Barry Manilow on This Day in History

This Day in History: American singer-songwriter Barry Manilow was born on this day in 1943. Manilow had a very successful career with 46 Top 40 singles, including 13 that hit number one and 28 of which appeared within the top ten, and he has had 13 platinum and six multi-platinum albums. However, Barry Manilow was always overshadowed by more trendy artists at the time. This is unfortunate because it creates a false impression of what was really going on at the time in music. Percy Faith, Abba, The Carpenters, Herb Alpert, Kenny G, etc., were some of the biggest selling artists of their time, selling far more than their edgier rock counterparts that got more press, and their music was great. People bought their albums and just didn't tell anyone. For instance, at one time, Bob Dylan stopped Manilow at a party, hugged him and said, "Don't stop what you're doing, man. We're all inspired by you."