When many a TV or movie (say "Will & Grace" or the dark comedy "Unconditional Love") aims to evoke an old-school, romantic-pop state of mind, the production has characters fantasize an encounter with Manilow, or exploit one of his many big ballad hits - like "Mandy" or "Looks Like We Made It," "This One's For You" or "I Write The Songs."

The often-historically minded "American Idol" has twice had Manilow as its special guest, for a theme-night focus, performance and coaching session. The first time, Manilow made a stylistic connection with Clay Aiken that worked out well for both guys, with a lot of cross-pollination of fans. "I'm Barry Manilow ... this is what Clay Aiken will look like in 30 years," Manilow would later kid in concert.

On the down side, some radio stations have tried to tout their innate hipness by vowing that you'd never, ever hear Manilow's safe and syrupy music on their airwaves. When one high-profile station pulled this promotion in Manilow's home town of L.A., his lawyers responded with a defamation-of-character lawsuit. Two days later, the station stopped poking fun at the guy.

Asked the other day what it feels like to be a larger-than-life symbol, Manilow offered a bemused and self-effacing response. "If you last as long as I have, you turn into an 'icon,'" the 64-year-old singer/writer/producer/arranger said with a laugh during a rehearsal break for his latest concert production. The show, grandly billed "An Evening of Music and Passion," debuts here at the Wachovia Center on Saturday. "I guess 'icon' is better than calling me an old fart," ruminated the talent. "But what they're really saying is you are an old fart! Truth is, I don't consider myself an icon. I consider myself a working musician, and a very lucky one."

As for the business of being the biggest-selling Adult Contemporary artist, Manilow added, "Of course I'm very proud and happy that happened. But I'd be making music, no matter what. And the success of my career is really a combination of, a reflection of, so many people. With self-contained artists who write all their own material, it's about just them - a Sting or an Elton John. With me, it's all about Clive Davis [the label chief with whom he's enjoyed his biggest successes], and my co-producers, and all of those brilliant songwriters who came up with the hits for me."

Like disco, like hip-hop, Manilow and his music have been "counted out" as passe, more than once, I noted. The first time, he responded agreeably, he actually inflicted the wound on himself. "I walked away from it in 1984," Manilow recalled. "I'd started in '74 with 'Mandy.' A decade later, I felt burned out. I told Clive that I'd used up every trick I knew - every time change, every production touch, the big endings, the small endings ... Clive allowed me to do the '2:00 a.m. Paradise Cafe' album - my first flirtation with jazz and blues singing and composing. I brought some great people in for that project - including Mel Torme, Sarah Vaughan and Gerry Mulligan. And from that moment on, I kind of eased away from the pop music world. I needed to play around in other styles like jazz, with film scoring, and with stage musicals."

Manilow's very first showbiz recognition at age 21 had come from scoring the off-Broadway musical "The Drunkard," which wound up running for eight years. In his post-pop-star return to form, he'd expand his hit song "Copacabana" into a stage show that toured the United States and played in London for two years. Then he put his soul into a show called "Harmony," a historically based musical about a Jewish performing troupe in pre- and early Nazi Germany that was booked to try out in Philadelphia four years ago. It ran out of steam when the producer couldn't complete the financing. "Writing that show was the most thrilling and heartbreaking experience of my life," Manilow recalled. "It's the thing I'd want most to be remembered for, and for people to hear. With a little luck, maybe there will be a version of it produced someday." (You can hear highlights on the last album he did for Concord in 2004 - "Scores: Songs from 'Copacabana' and 'Harmony.'")

While Manilow never stopped being a concert or TV draw, it wasn't until Davis put together a greatest-hits collection, "Ulimate Manilow," in 2002 that the singer bounced back onto the charts. As a follow-up, he mounted his last (he vowed) extended concert tour "One Night Live! One Last Time!" and then signed a long-term deal with the Las Vegas Hilton to be its major concert magnet, working about 25 weeks a year. (He recently renewed his contract, through 2008.)

At one Hilton show, Davis came backstage to see him and proposed that Manilow record a new album of oldies for Arista, "The Greatest Songs of the Fifties." "When he suggested this idea to me, I slapped my forehead and said 'Why hasn't anyone thought of this idea?' " Manilow said. Released early last year, the album featured creamy classics like "Moments to Remember" and "Unchained Melody" that perfectly keyed into Manilow's sweet 'n' clear, sincerely sharing style. Moreover, the project tapped into one of his core fan groups and the nation's revived interest in standards. The album became Manilow's first No. 1 album in 29 years, selling a staggering 3 million copies. Later in the year, he came back with an equally cozy/comfy sequel, "The Greatest Songs of the Sixties" (featuring the likes of "And I Love Her" and "Can't Help Falling in Love") that debuted at No. 2 and has sold almost as well.

Two weeks hence, he'll be following up with, you guessed it, "The Greatest Songs of the Seventies." This set will boast mellow Manilowed treatments of "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart," "You've Got a Friend" (a duet with Melissa Manchester), "(They Long to Be) Close To You" ... well, you get the idea. And since this is Manilow's own decade, the package also features new acoustic versions of eight songs from his catalog. "We're concentrating on all this material in the new concert show, too, in pretty much chronological fashion. Frankly, it's also what we do in Las Vegas, but this is the blown-up version. In Vegas, I can't stay on stage for more than 75 minutes, but in the arena I can stay on as long as we want. This is a lot of fun, but it's also a lot of hard work."

So which is Barry's your favorite decade? "Truthfully it's the '40s. I think I was born too late. Those one or two albums that allowed me to swing with a big, crazy, kick-a-- band is the material that's most thrilling to do. Sure, I love 'What A Difference a Day Makes,' 'Love is a Many Spendored Thing,' 'Can't Keep My Eyes Off of You,' and now all the '70s material. But I really love the '40s stuff best because it plays against my image. I really know how to do that music. It's genuine and honest. And I was really raised in it while I made a career out of pop, which I didn't know how to do ... just kidding."