In an interview in the new MoJo, legendary songwriter, performer and eternally super cool, Ian Hunter gives an interview on the oddity of Paris Headliner Barry Manilow recording his ballad “Ships” in 1979. Hunter tells Mojo:
“The whole Manilow thing was quite amusing. That guy’s no slouch when it comes to arranging. His dad had died and he really liked the song, but he didn’t like the bridges. He rang me up and said, ‘You’ll have to simplify the bridges-my audience is totally composed of idiots’ That’s some admission. It worked out fine for him-it was the last hit he ever had.”
Compare for yourself:
While calling one’s fans “idiots” is far from polite, it should be noted that this quote must be over 30 years old, because Manilow recorded “Ships” in 1979, and he would have to have asked Hunter to simplify the song before recording it. “Paris Headliner Barry Manilow called all his fans ‘idiots’ many years ago” would have been a less sensationalistic headline for this post.
Also, “Ships” was not Manilow’s last hit. He had twenty-five top 40 hits, and ten of them came after “Ships.”
I wouldn’t trust Ian Hunter’s memory too much. In addition to his error about which of Barry’s songs became hits, he’s also wrong about Barry’s father having died. Both Barry’s father and step-father were alive for many, many years after Ships was released as a single.