Taxi Say NO - But It`s In A Movie + Chart Success

[davewalton]

Quote:Sorry Dave, your comments about LeAnn`s hit, "Blue", not being due to the fact that her rich vioce sounded a lot like Patsy Cline`s, but because she was only 13 is totally wrong...you still need a good, melodic song that the public can get right into...strong soundalike vocals from a 13-year-old are not enough.They weren't MY comments! I was just quoting from Wikipedia (the entry probably being made by her publicist). Besides, you didn't read the quote correctly.As it stands in her Wikipedia entry, her immediate and widespread success was due to her attributes as an artist (her Patsy Cline style voice COMBINED with her age at the time) and not primarily because of the attribues of "Blue" as a song. Certainly she would have had much less success singing a remake of "Inna Godda da Vida" so the song did play a role, but not to the extend of "Blue was such a hit, and so that's the reason why my song should have been forwarded". Anyway, if you're not happy with the Wikipedia entry, you can always edit it to reflect your own views if you wish. Back to the point of your original post, as far as your song compared to the listings, you have to post the song in question as well as the listings that you submitted to if you really want feedback from other country artists that post on this forum. Dave

[stuartleggat1]

Hi Dave...(You can always edit the Wikipedia entry to reflect your own views if you wish.) Great idea, lad. I`m going to get right on to them this minute and kick up a stink...lolOn a more serious note; thanks for the info about including a particular listing if I want proper feedback...sure will help keep it right for my future greviences, which will probably be many if I`m true to form...lol.

[davewalton]

Quote:On a more serious note; thanks for the info about including a particular listing if I want proper feedback...sure will help keep it right for my future greviences, which will probably be many if I`m true to form...lol. I think many people are surprised by the feedback they get once there's something for forum members to listen to and compare to listings. I'm not one of them but there are quite a few really good and knowledgable country artists that frequent this forum. So I think you'll get honest feedback. It's always a good learning experience for everyone. Dave

[matto]

Stuart,If you can make a "colossal" amount of money from a song with chorus lyrics that go:"Honky Tonkin' it's making me blueYour Honky Tonkin' is breakin' my heart in twoAll night walkin' searchin' for youPeople talkin', what am I gonna do"you should consider yourself VERY lucky. You might as well have won the lottery jackpot ten times over. Good for you. To answer your original question "who's right and who's wrong", well nobody is wrong, everybody is right. The radio stations who play this song because their audience likes it are right. Of course the customer (in this case the audience) is always right. And Taxi's screeners are equally right for not forwarding this song to major Nashville pitches. Taxi would be getting A LOT of angry phone calls from the top Nashville labels and publishers they work with if they forwarded a song whose lyrics quite frankly could be improved upon by every mailroom clerk, waiter and hairdresser in that town. And those labels and publishers would NEVER place another listing with Taxi. Once again the customer is king, and Taxi's customers are the top decision makers in Nashville.As I said before, be sure to thank your lucky stars every day...and don't push your luck by "demanding" this song should get forwarded. Besides, if you've got a top Curb records producer in your corner who believes in this song 100%, why are you pitching it thru Taxi? Let him walk it into every major label and publisher's office and play it for them in person...I'm sure he'd be happy to do that, since he predicted the song would be a giant success in the first place...matto

[stuartleggat1]

Hi Matto..sorry to wake you up, but that`s the verse...ok? Now you can go back to sleep...lol (only kiddin` - honestly)Re top producer; did discuss it with him, but he never, ever gets involved in pitching ANY song for his own personal reasons which I won`t go into here.Finally; I most certainly Will continue to demand that this simple, but ooh-so-catchy wee song gets the attention it deserves unless all them there dj`s and country-lovin` folk who like it, big-time, tell me they`ve changed their mind and now agree with a genius like yerself that it`s crap.

[matto]

Quote:Hi Matto..sorry to wake you up, but that`s the verse...ok? Now you can go back to sleep...lol (only kiddin` - honestly)Okay maybe I should've said "the hook", if that makes you feel better. Cause if that's the "verse" then the song has no chorus, which still makes that part the focus of the song, the part that should be something special...Quote:Re top producer; did discuss it with him, but he never, ever gets involved in pitching ANY song for his own personal reasons which I won`t go into here.No need to...I think it's pretty obvious... Quote:Finally; I most certainly Will continue to demand that this simple, but ooh-so-catchy wee song gets the attention it deserves unless all them there dj`s and country-lovin` folk who like it, big-time, tell me they`ve changed their mind and now agree with a genius like yerself that it`s crap.Well demand all you want, but if you think this will get cut in Nashville you're dreaming...

[stuartleggat1]

Ok, Matto, my genius friend, I`ll just have to get used to being heart-broken about it never making it in Nashville and will just have to settle instead for it being very successful in Europe and featuring in a movie...sure wish I could write more crap songs like this, I can tell you.

[edteja]

I`ll just have to get used to being heart-broken about it never making it in Nashville and will just have to settle instead for it being very successful in Europe and featuring in a movie...Well, I know you meant it sarcastically, but lots of folks in this industry have found that sort of scenario to be true. They can be successful in certain markets and not in others. For instance, some people are very successful in performance and can't sell CDs to save their.... bacon.

[bc]

Stu, I listened to all of the versions of your song. It is a traditional country swing tune, with pre boomer lyric sensibilities. There will always be an audience environment with the welcome mat out for such a song. However, it is not a contemporary country tune by any stretch. Dude, I've had my moments/disagreements with some screeners unfamiliarity with contemporary colloquial (country) nuances. Cow tippin', mud on the tires, don’t rein in my heart etc... But I had to wake up and smell the reality that when a listing says, "high bar" they mean it. Validity of nuances aside, I finally realized (that for radio) I had to work on using less verbiage, and at the same time be more conversational with no brainer easy-to-understand visual imagery.1. "she ran off with a young man before she got all her work done"2. "she left the suds in the bucket and the clothes hanging out on the line"Which line imparts more visual imagery? 1 or 2?Songwriter Jeff Steele said something that I think we songwriters sometimes forget, or maybe never take into consideration: "if you think your song is anything more than an enticement for listeners to not change channels, then you're fooling yourself when it comes to writing for pop radio." -paraphrased.These days, I continue to write for myself and my audience, but at the same time, I'm making sure that the visual imagery is unique and easy to "see." Hang in there and congratulations on your success in Europe. Jokes aside, Clear Channel pariah David Hasselhoft (sp?) is crying all the way to the bank these days. best,bc

[stuartleggat1]

matto[/quote]To answer your original question "who's right and who's wrong", well nobody is wrong, everybody is right. The radio stations who play this song because their audience likes it are right. Of course the customer (in this case the audience) is always right. And Taxi's screeners are equally right for not forwarding this song to major Nashville pitches. Taxi would be getting A LOT of angry phone calls from the top Nashville labels and publishers they work with if they forwarded a song whose lyrics quite frankly could be improved upon by every mailroom clerk, waiter and hairdresser in that town. And those labels and publishers would NEVER place another listing with Taxi. Once again the customer is king, and Taxi's customers are the top decision makers in Nashville.Hi Matto...been thinking about your comments some more and there seems to be a contradiction here: What do record companies and artists want? They want a song that dj`s will play because their listeners will like and buy it and, from the station`s point of view, it will also go along way to keep them tuning in as loyal customers...seems to me that my crap song meets ALL the criteria required.