November 2012
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 17, No. 11
NEXT MEETING - 5:00pm Sunday, November 4th, 2012
Officers:
Newsletter/Articles
Jeff Mason, jeffrey_mason@me.com
Meeting Coordinator/Critique scoring/CFMA Liason
Matthew Campbell, matthew_sax77@yahoo.com
Membership/Certificates/Contact
Susan Foster-Trewick, susiecool2001@yahoo.com
407-760-2153
E-mail Contact, isgorlando@gmail.com
Website
Carlos Colon, videosaysitall.fl@gmail.com
352-267-5911
Treasurer
Asli Goncer, asli@cfl.rr.com
Secretary
Jacquelyn Gould, songsuite@gmail.com
The International Songwriter’s Guild meets at 5 PM on the first Sunday of every month at the
Central Florida Musician’s Union building, 3020 East Robinson (at the extreme east end of
Robinson, near Orlando Executive Airport ) in Orlando.
Songwriters, composers, performers, publishers, and the curious are encouraged to join us.
Non-members are invited to attend a meeting or two to get a feel for our group and what we
do. For more information, visit our website at www.isgorlando.org or myspace page at
http://www.myspace.com/internationalsongwritersguildorlando
The meetings will be structured as follows: 5:00 to 5:30, business and introductions. 5:30
to 6:00, presentation by a guest speaker (when scheduled), 5:30 or 6:00 to 8:00, song
critiques. Please bring a CD or mp3 player or perform your song live, and bring 10 or more
lyric sheets.
If we have at least 5 songs by members who wish to be scored, and 6 members scoring, then we
will have them entered in the Monthly competition. Everyone is encouraged to write
constructive comments on the lyric sheets.
Opening Lines
By Jeff Mason
In Sheila Davis’s excellent book The Craft of Lyric Writing she stresses
the importance of starting strong. The opening lines of a song should grab the listener and
make them want to hear more. The song title usually appears in those first two important
lines and the listener should have a good idea to where the song is going.
One of the finest exponents of the well-crafted opening line was the
lyricist, Hal David. Along with his collaborator, Burt Bacharach, he wrote some of the
greatest pop music of the last century. Some of those hits include “Walk On By,” “Alfie,”
“Twenty-Four Hours From Tulsa,” “The Look Of Love,” “Make It Easy On Yourself,” “I’ll Never
Fall In Love Again,” “What’s New Pussycat,” “I Say A Little Prayer,” and “Raindrops Keep
Falling On My Head.”
A time-tested device is to open a song with a question. In the song
“Alfie,” David opens with the line “What’s it all about, Alfie?” You can see how he gets
straight to the point of the song and includes the title. The often covered classic “I’ll
Never Fall In Love Again” asks the listener “What do you get when you fall in love?” and
continues to pose a question at the beginning of each subsequent verse. He takes a little
longer to tell us the title which comes in the fourth line of each verse and is repeated in
the fifth line for good measure. David uses this device in “(They Long To Be) Close To You”
which was a huge hit for The Carpenters in 1970.
David met Bacharach in the late 1950s while writing for Famous Music in
New York City’s Brill Building. Many of their hits were sung by Dionne Warwick whom they met
at a Drifter’s recording session. They liked her singing and she started doing all their
demos. She did one titled “Make It Easy On Yourself” which led to a record deal for her.
This song was a No. 1 hit for The Walker Brothers in the U.K. in 1965. The Liverpool
songstress Cilla Black covered Warwick’s version of “Anyone Who Had A Heart” and the
bare-footed Sandie Shaw scored with “(There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me.” Both
these songs were No. 1 hits in the U.K.
Before hooking up with Bacharach, David collaborated with other composers
and wrote the words for the Don Gibson hit “Sea Of Heartbreak,” and the fine Sarah Vaughan
hit “Broken Hearted Melody.” Even after his partnership with Bacharach had ended David
continued to collaborate, and he scored with “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before.” This was
originally covered by Albert Hammond, but is more recognized as a hit for Julio Iglesias and
Willie Nelson.
Performingsongwriter.com has a good interview with Hal David in which he
discusses his writing process. He would meet Bacharach in their room at the Brill Building
everyday around eleven. They would work all day, often writing three songs at a time. In
this interview, he talks about the inspiration for several of their songs. One of these
stories illustrates what a I call “the songwriter’s consciousness.” While at a dinner party
in London the hostess said to David, “ When you arrive, don’t ring the bell, just come in.
It’ll make one less bell for me to answer.” This was the source for the title of the song
“One Less Bell To Answer” which would become a hit for The Fifth Dimension. As songwriters
we should always be aware of a chance remark which could be our next song idea.
Hal David created elegant lyrics to accompany Burt Bacharach’s exquisite melodies. He used
dummy lines during the creation of a song until he found the right lyric. He labored on
every word until he was satisfied. David’s own musical influences were Cole Porter, Rodgers
and Hart, and Irving Berlin.
Hal David passed away last month. You can hear a 1997 interview with him on
NPR Music at
http://www.npr.org/2012/09/07/160748199/fresh-air-remembers-grammy-winner-hal-david
See you soon
ISG Bulletin Board
Videography and website management services at a price you CAN AFFORD. Capturing your
wedding or event on video may not be in your budget but you’re hoping that you may have
something left over to hire a videographer. I will fit your budget. My goal is to offer my
services to those who otherwise would have to pass because of funds. This is your special
day and you most definitely want to capture those moments. Visit my website at
http://www.videosaysitall.com . Thanks and call me anytime (352-267-5911)…Carlos Colon
Meeting space graciously provided by Central Florida Musicians Association, Local 389. You
are invited to join the largest union in the world, representing the interests of the
professional musician. Visit their website at afm389.org for more information. You may
reach them by phone at: 407-894-8666.
We’re always looking for material for the newsletter. If you have any information that you
would like to see added to the newsletter, please see Jeff Mason at the meetings or email
him at jeffrey_mason@me.com . Please keep your articles brief and to the point. Print
deadline for the newsletter is approximately two weeks prior to the monthly meeting.
Classified advertising may be placed free of charge to members in good standing with the
ISG. For more information on display advertising and/or classified advertising for
non-members, please contact Jeff by the print deadline (usually the Friday 16 days prior to
the monthly meeting); email is best ( jeffrey_mason@me.com ).
Why isn't your gig announced here? Call us with your appearance schedule!
Open Mic Night hosted by Matthew "Sax" Campbell
Thursdays, 7-10pm, sign-up starts at 6:45
Quokka Coffee
131 Broadway Ave. (corner of Broadway & Monument)
Kissimmee, FL 34741
free music
Organic fair trade coffee, beer, wine, sandwiches, salads, and pastries with specials
Full P.A. and 6 string acoustic guitar provided
family-friendly atmosphere
Rain or shine
Matthew
Jeff Mason's Music schedule
Thursday Oct 25 6-10 pm
O'Keefe's Irish Pub
115 S. Rockingham Ave,
Tavares, Fl, 32778
352 343 2157
Fri Nov 2nd 6-10 pm
O'Keefe's Irish Pub
115 S. Rockingham Ave,
Tavares, Fl, 32778
352 343 2157
Tijuana Flats
444 S. Hunt Club Blvd,
Apopka, Fl, 32703
407 774 0402
Tuesdays from 6 pm
Weather Permitting
Current members please send us your website info if you would like your site to be listed in
the ISG members page. Also if you have any songs that have placed first in the monthly
critiques, please send the mp3's to isgorlando@gmail.com if you would like to have them
featured in the ISG MySpace page.
http://www.myspace.com/internationalsongwritersguildorlando
Past Certificate winners can be found at
https://sites.google.com/site/isgsusiecool/home/resultslist-2
October 2012 Critique Results
Here are the top 5 and the avg scores:
1. Touch by Rebecca and Matthew Campbell melody 3.8 lyrics 3.8 hook 3.6 potential 4
2. Light Shine Down by Melanie Fisher melody 3.8 lyrics 3.6 hook 3.4 potential 3.8
3. The Light Has Come by Matthew and Rebecca Campbell melody 3.67 lyrics 3 Hook 3
potential 3.33
4. Island Time by Shelia Dixon and Susan Foster-Trewick melody 3.17 lyrics 3.17 hook 3
potential 3.17
5. Careless Rainy Day by Phil Pye melody 3.2 lyrics 3.4 hook 2.8 potential 3
New members always welcome!
© 2012 ISG