SONGWRITING, what makes a hit? by Steve April on The Pipeline at IndieMusicPeople

SONGWRITING, what makes a hit?
I'd say you have to GIVE GIVE GIVE, you have to BRING IT...

You have to REVEAL...

Yes, artfullness and finesse are important. Yeats said "if it does not seem a moment's/the stitching and unstiching has been naught..."

Allen Ginsberg said, art should be "good to eat for 1,000 years..."

the hook in this song is compulsively hummable, though not my fav genre at all, I love this...

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Larree

3/29/2017 10:49:43 PM

Love the Peppers. And Ginsberg is right.

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Steve April

3/31/2017 6:19:19 PM

There's a passion and urgency...

The intro's memorable, the telegraph-y bassline and high falsettos ending on a 7th...

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Steve April

4/1/2017 3:22:28 PM

here's an easy listenin' vibe, not retro exactly, informed by a toucha history...

like the HEY HEY HEY, and the violin nr the end...fun radio song...

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Lee Burke

4/5/2017 6:25:41 PM

there's no secret ingredient, but the lyrics play a big part in the emotional aspect that makes ppl wanna re-listen to it and buy it

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Steve April

4/17/2017 1:12:00 PM

Good point there, Lee.

Last few days there have been a few songs posted, w very cool lyrics, "I Miss Costa Rica", and "Barbara Ann" (great cover of the Beach Boys song, and the lyrics clear to hear lol).

Also, props for Steve White's "Village By the Sea". Very evocative, atmospheric south-of-the-border vibe.

Here's a John Prine song, w a memorable chorus, imhv.

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Steve White

4/17/2017 1:43:15 PM

A hit song really only needs two things.

A good catchy melody and a good hook. The hook I think is the hardest part but also the most fun.

I have a song called It's Sunday and I got the idea for a great hook in the chorus from an old TV commercial on Bumble Bee Tuna.

I don't think I have it up here but if not will post it soon as I can.

But yeah only two things. :)

Steve

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Steve White

4/17/2017 1:55:31 PM ---- Updated 4/17/2017 5:28:27 PM

I'm working on a lead for a song of mine so break time is over but...

I totally forgot I have a video of It's Sunday on YouTube!

Tried again using Chrome but still did not work.

This is what I get when I try to embed the video.

Welcome to IndieMusicPeople.com

The requested page or function generated an error, and an exception report has been sent to Support, so that the issue can be addressed promptly.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.

Your IndieMusicPeople Staff

Steve

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Larree

4/17/2017 2:20:33 PM

There is only one "thing" that makes a hit. Sales.

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Steve April

4/17/2017 2:47:13 PM

Well, you've a point there, Larree,

Thinkin' about it a bit, I would perhaps suggest we may be able to distinguish between "hits" and "hits" with legs, as the saying goes, by that I mean quality hits that stand the test of time, and endure, that people remember with fondness or affection, or emotion, or sheer fun, decades after they hit the airwaves.

Compared to "hits" that may make money quickly but then fade away quickly, and no one want to hear again, and have no place in memory, or culture.

For example, happened to catch a show called "Billions" last night, about a sleazy billionaire, and all his hardworkin' cohorts, stayin' one step ahead of the D.A., or whoever, and the show closes with him at the racetrack, and the first verse of "Visions of Joanna" by Dylan.

"Visions of Joanna" was never a "hit" in the 60s, never even a single, however, 50 years later it's a legendary song, and those producers paid big bucks to have it close their show, I'd imagine.

So, there it is...a "hit" with legs, that stands the test of time...against all odds...

Are people gonna love em 30 years later?

Most "hits" (by sales) are ephemera, gone in a few weeks, wouldn't you say?

Anyway, all kinds of music for all kinds of people, viva la difference!!!

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4/17/2017 3:23:20 PM

Steve, embedding a video here is really easy. You get the embed code off the youtube and just paste it in the box and hit submit.

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Steve White

4/17/2017 4:01:36 PM

I did do that Scott thanks.

When I do it I get taken to their is a problem screen here.

Steve

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4/17/2017 4:45:21 PM

must be a browser issue. I've never had a youtube video not work for me.

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Steve White

4/17/2017 5:11:15 PM

I have no idea. Later on I'll look at the codes for the other videos up here and see if I can figure it out from that.

I used IE and Google, neither one worked. Very odd.

Steve

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Larree

4/17/2017 9:59:35 PM ---- Updated 4/17/2017 10:03:54 PM

Great songs are not always going to be hit songs. Hits are not always great songs. Great songs that were never hits can have legs like Rockettes but that does not make those songs hits.

There are some great Grateful Dead songs that I would put up against the best of the Beatles and Stones, but those Dead songs were never hit songs.

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Steve White

4/18/2017 4:40:55 PM

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Steve White

4/18/2017 4:41:36 PM

Well for some reason the thing worked today.

Steve

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Steve April

4/23/2017 9:24:16 PM

Red hot chilli peppers...Anthony K., the lead singer and former junkie is a brilliant lyricist, on occassion. Great bass player, lead guitar, doesn't hurt lol.

Psychic spies from China
Try to steal your mind's elation
And little girls from Sweden
Dreams of silver screen quotation
And if you want these kind of dreams
It's Californication

It's the edge of the world
And all of western civilization
The sun may rise in the East
At least it settles in the final location
It's understood that Hollywood
Sells Californication...

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