logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2021
31m 30s

Barry Manilow

BBC RADIO 2
About this episode

Gary Barlow talks to the international superstar Barry Manilow about his life and career. Reluctant to take centre stage and preferring the life of accompanist and arranger, Manilow graduated to singing his own songs after writing advertising jingles and working in American television on an early forerunner of an X Factor style talent show. He talks about how he was reluctant to record a song called 'Brandy', but how as' Mandy' it gave him his breakthrough hit; how songs like 'Copacobana' came to be written; and how important the musical arrangements of his songs still are to him after a career that has included some 75 million record sales, countless performances, television shows, albums and musicals from Brooklyn to Broadway.

Up next
Sep 2021
John Legend
Gary Barlow chats to superstar John Legend about his extensive collection of awards including what it’s like to be one of fifteen people with an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and a Tony award). John is not only a singer and songwriter, he is also a record producer, actor, film produc ... Show More
35m 58s
Sep 2021
Jeff Lynne
In episode three of Gary Barlow’s ‘We Write the Songs’ Gary talks to Jeff Lynne. Not only a songwriter, but also producer, sound engineer, instrumentalist and singer. The two discuss the inspiration behind the Electric Light Orchestra, how Lynne works in the studio to achieve his ... Show More
35m 59s
Sep 2021
Sir Paul McCartney
The legendary Sir Paul McCartney talks to Gary Barlow about the art of songwriting and what it was really like to work with everyone from John Lennon to George Martin to Kanye West. He reveals how he and John Lennon only began writing songs because other bands were performing the ... Show More
34m 43s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2018
Gary Barlow, singer-songwriter
Gary Barlow, musician and Take That lead singer, has written more than a dozen chart-topping songs, and has received six Ivor Novello awards including the award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. Born in Cheshire in 1971, his interest in music was sparked at an early ... Show More
58m 56s
Apr 2020
5-Time Grammy Winner Neil Giraldo Talks MTV, His Latest Passion--Whiskey--and the Future of Music
The great Neil Giraldo joins Fred for a chat about life, grappa, MTV, whiskey, vodka hate and more. Neil also gives advice to rising musicians and talks about his new venture--a spirits company--including a solid whiskey called Three Chord. NEIL GIRALDO Neil is a professional mus ... Show More
52m 28s
Oct 2018
Elvis Costello
In a special edition of Mastertapes to celebrate National Album Day, Elvis Costello, the consummate album artist talks to John Wilson and plays his way back through a career that has spanned five decades, premiers exclusive tracks from his new album and takes questions from the a ... Show More
52m 40s
Mar 2021
Barry Gibb Keeps the Bee Gees Stayin’ Alive
The Bee Gees were Barry Gibb and his younger twin brothers, Robin and Maurice. From the time they started playing together as children, they dreamed of stardom, and they certainly succeeded. The Bee Gees became among the top-selling music groups of all time. The distinctive “bloo ... Show More
45m 3s
Aug 2017
Randy Newman - Sail Away
With six Grammys, three Emmys and two Oscars (from 20 Academy Award nominations) - to say nothing of his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and membership of both the Songwriters and the Rock & Roll Halls of Fame - means that Randy Newman has one of the most crowded mantelpie ... Show More
47m 6s
Jan 2021
Bonus Episode: Dana Gillespie Remembers Her Teenage Romance with Bowie and Life as a Swinging Sixties 'It Girl'
Our latest chapter followed young David Bowie as he struggled to find his place in the Mod music scene of swinging sixties London. It was an exciting yet frustrating time for him as he fronted a lengthy list of doomed R&B bands — so close, yet so far from headliners like the Beat ... Show More
45m 30s
Nov 2016
Michael Bublé
Kirsty Young's castaway is the singer, Michael Bublé. Born in Burnaby, British Columbia, as a young boy he spent hours listening to his grandfather's record collection which featured the stars of the Great American songbook - Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Ella Fitzgerald. At six ... Show More
34m 6s
Jan 2016
Nigel Kennedy (the A-Side)
Nigel Kennedy talks about his record breaking 1989 recording of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. Series in which leading performers and songwriters talk about the album that made them or changed them.Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios, each edi ... Show More
27m 57s
Aug 2018
The Hidden Trove of Musicals by Broadway's Greatest Talents
After watching an early copy of the forthcoming documentary Bathtubs Over Broadway, Alec became fascinated by the film's quietly hilarious hero, Steve Young. As part of his job as a writer for the David Letterman Show, Steve had to scour secondhand stores for kooky music Dave wou ... Show More
40m 35s