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Where are all
the Fanilows?
Come out, come out wherever
you are: The Manilow Menehune
Fan Club is looking for you
POP music, in essence, is harmless stuff, made of upbeat melodies, catchy rhythms and smooth, saccharine voices. What's not to like?
But among the performers whose songs are polished to high-sheen confections, there are some artists who have the kind of magnetism that polarize people to far ends of the room.
Take Barry Manilow. On one hand, devotees flock to the Barry Manilow International Fan Club. On the other, a metal band named Scary Manilow toyed with the singer's name to call attention to their sci-fi/horror sound, the antithesis of what the real Manilow is all about.
Jackie Young, an employee and student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, falls into the category of those who love the original Manilow. Back in Young's Punahou days, her classmates were more likely to be passionate about the Elton John, Fleetwood Mac or Billy Joel. But as a teenager with a slightly subversive streak, Young's musical preference could be summed up in two words: Barry Manilow.
"Being a Manilow fan, you were kind of going against the tide," said Young. "I just liked his voice, I didn't find him sexy. (But) he puts himself into his songs, and there is vulnerability in his voice. Some critics think he over-emotes, but he just puts himself into his songs."
Now she's hoping there are a few more Manilow fans who live in the community and want to share the love. Young doesn't know when she made the leap to becoming a Fanilow, but she currently heads a small but passionate Oahu-based fan club that discusses all things Manilow, or Barry Alan Pincus, as he was dubbed on June 17, 1943 (early bios incorrectly list his birth year as 1946, possibly to endear him to teen audiences of the '70s, according to Young).
The Manilow Menehune Fan Club, founded in August 2003, has a shifting fan base of 10 to 15 members, but two members are a constant: club coordinator Young and Fayrene Delos Santos, a grandmother. The club is a Registered Independent Organization at the University of Hawaii.
Part music aficionados and part rabid fans, Young and Delos Santos don't mind if new Manilow Menehune members have less of an attachment to the singer than they do. They welcome "civilians." What they do ask is that people respect Manilow's talents: his showmanship, songwriting and arranging abilities, producing skills and his versatility. He's as adept in performing jazz, rock 'n' roll and doo-wop, as well as his more familiar love ballads.
"(I'm) really interested in finding out more about him," Young said. "There might be other people who want to talk about him locally. ... I was a casual fan once, but now I'm a nutso fan. He's really respected among people who know music, because of his artistry. He has musician stamped on his passport, not songwriter or performer. He's well grounded."
SAY WHAT YOU will about Manilow, more than one person has bought a copy of "I Write the Songs" (which he didn't write), and most casual music listeners over the age of 25 have at least heard the opening strains of "Mandy," the No. 1 hit that launched his career. In fact, Manilow had 25 consecutive top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1975 and 1983. He also had 12 No. 1 hits on the Adult Contemporary chart and has sold more than 50 million records worldwide.
While his hits are inherently accessible to all, Young is more likely to reach for B-sides such as "Miracle" and other lesser-known songs.
She's well aware that the earnest Manilow was not the king of cool in the '70s, '80s or even now, which Young said is part of his charm.
Key to the Manilow mystique is his unassuming demeanor, says Young, who notes that he never wanted to be a performer, and rose to prominence in his early years backing Bette Midler.
"He's kind of quirky," said Young. "He's not conventionally handsome. He's kind of the boy-next-door type."
DELOS SANTOS' admiration stems from Manilow's long history of accomplishments. "(I have an) appreciation for someone who sings songs with lyrics you can understand and that make sense," she said. "And the lyrics are meaningful.
"I admire musicians who can take just eight notes and 'write the songs,' like I admire anyone who can draw and paint. How can they just look at something and put it down on paper or canvas? Where does that talent come from?"
Delos Santos was in a 1985 Honolulu audience when Manilow picked her out of the crowd to sing in a duet. Manilow often selects an audience member to sing "Can't Smile Without You" with him.
"It was the thrill of my life," said Delos Santos. "I went down the aisle toward the stage as far as I could to try and take a picture of him. I happened to go down there just as he was starting his segment on looking for someone from the audience to sing 'Can't Smile Without You.'
"I was looking through my camera lens, and he kept asking for volunteers. I raised my hand ... but only when he went to the far end of the stage. ... Then I said 'what the heck' and raised my arm and left it there when he came to my side of the stage.
"I saw him point to someone in my direction ... through the camera lens, and lo and behold, he was pointing at me! The rest is a blur, but I remembered the words to the song."
ROLLING STONE magazine describes Manilow as a legend, calling the Brooklyn-born performer a "giant among entertainers. There's always a new album, there is always a new tour. ... He is the showman of our generation."
As a producer and arranger, Manilow has a fan base of famous performers like Midler, Janet Jackson, Marc Anthony, Trisha Yearwood and Brian McKnight.
Other fan clubs can focus on teenage and 20-something stars of today. But Young and Delos Santos will take Manilow any day, because he's proved himself after four decades.
"His fans don't have to be anyone special," Young said. "He does a lot of concerts. ... Are Ricky Martin and Britney Spears going to be around in 30 years?"
"'Whoa, whoa, whoa,' and 'Baby, baby, baby' ain't where it's at," agrees Delos Santos.
Ultimately, Young would like to organize a tour of local Manilow fans to see the performer's current show at the Las Vegas Hilton, for which he has received rave reviews. But for now she'll settle for discussion groups.
"I'm still trying to build support, but it's been hard, since Barry hasn't been much on the radio," said Young. "There are tons of fans on the mainland and around the world, but just not here in Hawaii. There are tons of people I know who would go see him if he came here, but not many, except myself, would travel to concerts to see him."
Perhaps her enthusiasm is rooted in the fact that she missed Manilow's 1989 Hawaii concert, which she regrets to this day.
"I overslept," she said. "It was horrific. I was working the night shift and had laid out all my clothes. I even had plans to meet up with a friend. I'm still thrashing myself over it."
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