3 posts tagged “birthday”

Barry Manilow today

Birth name: Barry Alan Pincus
Born: June 17th, 1943 (Barry is 65 today!)
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York
Career Start: Manilow enrolled at the New York College of Music and The Juilliard School, while working in the mail room at CBS to pay his expenses. At CBS in 1964, the 21-year-old Manilow met Bro Herrod, a director, who asked him to arrange some public domain songs for a musical adaptation of the melodrama, The Drunkard. Instead, he wrote an entire original score.  The musical became a success and ran Off-Broadway for eight years at the 13th Street Theatre in New York.

Fact you may not know: Manilow worked as a commercial jingle writer/singer, an activity that continued well into the 1970s. He penned many of the jingles that he performed, including those for Bowlene Toilet Cleaner, State Farm Insurance, Stridex acne cleanser and Band-Aid, amongst others. His singing-only credits included Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pepsi, Jack in the Box, Dr Pepper, and the famed McDonald's "You Deserve a Break Today" campaign.  Manilow won two Clio Awards in 1976 for his work for Tab and Band-Aid.

Barry Manilow

Career Accolades: Manilow's career achievements include sales of more than 76 million records worldwide. In 1978, five of his albums were on the best-selling charts simultaneously; a feat equaled only by Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mathis. He has recorded a string of Billboard hit singles and multi-platinum albums that have resulted in his being named Radio & Records number one Adult Contemporary artist and winning the American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist for three consecutive years.

Personal Quote: “I feel that after all those horrible reviews and jokes, I wasn't crazy all these years to stand up for the music I believe in. This album has proven that somewhere in the human race, the human heart is still racing and breaking and I am so grateful.”

Check out more information on this artist at manilow.com
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Steviewonder

Born: May 13th, 1950
Birthplace: Saginaw, Michigan
Career Start: In 1962, at the age of twelve, Wonder was introduced to Ronnie White of the popular Motown act The Miracles. White brought Morris and his mother to Motown Records. Impressed by the young musician, Motown CEO Berry Gordy signed Morris to Motown's Tamla label with the name Little Stevie Wonder.

Fact you may not know: A multi-instrumentalist, Wonder plays the piano, synthesizer, talk box, harmonica, congas, drums, bongos, bass guitar, organ, melodica, and clarinet.

Stevie

Career Accolades: He has nine U.S. number-one hits to his name and album sales totaling more than 100 million units. Wonder has recorded several critically acclaimed albums and hit singles, and writes and produces songs for many of his label mates and outside artists as well.  Wonder has also received an Academy Award for Best Song for "I Just Called to Say I Love You" from The Woman in Red. In 1989, Wonder was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is also an inductee to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Wonder received the Polar Music Prize and Kennedy Center Honors in 1999.

His Unique Talent: Wonder's songs are renowned for being quite difficult to sing. He has a very developed sense of harmony and uses many extended chords utilizing tensions such as 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, b5s, etc. in his compositions. Many of his melodies make abrupt, unpredictable changes. Many of his vocal melodies are also melismatic, meaning that a syllable is sung over several notes.  Some of his best known and most frequently covered songs are played in keys which are more often found in jazz than in pop and rock. For example, "Superstition", "Higher Ground" and "I Wish" are in the key of E flat, and feature distinctive riffs in the E flat minor pentatonic scale

Check out more information on this artist at steviewonder.net