2:00 AM Paradise Cafe is the fourteenth album by singer-songwriter Barry Manilow. The album was a radical departure from Manilow's previous work of highly polished pop. Manilow wrote in the liner notes that the record's concept came to him in a dream. Johnny Mercer's widow, Ginger, entrusted Manilow with a cache of Mercer's lyrics that had never been set to music. Although Manilow used only Mercer's "When October Goes" for the project, he created an album of all original songs with a torchy, smokey jazz style. He recruited veteran jazz musicians Bill Mays, Gerry Mulligan, Shelly Manne, Mundell Lowe, and George Duvivier. Also enlisted for vocal duets were Mel Tormé and Sarah Vaughan. The entire album was rehearsed for three days, then recorded entirely live (in one take) without overdubs at Westlake Studio 'C' in Los Angeles, California and released in 1984.

The album went platinum for Manilow, and peaked at #28 on the Billboard 200.

Barry Manilow (born June 17, 1943) is an American singer–songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Mandy", "Weekend in New England", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana (At the Copa)."

In 1978, five of his albums were on the best-selling charts simultaneously, a feat equalled only by Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson and Johnny Mathis. He has recorded a string of Billboard hit singles and multi-platinum albums that have resulted in his being named Radio & Records number one Adult Contemporary artist and winning three straight American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist. Several well-known entertainers have given Manilow their "stamp of approval," including Sinatra, who was quoted in the 1970s regarding Manilow, "He's next." In 1988, Bob Dylan stopped Manilow at a party, hugged him and said, "Don't stop what you're doing, man. We're all inspired by you."

As well as producing and arranging albums for other artists, such as Bette Midler and Dionne Warwick, Manilow has written songs for musicals, films, and commercials. Since February 2005, he had been the headliner at the Las Vegas Hilton, and had performed hundreds of shows before he called time on his 5-year association, performing his last show on December 30, 2009. From March 2010, he is due to headline at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas.

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