A few weeks ago, I published an essay called 15 Great Albums That Ruined My Life… For Good. Since that post, a lot of us have talked on Facebook about our formative albums and what we learned from them as musicians, composers and producers. A few days ago, I was talking with a record producer I’ll be in the studio with as a drummer this fall, but we were having it about individual songs rather than albums.
Additionally, in the ramp up to the release of Eastern Chronicle, I’m beginning to get asked a lot about my tastes as they pertain to non-filmmusic-related songs. There are a ton of those; I wouldn’t ever be able to sum all of that up in a single post. You and I could talk about influences for hours and hours and still neither of us would probably even scratch the surface. That being said, here is an off-the-cuff list of some of the most influential tunes to ever hit my ears. It is not an exhaustive list by any means, but rather a list of songs that contain things within them that I can point specifically to and say, “That changed the way I hear music.” Some of them go back 20 or 25 years. I can remember vividly the specific time and place that I heard each and every one of these tracks and each has easily stood the test of time. Music, as they say, is powerful drug.
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As timeless as it gets, this gem by the great Steve Winwood features one of the greatest Moog solos to ever be recorded, not to mention an ascending chord progression that just leaves you feeling like you wish you knew where that girl was so you could find her and tell her how you felt about her way back when. A very nostalgic tune with a great free-spirited feel.
I probably could have listed ten songs by Gabriel as faves, but this one takes the cake for obvious reasons. This live version (from Secret World Live!), featuring Paula Cole on vocals (the original teamed PG with the wonderful Kate Bush) overshadows everything that was on the radio at the time and goes on the long list of “songs I wish I’d written”. And that’s just musically…lyrically, it hits me between the eyes as a man who strives to take care of those he loves. Get a load of Tony Levin’s bass work during the song’s introductory minute. Absolute brilliance.
When I first heard Bruce Hornsby and the Range on the radio, I was about 13 years old and my dad and I were coming back from a vacation together. “The Way It Is” came over the airwaves we both looked at each other, reached simultaneously for the volume knob, cranked it up and were mesmerized. The next day, I bought their debut record on RCA/Victor, and “Every Little Kiss” was the second track off that album. It is a beautiful song, and it is one that as I get older makes more and more sense to me lyrically. A few days ago I bought Hornsby’s latest solo record on Amazon.com, and still what that man is able to coax out of a Baldwin grand piano blows my mind. But as one of the first songs I learned when I started playing piano, “Every Little Kiss” will always be my favorite Hornsby track.
In 1985, I was really just discovering all kinds of music that I wouldn’t have discovered thanks to this channel on my set-box called MTV. I was glued to this thing, and I didn’t really care to go outside and ride bikes or play with my buddies—I just wanted to hear, feel, and breathe music, any chance I could get. My fascination with synth-based pop started with this Howard Jones hit off the Dream Into Action LP, but it was the video for the song that really cemented my desire to someday play live onstage. Watching Jones’ drummer stand in a cage of Simmons electronics and beat on his “ceiling of drums” still brings a smile to face. Dang, that was some cool-ass shit!
Diamond’s first live set Hot August Night was one of my mom’s favorite records when I was a little boy. I have a very sweet memory of my mom and I dancing around like fools in our living room, singing “Sweet Caroline” at the tops of our lungs to each other. Years later, I got really into Neil Diamond’s Taproot Manuscript record and of course, the brilliant Stones album (“I Am, I Said” will kick your ass if you are an artist of any type). But my favorite Diamond track goes back to his original material from the Bang label when he was still a Brill Building songwriter and a troubadour in truest sense. “Cherry, Cherry” is just one hell of a feel good song, and foreshadowed some of the great writing he did for other acts like The Monkeys (“I’m a Believer”) and Elvis Presley (“The Grass Won’t Pay No Mind”). I hardly ever agree with Rolling Stone Magazine anymore, but one thing they did get right is that they called “Cherry, Cherry” one the “greatest three-chord songs to ever be written”. Yes. In a single effort, Neil Diamond proves that you don’t need to be flashy to write a hit song—instead, you need a fundamental understanding of what moves people… a catchy melody and a groove. A lot of people will disagree with this statement, but I believe time will prove Neil Diamond as one of the greatest songwriters in music history. If this song isn’t enough proof of that, there’s something wrong with your ears.
As an added bonus, go rent the flick Saving Silverman, starring Jack Black, Jason Biggs, Amanda Peet, and Steve Zahn. In the film, Black, Biggs, and Zahn are in a Neil Diamond tribute band called “Diamonds In the Rough” and perform a pretty mean acoustic version of this tune toward the beginning of the first act. It’s pretty awesome… and the Steve Zahn/Jack Black improvised banter in that movie makes me pee my pants every time I watch it.
Each person in my family has contributed in some way to my musical education, and my Aunt Jan is responsible for this one. I used to love going to her house because she had hundreds of records that my parents weren’t all that into, like Supertramp, REO Speedwagon, Elton John, Tears For Fears, and… Simply Red. Mick Hucknall basically gives a vocal seminar in restraint on this track, and the band lays low allowing the trumpet take the lead and just ruin you with simple licks and notation choices. Just when you think they are bumping it up towards the end with a little modulation or a change in feel, they calm back down and end it the way they started it. Brilliance.
I know…you totally didn’t see this one coming, did you? Well, I believe that good, well-written music transcends trend and popular opinion. The fact is that “The Boys” didn’t have anything to do with the crafting of this perfect pop tune. They simply have someone in their camp that knows brilliance when he or she hears it, and you cannot get much more perfect than many of the things that veteran pop writer/producer Max Martin has put his hand to. Truth is William Hung could have had a hit with this, it’s just that well written. This tune was nom’d for Song of the Year the year it came out, and so obviously someone else felt the same way I do. I can’t remember who actually won the award in the end, but I remember rooting for this tune the way I rooted for Shawshank Redemption the year it lost Best Picture to Forrest Gump. Stupid is as stupid does, I guess. Poop.
If you don’t know Miriam Stockley’s talent, you are in for a real treat on this track. Unfortunately, this amazing song is probably best remembered for the Delta Airlines commercial it backed in the late 90′s. For me, it was a discovery on the popular Pure Moods albums that were advertised on TV in the year 2000, featuring several obscure tracks from as many obscure acts/artists. This one was a standout on the album and hit me at a time when I was seriously planning the move to Los Angeles for a full-time launch into scoring films. It still stands for me as arguably one of the greatest choral achievements of the last twenty years, and the majority of it them just triple-tracking the hell out of Miriam’s gorgeous voice. A must have if you love music that takes you on a journey.
I was never a fan of electronica out of the context of the film music medium until I heard the perfect voice of Elisabeth Fraser (formerly of the Cocteau Twins) on this amazing track from Massive Attack. Now known as the theme song for the FOX hit “House, M.D.”, this track is pure engineering magic. When I hear this song, my thoughts are almost always, “Man, I don’t know what she’s talking about, but I’d sure like to be there to hear her explain it to me!” 
If you’re music buds with me, it won’t surprise you that Level 42 is my all-time favorite pop band …in life …ever …period. There is just no denying that this song was and still is one of the best sounding songs to ever come out of a radio. Everyone in the band is doing their job in this tune, with the highest degree of effectiveness and efficiency—nothing is out-of-place. I’m a firm believer in good producers, and Wally Badarou earns his keep here as the fifth member of the band. Pure pop perfection.
Before there were The Eagles as you know them in their most popular incarnation, Randy Meisner and Timothy B. Schmidt were in a different band called Poco. At about the time Poco was at its creative peak, Meisner and Schmidt bailed to form The Eagles and the remaining Poco members, Paul Cotton and Rusty Young, were pretty much left to continue on as a two-man-band. I’m glad they did. “Crazy Love” is from the Legend record, which is a fabulous recording overall and still a favorite of mine some 30+ years later. I was four years old when this record was released, but my mom spun it relentlessly, and “Crazy Love” entered my musical consciousness. The vocal arrangement is what anchors the entire track, and I’d be hard-pressed to name another pop song with as carefully a crafted harmony line.
I remember this movie really well, because I was really into Bond at the time it came out. There is a joke in our family about me telling everyone when I was ten years old that when I grew up I either wanted to “work in a tire store… or be a spy!” This was when VHS had really hit its stride and my mom rented me all of the 80′s Bond films (some Connery, but mostly Moore) and one of them was A View To a Kill starring Roger Moore as 007. The movie starts with a great stunt Bond does with a set of snow-skis and then this hard-hitting tune just knocks you cold with a perfect mix of score composer John Barry’s horn stabs and Andy Taylor’s signature guitar slides. This was probably the best representation I’d heard to date of an orchestra seamlessly mixed with a pop sound and I know I consciously took notice of the cinematic element in this song. I’ve applied it to my own music countless times since.
When I was in grade school, my parents were dragging me to church and were pretty concerned with what I was listening to (George Michael’s Faith was off-limits in my house because of his damned “I Want Your Sex” video—thanks for ruining my life, George… you horny bastard!). When MWS’s The Big Picture began to chart, suddenly there was hope for the hopelessness that was Christian radio at that time. The drive of the lead-off track, “Lamu”, is by far MWS’s greatest achievement, in my opinion. I 2 (Eye), the record that followed The Big Picture, was fantastic, too, but there is just something about this one track that was a defining moment in Smith’s career, and he hasn’t revisited that creative peak since. The drive of this tune is relentless, thanks mostly to producer John Potoker’s decision to take a handful of the greatest secular session players of that year (Tony Levin, Dann Huff, Philippe Saisse, and Steve Ferrone) and throw them into a perfectly melodic and dynamic setting. Pay special attention to the guitar work throughout the track, shared by the legendary Dann Huff and session ace Chris Rodriguez: It is some of the best you’ll find anywhere, by anybody.
This is probably one of the schmaltziest songs to ever be recorded—the epitome of 80′s over-the-top excess in some ways, yet at the same time, it is just a very smartly written, well-produced rock tune from a band that caught an extremely lucky break with it. Sure, “Sister Christian” hit big for them way before the band was personally called by Michael J. Fox to write and record the theme to his upcoming film The Secret of My Success, but they took up the challenge with gusto and what you hear here is probably the best song in the Night Ranger catalog.
The part of this tune that really rips ass is the breakdown in the middle after the guitar solo and subsequent bridge section. The interplay of Alan Fitzgerald’s keyboard programming, the syncopated bass and guitar groove, and Kelly Keagy’s rock solid drive all work together to spit out a killer breakdown section to end all killer breakdown sections.
The other thing I really like about this song is that it is… is probably one of the schmaltziest songs to ever be recorded. Many tunes of that era were dripping with optimism and “feel-good” lyrical content, and this is one of many tunes I could name here that just makes you feel like you can do anything you put your mind to when you hear it. My buddy Ryan Reynolds (not the actor!) calls these kinds of tunes “Shit Kicker Songs”—songs that can “move you to achieve”, be it running a few miles with your iPod cranking or driving down the PCH, top down, without a care in the world. I’m a pretty optimistic guy, so the lyrics of this song really speak to that kind of a mindset: “The secret of my success is I’m living twenty-five hours a day!” Hell yeah!!
Wow. I won’t even go into explaining how this track came about in the first place. You can read all about it here. But suffice to say that Murray Head had very little to do with it, aside from the verses he “speaks” and the part he was supposed to play in the stage musical that the song was originally written for. The sheer genius of this track came straight out of the minds of ABBA founders Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. (So… when people remark about ABBA and their extreme influence on the modern pop music landscape and you shake your head and wonder “why?”, here is another example of their under-appreciated musical reach. Much like the BeeGees, ABBA is extremely underrated.)
The first minute-forty of “One Night in Bangkok” is taken up by a killer orchestral prelude called “Bangkok”, and the choruses are dripping with a melodic sensibility that perfectly evoke the danger and mystery of the place they describe. Murray Head’s tongue-in-cheek delivery in the verses is perfectly executed and is the perfect example of one of the few times I feel “speaking” or “rapping” in a pop song really adds value to the rest of the production. Lastly, one of the greatest highlights of the tune is the Thai khlui flute solo in the middle of the track that is perfectly played by James Gelway. As a synthesist or programmer, you’d be smart to study the shit out of this track and pay attention to the choices Andersson makes in deciding where to lay out and when to add tops. It is very smart and efficient production that you don’t hear anymore in the “more is more” ProTools music production industry of today.
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Another producer I work for a lot in the record business likes to say, “People don’t know what they like. They like what they know.” That goes for me too. I know these tunes inside and out and I have critically listened through them multiple times over the long years. When I try to listen to current Top 40 radio, I can hear shades of genius every once in a great while, but nothing that harkens back to the art of crafting a song that each artist showcases in these selections. I shudder to think that maybe that kind of craftsmanship is slowly dying with each year we “progress” into a more technological age of producing music and records.
But I do know one thing… somewhere, there is a little girl or a little boy that has a song in their heart that can change the world. If we don’t get busy helping our children identify and express what they are hearing and feeling, great music will be gone for good.
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My not necessarily definitive top 15 in chronological order:
Rod Stewart – Sailing (1975).
This song and the following one have very strong memories for me as a child. My dad was a huge fan of Rod Stewart and out of all his tunes (although this was a cover) this is theone that sticks in my mind the most.
Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody (1976).
If my dad was a huge fan of Rod Stewart, he was certainly an even bigger fan of Queen. Every Saturday night without fail after an evening socialising down the local club Queen's "Night at the Opera" album would be put on the record deck and played from start to finish. We would all end up singing this tune out loud in the early hours of the morning. The result of this? I now pretty much know all the lyrics to every Queen song on that album back to front.
ELO – Mr Blue Sky (1977).
One of my first introductions to a more uplifting sytyle of pop music and a very fond memory form when I was a small child.
Earth Wind and Fire – September (1978).
This is the group that is responsible for my love of/addiction to and admiration for the skill of the musicians who play(ed) funk music. I still love to listen to their stuff now.
The Stranglers – Golden Brown (1981).
I didn't realise what the subject matter of the song was about when I first listened to this song, but I think ti was the first time I'd ever heard a harpsichord being played in a piece of popular music at that point.
Duran Duran – Save A Prayer (1982).
As someone verging on my teens by this point I was like most of my peers starting to get into the chart music scene and this group was a big influence at the time. The fact that began loccaly (Birmingham) was also a big plus. For me this is one of the best tunes they ever released, who would have thought that synth-pop could be so chill-out?
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – The Power Of Love (1984).
I was pretty much full-on into my teen rebel pop phase here so of course a group like FGTH were right up my street in terms of brashness and a certain amount of controversy ("Relax" anyone?).
. However I was beginning to take a heavy interest in orchestral film music by this time too and the string arrangement by the wonderful Anne Dudley for this song really caught my ears and blew my mind. Very powerful stuff!
Peter Gabriel – Red Rain (1986).
By this point I was starting to really think about the music I listened to and the meaning behind it all. Peter Gabriel's "So" album came along at exactly the right time in that respect and still remains remarkable to listen to even now. This is one of my favourite tracks form that album.
The The – Infected (1986).
By this point I was getting fairly deeply into teenage angst territory and looking for some meaning in the music I was listening to. These guys filled that gap with their sometimes uncompromising songs and lyrics.
Michael McDonald – Sweet Freedom (1987).
In amongst all this teen angst I still hadn't forgotten how to enjoy a well-written pop song. I always liked Michael McDonald as a performer and this was a great one written by Rod Temperton.
Hue & Cry – Stars Crash Down (1991).
I got into these guys in the late 80's through a friend. I always liked the way they combined great songwriting with clever messages about modern society. This was the title song from their 1991 album foi the same name.
Urban Species – Spiritual Love (1994).
I wasn't always massively into rap, especially not the more gangsta style but this one just struck a chord with me at the time. A catchy riff and honest heartfelt lyrics make this a winner for me.
Jamiroquai – Corner Of The Earth (2001).
This froup pretty much becam ther 90's extension of my love of 70's funk music, although this song proved they could write something different if they wanted to. I like to listen to this one when I've had a difficult day and need to unwind.
Poets Of The Fall – Late Goodbye (2003).
Discovered through my love of video games, this track was first heard over the end titles of the game "Max Payne 2" and was totally appropriate to the style of that games ending. It has stuck with me ever since and still gets a regular play.
Kings Of Convenience – Cayman Islands (2004).
I didn't actually hear this song or get into the band itself until late 2009, thanks to my girlfriend. I first heard this particular song while sitting in my girlfriends room in her house in Thailand. She was taking a nap and I was browsing the net listening to some music she had playing on Winamp in the background when all of a sudden this popped up out of nowhere and I was like "Who the hell are these guys? This is awesome!". Needless to say I checked them out as soon as I got back to the UK and bought their albums. I've been a big fan ever since!
… and massive typos everywhere, apologies for that!
Sweet Freedom
love that