Summer GUIDE #1
WORDPLAY REMINISCE by Marcia Singer •
lovearts@att.net ring Bette Midler.
SANTA ROSA, CA. ~ [rem ih niss] Reminisce: To indulge in recollections of special times gone by: thanks in advance for letting me! I tend to be senti- mental, romantic, nostalgic. But I fi nd that when we indulge each other with heart, our rec- ollections bring us together, enrich us both –and are never boring! Lately, I’ve been reminiscing about my show biz days: peo- ple I knew or interviewed, en- tertainment industry ‘hats’ I’ve worn and how they changed my life.
Besides being a singer- guitarist-entertainer in the U.S.
and abroad, I freelanced as an interviewer of book authors, and singer-songwriters and their producers. From 1980- 96, as a sideline –and without the help of a computer!--I hand- published the Song Placement Guide, a monthly songwriters “tipsheet.” I helped artists fi nd great songs to record, and thus gained access to famous mu- sic industry people. My very fi rst interview was in 1981 with Dean Pitchford, a Broadway star, ac- tor-dancer, song and screenwriter. Dean had co-written many pop hits, including “Fame” (1980), later penning the screenplay for “Footloose,” bumping Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” LP from the #1 po- sition. Dean was a charming, disciplined artist, and truly ‘upbeat’ guy who encouraged me to just step up and ask other celebrities for interviews. Pitchford was a close friend of pop-rocker Kenny Loggins, who sang the title track for
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Doing nothing is respectable at tea. ~Saying quoted in Sasaki Sanmi,
“Footloose,” that they’d written together. In 1987, after a year of waiting, I was granted a fi rst interview with that elusive, ar- ticulate star. For two delicious, undisturbed hours, we sat on his porch at his modest Monte- ci-
came through her in a remark- able manner. In her car with the radio on, she heard a song lamenting that “love was like a razor” (ouch!). Amanda began musing about her own ideas of what love was instead.
started pouring in, so she hur- ried home to her piano. Clos- ing her eyes, drifting away in thought, she opened them ten minutes later to fi nd a complete song written down on the paper before her. She confessed that she’d ‘channeled’
about his songwriting process and his “muse.” He advised being protective of creations in their fl edgling states, and not dissipating your energy by talking about them at fi rst. He also told how your songs live in the ethers, and choose you to come through. So Listen care- fully and bring them through with great humility and heart. Recollecting the extra-sen- sory feeling I had experienced during my fi rst visit with Log- gins, I recalled a striking in- terview with singer-songwriter Amanda McBroom. She’d written the hit song, “The Rose,” featured in the fi lm star-
ears
tened with keen as Kenny shared
estate. I lis- country to
stop there. Besides singing the song in her cabaret-style shows, [
www.youtube.com/ watch?v=fVVvB4CCto8], Amanda sent a recording to At- lantic Records whose staff was searching for a title song for the 1979 movie based on the life of Janis Joplin. “The Rose” song was initially rejected. But her connection at Atlantic dug it out of a slush heap, sent it di- rectly to star Bette Midler–and the rest is history. McBroom’s life was forever changed. Her story touched me profoundly, too.
later, in 1989, I sat down at my kitchen table to write a short children’s book.
60 pages of copy for “Crystal Kids” poured their way onto paper before me, as fast as I
... continued on page 23 Over Five years
song, wondering if it came from angels. The miracle didn’t
the Ideas This song
June 2015 • 16 Marvelous Folks ... continued from page 5
How Dr. Guion could spend so much time with each patient is still a wonder to me.
She
said she and my mom had plen- ty in common about similar childhoods. They had a special kindred spirit friendship even though they were born and brought up thousands of miles apart. No nonsense, common sense, real pioneers. Dr. Guion was born on a plantation in 1882 in Lincoln- ton, North Carolina, the ninth of twelve children.
Her ad-
venturous spirit thrived in her constant competition with her older brothers. Her compassion was revealed early in her help- ing all of her family after her father died, when their mother was left to raise them. Com- pleting her degree on schol- arship at Wellesley in 1906, she taught chemistry at Vassar and at Sweet Briar. Awarded her M.A. at Cornell U Medi- cal College, she was top of her class for her M.D. degree in 1917. Her main advice, “Trust your common sense.” In 1918, Dr. Guion achieved national reputation for her service during the fl u epidemic, at New York City’s Bellevue Hospital. Associated with the Cornell Medical clinic for 50 years, she set up the Cor- nell Pay Clinic in 1922. Her new schedule set-up assigned
... continued on page 18
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