news An old buddy, Yves Erauw, contacted me in 2020 with a plan to work with the Waku family singers. They are music biz royalty, three sensational singers each in their own right. What’s more, both Daddy and Guy can write and Guy is already well known as a producer of hits for many French performers.
Read more “Where Did Our Love Go – Waku Erauw lyrics”
news The news that lyricist Barry Mason died in April 2021 at the age of 86 came as a surprise. It was also a reminder that there are thousands of lyricists and composers out there whose name are not well known. Yet their songs are among the most well-known in music history.
Read more “RIP: English lyricist Barry Mason”
news 
Ever get the feeling you’re being watched? Well what do you expect when you splash all your life, loves and political opinions across social media? 😉
“The Chit-Chat Polka” is a song I wrote for “The Voice of Strauss”, Harry Coseman. It’s a polka – yep, a real one – that was originally written by Johann Strauss. As it’s about gossip, I thought I’d update to Strauss 2.0 and set it in the world of social media. Click through for the video (shot in Gossipville, USA – otherwise known as Los Angeles) and the official Chit-Chat lyrics.
anthems The ongoing struggle between China and protesters in Hong Kong took a new turn when thousands of protesters shouted pro-democracy slogans and insults at police in Hong Kong on Wednesday. The reason? Lawmakers were debating a bill that would criminalize abuse of the Chinese national anthem in the semi-autonomous city.
Read more “Chinese anthem law sparks protest in Hong Kong”
Music business I don’t sing (much). I don’t play an instrument. But all my co-writers do. So I’m feeling their pain, to a degree. What happens when your livelihood is snapped away from you overnight? I can’t answer the bigger questions about that, as we don’t know how long the lockdown will last.
But I do have a few thoughts about social media for musicians at the present time.
Read more “Social media, music and the coronavirus lockdown”
meanings As I’m writing this, Billie Eilish’s theme song for the new James Bond movie has been out all of 14 hours. So I had a listen.
I’ve been aware of Eilish only since “Bad Boy”, which I’d qualify as great pop music. It sounds good, and I was intrigued by an overtly pop song that throws in a completely out-of-rhythm section, almost from another track. Isn’t that suicide for radio? But they did it. So, all good.
Read more “No Time to Die: what do the words mean?”