A: In high school, they called me the Candy Man. And that’s because I used to write and sell… I used to write love letters for my customers, I called them, that needed some help talking to their girlfriends. I would write love letters, books, and if I had to make a telephone call, I would disguise my voice, and that would cost them a dollar.
Q: If you could talk about your role in the music industry, that would be great.
A: Well, basically, I like to think of myself as not only a songwriter, but I like to think I’m helping people when I write songs. I like to say something that has some importance, or something that would help somebody in their lives, if they’re having a love problem, or just a problem with living and keeping the faith... You know, a lot of people get depressed and down, and I like to write inspirational things that will give them a lift, or give them hope. That started with my Southern love idea, so to speak, and the love letters. But yeah, Minister of Song, you might say, because everything that I’ve done has a certain thing about it that people can identify with. Even the songs of the Supremes and the Four Tops have a certain amount of life lessons in them.
Q: Now you’ve also been a producer as well, haven’t you?
A: Yes, I’ve produced all of the songs I’ve written, especially at Motown.
Q: How did you get your start?
A: I got my start by listening to my teachers, listening to other artists. At the age of 11 I started collecting records, I was just listening to records... every cent I could get my hands on, I would buy records and I would listen. In the ’50s, I was a kid, very young, I would buy records, and just listen to how people would phrase, and sing lyrics, and how they performed those songs. That was my teacher, because I never had any formal training, so my formal training came with the records that I bought
Q: What actually got you discovered?
A: Well, I had formed a group from the time I was 13 or 14 years old, and I stayed in a housing project in Detroit. And in the housing projects, a lot of people were talented, singers and what have you, and a friend of mine was a singer. He and I got together in school, and decided that we would create a vocal group. So we became The Romeos, and we recorded for his little label, on Fox Records in Detroit. Shortly thereafter, a song was put out; the first song didn’t do as well, the second song did very well, so much so that Atlantic Records came calling asking about The Romeos and this particular record, because it was a local hit. And we became Atlantic Records artists, and the song went to about 40 on the charts.
I moved from there to another local label, called Anna Records, where I became one of the singers in a group called Voicemasters. The label was owned by Barry Gordy’s sister, so I started singing with them, and a few things happened — not so much in a big way, but at least I was learning while I was doing these things. Shortly thereafter, after being there a couple of years, the label folded, and I found myself at Barry Gordy’s label, Motown, a new label that was just starting, and I found myself as a recording artist and songwriter and producer.
Q: What are the projects that you really love working on?
A: I guess it’s the songwriting. I love the journey and where it takes me. I start off writing very early in the mornings, about 10:00, and whether I have ideas or not, it’s about the love of doing the work that I enjoy, because it’s a busy work, and it’s a work ethic that I’ve always had — that I developed probably at Motown, because there was so much to do. It’s something that I can’t describe, but it’s just really great when you come up with something that you’ve worked for, or toiled for. It’s good, honest work. I love music, and it’s probably my first love, and I treat it as such.
Q: Do you collaborate a lot, or do you like to write by yourself?
A: Well, I have collaborated with the Holland Brothers, with Motown, with Holland Dozier... With these people, together we penned over 50 No. 1 songs, while we were at Motown. I moved to London in ’83 and started working with a lot of British acts — Phil Collins, Simply Red, Boy George, just a lot of people — and I lived there for about three years. Over there, they really love Motown, and they love anybody that was associated with Motown, so they just encouraged what I’ve done with my career, thus far, more than anybody I’ve found in this country, so it was quite flattering.
Q: What are you working on right now?
A: I’m working on my first Broadway show; it’s called “The First Wives Club.” It was out, we just had the first workings of it, in San Diego at the old Globe, to a standing-ovation audience every night. We had to add on a week, it was that successful.
And I currently have a song on the charts, “Living in High Definition” by George Benson, on the Jazz chart.
Q: So it’s one thing to write one hit song — or in your case, a ton of them — but what does it take to make a career out of it?
A: It’s commitment mostly, and passion, and work ethic. I can’t say enough about having a good work ethic, because I put a lot of work into the things I did at Motown and it paid off well for me, but what I’m saying is that if you don’t have that love, you have to put the music first. Like anything that you love, if you’re passionate about it and you have a good work ethic, it’s going to pay off for you. I think the music will help you write it if you help it materialize. If you’re good to the music, the music will be good to you, in other words. If you commit. I write seven days a week. Every morning at 10:00, I’m at the piano, until about 12:00, and then I take a break to watch my soap opera, then after that, I come back. It gives me a release to just get away from it for a while. Then from about 1:00 or 2:00, I’ll work from that time until about 5:00, and that happens every day, rain or shine. With that kind of commitment, I think you’ll be surprised at what you can come up with, with that kind of dedication. Your mind clicks in, your heart comes into it. You become somewhat of a slave to it, but then it’s a good thing at the same time, because you learn so much. I’m a practicing songwriter, meaning that I’ll always be learning new things, no matter how long I write. Change is inevitable, and every day I learn something new to write about, or to feel something about.
Q: You really have written for such a diverse group of people, how do you find inspiration to be authentic when you’re doing that?
A: The subject matter always has to be something that I can identify with. If you feel something about what’s happening in the world — politically, personal, whatever the case may be — if you write songs that people can identify with, you’re 50 percent ahead of the game. If you’re staring at a piece of paper and you don’t know what to write about, just look around, look and listen at what’s happening in the world. There’s so much subject matter that it boggles the mind. There’s always something to write about, or for you to have an opinion about. I never run out of ideas, because there’s so much to write about.
Q: How do you adapt to different styles of music?
A: I just do. If I’m in Nashville, I’ll write country songs, but country songs have changed over the years so it’s almost become a pop thing. It’s just the way they express themselves with it. Songs are basically saying the same thing, it’s in the delivery. If you’re in Nashville, you’re going to get a little twang... but ultimately, the feeling never changes. The feeling is always there, no matter what the genre of music that you’re writing.
Q: Do songwriters in different cities approach the act of songwriting differently?
A: I think so. That’s a great question. Because when I’m in France or in England, I get a different feeling in different countries. I take the nuances and the atmosphere of the place itself. It’s a weird feeling… it’s something about the way people are in various countries that I adapt to. What they feel — how they act and their reasoning — just everything about their culture I seem to pick up on, which is a good thing for me, because I can easily adapt to each country that I’m in. And I’ve noticed over the years that when I do this, when I’m in these places, I start to sound like one of their local songwriters, because I’ve picked up on whatever their culture is.
Q: What are the major changes you have seen in the music industry over your career?
A: It’s just the overwhelming amount of success of hip-hop and rap that sort of gave me a new feeling about what it is I should do. Then when you brought in the sampling and all that came with it, it got pretty ugly there. And right now, I’m having problems, legal problems, with a lot of people sampling my songs without getting any permission — in some cases they just take them. In some cases, I find myself listening to some of my songs that were taken — I’m on the records themselves, and in the background singing I hear myself. It’s just really gotten very nasty. The properties, nobody respects them anymore. That is the difference, the main difference that I dislike about it. But I don’t mind the changes of music and the way music has adapted to this other form of music. It’s just the way it’s being handled, with no respect for the laws of copyrighting. It’s not a pretty picture.
Q: And it seems a little frustrating because it’s so out of your control?
A: That’s right. And now I’ve got to bring in lawyers to fight that. Last year alone I had over 200 samples of people taking a part of my songs — and like I said, some of them had the nerve to even leave my voice on some of the recording, sung over but did whatever they wanted to do on top of them, without getting my permission. ... I don’t know what’s happening, (but) that’s what we’re up against.
Q: What are your feelings on illegal downloading of music? Do you feel like that’s affected how you are making money?
A: Yes, I’ve lost millions of dollars. My lawyers, and people in my life that have compiled all of this stuff, are telling me that we’re at least a couple million dollars in the hole, and that’s being conservative. From downloading and sampling and different stuff that people do. It’s strange.
Q: Since we’re talking about technology, do you feel that home studios have affected the industry?
A: Home studios keep the producers on their toes. A lot of it is good — some of the people that I know, who do home demos, they sound like professional records... some of them are just that good. (But it does put) a lot of people that are not qualified to make good-sounding music into the picture. But a good song is a good song, a good production is a good production, if it’s done well.
Q: What advice can you give the young songwriters of today?
A: I’m a professor of songwriting at USC’s Thornton School of Music, and I tell my students that they’ve got to have a deaf ear to the naysayers, because a lot of people are going to tell you that you should be doing something else. I grew up not listening to people telling me what I should be doing. If I’d listened to those people, I’d still be in Detroit somewhere, out of work in some car factory or something. You just have to listen to your own inner voice and have that work ethic and that passion — and believe me, if you dedicate yourself to music first, what will come is this help from what I call the muses. The muses will come to you and help you, when they see that you’re serious about the work, and that you’re dedicated to making this thing happen.
Q: How did you find out about Lyric Financial?
A: Lyric Financial is a beautiful thing when you’re in times of need, especially for songwriters, needing help and cash flow for those times when you really need a helping hand. I guess it came about through some friends, some lawyer friends, primarily, that introduced me to the people there. They’ve been a blessing in that respect, I couldn’t recommend them more.
Q: I hope I didn’t interrupt your soap opera time, I wasn’t aware.
A: Yeah, it’s on now, but this is more important!
For more information on Lyric Financial, visit www.lyricfinancial.com.
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