Post by erik on May 14, 2022 17:15:45 GMT -5
He is both praised and criticized for melodramatic pop songs, but Barry Manilow's popularity cannot be denied. Case in point: the 1983-84 hit of his in this week's Pop Music Hits Spotlight.
READ ‘EM AND WEEP (Barry Manilow; Arista; 1983)—One of the things that Barry Manilow, the New York City-based singer/songwriter who was such a presence on the pop and Adult Contemporary charts throughout the 1970’s and early 1980’s, was often criticized for by the critics was a tendency towards melodrama, touched with another tendency towards a new form of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound. But in spite of (and arguably because of) the critics, Manilow was a huge hit with audiences for a very long time, with hits that included “Mandy”; “Weekend In New England”; “Trying To Get The Feeling Again”; “Ready To Take A Chance Again” (the theme song for the 1978 comedy/suspense film Foul Play) and many more. Even when MTV came into being in 1981, Manilow kept having significant hits, including “The Old Songs”, “I Made It Through The Rain”, and “Some Kind Of Friend”. In the meantime, one of the more prominent songwriters of the 1980’s, Jim Steinman, was quite hot in 1983. Bonnie Tyler had a massive “interstellar” hit with “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”, and Air Supply had almost as big a hit with “Making Love (Out Of Nothing At All)”. Both songs were at #1 and #2 simultaneously in October 1983. Around the same time, Steinman came to Manilow with another slice of arguably bombastic rock melodrama with “Read ‘Em And Weep”, a deeply disturbing song about a love affair that has gone irredeemably toxic. Released on Manilow’s late 1983 Greatest Hits, Volume 2, “Read ‘Em And Weep”, which had been recorded by Meat Loaf two years earlier, became Manilow’s final Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #18 in mid-January 1984, and topping the Adult Contemporary chart at the same time. While he has only had two other songs hit the Hot 100 since 1984, Manilow has nevertheless continued with steady album releases and constant touring, and even hitting the Adult Contemporary charts, including the #7 AC hit “Keep Each Other Warm” in late 1989.
READ ‘EM AND WEEP (Barry Manilow; Arista; 1983)—One of the things that Barry Manilow, the New York City-based singer/songwriter who was such a presence on the pop and Adult Contemporary charts throughout the 1970’s and early 1980’s, was often criticized for by the critics was a tendency towards melodrama, touched with another tendency towards a new form of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound. But in spite of (and arguably because of) the critics, Manilow was a huge hit with audiences for a very long time, with hits that included “Mandy”; “Weekend In New England”; “Trying To Get The Feeling Again”; “Ready To Take A Chance Again” (the theme song for the 1978 comedy/suspense film Foul Play) and many more. Even when MTV came into being in 1981, Manilow kept having significant hits, including “The Old Songs”, “I Made It Through The Rain”, and “Some Kind Of Friend”. In the meantime, one of the more prominent songwriters of the 1980’s, Jim Steinman, was quite hot in 1983. Bonnie Tyler had a massive “interstellar” hit with “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”, and Air Supply had almost as big a hit with “Making Love (Out Of Nothing At All)”. Both songs were at #1 and #2 simultaneously in October 1983. Around the same time, Steinman came to Manilow with another slice of arguably bombastic rock melodrama with “Read ‘Em And Weep”, a deeply disturbing song about a love affair that has gone irredeemably toxic. Released on Manilow’s late 1983 Greatest Hits, Volume 2, “Read ‘Em And Weep”, which had been recorded by Meat Loaf two years earlier, became Manilow’s final Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #18 in mid-January 1984, and topping the Adult Contemporary chart at the same time. While he has only had two other songs hit the Hot 100 since 1984, Manilow has nevertheless continued with steady album releases and constant touring, and even hitting the Adult Contemporary charts, including the #7 AC hit “Keep Each Other Warm” in late 1989.