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<v Speaker 1>This is Later with Lee Matthews, the Lee Matthews Podcast

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<v Speaker 1>More what You Hear Weekday Afternoon's on the Drive.

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<v Speaker 2>He's coming off of a huge celebration fifty years as

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<v Speaker 2>a recording artists. On top of that, he's got his

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<v Speaker 2>Manelow music project that we wanted to talk about and

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<v Speaker 2>his upcoming show in Oklahoma City at the Paycom Center

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<v Speaker 2>on August the seventeenth. I'm delighted to have Barry Manilow

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<v Speaker 2>on with us today.

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<v Speaker 3>Hi, Hiley, Nice to talk to you, and nice to

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<v Speaker 3>talk to the folks there at Oklahoma City.

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<v Speaker 2>Early in your career, this was a very important stop

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<v Speaker 2>on your tour, was it not.

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<v Speaker 3>I'll never forget it. It was one of the first

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<v Speaker 3>big arena shows that I've ever done, and it was

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<v Speaker 3>so fantastic for me, for my band, for my singers,

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<v Speaker 3>and the audiences would be audience was just great that

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<v Speaker 3>they actually brought us back like five or six months later.

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<v Speaker 3>That was the first time that had ever happened. So

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<v Speaker 3>they were telling me, the Oklahoma City people were telling

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<v Speaker 3>me what was about to happen to my life.

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<v Speaker 2>And I think that was at the old Civic Center

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<v Speaker 2>Music Hall, which, by the way, is still standing and

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<v Speaker 2>still hosting shows.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, you know it was in nineteen seventy five. That

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<v Speaker 3>was a long time ago.

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<v Speaker 2>Man, Yeah, it sure was, and your music has been

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<v Speaker 2>going strong ever since.

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<v Speaker 3>I know.

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<v Speaker 2>One of your biggest influences was that nineteen forties kind

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<v Speaker 2>of the big band American standards. That influences most of

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<v Speaker 2>your composition.

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<v Speaker 3>You think when you listen to it, you hear stuff

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<v Speaker 3>like that In my pop song.

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<v Speaker 2>Absolutely, I did.

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<v Speaker 3>Key change here were there? You know, a key change

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<v Speaker 3>here were there? A big ending? Maybe I stole it

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<v Speaker 3>from those great that came before me. Sure, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>I think most of the stuff that I do, I

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<v Speaker 3>think it's more influenced by the Broadway kind of music

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<v Speaker 3>than it was the big band stuff.

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<v Speaker 2>But I can hear that too. In your arrangements, do

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<v Speaker 2>you arrange all the music yourself?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I consider myself an arranger first. When I started off,

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<v Speaker 3>I wanted to be Nelson Riddle. That's what I went

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<v Speaker 3>to school for. That. I arranged for any singer that

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<v Speaker 3>needed an arranger. I did that for Bet Midler for

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<v Speaker 3>many years, and that's what I was going to do

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<v Speaker 3>with my life, you know. But Faith had other plans

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<v Speaker 3>in store.

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<v Speaker 2>For me, definitely. Barry Manilow is with us. His show

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<v Speaker 2>is coming up and in August, and your tickets are

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<v Speaker 2>still available, by the way, at the pay Comm Center

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<v Speaker 2>box office as well as Ticketmaster outlets. Let's talk a

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<v Speaker 2>little about your Mantelo music projects. I know I'm heartbroken

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<v Speaker 2>when I go back to my alma mater high school

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<v Speaker 2>and they've gotten rid of the chorus program, They've gotten

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<v Speaker 2>rid of the jazz band, they've trimmed the regular marching

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<v Speaker 2>band down to hardly anything at all. In my high

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<v Speaker 2>school life, music made everything else so much more complete.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, you know, it really makes me sad to hear that,

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<v Speaker 3>and I did hear about it. About fifteen or twenty

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<v Speaker 3>years ago. One of my neighbors asked me if I

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<v Speaker 3>could find sas for his daughter because the school was

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<v Speaker 3>running out of instruments. And I said, ah, the schools

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<v Speaker 3>are running out of instruments, and so I started to

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<v Speaker 3>do a little research, and sure enough, because they are

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<v Speaker 3>not funding music and arts anymore in high schools, yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>the kids are playing broken down instruments or you know,

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<v Speaker 3>they're running out of instruments. And so, from about fifteen

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<v Speaker 3>years ago till today, I've been donating instruments and schools

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<v Speaker 3>all around the country, and we call it the Man

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<v Speaker 3>of the Music Project. And you know, I think they

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<v Speaker 3>tell me that we've given away around ten million dollars

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<v Speaker 3>worth of instruments over these years. And you know, I

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<v Speaker 3>get thank you notes from these kids. And recently I

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<v Speaker 3>got a picture and a thank you note from a

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<v Speaker 3>kid who had just gotten a new tuba, so he

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<v Speaker 3>was thanking me for his new tuber and the picture

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<v Speaker 3>was with him and the new tuba and the tuba

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<v Speaker 3>was fuller than he was. But it was a sweet,

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<v Speaker 3>litte little notes from.

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<v Speaker 2>Him celebrating fifty years in the business, comparable Barry Manilow's

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<v Speaker 2>with us. And the way this works is is you

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<v Speaker 2>go from city to city and offer to make these contributions,

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<v Speaker 2>and you allow people to get online and vote for

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<v Speaker 2>their favorite.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, this time around, I always started to do something

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<v Speaker 3>on every tour that we've been on, and this time

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<v Speaker 3>round came up with this idea that the kids in

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<v Speaker 3>each city would pick their favorite music teacher and when

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<v Speaker 3>they do, we invite the teacher and a guest to

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<v Speaker 3>the show. I give him a couple of bucks, and

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<v Speaker 3>I make a big deal of them at the show.

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<v Speaker 2>And I know that the voting has already closed for

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<v Speaker 2>Oklahoma City, but it will be announced when you come

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<v Speaker 2>through in August at your show at the Paycom Center.

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<v Speaker 3>Yes, yeah, of course I've done this before and it's

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<v Speaker 3>a wonderful moment in the show. I really look forward

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<v Speaker 3>to it.

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<v Speaker 2>Very Manlow joining us as he's coming through in August

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<v Speaker 2>and tickets still on sale at the Paycom Center. It's

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<v Speaker 2>going to be a great show. You put a lot

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<v Speaker 2>into your shows, Oh, yes, always.

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<v Speaker 3>But you know, I've learned my lesson over these years.

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<v Speaker 3>When I started out, the audiences used to love me

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<v Speaker 3>doing the album cuts, the stuff that wasn't the big gest,

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<v Speaker 3>But as years have gone by, the audiences have told

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<v Speaker 3>me they want stuff that they know they want, the

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<v Speaker 3>hits they want. And I'm one of the lucky guys

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<v Speaker 3>who has got a big catalog of songs that everybody

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<v Speaker 3>is familiar with. So that's what I do. I'm happy

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<v Speaker 3>to do it, and you know, by the time we

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<v Speaker 3>get to Cocoa Cavada at the end, the audiences are

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<v Speaker 3>lighting themselves on fire, so it's always a great show.

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<v Speaker 2>Along those lines, I've often wondered how you felt, and

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<v Speaker 2>where you were when you first learned that. Frank Sinatra

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<v Speaker 2>proclaimed Weekend in New England the greatest song ever written.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, you know that, and he said something that was

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<v Speaker 3>very encouraging. He said he's next. And you know, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>Sata had a way of just doing you know, you

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<v Speaker 3>take a look at his quotes, and he used to

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<v Speaker 3>have really quick, little one liners and they were always great. Anyway,

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<v Speaker 3>when he said that, I was right in the middle

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<v Speaker 3>of getting the worst three views anybody has ever gotten

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<v Speaker 3>in their entire career, and here came Sinatra saying he's mixed,

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<v Speaker 3>and that made me feel real good.

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<v Speaker 2>Barry Manilow is with us. By the way, next time

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<v Speaker 2>I'm in New York City, where's the best place to

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<v Speaker 2>get good locks and bagels?

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<v Speaker 3>Catches deli?

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, keep that in mind and his show coming up

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<v Speaker 2>in August. You can get your tickets at Ticketmaster also

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<v Speaker 2>at the Paycom Center box office August seventeenth, seven pm.

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<v Speaker 2>And I've often wondered, because I'm musical, Barry, your music

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<v Speaker 2>is meant a lot to me because it's very singable,

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<v Speaker 2>it's very catchy. Do you dream in music?

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<v Speaker 3>Not often? But I did one This is an interesting one.

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<v Speaker 3>I woke up with a full song in my head,

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<v Speaker 3>lyric and melody, and I took to my little cassette

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<v Speaker 3>machine from the concept machine, and I whispered the melody

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<v Speaker 3>and the lyric into my cassette machine. It was a

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<v Speaker 3>song that turned out to be one voice. It's a

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<v Speaker 3>lovely song that I put on an album back then,

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<v Speaker 3>and that was the only time I ever dreamed a song.

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<v Speaker 3>The rest of the time, sometimes I come up with

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<v Speaker 3>a melody, a little fragment, but that was a full

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<v Speaker 3>song with a full lyric that I just whispered into

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<v Speaker 3>that concept machine the whole thing.

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<v Speaker 2>I've done it before. I've woken up with a tune

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<v Speaker 2>that I didn't think i'd heard before. I'd hum it

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<v Speaker 2>into a recorder of some kind, and then I'd find out, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>it's not exactly like something you've heard before, but it's

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<v Speaker 2>probably so close you'd be sued. So I've never brought

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<v Speaker 2>in any further than that very manlow with us. Do

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<v Speaker 2>you still include the very strange medley in your act?

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<v Speaker 3>Boy? You know my that no, because they stopped playing

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<v Speaker 3>most of the ones that I used to I used

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<v Speaker 3>to do. I used to call it my very strange memory. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>but there's two that they still use. One is I'm

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<v Speaker 3>stuck on a band aid and the other one is

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<v Speaker 3>like a good neighbor. Yeah, yeah, they still use that,

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<v Speaker 3>those two. So sometimes I actually talk about those two.

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<v Speaker 2>I've had to deal with advertising agencies before and advertisers,

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<v Speaker 2>and often when they come to me with what they

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<v Speaker 2>are looking for in an advertisement, they always have more

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<v Speaker 2>information and are closer to the product than they need

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<v Speaker 2>to be.

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<v Speaker 3>Uh.

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<v Speaker 2>And maybe you found that too when you were writing jingles.

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<v Speaker 3>Oh yeah, they would give me the lyric, and the

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<v Speaker 3>lyric used to go for two pages. You can't write

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<v Speaker 3>a catchy song with two pages of work. But I'll

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<v Speaker 3>tell you one interesting thing. That safefarm insurance commercial which

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<v Speaker 3>has been running for a what forty years? Forty years,

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<v Speaker 3>forty years my greatest hit. So I got five hundred

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<v Speaker 3>dollars for that for writing that, which was very good there,

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<v Speaker 3>which was very helpful during those years. But you know,

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<v Speaker 3>the composer doesn't get royalties. So that's it now forty

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<v Speaker 3>years later. The girl who sang it is out of

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<v Speaker 3>Third Rose roy because she was on the spot. As

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<v Speaker 3>long as you get on, whether you're talking or whether

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<v Speaker 3>you're singing, you get royalties, you get reiduals, but the

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<v Speaker 3>composer doesn't. But like I say, five hundred dollars during

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<v Speaker 3>those days, you know it was great and it should

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<v Speaker 3>have lasted a month. That's what most commercials do, but

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<v Speaker 3>that one as lasted as a forty years amazing, Rent

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<v Speaker 3>Very Manlow.

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<v Speaker 2>His show is coming August seventeenth, seven pm at the

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<v Speaker 2>pay Comm Center. Tickets on sale a ticket Master in

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<v Speaker 2>paycom box office. Your Manelow Music Project. Is there a

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<v Speaker 2>website for that?

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<v Speaker 3>Barry? Yeah, I think it's going to just go online

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<v Speaker 3>the Landlot Music Project and tell you everything about it.

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<v Speaker 2>And learn more about that and how important music is

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<v Speaker 2>to our high schools. And thank you for taking some

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<v Speaker 2>time with us today and we look forward to seeing

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<v Speaker 2>you at the pay Comm Center.

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<v Speaker 3>Thanks please, bye bye everybody.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening to Later with Lee Matthews, the Lee

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<v Speaker 1>Matthews Podcast, and remember to listen to The Drive Live

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<v Speaker 1>weekday afternoons from five to seven and iHeartMedia Presentation