MORE INSPIRATION FOR BUDDING SONGWRITERS, AD JINGLE ADVOCATES, AND RECORD PRODUCERS - April 2025

For Anyone Who Wants to Write a Song: Hit Records Dissected. See - Part Two

PART ONE – Popular Songs and Me - A Musical Bio

Some time back when HUFFPOST was “Huffington Post,” then owned by Ariana Huffington, I sent a lengthy piece directly to her, “Save the Music, Music, Music.” Huffington herself immediately put it up (sans compensation, featured: as writ) on then-Huffington Post. Recently, I looked in, appalled. New HUFFPOST owners, socked ads in between every paragraph in the article I’d spent hours, (a lifetime?) compiling. Here it is before that:

Save the Music, Music, Music!

It saddens me to think that Jazz and American Popular Standards are relics to those who control the airwaves, as opposed to the living, breathing, vibrant creations they really are. But maybe there's a solution.

By James A. Fragale, Contributor to HUFFPOST

NY writer-journalist-author-record producer-songwriter-blogger

"Don't Take Away the Music

It's the only thing I've got

It's my piece of the rock..." - TAVARES

~ K. St Lewis, F. Perren and C. Yarian

Freddie Foy, the most recognized voice in broadcasting -- "Hi-Ho, Silver!" -- passed away not long ago at 89 and I was reminded that in 2011 radio still gets my attention.

The industry is a fighter. Right now, [back then] it's battling to get broadcast radio apps into media devices, smart-phones, and the like, so radio too can be player in the burgeoning popular song arena. Look out world.

And, lethargic Congress already approved legislation allowing thousands of low powered FM stations to do, legally, what pirate radio does under the radar.

Fight Number Three: Recording artist and performance royalties. For that argument see Nancy Sinatra's passionate The New York Times op-ed, August 2009.

Which brings me to this quandary: why can't I hear my favorite music on radio? The Recording Industry Association of America claims buyers over 45 years of age rose nearly 10% last decade from 24.7% in 1999 to 33.7% in 2009. Music consumers over 40 now account for half of all "record" purchases. Young people download. Older folks plunk down hard cash for CDs.

I spent a lot of my childhood at my paternal grandparents' house with six sensually beautiful Italian aunts with popular music continually on the radio and the Victrola. In the summertime, my "Zias" and I would spread out on the front lawn on worn cotton quilts and soak in the sun, a strong scent of Coppertone laced with iodine and baby oil in the atmosphere -- the sound of laughter and pop music filled the air.

Radio formats were looser back then: back-to-back, you could hear big bands, renowned vocalists, the noisy flavor-of-the-day, a novelty tune, a movie score--all the Standards in the Great American Songbook, in no particular order. The current hits were repeated over and over and over, and I rarely tired of any of them. Like Julie London's "Cry Me a River," one of the strongest pieces of pop material ever penned to 5-lined staff paper. I wore out that disc.

The melodies and lyrics I'd listen to on those summer days didn't fade when autumn came. I absorbed them; they became a part of me.

Then one winter, my middle aunt, Anna-Marie, had a debilitating bout of rheumatic fever -- which damaged her young, weak, immune system. Not long after, she was packed off to Cleveland Clinic for an experimental heart valve replacement, never to return. The tragedy put a pall on a once-cheery Italian haven--a household overflowing with music, cigarette smoke, simmering pasta sauce on the Magic Chef, sweet smells from the oven, and ice-cube-clicking cocktail glasses--suddenly as quiet as the church yard at midnight. The music stopped. Radio was forbidden for a mandatory period of mourning, most of us wore black.

The silence was devastating. I sneaked hits of my records in other places: Hagan's Ice Cream parlor on Main Street, schoolmates' houses, and Aunt Mary's on the other side Clarkburg, West (by God) Virginia., the other side of the family.

The quiet in my house that winter only foreshadowed what was to become of my beloved Standards. In the 1972 monster pop hit "American Pie," singer-songwriter Don MacLean immortalized death, tears, smiles--and repeated the lyrical line "the day the music died" a half-dozen times. He might well have been lamenting the passing of American Popular Standards as well as the demise of once-mighty radio itself. If we are to believe The New York Times, radio listening in the last ten years has declined more than 14 percent. (Another source, BIA Financial -- BIA estimates per-station revenues as well as hazards long-term trends -- and claims 2009 New York radio ad revenues fell a whopping 16 percent, thus continuing a five-year trend).

What both reports failed to point out is that American Standards all but disappeared from broadcast radio long before. My new hometown, New York City, has not been able to support a 24-hour "Traditional Music" radio station for 12+ years--AM or FM--since WQEW (1560 AM) became Radio Disney in December ‘98. (The Times leased the station to Disney). When we yearn for "That Old Devil Moon," preferably by Rosemary Clooney, older, seasoned music lovers are stymied by the new bottom line.

Clearly, it's all about dinosaur demographics. Radio programmers and advertising agencies claim not enough mature folks tune in the "The Classics" to justify the advertising dollar. Imagine this: some "Oldies" station programmers even consider hits from the 1970s too passé to spin (an exception is Los Angeles' KRTH 101--Number One midday, playing 1970s hits). It's "The Theory of Disposability" in overdrive. Glass bottles, cotton diapers, Vinyl records, old computers, conventional TV sets, cassette players, tape machines, record stores, good barbers, tomatoes with taste, the original Herbal Essence Shampoo (and other favored brands), relationships--have disappeared and now radio itself.

To music mavens, that's downright depressing. Weren't the radio airways designed for everyone? Is it not immoral, illegal and quite possibly unconstitutional to leave out a healthy segment of the general population simply because radio "top dogs" surmise older listeners don't spend enough money to justify broadcasting, the music they love?

High on my short list of simple pleasures in this relentlessly changing world is my obsession with American Standards--the subject I know best and love most. (Generally speaking, a Standard is a lasting popular song that predates the mid-1950s arrival of rock and roll--usually a chart hit, a Broadway show song, or a motion picture tune. Specifically, ANY song can become a standard when it's played, sung, and heard often enough to be fixed in the public's psyche). I believe recorded Standard Songs are an art form, and as such deserve to be respected, played, heard, and treasured as any other work of art might be.

Lest you think I am stuck in the past, I'm here to tell you, I've always stayed on top of music's changing tune. When I was a sophomore and had a date with an angel, I put these lush and lugubrious Jackie Gleason 33 r.p.m.'s on the turn table—"Music to Make Her Change Her Mind,” and “Music to Make Her Misty; heard in the film L.A. Confidential, sandwiched in with a cut or two from Johnny Mathis's “Heavenly.” These days, with CDs [now MP3s] and the nifty random-search feature on my CD Player, I take my chances with highlights from Barry White randomly played, low volume with a delicate dollop of Johnny Hartman. Jazzman Hartman gets my vote on any tune he ever recorded. Highly recommended: “John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman.” Hartman was the only vocalist to record with genius Coltrane, and the album is a masterpiece.

Which might bring us to my favorite song of all time. While watching CNN's Larry King interview ex-Beatle Paul McCartney one night, I fell out of the wingback when McCartney named his favorite song, "The Very Thought of You." That's my most loved, too. It was written back in ‘34 by Ray Noble and was a chart hit for his orchestra that year. It then made the lists again with Vaughn Monroe (‘44), Little Willie John (‘61); and Ricky Nelson (‘64). In between all that, it turned up in the background of "Casablanca" and on the records of every major recording artist in the business. On my "101-MP3-CD-Favorites”: "The Very Thought of You,” Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Frank Sinatra, and Tony Bennett.

Which leads to my favorite albums of all time. From the top: A vote goes to Peggy Lee's If You Go, conducted by genius musician-arranger Quincy Jones, with its breathy version of the rogue-y Hoagy Carmichael's "I Get Along Without You Very Well." My first copy was a gift from a platinum-blonde hair stylist from Clarksburg. The album still knocks me out; the hair stylist, on the other hand, left town. Also on this cherished album: "As Time Goes By" and "Smile," as well as a not-too-well-known Irving Berlin song "Maybe it's Because (I Love You too Much)." Sensational stuff.

But, my favorite favorite album of all time is (drum roll): Frances Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim--a record album and CD I've given to countless friends. My most-coveted selection on Sinatra-Jobim is Irving Berlin's "Change Partners" which tells of a complicated romantic situation made easy in the days before cell phones. Brilliant, Mr. Berlin. The CD also offers: "The Girl from Ipanema," "Dindi," "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars," "How Insensitive," "Baubles, Bangles and Beads," "Once I Loved," and a boss cut of Cole Porter's "I Concentrate on You." Frank's finest, my favorite.

(We) Lovers of Jazz and American Popular Standards are as passionate about song statistics as the heaviest baseball aficionado. Not long ago I had a heated-but-friendly argument with my old pal, columnist Liz Smith -- yes, she was still alive, in her 89th year, AND working on the Internet with her successful WOWOW, over a Sinatra favorite, the song "Fly Me to the Moon." I feel especially protective of this song originally called "In Other Words." I first heard "In Other Words," when I was in high school. A pale girl up the hill, Sandra Lily, introduced me to it on a Bethlehem long-playing album of Chris Connor's. I couldn't plunk my $3.99 fast enough.

Liz Smith insists that British chanteuse Mable Mercer was the first to record "In Other Words," and that during the 1950 café society's heyday, she was spellbound night after night by Frank Sinatra "at the Blue Note nightclub" listening to--and then "swiping"-- Mercer's "entire repertoire and style," including "In Other Words," according to Smith. Liz went on to say that "In Other Words" became "Fly Me to the Moon" with the moon landing in July 1969. Research confirms: The song "In Other Words," composed by Bart Howard, may indeed have been introduced by Mercer at the Blue Note, since Bart Howard was her piano accompanist at the time. But it was first recorded by Kaye Ballard in 1954, followed by Sylvia Syms in 1955; Johnny Mathis, 1956; Portia Nelson, 1956; Chris Conner, 1957; Eydie Gorme, 1958; and Felicia Sanders in 1959. The song's big moment came with Peggy Lee's live Ed Sullivan Show performance in 1960. With Lee's urging, Bart Howard then changed the title of "In Other Words" to "Fly Me to the Moon" for her recording of the song that year. Next, Nat King Cole recorded "Fly Me to the Moon" in 1961. And soon after, in 1963, the first chart hit--conductor-pianist Joe Harnell's instrumental-bossa nova, topped out at Number Four. That same year: Connie Francis' 1963 international hit--in Italian. Also in 1963, Julie London and Patti Page recorded it; then Doris Day in 1964.

Finally, of course, came the most celebrated version--Frank Sinatra's, with the Count Basie Orchestra, in 1964. Five years later, the song became synonymous with the Apollo moon landing--Frank said it was his proudest moment--and by then it was a bona fide Standard. When the spacecraft touched down, I was sitting up in bed on East 19th Street with my eyes glued to a 21-inch black-and-white television, humming along with "Fly Me to the Moon." I failed to convince Liz Smith. Smith repeated her version on her newly celebrated website WOWOW. Okay Liz, you owe me lunch.

Heigh-ho. It saddens me to think that Jazz and American Popular Standards (and the accompanying Socratic debates that end with free lunches) are relics to those who control the airwaves, as opposed to the living, breathing, vibrant creations they really are. But maybe there's a solution: What if, in every major American city, there were a subsidized, commercial-free, public radio station that played only the finest Standards, spun expressly for mature listeners and young jazz enthusiasts. Then there never has to be a Day the Music Died. As Teresa Brewer suggested (brightly):

"C'mon, everybody/
Put some nickels in/
And keep that old Nickelodeon playing/
Music, Music, Music..." ! Stephen Weiss and Bernie Baum

P.S. TO ALL THAT: When I was about to enter junior high, we were evicted. I got a newspaper delivery route or two, and always found the ninety-eight cents to buy a 45 r.p.m.’s. (Every Dean Martin cut that invariably turned up later multiple times as background in Hollywood movies). In high school, I juggled Rock n' roll, Jazz and American Popular Standards, 45 r.p.m.'s and LPs...

The bungalow and our new home on Dennison Lane sat up and over about a hundred yards from an indifferently muddy creek and a lazily gurgling waterfall right below my bedroom window. Of a summer's evening, I could plop on the bed, reach over, switch on the Philco and listen to the coolly smooth Nat "King" Cole croon "Mona Liza, Mona Lisa ... men have named you ..."

College? I worked ten-hour days in a supermarket while carrying a full credit load and still found money to buy LP’s. And what LP's they were, then and now: Ella Fitzgerald "Like Someone in Love." Frank Sinatra: Sinatra and Jobim, followed by his remake of the Dorsey standards (arranger, savvy Sy Oliver). Next: Frank's "Nice 'n Easy." Dakota Staton's "Crazy, He Calls Me," right behind "Late, Late Show." Miss Peggy Lee's "If You Go" and still swingy "Latin Ala Lee." Ahmad Jamal's mesmerizing, never tiring "Poinciana." Every single cut by jazz trumpeter-vocalist, Chet Baker. Finally, "Margaret Whiting Sings Jerome Kern."

The very day I took my last college final I was on a 3 o'clock plane to New York, those LPs in tow... Established, I got a job (my writer start as writer as well as music bis intro) doing promotional ads; writing a Billboard music column “Music on Campus."

Not long after, I made my own contribution to pop culture writing songs (with Twin Peaks' Angelo Badalamenti) and producing records (with musical-actress Melba Moore), both with some success.

Then, CDs debuted, at first, I resisted--only to give in and become overrun with a new collection as well as duplications of my old LP collection. [Now must include MP3s]

Time zipped on. In mid-life, and I could no longer turn on the radio and listen to the treasured Jazz and Pop Standards of my youth--unless I was willing to pay for the privilege, due to the aforementioned damnable practice of traditional radio stations' concentrating solely on advertiser-friendly, youth-oriented demographics.

One day I discovered some hopeful signs--thanks to the World Wide Web. Suddenly, a music aficionado had access to a huge "Radio Universe." Some 14,000 free radio stations popped up on the Internet. Your favorites, and mine, could be switched on and enjoyed merely by accessing the Web. What's more, the genres appeared limitless: Popular Standards, Oldies, Classical, Top 40, Gospel, Country, Talk, etc., etc., etc. Check out on computer, free, Accu-Radio, but not commercial free.

Sure, I'm happy to be able to switch on the computer and surf to the music I love with a click of the mouse. But, booting up the APPLE iMAC, clicking on a Web site, selecting a genre--somehow, it's just not the same. Yet, I listen my every free moment.

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PART II – INSIDE INFORMATION ON HOW TO HAVE A HIT RECORD

In February and March, Jim Fragale’s Newsletter devoted ample space to Hit Songs that had appropriated melodies from classical music and/or other songs in an effort to kick start aspiring composers. Recently, I dug up some further examples, more subtle hints, in an attempt to inspire budding composers to see how they might do it.

HERE GOES:

LADY GAGA’s song “Shadow of a man” on her NEW album, MAYHEM, pays homage to Michael Jackson. (It’s sometimes called sampling). GAGA echoes the rhythms, melodies and choreography reminiscent of his BAD and Thriller periods. GAGA’s “track highlights infectious bass lines, syncopated rhythms, and dynamic vocal arrangements that harken back to Jackson’s signature sound, all the while infusing GAGA’s own unique signature touch” Some of the verses evoke the essence of Prince’s When Doves Cry, blending together to form a composite compositional balance—and have all the makings of a hit. By now, it’s possible some of those cuts are hit songs – either way that’s how she does it.

“Lyrically, the song examines the themes of identity and self-empowerment, a recurring plea, ‘Shadow, don’t shatter the world…’ suggests a struggle against forces that threaten one’s sense of self. Lines like ‘Standing in the shadow of another man, lonely as the streets pass me by…’ reflect feelings of being overshadowed, the quest for individuality. ‘I don’t wanna’-be in the darkness tonight, show me the light,’ embodies a yearning for liberation and self-discovery.”

Gaga revealed that “Shadow of a Man” holds personal significance, stating, “That record is about feeling like I was in the shadow of men my whole career, but then I learned to dance in that shadow.” Frequently expressed, this insight aligns with the song’s narrative of transforming adversity into empowerment, resonating with listeners who have faced similar challenges. Good example, the bridge, repeating “Killing all the voice within, and the woman can’t lose but she still pretends,” more Gaga, highlighting internal conflict between societal expectations and personal desires, underscoring the resilience required to overcome external pressures and then embracing one’s true identity.

By paying tribute to Michael Jackson while articulating her own journey, GAGA offers a track both nostalgic homage and contemporary anthem of empowerment. Her words, ‘My nachos are mine, I invented them, and I’m proud of them.’” Pure GAGA.

“GET TOGETHER” – THE YOUNGBLOODS beloved anthem of the hippie era, went Top Five in 1969, with a “sincere” tenor vocal by Jess Colin Young. The song even went bigger. “Get Together,” written by folk singer Chet Powers, who later recoded as Dina Valenti of “Quicksilver Messenger Service” has infectious lyrics: “Come on people now/ Smile on your brothers/ Everybody get together / Try to love one another right now…”. Young’s phrasing and composing drew from his wealth of genres, folk, jug band, psychedelia, R & B and jazz, traditional and modern. (NOTE: “Nirvana” sarcastically included some of the lyrics in the 1991 song “Territorial Pissings.”) Bigger things: The Youngbloods version of “Get Together” appeared in the feature Forrest Gump; later “covered” on television by Lisa Simpson in an “Simpson” episode. In an interview, Jess Colin Young tells he first heard “Get Together” when Buzzy Linhart performed the song at a Greenwich Village club; he knew instantly it was for him. Sad to report here, Jess Conlin Young passed away at 83 in March 2025. Word to young composers out there, ya’ never know where inspiration will come from. Stay tuned and alert.

JONI MITCHELL, 81, and two new books about her. In a review, The New York Times refers to her “black-box mysticism of her songwriting process.” That doesn’t help us much here. In the other book, “Mitchell hangs cool and a little unreachable, like the moon,” poetic but hardly useful either—to us. AH HA. One of her songs, “A Case of You,” was used in feature film “Love Actually.” LISTEN UP: WE’VE HIT PAYDIRT:

“Mitchell wrote "A Case of You" in or before 1970. As with many of the songs on her album Blue, it might have been inspired by her relationship with Graham Nash; another claim, it was about Leonard Cohen. Recorded in 1971; album Blue with Mitchell playing Appalachian dulcimer, accompanied by James Taylor on acoustic guitar—tuned to standard tuning, (EADGBE), although cover versions existed played in an open G tuning (DGDGBD). Mitchell's earliest public performances of ‘A Case of You’ contained 6 lines that changed by the time Blue was waxed. The line ‘I am as constant as a northern star,’ is an allusion to Caesar's ‘I am constant as the Northern Star’ from the Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, while the quoted line ‘Love is touching souls’ is inspired by the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke.”

From Henry Alford’s book on Joni: “When the warbling-banshee outro on her recording of ‘Woodstock’ hits full volume, he [Alford] winkingly [sic] concedes, ‘it is possible to clear a room of pets and heterosexual men.” … The New York Times review wraps with this, “…to be a hard-core [Joni Mitchell] devotee still implies certain qualities: that one is soulful and a little against the grain, a defender of open tunings and difficult truths…and inordinately fond of cloud metaphors.”

TWO NEW BOOKS ON JONI MITCHELL: “I Dream of Joni in 53 Snapshots,” by (Prof.) Henry Alford (Gallery); and “Song so Wild and Blue,” by Paul Lisicky (HarperOne).

I’LL BE SEEING YOU – OLD AND NEW AND ONE OF THE ALL-TIME GREATS:

“I'LL BE SEEING YOU," a brilliantly written popular song about missing a loved one, with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Irving Kahal. Published way back in 1938, it was inserted into the Broadway musical Right This Way, which closed after fifteen performances. That didn’t stop it. “I’ll Be Seeing You” is the title of the 1944 same named film, taken from this song at the suggestion of legendary producer, Dore Schary. Of course, the song is on the film's soundtrack. LISTEN UP, a hint: the kicker, resemblance between the main tune's first four lines and a passage within the theme, of the last movement of Gustav Mahler's Third Symphony (1896). “I’ll Be Seeing You” lyrics, as fresh and warm today as the ‘30’s day they were minted.

Other versions of this popular American Standard: The earliest recording of the song was by Dick Todd in 1940 on the Bluebird label.

• The recording by Bing Crosby became a nostalgic wartime hit in 1944, reaching number one for the week of July 1.

• Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, 1940 charted in 1944 and peaked at No. 4. A new Sinatra was included in 61's I Remember Tommy. The newer version went to No. 12 on the Easy Listening chart; No. 58 on the Billboard Hot 100.

• A recording by the Poni-Tails reached number 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending November 16, 1959.

• Dinah Shore and André Previn recorded the song in Dinah Sings, Previn Plays, (Capitol Records, 1960).

• Brenda Lee recorded “I’ll Be Seeing You,” as the final track of her 1962 album Sincerely, Brenda Lee, with the second verse spoken rather than sung. This version features as a significant recurring theme in the 2018 film Out of Blue.

RAVEL – UP FOR GRABS! Recently discovered, an old Ravel piece, (now new) from 1900, a cantata, “SEMIEAMIS,” performed recently by the New York Philharmonic. “…celebrating Ravel’s 150^th birthday. “…the first section rises to the dramatic punch of an opera overture. The music then accelerates into a gaudy Orientalist dance that looks back to the Bacchanale from Saint-Sens” “Samson & Dalila” and the “Polovtsian Dances of Borodin one of the Russian masters Ravel adored. The third surviving section, for tenor and orchestra, will be premiered in Paris in December. The piece is most intriguing as a preview of what was to come. For one thing, Ravel divides the string sections into multiple parts to increase the complexity of the textures, a technique he would use in later masterpieces like “Daphnis et Chloe.” Since this piece was lost since 1900, no one has heard the music until now so we can assume no enterprising composer appropriated any of the notes for a pop song. Check it out. New piano LP, “Ravel: Fragments,” by Bertrand Chamayou, “a fascinating collection of transcriptions,” Chamayou pays homage to composers Ravel had known or inspired.

UNION STATION and ALISON KRAUSS – an award winning American bluegrass and country band with a new solo album by Alison Krauss--titled “Arcadia,” We’re told, the songs on Arcadia, encompass both personal and historical tribulations. “With a smile, Krauss described them as tales about ‘the good old days when times were bad.’” Some tunes draw on old public-domain ballads. “Richmond on the James,” recounts the last words of a dying Civil War soldier… “Granite Milles” “vividly” describes a fatal 1874 textile mill fire. Krauss shared, that she “loves a true story.” What I love, dear reader: in 2010 she discovered “The Hangman,” a 1951 poem by Maurice Ogden, a parable about the coming of fascism and got her brother, bassist Viktor Krauss to write the melody. Union Station member Russell Moore, sings its ominous opening verses. Brother Viktor Krause shaped the sound of the new album--orchestrating it with sustained string arrangements—then Alison overdubbed. Krauss added this tidbit: Union Station’s songs are survival stories. “Whatever the situation was, it’s over. And you’ve gotten through it.” Young/new/songwriter/dear reader: take note of the multiple hints to kickstart a new tune. That’s what we’re doing here.

TIMBALAND –the producer whose sounds and techniques transform 1990’s hip-hop has a new album, “Timbo Progression.” The LP, in “entirely unexpected territory: West African Music, with a vintage sound: Azonto, a dance, music style from Ghana. Timbaland’s version: mid-tempo beat and modal horn lines with hints of the great Feta Kuti’s 1970 Afrobeat.” On the release, Timbaland’s credit, “programmer.” Thank you, Jay Pareles of the New York Times for the heads up. Reader-student: further clarity on the Feta Kuti, he was a Nigerian musician and political activist, regarded as the principal innovator of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre that combines West African music with American funk and jazz. At his apex, a pundit wrote: “Africa's most "challenging and charismatic music performers." AllMusic’s description: "a musical and sociopolitical voice" of international significance. Kuti continued to record and perform through the ‘80s and ‘90s. Since his death in ‘97, compilations of his music have appeared—overseen by his son, Femi Kuti. “Timbo Progression,” exciting new LP.

BLACKPACK as TV stars? – Surprise! More than merely a K-Pop, Supernova Group from the late 2010s, Rose, Jisoo, Lisa and Jennie -- with their huge songs, pugilistic style, and rowdy-ness back then are TV personalities today. Let’s get real: Lisa didn’t “congeal’ with Megan Thee Stallion on “Rapunzel;” and she sounded “tentative” alongside South African pop-R&B star Tyla on “When I’m With You.” Some positive credit, the duet with Spanish star Rosalia, a better match. And then the two of Rosie’s cuts: “Two Years” and “Toxic ‘Till the End,” back-to-back Taylor Swift homages to “Folklore” and “Lover” eras. Member Jisoo, the only one in the group born in South Korea: out of her four cuts on EP “Amortage,” the sweetly ambitious “Your Love,” cuts it with its blatant peak-era Katy Perry. Friends, if you don’t know BLACKPACK as rockers, you might have seen them on network television: Lisa is on the current “The White Lotus;” Jennie as a back stabbing pop aspirant on “The Idol.” Why I’m telling you all this: in case you don’t know them, you might glean something here to spur you on to write an “original” melody. Plus: BLACKPACK’s reunion tour: July, 2025. Dig it!

CLASSY CATASTROPHY AVOIDED. Lithuanian Star Soprano of Armenian ancestry ASMIK GRIGORIAN CRAPPED OUT. IN STEPS BEETHOVEN. The Short version. The Cleveland Orchestra showed up at Carnegie Hall for a booking without a star. Music director Franz Weiser-Most overwhelmed with the audience with a musical understudy: music. Student take notice: He substituted the no-show vocalist with: The Suite from Janacek’s “From the House of the Dead,” based on Dostoyevsky’s account of life in a Russian prison colony, which he joined with Beethoven’s “Fifth Symphony” and, his “Leonore” Overture No. 3. If you need more, New York Times critic Corinna de Fonesca-Wollheim had this to say: music director Welser-Most explained that “the Janacek was a testament to ‘human dignity’ in ‘desolate circumstances.’ Beethoven’s Symphony No 5 had traced a progression ‘from darkness to light,’ he added while the overturn, written for Beethoven’s political prison-break opera ‘Fidelio,’ represented the ‘greatest music about freedom every written.’” And later, “…the double helping of Beethoven served alongside Janace’s dazzling suite, it was only that the Fifth and the ‘Leonore’ overture provided ready-made templates for struggle narratives ending in triumph.” Students, I’m trusting you’re inspired. If there’s not an inspiration for picking out a melodic line somewhere in there, I’m wasting my time. I’m pulling for you to write a hit song. It’s out there.

CAMERON WINTER – Whom? He can’t miss: the young musician, 23, with a 6’ 3” frame, grew up in Brooklyn, attended the progressive Brooklyn Friends School. His mother is a writer; his father, a composer. All that, plus, the New York Times’ savvy, hip Lizzy Goodman, did a lengthy article on Winter on April 6, 2025. Cameron already had an impressive resume. Back in 2032, he performed on “Stephen Colbert’s Late Show” with “Geese,” childhood rocker friends. (Rolling Stone once called “Geese” “legit indie-rock prodigies.” “Geese’s” 2023 album was titled “3D County;” right now, a third “Geese” LP, is in the can.) More recently, Winter performed solo on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” His debut solo LP, “Heavy Metal” charted at #16 in Billboard Album Chart and still sells. Originally, the “poppiest song on the album” was “exquisite and sunny:” “Love Takes Miles.” Then, Cameron decided to recorded a different final track, “more of a jump shot,” he said; it is “Can’t Take Anything,” described as, “heartfelt and mournful.” Not so surprising, his debut solo tour is sold out.

JEWISH MELODIES CONSIDERED. A direct quote from Philip Roth’s Operation Shylock, narrator says: “God gave Moses the 10 Commandments, and He gave to Irving Berlin ‘Easter Parade’ and ‘White Christmas.’ The two holidays that celebrate the divinity of Christ—the divinity that’s the very heart of the Jewish rejection of Christianity—and what does Irving Berlin do? Easter, he turns into a fashion show and Christmas into a holiday about snow.” THE POINT, a hint: During the ‘30s, songwriters’ hit songs reflect Jewish musical style: “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön,” “Blue Skies,” “Donna, Donna,” “I Love You Much Too Much,” “My Heart Belongs to Daddy,” and “Summertime” (derived from an old Yiddish beggar song) WOW! Take note!

Today, contemporary Jewish melodies have found their way into popular American songs, like Leonard Cohen ("Hallelujah," "Dance Me to the End of Love"); Paul Simon ("Silent Eyes") all drawing inspiration from Jewish musical traditions and themes; another, like Adam Sandler, uses humor.*

• A deeper look: Leonard Cohen: Cohen's music, particularly "Hallelujah" (and "Dance Me to the End of Love,") incorporates elements of Eastern European cabaret and Jewish themes, exploring love, loss, and faith. Another? “Who By the Fire?”¹. From his 1984 album Various Positions, “Dance me….”’s instrumentals are evocative of traditional klezmer music. When asked about his music sounding "more Jewish" in a 1985 interview, Cohen responded: ‘My songs are always Jewish, they can’t be anything else but Jewish.' Although structured as a love song, "Dance Me to the End Of Love" was in fact inspired by the Holocaust, Cohen said in a 1995 radio interview. I find the tune mesmerizing.

• Paul Simon: "Silent Eyes" is considered a Jewish song by some, written in the wake of the Yom Kippur war, reflecting on themes of loss and resilience.

• Adam Sandler: "The Hanukkah Song," a humorous novelty song, that celebrates the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah in a lighthearted way.

• Marc Cohn: "Already Home" is a song about returning home, a theme that resonates with Jewish culture.

• The Who: "Rael" is a song cycle loosely based on Israel's struggle to survive, inspired by a visit to Israel and the Six-Day War.

• Simon & Garfunkel: "The Sound of Silence" is a song about prophecy, with potential interpretations related to Jewish themes.

• Madonna: "Isaac," a song with a Hebrew title.

• Barbra Streisand: 1. “Funny Girl,” Broadway musical, then a feature film, is the semi biographical life and career of Fanny Brice. 2. "Yentl," a ‘83 American musical drama directed by-starring Barbra Streisand, based on the ‘68 Isaac Bashevis Singer novella "Goy's Wife"²—the story of a young woman disguising herself as a man to study the Talmud.

SOME OTHERS TO CHECK OUT - SEE WHAT YOU THINK?

”Like a Rolling Stone,” “Highway 61 Revisited,” and "With God on Our Side" (which explores religious themes and Jewish history. Bob Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman (his Hebrew name is Shabtai Zisl ben Avraham)

“Come On-a-My House,” a hit for Rosemary Clooney in 1951, written by Ross Bagdasarian and William Saroyan (honest). The melody is based on an Armenian folk song--the lyrics reference traditional Armenian hospitality. Number 1 in Billboard for 6 weeks. Mickey Katz released a Yiddish parody of the tune for Capitol the year it was a hit for Rosey. Clooney openly admitted she hated the song. Word is Ella Fitzgerald sang it on “Decca’s Singles to 1955.” I can’t find the cut. Maybe that’s best.

“Woo-Woo,” a 1961 Top Ten by Arnie Ginsberg

“Theme from Exodus,” by Ernest Gold

“Tide ‘em Cowboy,” by Kinky Friedman – Word is Nelson Mandella loved this song and listened to it every night of his 17-year incarceration.

“Donna, Donna” and “Oh, Freedom” by Joan Biaz

“Sympathy,” and “Harmony Hall,” by Vampire Weekend

“I’m a Tattoo,” Janis Ian

“Red Sector A” - Rush - based on Geddy Lee’s parents’ experiences in the concentration camps.

AN OBSCURE RUSSIAN COMPOSER -- WORTH PERUSING. Sofia Gubaidulina, who annoyed Soviet Censors, lived in Appen Germany, and died at 93. Gubaidulina explored thorny religious themes, invariably at odds with Soviet censors. NOTE: baptized as an adult into Russian Orthodox Christianity, with beliefs from her Tatar father’s Muslim background—not to mention, she’d had multiple Jewish music teachers. Her first violin concerto, beautiful “Offertorium,” a mastery of texture – a true masterpiece—“rebuilds” the “Royal Theme” of Mr. Bach’s “Musical offering.” It begins with “swoop of violin, redolent of both modernist astringency and a countryside fiddler.” For the 250^th anniversary of Bach’s death, Gubaidulina was commissioned to write her own version of “St. John Passion.” Inspired by Psalm 130, “De Profundis,” she composed a solo for the bayan, The Russian Accordian… Her “Canticle of the Sun,” written for the cellist Mstislave Rostropovich, incorporates a small choir with percussion composition based on a song by St. Francis praising God. Called “grand,” her “St John Passing” “has apocalyptic force,” one critic wrote. Ms. Gubaidulina had an esoteric method of shaping forms using the Fiobonacci Sequence of Numbers. NEW TO ME: (The Fibonacci sequence—series of numbers where each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers. For example, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, …). Aspirants, there just might be a little-known, untouched, unused, musical phrase here and there that might trigger YOUR masterpiece.

MARIAH CAREY: Category: NOBODY GETS OFF THE HOOK; or is it: NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN? The New York Post’s “Page Six,” on Page 16, Headlined: “Joy to her world, A judge has ruled that Mariah Carey didn’t steal her song, ‘All I Want for Christmas is You.’ In ‘23 songwriters Andy Stone and Troy Powers filed a $20 million lawsuit alleging Carey’s ‘94 song infringed copyright of their ‘89 song, same name. [Reader, you can’t copyright song titles]. According to the AP, Stone’s and Powers’ song ‘contains a unique linguistic structure where a person disillusioned with expensive gifts; season comforts, wants to be with their loved ones.” They rest their case.

OPRY 100: A LIVE CELEBRATION: Grand Ole Opry celebrates 100^th Anniversary in the Fall. You can get it earlier, Peacock streams: Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, Alan Jackson, Post Malone, Jelly Roll, Eric Church.

EDDIE ADCOCK, who redefined Bluegrass Music, recently passed away at 86. Adcock used jazz and blues-inflected approaches to play the banjo. When interviewed, invariably said he expanded his musical world beyond hillbilly sounds: his first-grade teacher, Mrs. Pauline Mayor, taught him how to read and write music plus introduced him to opera, jazz, country. Adcock gave her credit in his every interview. Be alert, young writer. Ya’ know know where inspiration will come from.

TRIVIA: Best-selling recording artists of all time are…

• The Beatles (yes, the best-selling music artists of all time)

• Garth Brooks

• Michael Jackson (recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time)

• Elvis Presley

My list of… THE WORLD’S BEST SONGS, randomly:

1. My Funny Valentine

2. You Belong to me

3. Fly me to the Moon

4. Someone To Watch over Me

5. I’ll Be Seeing You

6. More than You Know

7. Smile

8. The Very Thought of you

9. Stardust

10. But Not for Me

11. As Time Goes By

12. Begin the Beguine, the instrumental by Artie Shaw

13. Medley: Goin’ Out of My Head / I Get Along Without You Very Well

THREE BELOW THE LINE

I’ve Got You Under my Skin / I’ve Got the World on a String / Over the Rainbow

TO CLOSE AND FURTHER OPEN YOU HEART: AN EXAMPLE OF A WELL-WRITTEN SONG. “You’d Be So Easy To Love”

I’m fond of a Cole Porter song, though I don’t know of any derivatives (you might). I like the song’s history as well as the lyrics and melody. The simple, first 7 notes are a solid beginning to a memorable tune, (Hint to young writers). If memory serves, songwriters are allowed 8 notes or so before you’re sued, not a good idea here, though. Beside the point. The simple, straight forward first 7 notes are a great beginning/ introduction to a song. Note: RECORDED BY 35+ RECORDING ARTISTS.

BACKGROUND: “You'd Be So) Easy to Love" was written by Cole Porter for William Gaxton to sing in the 1934 Broadway show Anything Goes. Gaxton was intimidated by its wide vocal range; it was cut. Porter re-wrote the tune for 1936 film Born to Dance; it was introduced by Eleanor Powell, James Stewart, and Frances Langford under alternate title, "Easy to Love." The beat goes on… The song was later added to the 1987 and 2011 revivals of Anything Goes under the complete title "You’d Be So Easy to Love." Early hit versions were waxed by Shep Fields, Frances Langford and Ray Noble.

AND NOT LEAST: Johnny Mathis, one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, five-time Grammy Award winner, pushing 90, reports he’s retiring from live recording and recently canceled the final four “Voice of Romance Tour” performances. With singles of standard music, Mathis became popular as an album artist, with several of his LPs achieving gold and platinum status—73 making the Billboard charts. Mathis also received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Frequently described as a romantic singer, his versatile discography includes traditional pop, Latin American, soul, rhythm and blues, show tunes, Tin Pan Alley, soft rock, blues, country music, and even disco on 1979’s Mathis Magic. Mathis has also recorded 7 Christmas music LPs. Interviewed in 1968, he credited Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, and Bing Crosby among his musical influences. BACKGROUND: Mathis was born in Gilmer, Texas, September 30, 1935, the fourth of seven children. African-American; he also claims Native American ancestry on his mother's side. The family moved to San Francisco when Mathis was five, we suspect a wise move for young Johnny. The final May 18, 2025 Bergen Performing Arts Center, Englewood, NJ performance: sold out. An Irish folk song inspired the title of JFK memoir, Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye, ditto here, and Johnny Mathis, we will miss you so.

*THE VERY LEAST – LEONARD COHEN – to include the total Leonard Cohen would take up the entire space here. However, he is referred to frequently as an inspiration and influence to young writers—he must be acknowledged. Briefly, Leonard Norman Cohen was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. A wide range of themes commonly explored throughout his work: faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, social and political conflict, and sexual and romantic love, desire, regret, and loss. He was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in the Montrealanglophone enclave of Westmount, Quebec, on September 21, 1934. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as invested as “Companion of the Order of Canada,” the nation's highest civilian honor. In 2011, he received one of the Prince of Asturias Awards for literature and the ninth Glenn Gould Prize. In 2023, Rolling Stone named Cohen the 103rd-greatest singer…

Cohen pursued a career as a poet and novelist during the 1950s and early 1960s, and did not begin a music career until 1966. His first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967), was followed by three more albums of folk music: Songs from a Room (1969), Songs of Love and Hate (1971), and New Skin for the Old Ceremony (1974). His 1977 record Death of a Ladies' Man, co-written and produced by Phil Spector, moved away from Cohen's previous minimalist sound.

In 1979, Cohen returned with the more traditional Recent Songs, blending his acoustic style with jazz, East Asian, and Mediterranean influences. His most famous song, "Hallelujah," released on his seventh album, Various Positions (1984). I'm Your Man in 1988 marked Cohen's turn to synthesized productions. Cohen released its follow-up, The Future, 1992, with dark lyrics and references to political-social unrest.

Cohen returned to music in 2001 with the release of Ten New Songs, a major hit in Canada and Europe. His eleventh album, Dear Heather, followed in 2004. In 2005, Cohen discovered that his manager had stolen most of his money and sold his publishing rights, prompting a return to touring to recoup his losses. Between 2008 and 2013, following a successful string of tours, he released three albums in the final years of his life: Old Ideas (2012), Popular Problems (2014), and You Want It Darker (2016), the last of which was released three weeks before his death on November 7, 2016. (His fifteenth studio album, Thanks for the Dance, was released in November 2019.)

1. A deeper look: Leonard Cohen

2. Goy is a term used by Jews to refer to someone not Jewish; a non-Jew, a gentile. Goy literally means “nature,” or “people.”