Tag: Alanis Morissette
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Alanis Morissette Gives the Middle Finger to the Patriarchy on Father’s Day
Alanis Morissette, with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Morgan Wade
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
June 16, 2024Weirdly, it was probably the patriarchy that had many folks arriving late to the Alanis Morissette show last night at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Folks who weren’t delayed by Father’s Day festivities might have been around to hear Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl” burst through the speakers just ahead of an opening set by the rock icon Joan Jett and blaring that particular song across the amphitheater and into The Woodlands was fitting. Morissette, Jett and rising country star Morgan Wade are all cut from a certain ethos and they’ve teamed for this road show, dubbed the Triple Moon Tour.
Jett’s presence (and Kathleen Hanna’s song) were good reminders that Morissette wasn’t the original rebel girl. But, her unfiltered, unapologetic, poetic and fierce songs from a very decidedly female perspective arrived on the heels of hair metal’s misogyny and during grunge’s male-dominated heyday. Her songs made an impact on women and men too and that’s why 16,000 of us were there, packed from the pit to the back wall, to sing along and celebrate that spirit.
The songs and their singers may be older, but the feelings felt fresh when Morissette and audience joined in union for “Hand in My Pocket,” her set’s opener and a key track off her opus, 1995’s Jagged Little Pill. The album is so instrumental to music it went on to win a bunch of Grammy and Juno Awards, is listed in Rolling Stone’s and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s top 100 albums and spawned a Broadway musical. “Hand in My Pocket” was a great way to start the night. It wasn’t the song that made Morissette the buzz of alt-rock – that one came much later in the set – but it did depict all the concern, confusion, frustration and ultimately the hopefulness Morissette and her Gen X and millennial fans once shared and, apparently, still do.
Nearly 30 years later, there’s a new generation of fans who can sing the timeless line “I’m young and I’m underpaid, I’m tired but I’m working, yeaaahhh,” and absolutely connect to “Hand in My Pocket” and its singer, who possesses one of music’s most unique and recognizable voices, by the way. In case you were wondering, she still belts it out. The Woodlands audience got an up-close and personal listen when she and her band fled the stage to a smaller version near the soundboard mid-set.
Morissette’s set was heavy on songs from the all-time classic, Jagged Little Pill
Photo by Halle Yap, courtesy of The Oriel Co,
There, they channeled their MTV Unplugged days to play a few acoustic tunes including “Rest,” a newer song that focuses on mental health awareness and “Mary Jane,” a Pill standout that advocated for women who maybe didn’t feel as empowered as their rock goddess, those who may have felt fragile or vulnerable. It was the perfect vehicle for the band’s moment in the round, so to speak, since many of the surrounding audience – women and men – survived those feelings of inadequacy or doubt to be there celebrating with her.
The audience hung on every word she delivered in the acoustic run. That relocation to the soundboard was something this music fan has never seen at CWMP but maybe Morissette will start a new trend there. She’s certainly no stranger to leading the way. A video package that ran ahead of her set reminded us that singers like Fiona Apple, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Katy Perry and fellow Canadian Avril Lavigne all cite her as influential to their music.
The second song of the set – “Right Through You” – was the best example of the night of what attracted many of us to Morissette’s music. When it was first heard nearly 30 years ago, it was a scathing indictment of some man who took her “took me for a joke” and “took a long hard look at my ass.” It began from a personal place but grew into a rally song for everyone sick of the bullshit of the patriarchy. Up high in the set list, Morissette sang it with even more conviction it seemed, maybe buoyed by the visuals behind her, feminist flashcards of sorts, written in bold white lettering.
One read “18 Countries Allow Men to Prohibit Their Wives from Working.” Another stated “Not a Single Country in the World Has Achieved Gender Equality.” Those notions alone may have been enough to spur Morissette to sing harder or more expressively, but she surely was motivated by many, many young women in the audience, the grown offspring of the Gen Xers who were also on hand for a night out.
One such young person was invited to the stage to sing “Ironic” with Morissette but, ironically, didn’t seem to know the words to one of the headliner’s biggest hits. Never mind, she still got a long, warm hug from Morissette, the guardian who was dressed all in white and shining (because she was sweating, it was super hot out last night) like a lunar goddess. Morissette chose gestures like this and sprinting out into the crowd for an intimate acoustic set over scripted speeches and stage patter and that was totally fine by us. More time for more songs, about two dozen in all.
A few choice words she did share was how she and the band were aware of a hard curfew, so they wouldn’t be leaving the stage only to return moments later for an encore. Instead, she went right into “Uninvited,” which is still haunting and unlike many diss tracks we’ve ever heard, and “Thank U,” the punctuation mark on a night where the headliner and her devoted truly shared that sentiment of gratitude.
The Openers: Those Father’s Day duties mentioned earlier? Sadly, they kept us from seeing or hearing Morgan Wade’s set. We have it on good authority from our friend in the crowd – a musician and music educator who we’ll hear more from a few paragraphs below – that Wade was amazing. We believe her too, since we just saw her crush it at Big as Texas Fest, a mere month ago in Conroe.
Joan Jett was the fashion opposite of Morissette, dressed all in black (sorry, no photos as the house provided all images rather than your local Houston Press photographers), but kindred in their catalogs of women empowerment. As always, she rocked, running through timeless gems like “Cherry Bomb” from her Runaways days, “I Love Rock and Roll”, which was the night’s first big sing-along, “Crimson and Clover” and the set closer, “Bad Reputation.” If you’ve never seen Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and worry that time may have taken its toll on them all, fret not and buy a ticket to their next outing in your vicinity. They still bring it, even in the scorching heat of a Houston summer night.
Morissette invited the crowd to sing along to songs that have proven anthemic
Photo by Halle Yap, courtesy of The Oriel Co,
Personal Bias: Shout out to my guy, the late Nels Hill. In 1995, he and I were toiling away at a dead-end job adjusting slip and fall claims for an area grocer and reporting to a turd of a boss, the sort of self-important fellow who inspired a lot of Morissette’s music. When “You Oughta Know,” her breakthrough global hit was released, I shared the song with this fella and he failed to see any artistic merit in it, muttering something about just hearing a bunch of F words (there’s only one in the song) and indecency.
His rebuke stung a little bit, partly because it was a shot at my music taste and partly because he was the boss and I was still too young and dumb to know I didn’t have to impress him in any way to keep my job. Thankfully, my friend Nels was there to assure me Alanis did, in fact, kick ass. That she would prove to be a voice of a generation. Nels loved all sorts of music, everything from “Beer Barrell Polka” to “Blitzkrieg Bop”. He egged me on to sharing Liz Phair with my boss just so he could roll his eyes when this dude would predictably make a rude remark about another alt-rock priestess. Nels was the kind of person you wanna work with, someone who gets you and your music and gives a big middle finger to the man – just like Alanis.
Random Notebook Dump: Our local musician friend who did catch Morgan Wade’s set also reported from her seat on the lawn that a few of the bad actors Morissette has outed in her music were talking over the concert and making oafish remarks about the songs in her set. What sort of pea-brain spends the money and effort to endure 100-degree heat, a terrible parking situation and high beer prices to attend a show just to spew inane comments no one asked for nor cares about?
For the love of the Luna, please stay home next time, dummies. We’re trying to enjoy the show. If you feel the need to test your sexist “comedy” material on someone, deliver it in your darkened, crummy man cave to your fellow troglodytes on TikTok and X. Thanks.
Jesse Sendejas Jr.
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Alanis Morissette-inspired musical ‘Jagged Little Pill’ comes to Orlando this month
Jagged Little Pill is coming to Orlando, bringing a Grammy-winning score of alternative rock music to the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
The musical, based on Alanis Morissette’s music, tells a coming-of-age story about a girl growing up in a seemingly perfect family Connecticut family and all of the very real issues going on behind closed doors.
The musical covers complex themes of substance abuse and gender identity. The story is fleshed out with familiar songs from Morissette’s Grammy Award-winning 1995 album Jagged Little Pill.
Directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus of Waitress and Pippin, and with a Tony-winning book by Diablo Cody (Juno, Young Adult, Tully), the production has resonated with audiences since it first opened on Broadway in 2019.
The touring Broadway cast is in Orlando for less than a week, with shows running from Tuesday, March 19, through Sunday, March 24. Tickets are available with both matinee and evening performances with prices starting at $45, available through the Dr. Phillips Center box office.
Event Details
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Alexandra Sullivan
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“Get Him Back!” Offers Little In the Way of Satisfying Revenge and A Lot in the Way of Imitating Alanis’ “Ironic” Video
There’s no irony to the fact that Olivia Rodrigo has decided to craft the majority of her latest video in the very distinct style of what was done in 1996’s “Ironic” (with the song itself unleashed in 1995 via Jagged Little Pill). After all, this is the girl who oughta (and does) know that a song like “good 4 u” owes just as much debt to Alanis Morissette as any of the other people she gives official credit to on said track (e.g., Hayley Williams). This likely being why one of the “Musicians on Musicians” cover stories for Rolling Stone back in 2021 had Alanis and Olivia paired together for an interview/filmed conversation that explored, among other topics, how their musical styles align (perhaps to Morissette’s chagrin). But now, thanks to Rodrigo’s overzealous love of “homage” (which is often a symptom of capitalism creating the conditions in which nothing can ever be new), their visual styles have aligned as well.
At the outset of “get him back!,” however, we don’t immediately see the overt line drawn from the “Ironic” video to this one. Instead, Rodrigo (swapping out her usual music video director, Petra Collins, in favor of Jack Begert) starts things off with the image of a blurred-out male figure. Who could just as easily be the same “non-person” viewers were presented with at the end of “bad idea right?” Whether or not this is Rodrigo’s bid to let girls “fill in the blank” literally as they channel their rage toward whatever fuckboy has disappointed them most recently is left up to the viewer. What isn’t, on the other hand, is how obviously Rodrigo wants to re-create the “Ironic” video after a few scenes of deliberating in her apartment (with various other Rodrigos marching in and out of the space). Spinning around in circles, so to speak, over how, exactly, one would go about the task described by the song title. And if what one actually means by “get him back” is to seek revenge or try to make up and reinstate the fuckboy in her life. For the most part, Rodrigo leans toward the former (though her moments of weakness in wanting the guy back are apparent on tracks like the aforementioned “bad idea right?”).
Which is why she (after emulating the same “rotating set” effect of that 1994 CK One commercial meets the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Ava Adore” video [side note: Rodrigo already borrowed from “1979” for “traitor”]) ends up leaving the abode to go on a telekinetic car window-bashing bender. Barring the shattered glass everywhere, it becomes a scene similar to the car-filled abyss that appears at the end of the video for “brutal.” After all, Rodrigo is the only other singer at this moment in time who can give Charli XCX a run for her money on being a little bit car crazy in her lyrics and aesthetics (call it a symptom of being from California). Initially, she takes to the street (conveniently filled with plenty of randomly parked vehicles in the middle of it) on her own, but the viewer soon sees that she’s joined by three other Olivias. Much the same way that Alanis is joined by three other Alanises before she gets into her 1978 Lincoln Continental Mark V in “Ironic.” Of course, we don’t immediately see that Morissette has three other “friends” (alter egos, pieces of her personality, visual manifestations of her DID, or mere hallucinatory visions—however you want to describe it).
Instead, director Stéphane Sednaoui (known for videos with the kind of versatility that appealed to Garbage, Björk and Madonna in the 90s) takes his time about unveiling each of the three “fellow” Alanises in the car. Who are pointedly set apart by their costuming (unlike the various Rodrigos in “get him back!,” who are all wearing a white crop top and ruffled-hem mini skirt). Starting with Green Sweater Alanis, who makes her appearance around the forty-second mark of the video, when Red Beanie Alanis (call her “the real” Alanis) adjusts her rearview mirror as she asks, “Isn’t it ironic? Dontcha think?” Green Sweater Alanis is quick to agree by belting out, “It’s like rain on your wedding day/It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid/It’s the good advice that ya just can’t take/And who would’ve thought: it figures?”
Green Sweater Alanis is then upstaged by Yellow Sweater/Braided Hair Alanis, who recounts, “Mr. Play-It-Safe was afraid to fly/He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye/He waited his whole damn life to take that flight/And as the plane crashed down/He thought, ‘Well, isn’t this nice?’” Sednaoui then cuts to the final Alanis, Red Sweater Alanis, in the front seat, who, just as the others, happens to be fidgeting about like an impetuous child. Even though, years after the video came out, Morissette would differentiate Green Sweater Alanis as “fun and frolic-y,” the Yellow Sweater Alanis as the “quirkster” and the Red Sweater Alanis as “the romantic—wistful and thoughtful and also the risk-taker” (hence, sticking half her body out of the car window [revealing that she’s also wearing pajama pants]).
The editing techniques used to convey that all four iterations of Alanis are interacting with one another (in addition to the viewers themselves as they stare earnestly into the camera) were far more effective than any of the special effects seen in “get him back!” This includes the constantly blurred-out boy in question that Rodrigo wants to, that’s right, get back (in more ways than one). He shows up again as the glass to all the car windows surrounding them shatters, with Begert transitioning to the next scene through one of those broken windows that leads us inside a car that now has three Olivias in it with the blurred-out boy as the driver of a car featuring a license plate that reads: GUTSY (a nod, naturally, to her sophomore album title).
But, in truth, there’s nothing “gutsy” whatsoever about this video—from being a rip-off of Alanis’ most iconic visual to the fact that no aspect of “revenge” is displayed in any way (maybe because SZA already freshly “paid homage” to Kill Bill, so that was out for Rodrigo). Unless you count 1) property damage to other people’s cars (how Beyoncé in “Hold Up”) or 2) sitting in a room full of purple (she clearly loves the color as much as Prince did) petals while plucking off one petal at a time from a single rose à la “he loves me, he loves me not” as somehow tantamount to claiming vengeance. Then again, maybe imitating Alanis is some mastermind (no Taylor reference intended) form of retribution. Because who will ever write a song as vicious as “You Oughta Know” for someone as unworthy of its passion as Dave Coulier? So maybe Rodrigo figures just trying to be (visually) like Alanis during her Jagged Little Pill era is the closest to “great revenge” she’ll ever get.
That said, at the two-minute, thirty-three-second mark, we see all four Olivias in the car (with one of them now replacing the blurred-out boy who formerly sat in the driver’s seat [call it something like symbolism]) to really, ugh, drive home the point that this has become “Ironic” to a tee. Except without Rodrigo bothering to give us any costume changes for the sake of differentiating the Olivias. Perhaps because there is no distinction between any of her “facets”; all of them are mere amalgamations of the women who have come before. Including, needless to say, Morissette.
Genna Rivieccio
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Sinéad O’Connor death: Grief and anger shared over Irish singer’s passing – National | Globalnews.ca
Some of Hollywood’s biggest celebrities are paying tribute to the late Irish singer and songwriter Sinéad O’Connor, who died Wednesday.
Pink and Brandi Carlile
Following news of O’Connor’s death on Wednesday, singers Pink and Brandi Carlile performed a heartwarming rendition of O’Connor’s hit song Nothing Compares 2 U on stage in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“When I was a little girl, my mom grew up in Atlantic City and I used to go down to the Ocean City Boardwalk with my $10 and I would make a demo tape,” Pink told the crowd. “It would always be either Greatest Love of All by Whitney Houston or Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinéad O’Connor.”
Pink asked Carlile to come onto the stage to perform Nothing Compares 2 U as a duet.
Billboard reported numerous fans in the venue cried while Pink and Carlile crooned the iconic ballad.
Pink is currently performing as part of her North American Summer Carnival 2023 tour, with Carlile as her supporting act.
Russell Crowe
Actor Russell Crowe also shared a tribute to O’Connor.
In a long, reverent statement, Crowe recounted the first time he met the Irish singer.
“Last year, working in Ireland, having a pint in the cold outside a Dalkey pub with some new friends, a woman with purpose strode past us,” Crowe wrote.
He said one of his friends chased after the woman, having recognized her as O’Connor.
“She looked in my eyes, and uttered with disarming softness [sic] ‘ oh, it’s you Russell,’” he continued.
“In a conversation without fences we roamed through the recent Dublin heatwave, local politics, American politics, the ongoing fight for indigenous recognition in many places, but particularly in Australia, her warm memory of New Zealand, faith, music, movies and her brother the writer. I had the opportunity to tell her she was a hero of mine.”
Crowe wrote that after their conversation, O’Connor “embraced us all and strode away into the fog-dimmed streetlights.”
“Peace be with your courageous heart Sinéad,” he concluded.
Morrissey
The former Smiths frontman Morrissey took a different approach with his tribute.
While praising the fact that O’Connor “couldn’t be boxed-up,” Morrissey heavily criticized the press, the music industry and the public for their treatment of O’Connor, both in life and death.
In a statement posted to his website, Morrissey, whose real name is Steven Patrick Morrissey, wrote that O’Connor “became crazed, yes, but uninteresting, never.”
“She had done nothing wrong,” he continued. “She had proud vulnerability … and there is a certain music industry hatred for singers who don’t ‘fit in’ (this I know only too well), and they are never praised until death — when, finally, they can’t answer back.”
He scolded the press for using “moronic” labels like “icon” and “legend” to describe O’Connor after her death.
“You praise her now ONLY because it is too late. You hadn’t the guts to support her when she was alive and she was looking for you,” Morrissey wrote.
He compared her death to other celebrities like Judy Garland, Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, Marilyn Monroe and Billie Holiday.
“Was this music madness worth Sinead’s life? No, it wasn’t,” he insisted. “She was harassed simply for being herself. Her eyes finally closed in search of a soul she could call her own.”
Annie Lennox
Scottish singer and songwriter Annie Lennox shared a photo of O’Connor to Twitter, now rebranded as X, where she praised O’Connor’s “exquisite artistry.”
In a poem dedicated to O’Connor, Lennox called her “raw,” “wounded” and “fearless.”
“May the angels hold you / In their tender arms / And give you rest / In peace,” she concluded.
Alanis Morissette
In a post to her Instagram story, the Canadian singer Alanis Morissette called O’Connor “a profound inspiration to many.”
Alanis Morissette’s Instagram story on July 26, 2023.
Instagram @alanis
“Her passion, poetry, and unapologetic expression raised the bar on artistry and female empowerment,” she wrote. “I’m feeling empathy for Ireland, for the world, and for all of us who are saddened by this news.”
Jamie Lee Curtis
Actor Jamie Lee Curtis shared a statement on Instagram discussing her admiration and respect for O’Connor.
“I once heard Sìnead sing acappella in an empty chapel in Ireland,” she wrote. “It was under construction at the private home of our host. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard in my life.”
Curtis said she and O’Connor together attended a festival to watch Eminem perform. She described O’Connor as a “warrior” and a “rebel.”
“I loved her. Her music. Her life. She was a victim of child abuse and a huge change agent for unfair and unjust draconian laws that she helped change in Ireland,” she wrote. “She ripped up a photograph that was on her mother’s wall because of the hypocrisy of the abusive life she was raised in under the banner of the church.”
“Rest well. Rest in power. Rest in peace,” she finished.
![Click to play video: 'Singer Sinéad O’Connor dies at 56']()
The cause of the 56-year-old singer’s death is not yet known. On Thursday, police declared her death is not being treated as suspicious, according to the BBC.
On Wednesday, O’Connor was reportedly found “unresponsive” in her London home and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Recognizable by her shaved head and elfin features, O’Connor began her career singing on the streets of Dublin and soon rose to international fame. She became a star after her 1987 debut album The Lion and the Cobra was released. O’Connor reached true superstardom when she released her cover of Prince’s ballad Nothing Compares 2 U in 1990, a seething, shattering performance that topped charts from Europe to Australia.
![Click to play video: 'Singer Sinéad O’Connor dies at 56']()
She was a lifelong non-conformist — she would say that she shaved her head in response to record executives pressuring her to be conventionally glamourous — but her political and cultural stances and troubled private life often overshadowed her music. O’Connor was also widely known for tearing up a photo of Pope John Paul II while appearing live on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.
O’Connor announced in 2018 that she had converted to Islam and would be adopting the name Shuhada’ Sadaqat — although she continued to use Sinéad O’Connor professionally.
— With files from The Associated Press
Sarah Do Couto
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Snoop Dogg, Gloria Estefan, Sade Newest Members Of Songwriters Hall Of Fame
NEW YORK (AP) — Snoop Dogg, Gloria Estefan, Sade, Jeff Lynne, Glen Ballard, Teddy Riley and Liz Rose have been chosen to join the Songwriters Hall of Fame, a class that includes the writers of such varied hits as “Man In the Mirror,” “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You.”
The seven songwriters from the class of 2023 will be inducted at a gala June 15 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.
Snoop Dogg, whose hits include “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and “Gin & Juice,” will be joining such rappers as Missy Elliott and Jay-Z in the hall. Estefan is credited for popularizing Latin rhythms with such crossover smashes as “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You” and “Let’s Get Loud.”
The inductees include soul-jazz vocalist Sade, whose 1980s soft rock hits include “Smooth Operator” and “The Sweetest Taboo,” and Lynne, of ELO, who penned “Mr. Blue Sky” and “Evil Woman.”
“I’m very excited about this honor. Songwriting has always been my passion. This means so much to me,” Lynne tweeted Wednesday. Estefan took to Instagram to thank “all the incredible fans that, by listening to my music, have made it possible for me to receive this incredible honor!”
Ballard helped write Alanis Morissette’s monster 1995 album “Jagged Little Pill” and was involved in the recording and writing of several Michael Jackson albums, including “Thriller,” “Bad” and “Dangerous.”
Riley, the singer, songwriter and producer, is credited with creating New Jack Swing and its top anthems like Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative” and Keith Sweat’s “I Want Her.” Rose co-wrote many songs with Taylor Swift, including “You Belong with Me,” “Teardrops on My Guitar” and “White Horse.”
The 2023 class “represents not just iconic songs but also diversity and unity across genres, ethnicity and gender, songwriters who have enriched our lives and, in their time, literally transformed music and the lives of billions of listeners all over the world,” said Nile Rodgers, the hall’s chair.
Eligible voting members late last year turned in ballots with their choices of three nominees from the songwriter category and three from the performing-songwriter category.
Some of the 2023 nominees who will have to wait include The Doobie Brothers, R.E.M., Heart, Blondie, Bryan Adams, Patti Smith and Steve Winwood.
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R.E.M., Blondie, Snoop Dogg get nods for Songwriters Hall
NEW YORK — Bryan Adams, R.E.M., Blondie, Snoop Dogg, Gloria Estefan, Heart and The Doobie Brothers are among the nominees for the 2023 Songwriters Hall of Fame, part of a dazzling list of talented acts who left their mark on country, pop, rap, Broadway, post-punk, Latin and New Jack Swing.
The ballot includes the musical theater duo of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, who wrote “Ragtime” and “Anastasia,” as well as soul-jazz vocalist Sade, whose 1980s soft rock hits include “Smooth Operator” and “The Sweetest Taboo.”
Two veteran rock stars are also nominees: Patti Smith — whose songs include “Because the Night” and “Dancing Barefoot” — and Steve Winwood, whose hits include “Higher Love” and “Roll With It.” Vince Gill is once again a nominee, having first made the ballot in 2018.
Eligible voting members have until Dec. 28 to turn in ballots with their choices of three nominees from the songwriter category and three from the performing-songwriter category. The Associated Press got an early copy of the list.
Jeff Lynne of ELO, who penned “Mr. Blue Sky” and “Evil Woman,” faces off against the “Losing My Religion” R.E.M. quartet led by Michael Stipe, as well as sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, who showed women could rock hard with songs like “Barracuda” and “Crazy On You.”
Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and Clem Burke are eligible for the hall as Blondie, who gave us the New Wave hits “Call Me” and “Rapture,” and Snoop Dogg would join such rappers as Missy Elliott and Jay-Z should he make the cut. Estefan is credited for popularizing Latin rhythms with such crossover smashes as “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You” and “Let’s Get Loud.”
Two classic rock icons compete as Adams — with radio staples like “Summer of ’69” and “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” — contends with The Doobie Brothers and their always-in-rotation “Listen to the Music” and “Long Train Running.”
Nominees who work behind the scenes include Glen Ballard, who helped write Alanis Morissette’s monster 1995 album “Jagged Little Pill” and was involved in the recording and writing of Michael Jackson’s albums “Thriller,” “Bad” and “Dangerous.”
Veteran songwriter Tom Snow, who worked with Olivia Newton-John, Barbra Streisand, Cher, The Pointer Sisters and co-wrote “Let’s Hear It for the Boy” from the movie “Footloose,” is also eligible. “Footloose” connects another nominee, Dean Pitchford, who collaborated on the score, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard album charts, knocking off “Thriller” in 1984.
The nominee list includes Teddy Riley, the singer, songwriter, and producer credited with creating New Jack Swing and its top anthems like Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative” and Keith Sweat’s “I Want Her,” and Liz Rose, who co-wrote many songs with Taylor Swift, including “You Belong with Me,” “Teardrops on My Guitar” and “White Horse.”
There’s also country songwriter Dean Dillon, who wrote songs with Toby Keith, George Strait and Lee Ann Womack; pop songwriter Franne Golde, behind such hits as Jody Watley’s “Don’t You Want Me” and “Nightshift” by the Commodores; and the duo of Bobby Hart and Tommy Boyce, who penned many of The Monkees’ hits.
The Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 1969 to honor those creating the popular music. A songwriter with a notable catalog of songs qualifies for induction 20 years after the first commercial release of a song.
Some already in the hall include Carole King, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Brian Wilson, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Lionel Richie, Bill Withers, Neil Diamond and Phil Collins.
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Online: http://www.songhall.org
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Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
