If you’ve been to Genesis Studios over the last 6 or 7 years, there’s a good chance you have encountered the plethora of Barry Manilow albums (yes, old vinyl LPs) peppered throughout the building on window shelves. First, let me be clear: I have nothing against Mr. Manilow. Who doesn’t love belting out a rollicking rendition of “Copacabana”? But there’s deliberate subterfuge taking place. Currently–and I say “currently” because the number keeps increasing–there are seven(!) Manilow albums on display. It began with one–Barry Manilow’s Greatest Hits–as a joke that a former employee placed on the shelf. Then a second, duplicate copy was brought in as a joke. But they keep multiplying. And multiplying. And the culprit has not yet claimed responsibility.
There are no other albums and no other musical artists who have acquired shelf space at Genesis–so the rarified distinction that Mr. Manilow holds is disproportionate to some other recording artists who might be more in line with my musical penchants. Again… subterfuge. I may need to look up how many total albums ol’ Barry has because I doubt the proliferation is just going to stop–until there are no more albums left to populate.
Worse, it seems that I discover the new additions whenever I’m taking someone on a tour and they comment that, “Someone here must be a Barry Manilow fan.” While explaining the situation to our guests, I inevitably discover yet another album has joined the collection. There’s likely a running bet on how long it will take me to discover that the number has increased. As President of the company, I must let the team have their fun–even at my expense.
So if you see far too many Barry Manilow albums staring down at you from various window shelves here at Genesis Studios, now you know why.
