Barry Manilow
Greatest Hits
1978
I first met Barry when I was a mere child of five. And by met, I mean I ogled the cover of his 1978 Greatest Hits album, dreaming that one day, I would get to speak to this flamboyantly coiffed and spritely little songster. It would be an understatement to say that it has been a love affair ever since.
Each time that I play the CD, thoughts of tropical lands and besequined dance numbers ravage my mind. From "Mandy," a tear-jerking autobiographical tale of the death of a dog, to the uplifting "Looks Like We Made It," his songs whisk me away on a whirlwind tour of my emotional landscape.
But more than just leaving me a bleary-eyed emotional wreck, the second half of the album enters Manilow's disco era, a welcome counterbalance to the more somber first portion. "Could It Be Magic" and Manilow's masterpiece, "Copacabana" (not to be confused with Copabanana of course) spin me right round from the potential abyss of sadface that I was faced with to a jazz-hand loving Lola wannabe. Here's to Barry - and his powers of escapism.
-Raya Jalabi
