Jump to content

Best/Worst Solo Efforts


Stevie

Recommended Posts

Gee, I must have caught Barry Manilow on a good night and I wasn't even trying to meet him! Some friends of mine were huge Manilow fans and I went to the Toledo, OH concert with them in 1975. Afterwords, they dragged me to the hotel where the band was staying. Barry and his band came into the hotel lounge and they had drinks with everyone there. They sang songs and partied for several hours. Believe it or not, Barry was nice. I never knew he had a reputation for being rude. He never complained about the photos either! Betsey

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Betsey, I'm really glad you told us about your great experience with Barry Manilow. To be fair, Julia's sister and I may have seen him in a really foul mood or something. I guess I was young, naive and very shockable, and because I always thought of him as being so warm and suave, and gentle, I was aghast. But...hey we all have days when we hope no one is listening to what we REALLY think, and any performer is a human being like anyone else.

Performing on such a gigantic scale is extremely unnerving, and it's true that I didn't know what other conditions may have been upsetting him that night. There were nights when I played with my band when all I wanted to do was go to the bar and get a glass of water or a coke, because I was dying of thirst, and people would come up and ask me to pose for photos, talk to their grandfather, or dance with their little boy or girl. Thirst would have to wait for another break. I remember thinking, "this is annoying--I don't want to even THINK about what celebrities must go through constantly!"

He's probably really nice, and it was really unfair for me to make a judgment on ONE night, no matter HOW young I was. Thanks for setting me straight! -- Darlene

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Darlene, how could you not make a judgment based on your bad experience? It's only natural. I remember when I was involved in concert promotion in college and I was working backstage at the Jefferson Starship show. Paul Kantner, one of the original members of Jefferson Airplane, threw a fit because he could not find his leather jacket. He was throwing things and using very foul language and blaming my crew, and threatening not to go on with the concert. Well, one of his roadies had put it in a duffle bag and neglected to tell him. Do you think he ever apologized to any of us? Not one word! Now, I have a very bad impression of him and I doubt it will ever change. Maybe he was just having a bad night too, but I can't forget what I saw and heard that night. Betsey

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Darlene,

Concerning Barry Manilow being rude etc. Here's a

little story a friend of mine tole me.

A friend of mine in college was in the choir and they backed up Barry when he sang "One Voice" but

he never acknowledged or thanked them to the audience or to himself. An inside story.

SPOCK

PS> I'm a new poster here and I'm starting with the oldest posts and working my way up. So strap

yourselves in for the ride. smile

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...