Looking through Amazon tonight for something – I don’t even remember what lead me there – and I just froze when I saw it.
Barry Manilow has released a CD with the Greatest Songs of the Fifties, and followed it up by the Greatest Songs of the Sixties. Now he has released the Greatest Songs of the Seventies.
This totally amuses me. If you asked me to list the greatest songs from that time period, it would be mainly the Bee Gees and Barry Manilow. How can one of the greatest artists of the time period do a greatest of CD like this?
Check out the track list:
1. The Way We Were
2. My Eyes Adored You
3. Bridge Over Troubled Water
4. How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?
5. It Never Rains in Southern California
6. You’ve Got a Friend (Duet With Melissa Manchester)
7. He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother
8. Sailing
9. The Long and Winding Road
10. (They Long To Be) Close to You
11. If
12. Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word
13. Mandy (Acoustic)
14. Weekend in New England (Acoustic)
15. Copacabana (At the Copa) (Acoustic)
16. Even Now (Acoustic)
17. Looks Like We Made It (Acoustic)
18. I Write The Songs (Acoustic)
Six out of 18 songs are songs that Barry Manilow did – now in Acoustic form. And the thought of him singing the Bee Gees, Simon & Garfunkel, or The Carpenters really freaks me out. That would just be so wrong. (Update: Ok, his version of Close to You was ok. The rest? WRONG. SO VERY WRONG.)
Speaking of the Bee Gees, where is Jive Talkin’? Or How Deep is Your Love? Come on, how can you do a Greatest Hits without those songs?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m a Fanilow, although I’m not a card carrying member. But this CD just cracks me up!
One reply on “But He Wrote Them!”
i twittered the other day (last week, maybe) that i was watching Manilow sings the 70’s on PBS. i don’t think it was airing in Houston as it was just PBS in Dallas that was showing it… and giving away tickets to his concert.