Veteran crooner Barry Manilow is hoping to educate British fans on the history of American songwriters after he was asked to curate a ten-hour radio broadcast for the BBC.
- April 18, 2011
AceShowbiz - The "Mandy" hitmaker, Barry Manilow is overseeing ten one-hour shows on the network's Radio 2 and is focusing on legendary 20th century U.S. tunesmiths including George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein.
And he's hoping to use the shows, titled "They Write The Songs", to introduce younger Brits to the great songwriters by deconstructing their tracks on piano during the broadcasts.
Manilow tells Britain's Live magazine. "It's a project that means more to me than anything else right now. It's the first time they've given anyone ten one-hour shows. It's a dream come true. The aim is for me to get the man or woman in the street interested in the men behind the Great American Songbook... Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Leonard Bernstein and so on..."
"I researched and wrote it all myself, chose the recordings we illustrate it with, sang and played a little myself. It's Barry in your living room. I couldn't have enjoyed it more."
