Arista has beautifully restored Barry Manilow’s 1977 album Live from the original 1976 concert recordings. The concert was recorded at the Uris Theatre in New York City in December 1976. Released as a two-LP album in May of 1977, Live was Manilow’s first number one album (his second was 2006’s The Greatest Songs of the Fifties), sold over 3 million copies and managed to displace Fleetwood Mac’s classic Rumours – one of the biggest-selling albums of all time – from the top of the charts. Live was also Arista’s first platinum-selling double-LP. The album would eventually score platinum status four times over. Barry Manilow was one of the biggest stars in the music business that year.
For the first time ever, Live is available in the sequence as it was heard by the audience at the Uris Theatre in 1976. Live: Legacy Edition makes three significant changes to previous releases of the album. This edition has been expanded into a two-CD set, allowing for the restoration of all three-parts of “Beautiful Music” as the theme of Act II, which fills all of disc two by itself.
The new edition includes five previously unreleased songs, all in their original places in the concert: “Let Me Go,” “I Am Your Child,” “Tryin’ To Get The Feeling Again,” “Lady Flash Medley,” and “One Of These Days.” Resequencing the concert back to its original order of performance makes the concert flow more evenly. Having owned previous versions of the Live album, I’ve noticed that the restored version no longer has the brief, choppy pauses where material was moved or edited.
One of the highlights of Live: Legacy Edition is “A Very Strange Medley,” also known as “(V.S.M.).” It is in this medley that Manilow sings several of the commercial jingles he wrote while trying to get a break in the music business. Barry wrote some very well-known jingles for McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Band-Aids, and Dr. Pepper, among others. Manilow started playing the medley after he left his job as Bette Midler’s musical director and started playing clubs as a solo artist. “I didn’t have a hit single at the time, so I decided to include the only material I was associated with that the audience knew: my commercials.” Thirty years later, “The Very Strange Medley” is still a highlight of Manilow’s live shows.
Article comments
1 - Anthony Bertorelli
Barry wrote a letter to the press back in 1975 about this very thing. Here it is:
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press:
This is me, Barry. I am sitting here, hunting and pecking, because there is something very important that I would like to clear up.
Over the years there's been some confusion about my involvement in the commercial industry. Before my records began to break, I participated in a few dozen jingles. I had a great time, learned a lot and moved on. Recently, I've begun to get credit for writing just about every jingle ever written. I guess that's because in my stage act, I don't stop and break down credits for all the jingles in my commercial medley. So I am about to give you a break down of which commercials I did what to. Please read carefully.
And if one more person gives me credit for writing that stupid MacDonald's jingle, I will not be responsible for what I do with my next Big Mac.
Thank you,
Barry
Kentuckey Fried Chicken - Sang
Bowlene Toilet Cleaner - Wrote, arranged
State Farm Insurance - Wrote
Stridex - Wrote, sang
Chevrolet - Wrote, sang, arranged
Dr. Pepper - Sang
Pepsi - Sang
Jack-in-the-Box - Sang
MacDonald's - Sang
Band-Aids - Wrote, arranged