Manilow's Memory Tour

I've got it all it seems
For all it means to me
But I sing of things I miss
And things that used to be
And I wonder every night
If you might just miss me too
And I sing for you
I sing…


The lyrics above are from the end of the song, "This One's For You". At his Hollywood Bowl two night performance, Barry Manilow invoked his late grandfather in introducing this song, the man who seems to have been the most encouraging of the music career (though he wanted only to be a song writer) of his grandchild. 

I got all teary eyed at those last lyrics because they reminded me of all the time that has gone by since Barry Manilow first arrived on the scene, circa 1973, and that moment I was sitting in Section F Row 19 of the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday. I was ending Freshman Year College and about to be a sophomore. I had begun working at the student radio station WFUV in the Bronx, and so I was well aware of the myriad of pop and rock tunes. Frankly, back then I heard "Mandy" so much, I actually wasn't that crazy about it. But here I was 46 years later singing along with the multi-generational crowd that song and nearly all of the hits that had been among the threads of my life's tapestry when I was young and through the eventful years. When I first heard "Mandy" my mother was still alive, just before or just after her diagnosis with breast cancer, which would take her in November 1974 at age 48. I thought of her as I listened to Barry, the first of many losses to come, as life is wont to do, along with its revels. 

When I was 22 ish, and just out of college, I was reconsidering law school in favor of the entertainment world. I spent about six or more months working with a college friend (so kind was he to help me get the job; hello Facebook friend!) who was the Music Director of 99X, WXLO-FM.  One day I heard that Barry was in the studio with the now late Jay Thomas doing an interview. I surreptitiously peered at them through what I recall was a small window through the studio door. Well, who knows if that is right. I just remember a slight man, with a prominent proboscis, and a shag haircut. I know now he is 11 years older than me, but he looked so young, and fresh, and his career by then was already three or so years old. I had no idea yet of what mine would be, though as I have written in these pages before, I did conclude that radio at least was not something I would easily break into, and I returned to the route of law school, beginning in January 1977.  

As Barry's star rose along with his income, I found my way, and was mostly fortunate. Yeah, I used to have lots of complaints, but when you grow up, you get perspective. You learn that we all, even Barry Manilow, face the inexorable movement of time. The face lifts that Mr. Manilow has had, often the subject of jest, is one manifestation of his response.  But none of us, of a certain age, with or without facelifts, are unmarked. 

Maybe that's part of what made the evening, for me, so lovely. In that 17,000 person venue, things felt really intimate in a way, like we were sharing an impromptu performance--despite the glitzy Las Vegas style staging--at home. The man behind us, clearly of our generation, was nearly apoplectic with joy. He must have yelled "Bar-RY" a million times. But next to me were a couple of twenty somethings.  I wanted to say, but held my tongue, that I was glad to see their appreciation of a relic of my past. 

And when I heard those lyrics in "This One's For You" I thought of the people that I miss, between 1973 and now, too many really, it hurts sometimes more than I can say. 

I felt like Barry was singing for all of them.