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Barry Manilow - Swing Street Audio CD

A fair review of the Barry Manilow "Swing Street" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Barry Manilow reviews here, or go back to the Barry Manilow tabs.

Barry Manilow Band: Barry Manilow
Title: Swing Street
Rating:
Release Date: 2002-06-04
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Swing Street - Barry Manilow 2: Big Fun - Full Swing, Barry Manilow 3: Stompin' at the Savoy - Barry Manilow 4: Black and Blue - Phyllis Hyman, Barry Manilow, Tom Scott 5: Hey Mambo - Kid Creole, Kid Creole & the Coconuts, Barry Manilow 6: Summertime - Stan Getz, Barry Manilow, Diane Schuur 7: Brooklyn Blues - Barry Manilow, Tom Scott 8: Stardust - Barry Manilow, Uncle Festive 9: Once When You Were Mine - Barry Manilow 10: One More Time - Barry Manilow, Gerry Mulligan

Swing Street
I bought this CD years ago and just wore out my CD so I had to buy another one. I just love this CD, infact it is my second one. That's why I love it so much. Great music and I've been a Barry Manilow fan for ages.


Swing Street CD - Barry Manilow
To me, the music is timeless. I love this CD and never tire of listening to it.


Swingin' with Mr. B.
Definitely a short album, but still good--personally, I prefer longer CDs, like a 20-song CD, so I don't have to keep changing them. Great Barry Beats from 1980-something? There are only 10 tracks, totaling a smidgin' under 37 minutes. That said, this CD is a little different. It has a few of the more frequently heard favorites and some others you don't normally hear. I guess I'd call this a kind of swing/blues CD.

"Hey Mambo" and "Brooklyn Blues" are old favorites. "Big Fun" is on just a couple of my other CDs. The rest of the songs were new to me. Brooklyn Blues is 5:09 minutes long. All 3 of these songs are super arrangements and are kickin'!

"Swing Street" begins the CD and is 3:33 minutes long. Kinda cool--333! It's a swingin' - swing song with a heavy beat. Sounds like a swing/blues combo to me. (If you were an exotic dancer, this would be a good song to dance to. Well, I guess you don't HAVE to be an exotic dancer. I was just trying to put the song into perspective. I think I'll change my name to Melba Toast and dance to it. :-)

"Stompin' at the Savoy" is a swing-oldie. You might remember it if you're my age, but not if you're a young whipper-snapper. It's done well. It reminds me of my Lester Lanin music I used to practice playing music with. (Drums, yes, I was a professional drummer for many years. Yes, I know I am a girl!)

"Black and Blue" is a duet with Phyllis Hyman--kind of slow with a driving beat--like an easy-listening type--maybe cruisin' the road at about 35 mph. "Summertime" is a duet with Diane Schurr. It's done well. Slow, soft, and sexy, like it should be done.
"Stardust" is great, and is an old favorite of mine. It's a treat for me to hear Barry sing it. Sounds like cocktail lounge music, played between 1 and 2 a. m. "Once When You Were Mine" slow song, pretty--again, cocktail lounge blues, played between 1 - 2 am. "One More Time" is soft, slow and pretty, with a blues type background. Again, cocktail lounge music for the 1 - 2 a. m. hour. It crescendos, like many of Barry's tunes, to give that strong heart connection feeling.

Like I said, great album, but on the short side. I still gotta give it a 5, but it's not one of my favorites. It does have really good and different songs on it, different from the usual Barry favorites. If you have very little Barry musik, you may want to pick one of the others, like the "One Voice" CD or the "Complete Collection" silver box set. If you already have a collection and are looking for some different Barry tracks, this one is good.
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Excellent Work Music
I especially enjoy listening to this album while at my office, which is a Film Projection Booth. I've loved this album since it came out. On any day, I'll play this CD in my own booth portable CD Boombox and enjoy my job. I would say that all of the tracks on the CD are excellent. Barry Manilow did an excellent job on this CD. I rate this CD 5 Stars.


Big Fun
At first Swing Street seems like a collection of Fifties inspired tunes, but listen again. One of the most fiendishly clever concept albums ever. From the opening track to the last it tells a story. The title track sets the story of someone who has had a bad day and closes his eyes and goes to Swing Street. . . where everything becomes hunky dory. "Big Fun" the second track has Barry beginning his reverie in fantasy land, my favorite song on the album. The first half of the album, the swingin' half eventually gives way to the slower second half with excellent covers of "Summertime" (dripping with Southern sweat) and "Stardust Memories" before Swing Street finally fades to morning and a fully awake Barry sings "One More Time" to a lover. There's been a lot written about the techo jazz sound of this album, but the music perfectly fits the mood. I know Barry has tried to get his musical "Harmony" on Broadway for years. I saw the original at the La Jolla Playhouse. Barry, Swing Street would make a great musical.


You can see a complete list of all Barry Manilow discography, or go back to the Barry Manilow tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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