone for everyone. You may not find them right away. But be patience and there they are. Just look at me I was sixty eight before I found the right one. That was by accident. I was on Good Morning America November two thousand eleven with Adrienne, Enoch and the cast of 15 Minutes. We were there to talk about our musical 15 Minutes which was opening that night. Also on that day was suppose to be two zoo keepers from the Bronx Zoo. One of the zoo keepers had to have emergency surgery.  So Dr. Carly Simon took the zoo keepers place. Carly is head veterinarian at the Bronx zoo. She and Tom Kelly were on before us. So I could watch their segment from off camera. I took one look at her and thought wow. On Monday of the next week I went to the zoo to invite her over for dinner. So here I am five years later a happily married man.  Getting back to the music Carly quickly figured out where Meet Eddie and Who Is The Show Man? fit in to the picture. Meet Eddie and Who Is The Shadow Man? are two songs going on my new album. The album is coming out on Sunday November thirteenth fifteen years to the date the prequel came out. The prequel was Here At The Mayflower  which came out on November thirteenth two thousand one. My songwriting partners and I knew there were many more stories to tell about the tenants. Some tenants still had more of their story to tell. Some tenants hadn't even begun to tell their story. Meet Eddie is about Eddie Martinez the new elevator operator. Freddie was the  elevator operator in the first album.  Freddie's got the dirt on every body on the street. Don't know how he did it was he wasn't to discreet. One day when Freddie was walking home bada bing bada bang bada boom Freddie was dead. He got shot in the alley way on his way home from work. Finally everyone will know  who the Shadow Man is. Who Is The Shadow Man? tells you who the Shadow Man really is. It's not me because my life has always been open. The Shadow Man happens to be a recording artist named Jake Nash Jake was the main character in my two thousand eleven musical 15 Minutes. Jake is a guitarist, singer and songwriter. Jake got fame when he was in his early twenties. Lost fame in his late twenties when he took to the bottle. He lost the love of his life because of that. Finally in his late thirties after climbing the latter once again he got the fame back. Here At The Mayflower II (Many more stories inside.) Yes more stories from the Mayflower apartment build  in Brooklyn New York. Ok UK fans I've got something for you too. After I finish my Palladium run on August twenty eighth I'm staying over here because my latest musical Here At The Mayflower will be opening at the Palladium on Friday September second. The entire Broadway cast is coming  Joe Bologna Joe, Lorna Luft Esther, Diane De Garmo Diane Parr, Ace Young Kenneth Stone and the rest of the cast. Their understudies have taken over the Broadway show. What I did was audition new understudies for the Broadway production. Here's the MANILOW LIVE cities and dates list. Tickets will go on sale starting in January of next year. I have a new ticket system in place.  Eventful just didn't cut it. Fans were still having trouble getting their tickets. The new ticket agent is called Manilow Tickets.  You can either go to the fan club website or my Facebook page to find out how to get tickets. You can get tickets either online or calling a number to get tickets. Just so you know my website is down for a face lift. Well it's time to go make dinner. I'm making sesame chicken tonight. I can just imagine your mouths drooling right now.

Love and kisses,

Barry

A New Day.

Carly had talked to Barry right after he ate dinner. After talking to Barry Garry called. Now did Barry make it to London in one piece? asked Garry. Yes Barry and company made it there in one piece  to London. Barry's Delta flight from  JFK left at eleven fifteen am on Tuesday June thirteenth. His flight got in to Heathrow at twelve am Wednesday June fourteenth. After they got their suite cases they all caught cabs to their rental homes. Barry went directly to be. Then he got up ate breakfast. Then he Billy and Kion  took a train to Liverpool to see Brian Murphy in concert. Brian gave Barry three tickets for his Wednesday June fifteenth Liverpool show. Barry, Billy and Kion had tenth row center seats. Billy and Kion sat on Barry's left side. On his right side was a four year old toddler and her grandmother. Barry got into an argument with the grandmother about bringing her four year old to see a sixty nine year old singer.  Barry turned to Kion and explained to him why children under the age of eighteen are not allowed at his shows. They won't understand the messages in the lyrics to my songs. Besides my songwriting partners and I didn't write songs for infants, toddlers, children, pre teens and teens. Our songs were written for adults over the age of eighteen. Yeah I remember the eighty four convention brunch and Q&A said Garry. When one fan bitched to Barry about him  not allowing her four year old to come to his concerts. After she bitched four other fans also bitched  to Barry about the same thing. I remember that too said Carly  The  fan who bitched first was sitting at our table. After Barry made his comment about why he doesn't allow children under eighteen to his concerts. The fan said "what  an a** hole." got up and left the room. Another fan who knew that fan told us she dumped Barry for good. So did the other four fans who also bitched at that Q&A. Barry is an adult contemporary jazz artist. Not a infant, toddler, children, pre teen and teen recording artist said Carly. Barry didn't record "The Wheels On The Bus" or "The Farmer In The Dell." Or any other songs geared to the under eighteen set said Carly. He recorded Paradise Café, Keep Each Other Warm, Do You Know Who's Living Next Door? and ETC. Oh well their loss not Barry's. Because for every fan he's lost over they years he's gained so many more said Garry. Barry said on opening night he saw Charles, Camilla, William and Catherine sitting in the audience. After the show all four of them came back stage to meet Barry and company.. Barry had bought gifts for George and Charlotte. He got George a Tonka dump truck and Charlotte a giraffe. Barry figured the kids would like their gifts. What boy doesn't like a dump truck said Carly. Barry felt Charlotte was a little to young for a Barbie doll. The giraffe came from the Bronx Zoo gift shop. William and Catherine thanked Barry for the kids gifts. Barry told them that his wife Carly got the giraffe from the Bronx Zoo gift shop. He then explained to them that his wife was the head of the veterinary department at the Bronx Zoo.  Then the following day in the London paper their was a photo of Charles, Camilla, Barry, Catherine and William. Barry's staying in London after his Palladium run. That's because his latest musical
Here At The Mayflower is opening at the Palladium this September with the original cast. Before
Barry went to London he auditioned new cast members for Broadway. He's been auditioning cast members for London on his off days. Now those cast members will take over their rolls in January. He auditioning the main cast and their understudies. Here At The Mayflower opens on September twenty third which is a  Friday. He's also arranged to do a album signing at Rough Trade East at 91 Brick Ln Shoreditch. He'll be autographing vinyl copies of Hare At The Mayflower II (Many more stories inside.)  Fans who purchase vinyl copies will get a free  copy of the CD.  Carly said goodbye to Garry so she could let the dogs out. Once back in her phone rang. Hello she said. Hi Carly it's Vicki. So how was the convention? she asked. It was a blast said Vicki. Janice, Kate and myself stayed until Saturday June twenty fifth. We got tickets to see Barry on Sunday  June nineteen. The band didn't start out with Barry's usual number. Saxophone player Michael Lington came out and started playing the intro to Do You Know Who's Living Next Door? from Here At The Mayflower. That's when Barry came out and sang that song. We noticed he was using the fire escape set from his 2001/2002 Manilow Live Tour. That's when he was promoting his Here At The Mayflower album said Vicki. Then he did Turn The Radio Up, Freddie Said and They Danced extended version. After those songs Barry did two new ones called You've Got To Meet Eddie and Who Is The Shadow Man? Barry said  so if your wondering about the last two songs there new songs going on my new album called Here At The Mayflower II (Many more stories inside.) It's being released on November thirteenth which is the exact same day fifteen years ago that Here At The Mayflower came out. My songwriting partners and I knew we weren't done telling all the tenants stories. So there were tenants yet to meet. Tenants with more stories to tell. We decided that we needed to continue the Mayflower apartment building story. Also you have been bugging me about the Shadow Man. Who is this guy and what does he do? I figured it was time you all knew who the Shadow Man was. First off he's not me since my life is very open. You know loads of stuff about me. My full name Barry Alan Pincus last name Manilow now. My birthdate Thursday June 17, 1943 and age 73. My family grandparents Joseph and Esther Manilow, mom Edna Manilow dad Harold Pincus later Kelliher,  stepdad Willie  Murphy, Aunt and Uncle Leo and Rose Tartakow. cousins Dennis Tartakow  and Olivia,  second cousins Greg Tartakow and Jordan Tartakow. My orientation which is straight.  All my girlfriends from Carole to Carly. My marriages to Susan Dexiler and Dr. Carly Nicole Simon. You knew all the places I lived New York City, LA and Palm Springs. Plus a lot of others things I've told you about me said Barry. I patterned the Shadow Man after Brian Elliot Murphy the pop singer I produced albums for and wrote songs for. Brian is way more secretive than me. Bell Records shaved three years off Brian's age. Then when Bell became Arista president Clive Davis just kept up the farce. Brian was actually born on June eighteenth nineteen forty six.  But with the age shave the year got trimmed to nineteen forty nine. Brian has finally admitted that he's  seventy instead of sixty seven. After my Palladium runs ends in August I'll still be here to see my musical get up and running. Barry continued on with his show. At the end Barry said tomorrow in the US it's independence day. Years ago me and Bruce Sussman wrote a song for our nations birthday. It's called Let Freedom Ring so let me sing it to you. Which Barry did.