In Meat Loaf voice, "If he could learn to sing it!" Seriously though, if Manilow hadn't decided he was tired of singing other people's songs, it does feel like a fit. And as that decision ended his mass commercial success period, who knows what the alternative path would have looked like?
I'd heard Manilow's, but never looked to see who wrote it, etc. I suppose I'd heard the Meat Loaf recording, but never put the two together. I'm sort of stunned to see Jim Steinman actually produced the Manilow cover! Not seeing who arranged, but, as you noted, Barry had little time to do much with it.
Circling back to Todd (and his Mr. Loaf reflections) for a mo', I'm thinking this particular song-marriage of a Meat Loaf/Steinman tune with a Manilow arrangement is the ultimate (it had to happen sooner or later) collision of the two kings of overwrought, bombastic productions....rock's king, and pop's king! I appreciate your background on the "plot" of Manilow's vid, which I guess, helps explain it, but if I said it was "over the top," I'd have to be speaking of Mt. Everest! Manilow in white face....I can't unsee it!😱
In the UK, the single (nearly 12" in diameter, but with a playing area of 7") was issued as a full-color profile of Manilow's head! Here, see for yourself, and read it and weep (or giggle)!
Yeah, I get that. I misspoke. I did one gig in early-'70s with white professional face paint (clown make-up) lead-singing with Brimstone. In '74, I took a stage make-up class at North Texas State, and tried to perfect its application (which I did miserably in Brimstone)!
Wow! I totally don't remember this song or video! It does seem like Manilow would have been a natural to record more Steinman songs though.
In Meat Loaf voice, "If he could learn to sing it!" Seriously though, if Manilow hadn't decided he was tired of singing other people's songs, it does feel like a fit. And as that decision ended his mass commercial success period, who knows what the alternative path would have looked like?
I'd heard Manilow's, but never looked to see who wrote it, etc. I suppose I'd heard the Meat Loaf recording, but never put the two together. I'm sort of stunned to see Jim Steinman actually produced the Manilow cover! Not seeing who arranged, but, as you noted, Barry had little time to do much with it.
Circling back to Todd (and his Mr. Loaf reflections) for a mo', I'm thinking this particular song-marriage of a Meat Loaf/Steinman tune with a Manilow arrangement is the ultimate (it had to happen sooner or later) collision of the two kings of overwrought, bombastic productions....rock's king, and pop's king! I appreciate your background on the "plot" of Manilow's vid, which I guess, helps explain it, but if I said it was "over the top," I'd have to be speaking of Mt. Everest! Manilow in white face....I can't unsee it!😱
In the UK, the single (nearly 12" in diameter, but with a playing area of 7") was issued as a full-color profile of Manilow's head! Here, see for yourself, and read it and weep (or giggle)!
👉 https://www.discogs.com/release/1171073-Barry-Manilow-Read-Em-And-Weep
That single is wild! Thanks for sharing.
It helps to not think of the makeup as whiteface. It's clown makeup. The parallel being he's a fool for love.
Yeah, I get that. I misspoke. I did one gig in early-'70s with white professional face paint (clown make-up) lead-singing with Brimstone. In '74, I took a stage make-up class at North Texas State, and tried to perfect its application (which I did miserably in Brimstone)!
Kudos to you! I hate makeup and can't imagine having to put on so much of it. One of the reasons I didn't want to be an actor!
Mine looked like I had cold cream on! There's a trick, apparently, to applying it evenly and smoothly...something I then learned in college!