Barry Manilow was born on June 17, 1946 in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. He was raised by his mother and grandparents after his father left the family when Barry was only two. It is from his mother that he gets the name of Manilow.

Barry's first instrument was an accordion when he was seven. The piano didn't come along until he was a teen. Young Barry had visions of becoming a composer and arranger. In one article he said, "I am a piano player that sings a little." The young mail room clerk penned a musical called "The Drunkard" that played off off Broadway, coached hopefuls for auditions, played for auditions, and sang and wrote commercial jingles. Later Manilow added a medly of those jingles in his shows.

But it wasn't until he met and played piano; as well as, the band's conductor for the Divine Miss M herself Bette Midler that Manilow drew attention to his talents. It wasn't long before the human juke box had some new tunes to play � his own.

In 1973 Barry released his first album "Barry Manilow I" on Bell Records. But it wasn't until the release of his second album "Barry Manilow II" that the shy piano player found himself a star with the success of "Mandy". When Clive Davil took over Bell Records and renamed it Arista, he kept only three artists one of whom was Barry Manilow.

Since those early days Manilow has sold over 75 million records worldwide; recorded over 40 albums; has won a Grammy, Tonys, and Emmys; has a successful show in Las Vegas; and has been awarded 23 gold albums, 12 platinum records, three platinum videos � one of which went triple platinum with three million copies sold, and has three albums at double platinum and three more at triple platinum in the US alone. He has collected 14 silver, eleven gold, and five platinum awards in the UK.

In September Manilow released the third album in his decade series with "The Greatest Songs of the Seventies". The album of 18 tracks contains 12 cover tunes of number one hits spanning the decade from The Beatles to Christopher Cross. The remaining six songs are Manilow covering himself offering stripped down acoustic versions of his own songs.

With the new album Manilow offers some powerful interpretations of the songs whether they were sung by a solo artist or a group. Those who dislike the entertainer aren't looking past his singing voice which is very good, but Manilow's true genius lies in his abilities as an arranger. The music found on "The Greatest Songs of the Seventies" deserves at least two times through; once just to hear Barry sing, but the album requires the second time through to hear how Manilow has taken such well known songs and arranged them into some beautiful works of art. Among the 12 cover tunes is a duet with long time friend Melissa Manchester, the Carole King hit "You've Got a Friend". There originally was a second duet scheduled on the album; the Sir Elton song "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" which Manilow performed with friend Rosie O'Donnell. Manilow said that the song did not make because although very good it did not fit the romantic mood of the album. He said that the song would show up somewhere else at a later time.

"The Greatest Songs of the Seventies" is just the beginning of a series of offerings from Manilow in the coming months. Manilow's television specials are being offered on DVD, a new Christmas album through Hallmark titled "Swing into Christmas" is out, and some time next year Manilow is planning a new album of original material. While avid Manilow fans are kept abreast of Manilow's music via emails, websites, and newsletters others are not so lucky. The new album was advertised heavily via the television shopping network QVC but the record label and distributors have neglected to fulfill promises to the media of promotional CDs in which to write and advertise the album to the public. While the quality of the album is at least as good as that of the other two in the series the new album did not chart as well as its predecessors � could it be due to the lack of promotions by the label or are the fad cookie cutter pop tarts more important than a true artist who has given his life to music in the eyes of the record label?