[[quoteright:270:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e3aac2e7_6967_4070_8b5b_6859535fb2b8.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:270:''[[LargeHam At the Copa, Copacabana...]]'']]

->''"My biggest fear is Barry Manilow. I think he's the Antichrist."''
-->-- '''Music/OzzyOsbourne''' on his primal fear, ''Series/LateNightWithConanOBrien''

Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus, June 17, 1943 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American singer/songwriter famous for [[NeverLiveItDown composing every song ever written]], including hits such as "Mandy"[[note]]actually written by Scott English and Richard Kerr[[/note]], "Can't Smile Without You"[[note]] written by Christian Arnold, David Martin, and Geoff Morrow[[/note]], "I Write the Songs"[[note]] written by Bruce Johnston, longtime member of Music/TheBeachBoys[[/note]], "Looks Like We Made It"[[note]]written by Richard Kerr and Will Jennings[[/note]] and "Copacabana"[[note]]in fact co-written by Manilow, along with Jack Feldman and Bruce Sussman[[/note]].

He ranks as one of the top-selling artists of all time, as well as enjoying street cred with artists Music/FrankSinatra and Music/BobDylan -- about as close to "universal" acclaim as you could get. With the collapse of disco in the '80s, however, Manilow was haunted by his reputation as the [[GuiltyPleasure least hardcore singer alive]]. A varied composer, he branched into jazz and blues to keep thing fresh, but found himself somewhat pigeonholed by his old hits. With the exception of "Copacabana" (itself a codifier of LyricalDissonance), his uplifting anthems have wringed the most consistent success.

Today he has settled into a kind of wry awareness of his DiscoDan image; he has described himself in concerts as "the Music/JustinBieber of the 1970s."

To the surprise of [[TransparentCloset absolutely no one]], he came out as gay in 2017.

Is the {{Trope Maker|s}} for StuckOnBandAidBrand (he [[HeAlsoDid wrote the jingle]]).

!!Albums

* ''Barry Manilow'' (1973)
* ''Barry Manilow II'' (1974)
* ''Tryin' to Get the Feeling'' (1975)
* ''This One's for You'' (1976)
* ''Even Now'' (1978)
* ''One Voice'' (1979)
* ''Barry'' (1980)
* ''If I Should Love Again'' (1981)
* ''Here Comes the Night'' (1982)
* ''2:00 AM Paradise Cafe'' (1984)
* ''Manilow'' (1985)
* ''Swing Street'' (1987)
* ''Barry Manilow'' (1989)
* ''Because It's Christmas'' (1990)
* ''Showstoppers'' (1991)
* ''Singin' with the Big Bands'' (1994)
* ''Summer of '78'' (1996)
* ''Manilow Sings Sinatra'' (1998)
* ''Here at the Mayflower'' (2001)
* ''A Christmas Gift of Love'' (2002)
* ''Scores'' (2004)
* ''The Greatest Songs of TheFifties'' (2006)
* ''The Greatest Songs of TheSixties'' (2006)
* ''The Greatest Songs of TheSeventies'' (2007)
* ''In the Swing of Christmas'' (2007)
* ''The Greatest Songs of TheEighties'' (2008)
* ''The Greatest Love Songs of All Time'' (2010)
* ''15 Minutes'' (2011)
* ''Night Songs'' (2014)
* ''My Dream Duets'' (2014)
* ''This Is My Town: Songs of New York'' (2017)

----
!!Barry Manilow's work shows examples of the following tropes:

* AntiLoveSong: "The Last Duet" (duet with [[Creator/LilyTomlin Lily Tomlin]]) is of the Comedy/Parody variety:
--> '''Lily''': ''You [[{{Jerkass}} creep]]''
-->''Into my heart,''
-->''And make my heart burn.''
-->'''Barry''': ''You sneak''
-->''Into my mind,''
-->''And make my head ache.''
-->'''Both''': ''[[CannotSpitItOut There are things I long to tell you]]''
-->'''Lily''': ''You're much [[DumbBlonde too blond]].''
-->'''Barry''': ''[[CatchingSomeZs You snore]].''
-->'''Both''': ''Look, It's time to face the music.''
-->'''Barry''': ''Bye bye!''
-->'''Lily''': ''Don't [[StockSoundEffects slam the door]]!''
-->''And I don't want,''
-->'''Barry''': ''I don't want,''
-->'''Lily''': ''I don't want.''
-->'''Barry''': ''I don't want,''
-->'''Both''': ''[[FinishingEachOthersSentences No, I don't want your flowers anymore]]!''
* AudienceParticipationSong: Manilow picks a girl out of the audience to sing "Can't Smile Without You" with him.
* AwardBaitSong: "Let Me Be Your Wings" from WesternAnimation/Thumbelina1994 and "Now and Forever" from WesternAnimation/ThePebbleAndThePenguin.
* TheBermudaTriangle: "Bermuda Triangle", from the ''Barry'' album.
* BigApplesauce: "New York City Rhythm", "Copacabana (At The Copa)", "Avenue C", "Brooklyn Blues", and of course the ConceptAlbum ''Here At The Mayflower'', which is about life in a New York apartment building. His most recent album, ''This is My Town: Songs of New York'', is also very much ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
* BreakupSong: "Lay Me Down", "I Was A Fool (To Let You Go)", and many, ''many'' others.
* BrokenRecord: "Sweet Heaven (I'm In Love Again)" is quite repetitive.
* [[ChristmasSongs Christmas Album]]: Three of 'em.
* ConceptAlbum: ''Here At The Mayflower'', and ''15 Minutes'', which is about the perils of fame.
* CoverVersion: ''The Greatest Songs Of...'' albums. And ''Manilow Sings Sinatra''. And all those [[ChristmasEpisode Christmas albums]].
%%* DarkerAndEdgier: ''15 Minutes''.
* DownerEnding: "Copacabana" - Tony, the love of Lola’s life is 'lost' (either killed or incarcerated depending on how you read the lyrics) and Lola has become an aged senile alcoholic.
* EveryoneIsChristianAtChristmas: ''Three'' Christmas albums, Barry? ''Really??''
* TheFilmOfTheSong: ''{{Film/Copacabana}}'', written by none other than [[Series/InsideTheActorsStudio James Lipton]].
* TheForties: "Copacabana", which takes place in the late '40s, except for the ending, which is in the '70s.
* IntercourseWithYou: Many, ''many'' times. "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin I Wanna Do It With You]]", "I'm Your Man", and lots of others.
* LocationSong: "Copacabana", a MurderBallad taking place in a [[BigApplesauce New York City]] nightclub of the same name.
* LonelyTogether: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-a7j1l3dt4 Lonely Together]]". Fits this trope so well that it should possibly be the {{Trope Namer|s}}.
-->''Wouldn't it be fine bein' lonely together?''
--> ''Wouldn't it be fine havin' a shoulder to share?''
-->''You could tell me how he broke your heart,''
-->''And I'll tell you how she broke mine.''
-->''Then maybe later on [[IntercourseWithYou I could take you home]].''
-->''Now, wouldn't it be sad bein' lonely all alone?''
* LyricalDissonance: Manilow has a tendency to make even the most depressing BreakupSong sound like a SillyLoveSong and a MurderBallad sound cheerful and upbeat:
** "Copacabana". Peppy little ditty that happens to be a MurderBallad about a woman losing her boyfriend in a bar brawl and having an alcoholic meltdown that she never recovers from, returning to the same bar, night after night, [[WhiteDwarfStarlet long after the old crowd has grown up and moved on]].
*** Particularly peculiar was when the song was acted out by muppets on ''The Muppet Show'' when Creator/LizaMinnelli was the guest star.
** "Bobbie Lee", an upbeat, energetic song about a teenage runaway who ends up living on the streets and prostituting herself:
-->''She's got this picture of her brother,\\
That she took when she left home.\\
She rolled her hair up like her mother,\\
With her mother's ivory comb.\\
She was sweet sixteen last Easter,\\
But she knows how to treat you right.\\
Tomorrow, she's gonna be in the movies,\\
But man, you won't forget tonight!''
** The lyrics to “Can’t Smile Without You” are about how good it felt to fall in love - and how miserable it made the singer to no longer be with the person he’s still in love with. Even the sad parts of the lyrics, though, manage to sound romantic and sweet when Manilow sings them.
* MurderBallad: "Copacabana" is one. In the second verse, Rico and Tony fight over Lola, and then there's a gunshot...
* RockMeAmadeus: The song "Could It Be Magic" is this... sort of. It begins with a sampling of Music/FryderykChopin's "Prelude in C Minor, Opus 28, Number 20" and then moves on to Barry doing the verses before going to the chorus that samples Chopin's same tune; then it moves onto the bridge before going to the final verse and the arranged sampling chorus for the final time before finally fading out to the part where Chopin's piece finally ends [[{{Bookends}} in the same way it began]].
%%* RockstarSong: "It's a Miracle".
* SelfBackingVocalist: "One Voice", among others.
* SelfDemonstratingArticle: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei1oE7u58l8 I Really Do Write The Songs]]". Manilow [[LampshadeHanging hangs lampshades all over the place]] with this one. Served with delicious side dishes of SelfParody and SelfDeprecation, with a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}} at the very end for dessert. A little taste:
-->''You [[SelfDemonstratingArticle start off with the verse]]''
-->''[[SelfDemonstratingArticle That's the part that tells you]]''
-->''[[SelfDemonstratingArticle What the song is gonna be about.]]''
-->''You gotta grab 'em first''
-->''[[TheStoner Dope is good]], or [[DeathTropes death is nice]]''
-->''But [[LoveTropes love is still the best way out]].''
-->''[[SelfDemonstratingArticle And then you pad, and then you fill]],''
-->''Or you [[JewishComplaining complain]], or get a chill.''
--> ''But most of all, you move along''
-->''To the center of the song.''

-->''Yes, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin that's the chorus]]''
-->''Sing it for us''
-->''Never overlook givin' it a hook''
-->''You see [[SelfDeprecation sometimes I really do write the songs]]!''
SillyLoveSongs: They're considered a specialty of his, and many of Barry Manilow's most popular songs stand out as extraordinarily sentimental even by the standards of a genre of music that runs on sentimentality.
%%* StuckOnBandAidBrand: The {{Trope Maker|s}}.
----