Friday, December 15, 2006

Barry Manilow: The Greatest Songs of the Sixties

CML call number: CD POPULAR Manilow
Karen Schoemer wrote in New York: "The Greatest Songs of the Sixties … covers the Decade of Love with a fig leaf, eliminating war protests, mud baths, and brown acid from the picture. These were the sixties that besotted adults and sheltered children knew: a swaggering, bemused era of Rat Pack swingers, Bacharach candlelight, and 'Blue Velvet' before David Lynch got his twisted mitts on it. Released on October 31, Songs of the Sixties logged the biggest one-week sales total of Manilow’s career, with 202,000 units sold — the week before the Democrats retook Congress. I’m sorry, but somewhere out there these voting blocs overlap. In fact, I’m willing to gamble that Manilow fans are a much more liberal bunch than critics give them credit for. Think about it: They have a weakness for men in princess sleeves and spangles, they’re giving an indirect thumbs-up to Bette Midler (Barry was her pianist and arranger in the early seventies), and they’re willing to risk shame and derision for a cause they believe in. Try as I might, I just can’t see the guy as a threat to rock and roll’s integrity" ("Pop: A Man Much Maligned," 11/27/06).

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