From ALONG THE RED LEDGE
Written by Daryl Hall
“Do What You Want, Be What You Are” was a song by the legendary pop/soul duo Daryl Hall and John Oates and originally included on their 1976 album Bigger Than Both Of Us. A beautiful ballad, Do What You Want, Be What You Are went on to be the title of Hall & Oates’ 2009 box set release for Sony Legacy. The four disc set presented all the duo’s big hits, selected album tracks plus previously unreleased demo recordings and live performances.
From LOOPIFIED
Written by Justin Bieber, Joshua Gudwin, Rodney Jenkins & Julian Swirsky
Dirty Loops is a phenomenal power trio from Sweden that stars singer/keyboardist Jonah Nilsson, bassist Henrik Linder and drummer Aron Mellergardh. This combo of virtuoso musicians first stepped into the spotlight around 2011. They broadcasted a bunch of videos on YouTube of their spectacular funk/jazz renditions of hit songs by the likes of Adele, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears. Dance/pop hits including Justin Bieber’s “Baby” or Spears’ “Circus” were reinvented by the young trio with a fresh blend of funk, pop and dance delivered with jazzy chords and top-notch instrumental performances. Forever shining is Nilsson’s powerful voice with echoes of Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.
From RENDEZ-VOUS (LOVE LIGHTS THE WORLD)/FLIGHT OF THE SNOWBIRDS (single)
Written by David Foster & Jeremy Lubbock
Written around 1985, “Flight Of The Snowbirds” was a beautiful instrumental theme that David Foster co-wrote with his dear friend and fellow music-maker extraordinaire, Jeremy Lubbock. This evocative composition was first included on Foster’s 1986 self-titled album. The match of the song’s breezy melody with a complex rhythmic approach resulted in an amazing work of art. The track was built almost entirely on Foster’s inventive keyboards with some embellishment from Michael Landau on guitar. Sonically, “Flight Of The Snowbirds” was a true delight with its delicate intro that builds up to an intense crescendo.
From KEEP THE FAITH
Written by Diane Warren & Steven “Stevie J” Jordan
Faith Evans is a talented r&b singer/songwriter who was a prominent figure in the Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs’ circle of the nineties. Ms. Evans released three platinum albums between 1995 and 2001 for Combs’ Bad Boy Records. The second of those successful releases was Keep The Faith. Released in 1998, this cd went all the way to #6 on Billboard’s Top 200 and #3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album charts. Supervised by Combs and mostly co-written by Evans, Keep The Faith included a string of dance floor hits along with a beautiful ballad entitled “Lately I.”
From THE COMPLETION BACKWARD PRINCIPLE
Written by David Foster & The Tubes
Every time The Completion Backward Principle or Outside Inside from the early eighties are listen to, you can see what superior musical value these recordings really had. Recorded by The Tubes and produced by David Foster, these albums epitomized the decade and what real music was all about. The benefit of having Foster in the control room gave the San Francisco rockers a more focused balance to their unique blend of pop/rock and new wave.
