Barry Manilow might not see dead people, but he sure can sing with them. Just in time for Halloween, the legendary crooner’s new album features duets with all deceased artists.
The record is called My Dream Duets and features vocals from Judy Garland, Louis Armstrong, Dusty Springfield, Mama Cass, Andy Williams, Sammy Davis Jr., Jimmy Durante, Frankie Lymon, Marilyn Monroe and Whitney Houston. Sure, they are all deceased, but as anyone who recorded a duet with Elvis Presley in recent years, that’s not enough to stop a singer from “recording” again.
In an interview with USA Today, Manilow said that this “theme” wasn’t intended. His record label, Verve, had asked him to make a list of people he’d like to duet with and they just all happened to be dead. Manilow and Verve then contacted a company that could strip backing tracks from songs and gave him just the vocal tracks.
“I was able to redo their songs, re-orchestrate the backgrounds, take the vocals and make them into duets,” Manilow explained to USA Today. “Sometimes I'd change keys, sometimes I added stuff at the end. I redid the original songs into brand-new renditions.”
One of the more interesting tracks on the record is “What A Wonderful World/What A Wonderful Life,” which takes the iconic Armstrong song and mixes it with Manilow's new song.
Manilow is already on the promotional circuit for the record, which came out this week. According to TheWrap, Manilow appeared on The View today, where he performed his duet with Houston, “I Believe In You And Me,” complete with a creepy CG Houston on a screen behind him.
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