|
|
My RSS Feeds
His name is Barry
June 17 (1943) is Barry Manilow's birthday. So that means he's 66. Wow. Remember when that used to seem old? We've ALWAYS been a Barry fan. For those non-Barry fans (gasp), you may not know that he used to be Bette Midler's musical guy. After Bette stopped doing "Fiddler on the Roof" on Broadway (Tzeitel, 1966-1969), she started doing shows at the Continental Baths - a notorius gathering place for gays - and Barry played her piano. Here's where the story gets interesting...
After leaving Bette and the Bathouse behinds, Barry headed north and found himself in Beaver Pond, Vermont. And that's where he met Amber LeMay. It's something that I don't talk about often - too painful - but it's been long enough. Barry and I had what we called then - The Summer of '72. After being chewed up, spit out and stuck to the bottom of NYC-type shoes, he found solace, and yes, love, in Amber's Beaver Pond. He was rejeuvenated, refreshed and ready to... write the songs. With Amber as inspiration ("Mandy"... it was originally called "Amber"), he was ready for the big time.
But, alas, the big time didn't include Amber. After a beautiful Saturday and Sunday together, Barry headed back to The City, promising to send for me when it looked like he made it, but that call never came.
A few years later I heard this song... remembering that last Saturday and Sunday we had together...