Interview: Kyle Vincent (Pt. 2)
WARNING!
If you haven’t yet read Pt. 1 of this piece, then you’re going to want to do that. I’m not saying you can’t read Pt. 2 first, but you’re only ruining the experience for yourself.
P.S. Like what you’re reading here? Don’t be afraid to upgrade to a paid subscription! Otherwise, I’m doing this for free…and it ain’t easy doing this for me, let me tell ya. Putting the second part of every multipart interview behind the paywall isn’t something that I want to do, but…I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered it. Repeatedly.
Solitary Road was arguably your mellowest record to come out up to that point.
Yeah, and... You know, I'm looking back on these albums, and it's funny. It's, like, "Okay, no relationship, happy pop album; no relationship, happy pop album; relationship; relationship ends, morose album!"[Laughs.] "Get over it, happy pop album." There's definitely something to be learned from that! So, yeah, Solitary Road, there was reeeeeeeeally some tough stuff going on in my life. But it's not all like that. It's definitely more poppy and mellow than not, but there's some apparently over-the-top bombastic sad songs. Not as bad as Detour, the later album. That was just way, way, way far gone in that direction. But Solitary Road... I have to tell you, when it comes to the fans, I think might be their favorite album.
Just to jump back to something you mentioned in passing earlier, how did you get hooked up with Barry Manilow and end up opening for him on tour?
Well, there was a personal ad in the paper: "Pop singer seeks other pop singer. I enjoy walks on the beach..." [Laughs.] No, I'm sorry, that wasn't it. We had the same manager, and the way I got that manager was that I had booked a solo show at the Roxy in L.A., and I was ready to give up. It was after Candy, and I was just, like, "I'm done with music, it's not gonna happen for me, so I'll just rent the Roxy and put on a show and see what happens."
So from the box office in the front of Roxy after sound check, I called Manilow's management company...and I got his manager on the phone! [Laughs.] It was after hours. He answered the phone! And I was just like [Voice cracks.] "Uh, yes, sir, I'm playing the Roxy tonight, I'm kind of like a young Manilow..." No, I don't know what I said, but it was something stupid like that. And I put his name at the door...and he frickin' showed up! The whole management team showed up! Oh, my God!
And I was very kind of Vegas-y that night, because I was trying to figure out what to do as a solo artist, so it was a weird conglomeration of, like, George Michael, Bryan Adams, Manilow, Engelbert Humperdinck...and somehow it worked for them. They saw beyond that and said, "Okay, he needs some training in this, but the voice is there, maybe the look is there, so let's grab him." So they did. And I was there quite awhile with that management company. We just did demo, demo, demo, and nothing was really flying. But then I got the MCA deal...and, actually, Gilby [Clarke] was very instrumental in getting that.
And then I get a call, and I remember it exactly: I was at my brother's house in Culver City, and the phone rings, and my manager is saying, "I have an idea. Barry's going out on a shed tour..." For people who don't know, "sheds" are outdoor amphitheaters with the lawn and the seats and everything. "...and he essentially doesn't want to perform when the sun is still out. He wants to wait until the sun is just going down or whatever." I said, "Uh-huh." He said, "How would you like to be the guy who performs before him, while the sun is still up?" I said, "Okay, I'm onboard." But inside I'm going, "Oh, my GOD!" I could barely speak after that call. So he said, "All right, we're going to figure out the logistics, but get ready to go on the road. You're gonna go to Vegas for rehearsal, you're gonna use his tour band - like three or four guys - to rehearse at the Desert Inn and get it down, and then we start in Phoenix." And... [Takes a deep breath.] You've got to understand how overwhelming this was.
I was - and this sounds perhaps about as uncool to this day as it was then, but - I was completely obsessed with Manilow. I would not be hear interviewing with you if I had not heard his album. I loved other artists. I think Barry Gibb is the greatest songwriter ever. I love Gilbert O'Sullivan. I have certain core artists that I go to. But Manilow had the songs, but he also had the voice that I could really sing to, and he had the performance. And I'd seen him so many times. Yes, he had the showmanship, but he also had this honest, gentle shyness that I picked up on. And I really connected with that, because I was terribly shy about going on stage. So I really related to that. So to be managed by his manager was one thing - even when Manilow came into the management office, I'd be, like, "Omigod omigod omigod..." [Laughs.] I know, it may sound ridiculous to people, but I was completely starstruck. It was really tough.
First, we started at his house in Bel Air, so just driving up that driveway was unbelievable. [Laughs.] And then you walk in, and you're, like, "Good lord, this hasn't changed since 1975!" It's really retro cool. And I'm, like, "I'm in Barry Manilow's house, and he's telling me, 'Well, how about this song?'" I think I actually suggested one of his old songs, which was called "Something's Coming Up," which would be the last song, and I said, "How cool would that be to do that right before you come onstage?" And he said, "I like that idea!"
So we go rehearse at the Desert Inn, and Barry is there, sitting where the audience would sit, and I come onstage to show him what I'm going to do. And I debut it, and Barry's, like, "No, no, no, no, no!" He's in the audience like a high school musical director to his students: "What the hell are you doing?" [Laughs.] And he just worked with me. And that was ongoing for the whole tour, actually. He would critique every night's show.
So we opened in Phoenix, and...I won't tell you the whole thing, but I'll just tell you this little anecdote. Entertainment Tonight was there, and I actually have a clip of it. It's unbelievable. "Barry Manilow's never had an opening act before until now. Kyle Vincent!" And I'm, like, "Oh, my God!" [Laughs.] And I have a picture of me in the Ritz-Carlton robe with roses that my family had sent to me... It was overwhelming. And I went out there and did my best. I only did three or four songs. But his fans were pretty cool.
You think certain bands have fans who are like [Growling.] "It's only the Monkees and nobody else, and I'll kill you if you even think of anyone else!" Where it's, like, "It's only this group or this person, and if it's not them, it doesn't count!" You know, this...psycho-ness that goes on. And I experienced that with the [Bay City] Rollers, but we won't get into that...unless you want to! But I was so sure I would get that with the Manilow fans, but they couldn't have been more gracious. And I still have them today, so many of them. They were so wonderful. They totally got it, they accepted it, and it was short enough that they didn't hate me. [Laughs.] And I did one of his songs! And I paid tribute to him with with small little anecdotes, too. It was a great experience.
Just to show you that I, too, am a fan...
[At this point, I pulled out my copy of Even Now on vinyl, which still has the plastic on it, including a Best Products tag.]
[Solemnly.] One of the greatest albums in history. Wow... Now, is it sealed or just...
It's not sealed. It just still has the plastic on it. And dig that sticker: "Featuring the Inevitable Classics..."
And more! There's better songs than the ones it mentions. There's "A Linda Song”…
I love “A Linda Song.”
There’s "Where Do We Go From Here," and...every song on that album is amazing. In fact, "Copacabana" is probably my least favorite. It's probably my least favorite Barry song, period!
I still love it anyway.
Oh, it's fine.
It was my gateway drug, as I like to say.
And it was for millions, and that's why it's still so great. In fact, Jonathan at the time... Everybody in high school rolled their eyes when I I listened to Manilow. They were, like, "What is wrong with this guy? Do we really want him in our band?" That conversation went on for the entire history of Candy, by the way. [Laughs.] But Jonathan and I listened to the album, and he picked "Copacabana." He said, "That's the big hit." I said, "No, no, no! It's 'Even Now.'" And in the end, "Even Now" died at, like, #20, I think, while "Copacabana" went on to be iconic. I knew Jonathan had a good ear back then.
It's funny, but it was only a few years ago that I was introduced to the song "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow."
Oh, yeah!
Which is such a wonderful, spot-on homage or pastiche or whatever you want to call it.
Yeah, what a great job he did. Ray Stevens, right? It's actually a really good song! And he sings it great.
The cover art is a perfect parody, too.
Right, for Trying to Get the Feeling Again!
Well, if you're of a mind to do so, you're welcome to go into the Bay City Rollers and your stint with them, because I was actually going to say that I'd watched a clip of you singing "You Made Me Believe in Magic" which was pretty fantastic.
Oh, cool! Well, it's no big thing. It's just that I had the same kind of fears at the time with them as I did with the Manilow thing...except this was 15 years after that. The Fanilows at the time I opened for Barry were a little younger. The Rollers fans by then were quite a bit older and, for some reason, feistier and even more protective! [Laughs.] I was, like, "Am I walking into a minefield here?" But I love their music, and I have a personal connection with them from way back when, and I said, "I'd love to sing with them!"
And it wasn't, like, the Bay City Rollers. It wasn't Les, it wasn't Woody... It's whatever stragglers are left in the US performing and calling themselves the Bay City Rollers Featuring. Blah, blah, blah. I don't care. I get to sing these great songs, it's a paycheck, it's fun, there's a lot of people in the audience, I get to wear tartan, I'm there! So that's how you accept those gigs. You know, you go, "I'm not working right now. Sure, let's do it!" And it was a blast! It was so fun! And everybody who came to the shows was amazing.
But online... [In a high-pitched voice.] Oh, MY! I mean, it was borderline death threats. One step away from death threats. "You're not Les! You'll never be Les! How dare you call yourself..." And to this day - because occasionally a gig comes up where the promoter gets a little excited and might say, "Kyle Vincent - 'Wake Me Up,' blah blah blah, and former lead singer of the Bay City Rollers!" I never told them to do that! But you can't control what people write or what they say. And omigod, they'd call the venue. [Screaming.] "He's not the real Bay City Rollers singer!" Oh, my God, I'm just singing a three-minute pop song! Relax! And the fact is, now, if you want to hear those songs, I'm one of the only guys who can sing those songs the way they should be sung! [Hesitates.] That sounds pompous. I don't mean it that way. But I tried! I was on the phone with Les a few times, and we tried to put a bigger core together, but it just didn't work. Those four guys are just so screwed up by the industry. And we lost Ian also, so there's so few of them left.
I meant to ask this when we were still talking about him, but what was the impetus for deciding to do The Great Manilow Songbook? Because I was surprised to see you put out an album of covers, even if they were Manilow covers.
Yeah, I did that because a promoter in the Philippines asked me to do it. That's the full reason I did it. And they asked me to do it in a certain way. They said, "We essentially want this to be like karaoke with you singing. Make it exactly like his recordings as much as you can." So that's pretty much what I did and, uh... [Long pause.] You know, I like it. I like it a lot. And it was really fun, because I sang those vocals in about two days. Most of them in one day. All at once, because I was so excited to be singing them. In a perfect world, or maybe the next time I were to do this, I would choose the songs that I would really want to do, which are not necessarily the big hits. I was kind of asked to do the ones that were big hits in the Philippines. And it sold really well there. When I performed there, it sold out. So it was great. A lot of people like it. And I do, too!
I noticed that your 2017 album Miles & An Ocean wasn't released on your usual label, SongTree Records.
Oh, I just came up with another name for that one. That's just my favorite bird: the mot-mot. Hence MotMot Records. [Laughs.] Just trying different things, you know? To see what happens. But it was on Elec Records in Japan, which is a really big independent label that's been around since the '60s. So they did good by me in Japan. And there's a deluxe version in Japan. I don't think there's any extra tracks, but the one I put out here is just, like, an envelope, pretty much! I'm just, like, "I'm sick of doing these fancy-ass packages, and nobody even cares! Nobody ever says, 'Oh, we love the fancy-ass packaging!' So if nobody ever comments on that, I'm gonna do an envelope and let the music speak for itself!"
That album at the time... I know all artists say, "Oh, it's my favorite album, my newest album," and we always say, "Oh, yeah, really? Your new album is crap!" But it truly was my favorite album up to that point. I think that has some of my best solo songwriting. It felt like... I don't know, a rebirth of songwriting. It felt way freer to go and just try different things. And Whatever It Takes to me is like Miles & An Ocean Pt. 2. It's kind of continuing that. So I'm glad you... [Hesitates.] Wait, I'm not sure you said you liked it.
I do like it. I didn't say it, but I do. I mean, it's shooting fish in a barrel, man. You were safe to presume.
Well, that's nice. I never presume anybody ever likes anything. I'm always pleasantly surprised when they do. I'm usually shocked! [Laughs.] Because I really just kind of do the stuff for me. Especially nowadays. In the past, it was more, like, "What's the snare drum sound like on the radio? Do that!" Now I don't give a damn. I just do what I do.
Well, for the record, Whatever It Takes was and remains a very good album as well. And it was nice to be able to introduce my daughter to the expanded version that's on Spotify, since it's got the updated version of "Wake Me Up" on it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah! It's sort of a new recording. A tweaked recording.
I just knew it wasn't the original. But it's close enough that she'd never know the difference, having not heard the original.
Well, the story of Whatever It Takes... One of my favorite people who was at Hollywood Records - and one of my favorite people, period - would send me Christmas cards every single year of her family through the entire cycle of "Kyle's up, Kyle's down, Kyle's has a record deal, Kyle's on tour, Kyle's doing nothing, he's gonna jump out a window... Oh, he's just written a new song!" [Laughs.] No matter what situation I was in, she would send me a Christmas card. And you remember that stuff. You really do.
And I actually wrote a song about it, because I was looking at it, it was kind of a lonely winter day in December, there's her Christmas card... The song, "It Could've Been Me," is on Miles & An Ocean, and it's a romantic love song, but we're completely just friends, so I sent it to her and said, "Now, tell your husband..." [Laughs.] She said, "No, no, don't worry." I said, "You know, the muse comes from anywhere, it's rarely literal, it's just that you need to grab ideas from somewhere!"
So a year later I'm in Japan, getting ready to tour, and that same person says, "I want your new album on Universal, because we have unfinished business. 'Wake Me Up' should've been top 10." And it was poised to be a national hit. It was really poised. And she said, "We dropped the ball, and...let's do this again. Let's try again." So we were all excited. I go, "Omigod, of course, let's do it!" And she said, "Let's pick a release date. Is it all ready?" I said, "I've got to run to England. I've got to master it at Abbey Road." She goes, "Omigod, let's do it!" And I said, "It's 2020. I love alliteration in letters and numbers. It's my 20th album if you count various weird things, and I'll go on a 20-country tour." And I sketched it out. I sketched out the whole tour.
Well, the release date was 3/20/20...and that was the exact day that Universal closed its doors and sent all of its employees home. My car was packed with my keyboard, my guitar, my monkey suit, everything, and I was on my way to New York to play for the staff of Universal in New York...and the phone rings. I mean, literally, I'm checking the air pressure in my tires. "Well, you don't have to worry about that." And the world changed. And I'm still waiting to drive there to play for them!
But later in 2020, she said, "Do you have any new songs?" I said, "Well, I've got this one that's kind of about the pandemic, but I didn't want to write about the pandemic, because I wrote about 9/11, I wrote about the Giants leaving Candlestick... I don't want to be that guy! So I just wrote it for me." She said, "Well, let me hear it." I played it for her, and she said, "I love it! What else have you got?" "Well, I have a whole bunch of songs that are in progress, but nothing's done." She says, "I have an idea: 'Wake Me Up,' the lyrics work perfectly today. Can you do something to it? Can we do a deluxe edition and relaunch this album? Because it deserves to be heard, but it got lost in the shuffle...again!" It's always something. A pandemic, a record company executive hauled away in handcuffs... It's always something! [Laughs.]
So that's what I did: I reworked it, added a boatload of vocals and some piano, and just kind of updated it to where I am. I made it a smidgen more plush, a little less wanky '90s guitar, which worked in the '90s but didn't work now. And holy moley, we're getting boatloads of airplay, and emails with people saying they like it better than the original. I just think they're different. I don't think one's better than the other. They're just different. I think this one's a little more melancholy and hopeful. That's what I added, production-wise, to try and convey that: "Things are still kind of crappy, but you've gotta have hope."