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For years now, Barry Manilow’s easy listening has provided fodder for comedians looking for a fast and easy punch line. His music is mellow, pleasing adult contemporary, a genre infamous for lacking personality. But it’s also immensely popular across the country, and has earned Manilow the reputation of being one of America’s most successful adult contemporary artists in history.

What’s often overlooked – largely because no one bothers to listen to his music before judging him – is the fact that Manilow’s career proved him to be a versatile artist who was willing to explore beyond standard easy-listening pop.

Manilow was born Barry Pincus in Brooklyn in 1943. He adopted his mother’s surname after his father left the family when he was only two. From an early age, he displayed a talent for music, and eventually went to the Juilliard School of Music. He scraped together a living by working on ad jingles after graduating, finally catching a break by becoming Bette Midler’s pianist in the early ’70s. His work with Midler earned him exposure and eventually a record deal. His 1973 debut, Barry Manilow I, was all but ignored. His follow-up, 1974′s Barry Manilow II, earned him notoriety for his first smash single, “Mandy. ” From that day forward, Manilow would begin to establish a reputation as a writer of moving, if sometimes overly sentimental, romantic ballads. Not missing a beat, Manilow released a third record, Trying to Get the Feeling, in 1975, scoring another hit with the single “I Write the Songs. “

Numerous hits would follow, and the mid- to late-’70s would become a high point in Manilow’s career. His 1977 double-disc live album, Live, went to the top of the charts. Even Now, another release, was one of several that turned triple-platinum. He also released “Copacabana,” a song that he’s still known for to this day.

By the turn of the decade, Manilow began to fall out of favor with the general public. They seemed to be growing tired of the slightly bombastic, syrupy ballads he was known for. He began to slip in the charts, but that didn’t end his career. He had his touring act to fall back on. Besides that, his loss of an adult contemporary audience freed him to pursue new directions. He began experimenting with jazzier songs in 1984′s 2:00 A. M. Paradise Café. The genres of swing and jazz-pop became staples in this work during the ’80s. In the ’90s, Manilow turned his attention toward a stage musical based on his song “Copacabana,” which was in turn based on an infamous club of the same name. The musical was highly successful, touring across America and the U. K. and bringing Manilow’s music to a new generation of fans.

Though today he’s largely forgotten as a leftover from the ’70s pop scene, the massive number of Barry Manilow tickets that are sold each year is a testament to the popularity this artists still enjoys. Try http://www. stubhub. com/barry-manilow-tickets/ for tickets to hear “Mandy” in concert.