| The Barry Manilow Anthology Project Inspired by and in honor of the "Manilow Music Project" |
| "Welcome Home" - Music by Barry Manilow and Eddie Arkin Lyrics by Barry Manilow and Mindy Sterling From the 2001 Concord Album "Here at the Mayflower" |
The one question that probably gets asked of Barry the most is "How do you write a great love song?"
His answer has always been "For him (me) it starts with a good melody and a great lyric."
Inside the pages of this book "The Barry Manilow Anthology" are songs that defy simple definition.
Songs that withstand the test of a so-called "fickle" listening audience. Songs that have been
crafted by those who are now called "legendary". Songs written by those who have worked, and
continue to work with "SUPERSTARS" and are "SUPERSTARS" in their own right.
Name a major award and it will be guaranteed that at least one of these songwriters has at least one
(or more) of those awards in their name. Grammy, Emmy, Tony, Oscar, Songwriter Hall of Fame,
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, just to name a few.
Knowing this - would these songwriters be willing to help us with a fund raiser? The answer has been
OVERWHELMING - YES!
4 years ago the idea came to us to use the "Barry Manilow Anthology" to try and raise money for a
charity project by gathering the signatures of the various songwriters within the book. Nothing of
this magnitude had ever been attempted, and we didn't know if it could be done. Reasons came and
went why NOT to do it and it was placed on the back burner - simmering but not forgotten.
Then Barry created the "Manilow Music Project" and we KNEW we had found our reason to pick up
this project once again. He said "GO AND DO". So we did.
We developed this fund raiser in "HONOR OF" the "Manilow Music Project" so that we could chose our
own school to support and fund raise for. Much like Barry has done in his own work with schools in
California, Washington, and Nevada.
Sounds easy - buy the book - take the book - find the songwriters - get them to autograph their
songs. Hours and hours and hours of research. Would the songwriters be willing? Where are they?
Can we find them? Are they still alive? How much do we know about them? Have we ever met ANY
of them? MORE RESEARCH. And even more research.
Finally - the leap of faith. Draft a letter. Pay for all of this ourselves (it's only fair), and send it
out. It comes back. In one piece. Send it out again, and again, and again.
The book keeps coming back - "SO happy to help", "Keep up the good work" "It's our honor"...
Wait..."It's your honor?" SERIOUSLY? We've listened and sang (albeit badly in most cases) your
songs for years and drop unexpectedly into your life asking you to sign a book for a charity project
and you (who are a legend in your own right) say it's YOUR HONOR? That was one of the defining
moments of this project.
Then the unexpected "extras" - The demos, the handwritten lyrics, the extra stories behind the
songs, where the book was kept, who knows who....etc.
To say it has been OVERWHELMING EMOTIONALLY at times would be a vast understatement.
These songwriters, beyond being amazing word smiths and conveyors of emotion and feeling, are some
of the NICEST people on the planet. And the deep respect that they have for Barry in the care
that he has shown for their creations can be felt in the responses we have received for this project.
Finally find a school that wants money. Sounds easy. 3 different schools, whose primary focus was
MUSIC TURNED US DOWN. To take license from a popular song "You must NOT KNOW 'BOUT ME...
you must NOT KNOW 'BOUT ME..." (Beyonce - "Irreplaceable"). They really don't know about US!
Finally, we found a school that did want our hard work and efforts - and it wasn't an easy decision in
choosing this school. However, since we have, we realize that life is truly "FULL CIRCLE" and this
project is going to start and leave behind a legacy.
From where it started, so it shall continue. "Enterprise Business and Technology High School" -
Brooklyn, NY. Many of you will know it better by it's former name - EASTERN DISTRICT HIGH
SCHOOL.
"EBT" as they are known today has a music program of 400 students plus an after school program for
the local elementary school. Most of those students SHARE instruments. It is inconceivable, in the
GREATEST CITY in the world (NEW YORK CITY), and the HIGH SCHOOL that BARRY MANILOW
GRADUATED FROM, that the music program is so underfunded that students have to share
instruments. To make matters worse, they had to turn away 100 students that WANTED -
WANTED - to study music. That is 100 lives that could be changing for the future. To add insult to
injury, the entire musical student body shares 1 (one) boom box. (We've since donated 3 to the
student body that we've paid for out of our own pocket).
INCONCEIVABLE. UNACCEPTABLE. NOT ON OUR WATCH.
We at Barry's Retro Fans could not have gotten this far without the support of the following
songwriters (with more to come):
Once the book is completed (as far as we can complete it), we will be offering it for RAFFLE. The
cost of each Raffle ticket will be $25.00. This book is a PRICELESS, ONE OF A KIND COLLECTORS
ITEM. Every additional item that has come back with the book will be included with the book.
(Photos, letters, hand written lyrics, demos, etc.). All monies will go to support the music program at
Enterprise Business and Technology High School in Brooklyn, NY. - More info to follow.
His answer has always been "For him (me) it starts with a good melody and a great lyric."
Inside the pages of this book "The Barry Manilow Anthology" are songs that defy simple definition.
Songs that withstand the test of a so-called "fickle" listening audience. Songs that have been
crafted by those who are now called "legendary". Songs written by those who have worked, and
continue to work with "SUPERSTARS" and are "SUPERSTARS" in their own right.
Name a major award and it will be guaranteed that at least one of these songwriters has at least one
(or more) of those awards in their name. Grammy, Emmy, Tony, Oscar, Songwriter Hall of Fame,
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, just to name a few.
Knowing this - would these songwriters be willing to help us with a fund raiser? The answer has been
OVERWHELMING - YES!
4 years ago the idea came to us to use the "Barry Manilow Anthology" to try and raise money for a
charity project by gathering the signatures of the various songwriters within the book. Nothing of
this magnitude had ever been attempted, and we didn't know if it could be done. Reasons came and
went why NOT to do it and it was placed on the back burner - simmering but not forgotten.
Then Barry created the "Manilow Music Project" and we KNEW we had found our reason to pick up
this project once again. He said "GO AND DO". So we did.
We developed this fund raiser in "HONOR OF" the "Manilow Music Project" so that we could chose our
own school to support and fund raise for. Much like Barry has done in his own work with schools in
California, Washington, and Nevada.
Sounds easy - buy the book - take the book - find the songwriters - get them to autograph their
songs. Hours and hours and hours of research. Would the songwriters be willing? Where are they?
Can we find them? Are they still alive? How much do we know about them? Have we ever met ANY
of them? MORE RESEARCH. And even more research.
Finally - the leap of faith. Draft a letter. Pay for all of this ourselves (it's only fair), and send it
out. It comes back. In one piece. Send it out again, and again, and again.
The book keeps coming back - "SO happy to help", "Keep up the good work" "It's our honor"...
Wait..."It's your honor?" SERIOUSLY? We've listened and sang (albeit badly in most cases) your
songs for years and drop unexpectedly into your life asking you to sign a book for a charity project
and you (who are a legend in your own right) say it's YOUR HONOR? That was one of the defining
moments of this project.
Then the unexpected "extras" - The demos, the handwritten lyrics, the extra stories behind the
songs, where the book was kept, who knows who....etc.
To say it has been OVERWHELMING EMOTIONALLY at times would be a vast understatement.
These songwriters, beyond being amazing word smiths and conveyors of emotion and feeling, are some
of the NICEST people on the planet. And the deep respect that they have for Barry in the care
that he has shown for their creations can be felt in the responses we have received for this project.
Finally find a school that wants money. Sounds easy. 3 different schools, whose primary focus was
MUSIC TURNED US DOWN. To take license from a popular song "You must NOT KNOW 'BOUT ME...
you must NOT KNOW 'BOUT ME..." (Beyonce - "Irreplaceable"). They really don't know about US!
Finally, we found a school that did want our hard work and efforts - and it wasn't an easy decision in
choosing this school. However, since we have, we realize that life is truly "FULL CIRCLE" and this
project is going to start and leave behind a legacy.
From where it started, so it shall continue. "Enterprise Business and Technology High School" -
Brooklyn, NY. Many of you will know it better by it's former name - EASTERN DISTRICT HIGH
SCHOOL.
"EBT" as they are known today has a music program of 400 students plus an after school program for
the local elementary school. Most of those students SHARE instruments. It is inconceivable, in the
GREATEST CITY in the world (NEW YORK CITY), and the HIGH SCHOOL that BARRY MANILOW
GRADUATED FROM, that the music program is so underfunded that students have to share
instruments. To make matters worse, they had to turn away 100 students that WANTED -
WANTED - to study music. That is 100 lives that could be changing for the future. To add insult to
injury, the entire musical student body shares 1 (one) boom box. (We've since donated 3 to the
student body that we've paid for out of our own pocket).
INCONCEIVABLE. UNACCEPTABLE. NOT ON OUR WATCH.
We at Barry's Retro Fans could not have gotten this far without the support of the following
songwriters (with more to come):
Once the book is completed (as far as we can complete it), we will be offering it for RAFFLE. The
cost of each Raffle ticket will be $25.00. This book is a PRICELESS, ONE OF A KIND COLLECTORS
ITEM. Every additional item that has come back with the book will be included with the book.
(Photos, letters, hand written lyrics, demos, etc.). All monies will go to support the music program at
Enterprise Business and Technology High School in Brooklyn, NY. - More info to follow.
| David Martin and Barry |
| Bruce Sussman and Barry |
Bruce Sussman, Clive Davis, Marty Panzer, Adrienne Anderson, Barry Manilow
| Barry and David Foster |
Adrienne Anderson (Could It Be Magic, Daybreak, No Other Love, Some Kind of Friend)
Chris Arnold (Can’t Smile Without You)
Artie Butler (Who Needs To Dream)
Gino Cunico (When I Wanted You)
Randy Edelman (Weekend in New England )
Jack Feldman (Because It’s Christmas, Brooklyn Blues, Copacabana, I Made It Through the Rain, Let Freedom
Ring, Let Me Be Your Wings, Man Wanted, Paradise Café, Soon, Sweet Heaven, Who Needs to Dream)
David Foster (The Best of Me)
Charles Fox (Ready To Take A Chance Again)
Norman Gimbel (Ready To Take A Chance Again)
Andrew Hill (Keep Each Other Warm)
Ian Hunter (Ships)
Will Jennings (Looks Like We Made It, Somewhere in the Night)
Bruce Johnston (I Write The Songs)
David Martin (Can’t Smile Without You)
Richard Marx (The Best of Me)
Geoff Morrow (Can’t Smile Without You)
Marty Panzer (All The Time, Beautiful Music, Even Now, I Am Your Child, I Was A Fool to Let You Go,
It’s A Miracle, It’s Just Another New Year’s Eve, New York City Rhythm, This One’s For You)
David Pomeranz (The Old Songs, Tryin’ to Get the Feeling)
Peter Sinfield (Keep Each Other Warm)
Tom Snow (Somewhere Down the Road)
Mindy Sterling (Please Don’t Be Scared)
Bruce Sussman (Bandstand Boogie, Because It’s Christmas, Brooklyn Blues, Copacabana, I Made It Through
The Rain, Jump Shout Boogie, Let Freedom Ring, Let Me Be Your Wings, Man Wanted, Paradise Café, Singin’
With the Big Bands, Soon, Sweet Heaven, Where Does the Time Go, Who Needs to Dream)
Cynthia Weil (Somewhere Down the Road)
*****BOLDED SONG TITLES indicate those signed in the Anthology Book.*******
Chris Arnold (Can’t Smile Without You)
Artie Butler (Who Needs To Dream)
Gino Cunico (When I Wanted You)
Randy Edelman (Weekend in New England )
Jack Feldman (Because It’s Christmas, Brooklyn Blues, Copacabana, I Made It Through the Rain, Let Freedom
Ring, Let Me Be Your Wings, Man Wanted, Paradise Café, Soon, Sweet Heaven, Who Needs to Dream)
David Foster (The Best of Me)
Charles Fox (Ready To Take A Chance Again)
Norman Gimbel (Ready To Take A Chance Again)
Andrew Hill (Keep Each Other Warm)
Ian Hunter (Ships)
Will Jennings (Looks Like We Made It, Somewhere in the Night)
Bruce Johnston (I Write The Songs)
David Martin (Can’t Smile Without You)
Richard Marx (The Best of Me)
Geoff Morrow (Can’t Smile Without You)
Marty Panzer (All The Time, Beautiful Music, Even Now, I Am Your Child, I Was A Fool to Let You Go,
It’s A Miracle, It’s Just Another New Year’s Eve, New York City Rhythm, This One’s For You)
David Pomeranz (The Old Songs, Tryin’ to Get the Feeling)
Peter Sinfield (Keep Each Other Warm)
Tom Snow (Somewhere Down the Road)
Mindy Sterling (Please Don’t Be Scared)
Bruce Sussman (Bandstand Boogie, Because It’s Christmas, Brooklyn Blues, Copacabana, I Made It Through
The Rain, Jump Shout Boogie, Let Freedom Ring, Let Me Be Your Wings, Man Wanted, Paradise Café, Singin’
With the Big Bands, Soon, Sweet Heaven, Where Does the Time Go, Who Needs to Dream)
Cynthia Weil (Somewhere Down the Road)
*****BOLDED SONG TITLES indicate those signed in the Anthology Book.*******