Barry Manilow performs at the Hilton Las Vegas on November 17, 2005. / José Omar Ornelas, The Desert Sun
Manilow's great ones
Tracks from Barry Manilow's "The Greatest Songs of the Fifties":
"Beyond the Sea"
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Get photos from Barry Manilow’s Vegas show and more at Barry Manilow: A Desert Icon
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Palm Springs resident Barry Manilow has returned to top of the Billboard charts for the first time in 29 years.
"The Greatest Songs of the Fifties," Manilow's first album with his old mentor, Clive Davis, for Arista Records, beat out such contemporary recording artists such as Mary J. Blige, Jamie Foxx and Eminem to hit No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 200 chart. It also placed No. 1 on the The Top Internet Albums.
Manilow's CD of pop-oriented hits from the 1950s sold 156,000 units in its first week. It was his first No. 1 debut and his first time on top of the charts since July 1977.
"I swear, if you live long enough, anything is possible!" he said in thanking the "fanilows" who put him back on top.
Manilow's fan club members had been feeding what it called a "media frenzy" by urging fans to buy his album by Saturday, when the survey period for the Billboard charts closed.
Manilow had been making radio appearances in Los Angeles and appearing on such national television programs as "Entertainment Tonight" and "Dancing With the Stars."
His publicist said his busy personal appearance schedule will probably continue now that his album has hit No. 1.
He's scheduled to perform a PBS TV special in March and a benefit for the AIDS Assistance Program May 6 at O'Donnell Golf Club in Palm Springs.
"The Greatest Songs of the Fifties" features remakes of pop songs not generally associated with that golden age of rock 'n' roll, including the Everly Brothers' "All I Have To Do Is Dream" and Bobby Darin's "Beyond The Sea."
Manilow told The Desert Sun Davis approached him about working together again last year as he was disassociating himself from his jazz-oriented label, Concord Records. Davis suggested he remake these big pop ballads and up-tempo songs even though Manilow said he didn't see their hit potential.
But Manilow said that was how they worked together in the 1970s, too. Davis brought Manilow songs such as an English ballad called "Brandy," and Manilow would re-arrange them to bring out their hit potential. "Brandy" became their first big hit, "Mandy."
Manilow, who will be 60 in June, was joined on the top 10 album chart by such other unlikely modern hit-makers as opera stars Andrea Bocelli and Il Divo.
Manilow's recording comeback is being compared to that of another '70s icon, Rod Stewart, who has been recording covers of songs from before the 1950s.
But Manilow had been recording standards, including an album of Frank Sinatra music, since the mid-1980s. He called himself a "freak for the '40s" in a Desert Magazine interview in December.
Manilow's songs from "The Greatest Songs of the Fifties" are a departure from the recent trend of Great American Songbook recordings of Stewart, Steve Tyrell and Michael Bublé.
Then Manilow said, "I've found myself in them, and I've found the dignity in the songwriting."
This is Manilow's 31st album to chart in 31 years, going back to his 1974 launch of his first Arista album, "Barry Manilow II." His previous best debut was the No. 3 opening of "Ultimate Manilow" in February 2002.
