What makes a song?

Subject: What makes a song?
From: GUEST,Harvey the Rabbit
Date: 16 Jan 02 - 10:08 PM

Maybe this should be titled "What Makes a Hit Song.

Okay, What does it take? Take "My Baby Does the Hanky Panky". Repititious inane tripe, yet it became a #1 hit. I have heard singers in local clubs sing originals that pierce the heart and evoke grand emotion, yet they are unknowns and will remain unknowns.

I have heard great works on the radio that play a few times then disappear while "Livin'la Vida Loco" is played till you want to kill the "artist".

Is it because "it's got a good beat and it's easy to dance to"? Is it just hype; smoke and mirrors?

Has this world gone berserk? We let great artist become unsung heros and laud the glamour boys.

I fail to grasp all this. And it irritates me.

Thank you for allowing me the forum to voice my frustration.

Harvey the Rabbit

Subject: RE: What makes a song?
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Jan 02 - 10:14 PM

I'm just worried that I'm the only person who's replied... maybe this thread is a figment of my imagination?

If so, that probably means I'm 'pixylated'.....Oh dear.

*grins*

Subject: RE: What makes a song?
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Jan 02 - 10:29 PM

For starters, a ton of money to promote it and get airplay. Songs don't become hits if they don't get airplay. Or even moreso, video play. How many to 40 hits don't have a video to support it? Good looke help a lot, too. They'd have to have Brad Pit, or Morton Downey, Jr. lip-sync Buddy Holly's songs, if he was making videos today. Sometimes it's because the song is good, too.
Jerry

Subject: RE: What makes a song?
From: Oversoul
Date: 16 Jan 02 - 10:40 PM

Stop smoking pot. Learn to read music, don't focus so much on "lyrics." Change yourself and the world whirls around you like a drunken gull. Music is the result. We need more viola players on this planet, interested? Work with it, you can be more...maybe.

Subject: RE: What makes a song?
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Jan 02 - 11:42 PM

What makes a song? A listener, otherwise its just an echo of the soul in the dark...

Subject: RE: What makes a song?
From: TeriLu
Date: 17 Jan 02 - 12:17 AM

A good hook,("the answer is blowin in the wind")the right connection, (Patsy Cline heard Willie Nelson's "Crazy", and recorded it, making it a huge hit), luck (gee, just happened to find this tape at the bottom of my glove compartment, underneath the six others - something just made me play it...)and of course, the right voice singing it(without Joan Baez and various others, where would Dylan be, after all?) and you can't be Harvey the Rabbit- Harvey never gets annoyed by anything! Peace, TeriLu

Subject: RE: What makes a song?
From: GUEST,MTed without a cookie
Date: 17 Jan 02 - 09:17 AM

(tried to post this, failed and lost my cookie--I guess it must be hot stuff;-))

Maybe you should talk to Kal Rudman about this--he has been picking the hits for 40 years--and he seems to be right a lot of the time--He is famous too, and was even the basis for an extremely unpleasant character in Paul Simon's movie, "One Trick Pony"--a good friend of mine worked for him, and says that Simon was generous--

Rudman picks the biggest hits
By Julian Walker

For the Midweek

Solomon "Kal" Rudman is a veritable quote machine. During a recent interview, Rudman, publisher of six national music-industry trade publications, employed more anecdotes, metaphors, and clich?s then one would find in a vigorous Mad Libs marathon. Rudman apparently developed his penchant for one-liners in a long and storied career that has spanned several fields ranging from education to radio and television broadcasting. Reminiscing about his days as a local radio disc jockey, Rudman, as if entranced, slips into his jive talkin' monologue of yore: "This is Kal 'Big Beat' Rudman, the round mound of sound, the big bad ace singing a taste from outer space . . . the big tick tock on the rock 'n' roll clock." And though business endeavors made his the name to know among music business insiders, Rudman gets more excited about his charity work. The music industry pioneer seemingly derives delights from his public persona as a philanthropist. Despite this, Rudman refuses to toot his own horn. Instead, he immerses himself in the tasks at hand: Namely overseeing the day-to-day operations of Friday Morning Quarterback's six publications and contributing to his community. WEEKLY READER Quarterback is a family of music-industry trade publications -- issued each Friday -- that track the play rotations of pop songs broadcast over the airwaves of major market stations and predict which new songs to watch. Each magazine focuses on a different genre of music -- rock, top 40, etc. All share a unique trait that has garnered Rudman industry accolades: an uncanny ability to pick the next hot radio singles. Among the hits Rudman is credited with discovering is Gloria Gaynor's timeless disco gem I Will Survive, I'll Never Love This Way Again by singer-turned-psychic promoter Dionne Warwick and Crystal Gayle's Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue. Rudman, 71, says he still is able to pick 'em because he has the mind of a 32-year-old. "With this type of publication," he said of Quarterback, "there is a direct coefficient to the decision-making power of the people in the industry who read it. Therefore, the critical factor is credibility." Apparently, Rudman's got that in spades. Almost invariably, his gut instincts are right on. Rudman's ability to select hit after hit has been lauded by everyone from Rolling Stone magazine to The Wall Street Journal. Even the fiscal-minded magazine Forbes joined the chorus, when, in its 32nd Annual Report on American Industry, it named Rudman the Leisure Industry "Man of the Year." HOMETOWN HONORS And late last year, the longtime entrepreneur was honored by his hometown with a bronze placard bearing his name on the Philadelphia Walk of Fame, a strip of pavement along South Broad Street on which local music notables are canonized. Rudman graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1951 with a bachelor's degree in education. After eight years shaping young minds as a science teacher in the Bristol Township school system, Rudman no longer could ignore his passion. He began his radio career in 1959 as a Top 40 jock on WCAM in Camden. "I just had this fire in my belly," he said of the jump to radio." His career later took him to Philadelphia radio station WDAS. It was there that Rudman became one of the pre-eminent figures in the burgeoning rhythm-and-blues movement. Despite his success on the airwaves, Rudman completed his master's degree in education at Temple University and continued to work as a special education teacher in Bristol Township schools. His prominence as a national figure in radio opened other doors for Rudman. By the mid 1960s, he was hired as the first R&B editor at Billboard magazine Near the end of that decade, Rudman simultaneously made two life-altering decisions: He left Billboard and Bristol Township. TEACHING TENURE He now considers both prudent choices but regrets remaining too long in one of those positions. "I hung on to teaching much longer than I should've," Rudman said. "I was balancing the ball. It might have been out of a sense of security." Departing Billboard freed Rudman to do with Quarterback what he always had done in radio: pick hits, from a national platform. In 1968, the erstwhile teacher created his first trade magazine. "The trade magazines of the day were a bunch of crap," he opined. "They didn't know what the hell they were doing. They picked all kinds of bad records and gave them good reviews. "Silly me," he continued, "I thought everybody in radio could pick a hit. When I realized they couldn't, I knew I had a unique gift." Experience in radio, combined with the success of his trade magazine, paved a path to television for Rudman. Television icon Merv Griffin in 1980 asked Rudman to join him as an on-air co-host of the Merv Griffin Show Music Specials. The duo taped 42 episodes of that program. By 1982, producers of the Today show took notice of Rudman, asking him to join the morning show as its resident expert on contemporary music. He appeared on 22 segments that year. It is Rudman's predictions in Quarterback, now based in Cherry Hill, N.J., that can be the difference between astronomical sales figures, fame and fortune for one band and hard-scrabble obscurity for another. Rudman has this take on the seemingly backward logic of the recording industry: "It's all about hyperbole. The sales have to catch up with the hype," to make it a hit. Thus, advertising is the name of the game, he acknowledges. But don't expect him to believe his own press clippings. Instead, the "Man with the Golden Ears," as Rudman is described in a biography authored by his publicist, is perhaps best known for never turning a deaf ear to pleas for help. Rudman takes pleasure from helping his community, and it's a safe bet that he has, in some way, contributed to nearly every charity in the region. Rudman feels a particular obligation to aid community causes."That's just what I do," he said, "because that's what I (feel) I have to do." |

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SQL = "Exec ThreadMessageNew 43176, 6811, '', 'RE: What makes a song?', 'Maybe you should talk to Kal Rudman about this--he has been picking the hits for 40 years--and he seems to be right a lot of the time--He is famous too, and was even the basis for an extremely unpleasant character in Paul Simon''s movie, "One Trick Pony"--a good friend of mine worked for him, and says that Simon was generous-- Rudman picks the biggest hits By Julian Walker For the Midweek Solomon "Kal" Rudman is a veritable quote machine. During a recent interview, Rudman, publisher of six national music-industry trade publications, employed more anecdotes, metaphors, and clich?s then one would find in a vigorous Mad Libs marathon. Rudman apparently developed his penchant for one-liners in a long and storied career that has spanned several fields ranging from education to radio and television broadcasting. Reminiscing about his days as a local radio disc jockey, Rudman, as if entranced, slips into his jive talkin'' monologue of yore: "This is Kal ''Big Beat'' Rudman, the round mound of sound, the big bad ace singing a taste from outer space . . . the big tick tock on the rock ''n'' roll clock." And though business endeavors made his the name to know among music business insiders, Rudman gets more excited about his charity work. The music industry pioneer seemingly derives delights from his public persona as a philanthropist. Despite this, Rudman refuses to toot his own horn. Instead, he immerses himself in the tasks at hand: Namely overseeing the day-to-day operations of Friday Morning Quarterback''s six publications and contributing to his community. WEEKLY READER Quarterback is a family of music-industry trade publications -- issued each Friday -- that track the play rotations of pop songs broadcast over the airwaves of major market stations and predict which new songs to watch. Each magazine focuses on a different genre of music -- rock, top 40, etc. All share a unique trait that has garnered Rudman industry accolades: an uncanny ability to pick the next hot radio singles. Among the hits Rudman is credited with discovering is Gloria Gaynor''s timeless disco gem I Will Survive, I''ll Never Love This Way Again by singer-turned-psychic promoter Dionne Warwick and Crystal Gayle''s Don''t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue. Rudman, 71, says he still is able to pick ''em because he has the mind of a 32-year-old. "With this type of publication," he said of Quarterback, "there is a direct coefficient to the decision-making power of the people in the industry who read it. Therefore, the critical factor is credibility." Apparently, Rudman''s got that in spades. Almost invariably, his gut instincts are right on. Rudman''s ability to select hit after hit has been lauded by everyone from Rolling Stone magazine to The Wall Street Journal. Even the fiscal-minded magazine Forbes joined the chorus, when, in its 32nd Annual Report on American Industry, it named Rudman the Leisure Industry "Man of the Year." HOMETOWN HONORS And late last year, the longtime entrepreneur was honored by his hometown with a bronze placard bearing his name on the Philadelphia Walk of Fame, a strip of pavement along South Broad Street on which local music notables are canonized. Rudman graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1951 with a bachelor''s degree in education. After eight years shaping young minds as a science teacher in the Bristol Township school system, Rudman no longer could ignore his passion. He began his radio career in 1959 as a Top 40 jock on WCAM in Camden. "I just had this fire in my belly," he said of the jump to radio." His career later took him to Philadelphia radio station WDAS. It was there that Rudman became one of the pre-eminent figures in the burgeoning rhythm-and-blues movement. Despite his success on the airwaves, Rudman completed his master''s degree in education at Temple University and continued to work as a special education teacher in Bristol Township schools. His prominence as a national figure in radio opened other doors for Rudman. By the mid 1960s, he was hired as the first R&B editor at Billboard magazine Near the end of that decade, Rudman simultaneously made two life-altering decisions: He left Billboard and Bristol Township. TEACHING TENURE He now considers both prudent choices but regrets remaining too long in one of those positions. "I hung on to teaching much longer than I should''ve," Rudman said. "I was balancing the ball. It might have been out of a sense of security." Departing Billboard freed Rudman to do with Quarterback what he always had done in radio: pick hits, from a national platform. In 1968, the erstwhile teacher created his first trade magazine. "The trade magazines of the day were a bunch of crap," he opined. "They didn''t know what the hell they were doing. They picked all kinds of bad records and gave them good reviews. "Silly me," he continued, "I thought everybody in radio could pick a hit. When I realized they couldn''t, I knew I had a unique gift." Experience in radio, combined with the success of his trade magazine, paved a path to television for Rudman. Television icon Merv Griffin in 1980 asked Rudman to join him as an on-air co-host of the Merv Griffin Show Music Specials. The duo taped 42 episodes of that program. By 1982, producers of the Today show took notice of Rudman, asking him to join the morning show as its resident expert on contemporary music. He appeared on 22 segments that year. It is Rudman''s predictions in Quarterback, now based in Cherry Hill, N.J., that can be the difference between astronomical sales figures, fame and fortune for one band and hard-scrabble obscurity for another. Rudman has this take on the seemingly backward logic of the recording industry: "It''s all about hyperbole. The sales have to catch up with the hype," to make it a hit. Thus, advertising is the name of the game, he acknowledges. But don''t expect him to believe his own press clippings. Instead, the "Man with the Golden Ears," as Rudman is described in a biography authored by his publicist, is perhaps best known for never turning a deaf ear to pleas for help. Rudman takes pleasure from helping his community, and it''s a safe bet that he has, in some way, contributed to nearly every charity in the region. Rudman feels a particular obligation to aid community causes."That''s just what I do," he said, "because that''s what I (feel) I have to do." '"

Subject: RE: What makes a song?
From: Nerd
Date: 18 Jan 02 - 01:52 AM

Hey Jerry,

I think you mean Robert Downey JR. Morton Downey JR was that annoying old talk show host who smoked like a chimney and whose logo was his own uvula--not a pretty choice for a video. But, of course, in all else you're right.

The promotions industry has historically decided what will be a hit anyway. This is because until the last few years where everything is bar-coded, it was hard to keep track of how many units were sold retail, so the charts were made up of those records that had sold the most wholesale. Thus, if the marketing and promotions people convinced the record chains that a record would be a hit, the chains would buy a lot of copies and it would BE a hit by definition--the chart measured which records were bought most by the stores, not the public. Once a record topped the chart, it got more airplay, and more people were interested in buying it, so the marketing people's spin became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It is irritating, Harvey!

BTW, I remember after Jennifer Lopez got a music award and thanked every person she could think of, Chris Rock commented:

Hey, Jennifer, have you thanked your ASS? Cause it's the only reason you won that award!

Funny man, that Chris Rock...