Barry Manilow gets married.

Although I loathe his music, I’m fascinated by Barry Manilow because he exemplifies that triumph of ambition over talent. A decent pianist, he played for Bette Midler in the early 70s. But already ferociously driven, he refused to play on her tour unless he was given a 15 minute singing spot. His first hit was this but he cunningly changed the title to “Mandy” so he appeared to be its originator. Another big hit “I Write The Songs” was actually written by someone else. Every detail of every live performance is repeatedly rehearsed and meticulously choreographed. To keep his career alive, he’s just released an album of duets with dead people including Whitney Houston, Andy Williams and Dusty Springfield. He is relentless and won’t stop until he dies too. Still, let’s congratulate Barry on his nuptials and let’s hope his new husband Gary adopts Manilow as his surname.