Totally Dissillusioned With Taxi

[blavatsky]

No please it's not sour grapes or me being chippie/precious but whereas I receive a great response at live gigs the constant message from Taxi is my material doesn't cut it.Chris Maritin even thought mysongs were great since I met him havingworked with his Godfather at work;so who's right?There is the possibility that Taxi are not infallible.Anyway you be the judge please:Here's the request:"S090123ACADULT CONTEMPORARY/POP BALLADS in the range of Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Michael Bolton, Richard Marx, Bryan Adams, Bette Midler, Mariah Carey, etc. are sought after by an established Music Publisher who has secured many high profile Film/TV placements and has signed many TAXI members. Big ballads like "My Heart Will Go On", "(Everything I Do)I Do It For You", "Right Here Waiting", "Wind Beneath My Wings", etc. will be exactly what this company is looking for. The songs should have a timeless feel to the lyric and melody, with a setting that isn't so locked into one era that it couldn't apply to a variety of situations. Huge chorus hooks and sweeping melodies will be essential - no covers, just originals for this one. Performances need to be excellent and the recordings must be Broadcast Quality (great home recordings should be fine). They offer a non-exclusive, 50/50 split deal - you keep your original copyrights. Please submit one to three songs online or per CD. All submissions will be screened and critiqued by TAXI and must be received by January 23, 2009. TAXI #S090123AC"The songs can be heard atwww.myspace.com/alanharrysonIs It True and Days Of StrifeThanks for your time.Alan

[andreh]

Alan-These are some catchy songs (if a bit dated in their instrumentation) but I don't hear anything musically similar to the power ballads of the artists mentioned. Also, your voice has its appeal but certainly doesn't haver the power or character of the legends in this pack.I think you could find homes for some of these tracks if you target them better, but it's not surprising to me at all that Taxi didn't forward them for this listing.André

[ciskokidd]

Hey Alan,I'm gonna have to agree with Andre. Your tunes are good, but nowhere near the ballpark of the artists mentioned here. If you compare your tracks to the big hits of some of these artists you will find massive choruses with tremendous melodic range.I'm not sure what you are capable of singing wise, but for this type of listing you really need to get a powerhouse singer and write a song thay they can sink their teeth into.The other thing that is probably hurting you is the dated sound of the songs. I am hearing more of seventies vibe from the instrumentation with a hint of eighties pop-rock.I don't mean to bring you down with this, I just want to give it to you straight as I went through similar things years ago when I was banging my head against the wall. It's better to find out where they keep the ladders and go over the wall!Best regards.Cisko

[slideboardouts]

I agree with cisko and andre. Your tracks are solid (although I do agree they sound a bit dated) but they aren't anything like the referenced songs. You're trying to sell apples to somebody looking for oranges!I'll add one thing about crowd responses too...take them with a grain of salt. When I used to play in a band there were times when we REALLY sucked and the crowd still went wild. I'm talking terrible song, everybody missing notes, drummer missing beats, and vocalists forgetting the lyrics. They still loved it. I'm not saying that your music sucks at all, but just keep that in mind.-Steve

[squids]

It's true.........my motto with fans is if I'm willing to believe the 50% that tell me I'm a goddess, I should give equal attention to the 50% who wouldn't even walk in the door ta hear me. This makes me even mo grateful to my fans. But I have a different job description while I'm writin/shoppin tunes here at Taxi than I would performin live. I'm not tryin ta earn fans, I'm tryin ta eitha give the listers what they're lookin fo or doin my own thing and learnin ta pitch only to the ones I think I'll hit dead on. 33 years of playing and writin has made it somewhat easier to figure that out but there's still a learning curve here that everybody goes through, I promise. And with perseverance, you'll get it too, jes like so many. Music is a wonderful gift, regardless of who we shop to or how we do it so don't let disillusionment turn yo head. Keep doin whatcha do live (sounds like it's workin!) and take a hard listen to the listers' ala's.......there should be a long list of them somewhere on the taxi main page, I believe. If not, it's out there online. As a singer, too, I can't stress enough that finding one that matches the listing is extremely important. These guys are going for as close to copy as they can without infringement....they really DO want it ta sound like those bands, including mega everything in this case (hugely layered and affected choruses, etc). If that's not your thing or you don't wanna spend the cash, I can understand that, bein a bit on the shy side of wealthy myownse'f. Heh. In that event, I'd beg, borrow or barter fo a huge, huge voice or try other listings that are within budget until you can afford to widen your range a bit. This music scene definitely comes with a bit of a sticker, sadly. If only they'd give us plug-ins fo free!!

[heinsite]

hi--i have to agree, only listened to Is It True--and more retro rock IMHO, and no soaring chorus..but as far as the production, i think it sounds just about as dated as the a las that were mentioned--all of them pretty long of tooth, no? now you just need the song to match the style of the listing--this does have some very nice melodic moments though, i'd work on the chorus lift.nice work, all the best,warren

[michael11]

Hi Alan,unfortunately I have to agree with the other OP's comments,however,your voice has a lovely Gerry Rafferty quality to it and musically you are probably much more suited to the UK market than the US one.I think Is It True is great!! If you could develop a small niche market like Daniel'o'Donnel,who,no matter what you might think of him,never has a CD that does less than platinum and his concerts are sell out hours after the tickets go on sale.Just a thought as you are a performing musician.Michael.

[squids]

Ooh, now that's a good suggestion. I think I've said the same thing to anotha taxi memba for the last 2 years now and I know I'm right.....he'd rock Europe. Gerry Rafferty is hot.

[yammer107]

Alan, I got canned on this same submission.... if it makes you feel any better! I thought I wrote something very 'timeless' emotionally sweet and fitting also..... But it didnt have any of the soaring vocal acrobatics or big finish 'take it all home' endings associated with these artists... Like I only created dirt roads for an Italian Ferrari or something to that effect.....Chris