Barry Manilow

Singer-songwriter Barry Manilow is castaway by Kirsty Young.

Barry has been a hugely successful performer for over 30 years but, in this intimate interview, he describes how it was never the career he intended to have.

He always knew he would be a musician, but thought his future lay behind-the-scenes, not at the front of the stage.

Brought up by his mother and grandparents in Brooklyn, money was always scarce and family life often difficult - but when there was music playing in their apartment, Manilow says, the home was a happy one.

DISC ONE: Frank Sinatra - One for My Baby
DISC TWO: Judy Garland - Over the Rainbow
DISC THREE: Gerry Mulligan Quartet - What is There to Say?
DISC FOUR: Bob Gaudio - Candide
DISC FIVE: Laura Nyro - Emmie
DISC SIX: London Symphony Orchestra - Johannes Brahms's Symphony No. 3 in F major - 3rd movement
DISC SEVEN: Sting - Fragile
DISC EIGHT: Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush - Don't Give Up

CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Judy Garland - Over the Rainbow
BOOK CHOICE: Man vs Wild - Survival Techniques from the Most Dangerous Places on Earth by Bear Grylls
LUXURY CHOICE: A piano

Producer: Leanne Buckle

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2009.