Buy Barry!!!

Run out right NOW and buy a Barry Manilow record. It doesn't matter which one as long as you don't get it used. Or free. Every Sunday, Record Head in Milwaukee would open its attic and sell albums at insanely cheap prices. They had so many copies of his 1977 Live that they actually started giving them away with each purchase. Some still thought zero pennies was too pricey and refused the gift.

So yeah - no free Manilow records. Try The Greatest Songs of the Sixties which hit number two on the U.S. pop album charts(!)! Why are you buying this? Because Manilow refused to go on The View yesterday to promote his new album, The Greatest Songs of the Seventies (actually, you might want to wait for the Eighties volume...I'd love to hear his "Pocket Calculator"). He finds Republican, Rosie-riling host Elisabeth Hasselbeck too "dangerous" and "offensive." The producers rejected his request to appear on a Hasselbeck-less View so he bowed out. Or was canceled. Same thing, really. (Read the story here.)

In any event, Manilow is my new cultural hero. And yours too, right? Ok good. See ya at Waterloo under "M," baby!

And check out this bit of tid from the article:

"He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002, although many of his big hits -- such as "Mandy," "I Write the Songs" and "Looks Like We Made It" -- were written by other people"

Sheesh - did Hasselbeck write this copy? Well, Lizzy, listen up:

1. Who cares?

2. That just makes him all the cooler.

3. Um, he did write A LOT of songs, some of which were his hits.

4. Ooh, I just got some diss fodder.

5. Who cares?