Articles by John Twang

Allan Rich takes the lead while co-writer Jud Friedman plays keyboards and adds vocals at a later point. This Hollywood concert includes the duo performing "Run To You". They had been contacted to write a song for the 1993 Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston film "The Bodyguard" and wrote the song but at the request of the producers had to rewrite it to fit a specific scene. "The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album" went nine times platinum. David Foster produced the Billboard number thirty-one…

Written in 1925 "Angry" (Dudley Mecum - Henry Brunies - Merritt Brunies - Jules Cassard) achieved popularity through this recording by "The Whispering Pianist" Art Gillham. The song is now viewed as a barbershop standard. Kay Starr (Starks) covered "Angry" in 1951 and peaked at number twenty-six on Billboard. Kay sang it all; country, pop and her beloved jazz. Billie Holiday once said Kay was the only white woman who could sing the blues.

Baltimore Orioles fan Phil Vassar sings "For A Little While" (Phil Vassar - Steve Mandile - Jerry Vandiver) from his 2006 album "Greatest Hits Volume 1". This post has a baseball theme. From the 1997 chart topping Country LP "Everywhere" Tim McGraw's "For A Little While" reached number two on the Billboard Country chart while topping the Canadian listing and peaking at number thirty-two on the Top One Hundred in 1998. As mentioned elsewhere Tim's father is the late Tug (Frank) McGraw, pitche…

Former award winning commercial jingle writer and session vocalist Stephony Smith performs "It's Your Love" at The Hayman Loft in Nashville. Stephony has written for Shania Twain, The Dixie Chicks, Kenny Chesney, Trisha Yearwood and Barbra Streisand. Grammy winners, wife Faith Hill and husband Tim McGraw issued "It's Your Love" as the first single from Tim's 1997 LP "Everywhere", after the couple had married the previous year. The single topped the Country chart and peaked at number seven on…

Younger brother of Walter Hammond of The Olympics, and a founding member of gospel group The Mighty Clouds Of Joy, Clay Hammond (Jr.) wrote "Part Time Love". Clay was a later member of both The Rivingtons and The Drifters. This track is from Clay's 1977 LP "Deep Soul". Little Johnny Taylor's (Merrett) hit with "Part Time Love" featured Arthur Wright on guitar when in 1963 it topped the R&B chart and peaked at number nineteen on the Top One Hundred. Just to confuse the issue Johnnie Taylor al…

Introduced in the 1942 Betty Grable film "Springtime In The Rockies", in 1943 "I Had The Craziest Dream" (Mack Gordon - Harry Warren) was a chart topper for Harry James and his Orchestra with vocals by Helen Forrest. The audio is edited to include the vocal. Bandleader Harry James later married the film's star Betty Grable. The Skylarks (George Becker, Earl Brown, Jackie Gershwin, Joe Hamilton and Gilda Maikin) released their jazzy version in 1953 and peaked at number twenty-eight on Billboa…

"Till The World Ends" was written for Britney Spears by Kesha (Sebert), Dr. Luke, Max Martin and Alexander Kronlund. Kesha sings the demo and makes an appearance on the Britney Spears re-mix hit with Nicki Minaj. Britney Spears' version of "Till The World Ends" (Alexander Kronlund - Kesha - Max Martin - Lukasz Gottwald) was recorded for the 2011 LP "Femme Fatale". While the album topped the charts, the single was the first track on the release and reached number three on Billboard.

Cherrelle (Cheryl Anne Norton) recorded "I Don't Mean To Turn You On" (Jimmy Jam (Harris) - Terry Lewis) on her 1984 debut album "Fragile". The single peaked at number eight on the Billboard R&B chart and number six Dance. This is the edited hit single. The next year Grammy, MTV and Brit Award winner Robert Palmer covered "I Don't Mean To Turn You On" on his 1985 top ten double platinum LP "Riptide". This time the song reached number two on the Top One Hundred and number nine in the U.K. in…

Tammy Wagoner and Billy Montana (Schlappi) wrote "Suds In The Bucket" for Lee Ann Womack. It's performed here by the Grammy nominated Billy Montana at Backstage Nashville. Garth Brooks, Kenny Rogers and many other country acts have recorded Billy's songs. Co-writer Tammy Wagoner also records under the alias "Jenai". The vivacious Sara Evans released the top twenty pop album "Restless" in 2003 and the next year "Suds In The Bucket" was issued as a successful gold certified single. This topped…

Shirley (Goodman) and (Leonard) Lee recorded "Just A Little Word" (Leonard Lee) as a single in 1956. After breaking up in 1963 Shirley went on the sing backup with The Rolling Stones, Dr. John and Sonny and Cher. In the next decade she hit with "Shame, Shame, Shame" as Shirley and Company. Leonard became a social worker and died at the age of forty. Okay the lyrics are different but give it a listen anyway. Entrepreneur, singer, songwriter, bandleader, record company executive and businessma…

The novelty song "Glendora" (Ray Stanley) originated with American Airlines pilot Jack Lewis in 1956 as a B side. This was issued on Crest Records, a company that was launched as a songwriter outlet with the hopes that a song would be picked up by a well known artist. Perry (Pierino) Como charted at number eight with "Glendora" in 1965. The song was originally recorded by Mr. C in 1956 and was re-released as a single in 1964.

Randy Goodrum performs "It's Sad To Belong" at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. Randy spent time in Nashville as a session and backing pianist for Jerry Reed, Roy Orbison and Chet Atkins. Texans England Dan (Seals) and John Ford Coley (Colley) recorded "It's Sad To Belong" on the 1977 LP "Dowdy Ferry Road". The song topped the Easy Listening chart while peaking at number twenty-one on Billboard.

From the 1994 LP "Words And Music" Randy Goodrum sings "I'll Be Over You" (Randy Goodrum - Steve Lukather). Co-author Steve Lukather plays guitar on this track while saxophonist Brandon Fields deserves mention. Toto (Steve Lukather on lead vocal, David Paich, Jeff, Steve and Mike Porcaro with Michael McDonald on backing vocals) placed at number eleven on Billboard in 1986 with the single "I'll Be Over You". This is from the album "Fahrenheit".

Michael Jackson recorded a demo called "Al Capone" in 1986 which was finally issued on "Bad 25" the twenty-fifth anniversary of the historic release. This may not sound too much like "Smooth Criminal" but elements involved are strong and became the inspiration. The theme, staccato vocal, rapid fire words and the bass line should be obvious. "Smooth Criminal" was the next step and was recorded for the 1987 Quincy Jones co-produced LP and Grammy winning "Bad". Released as the seventh single fr…

Written especially for the 1932 Cotton Club Parade was "I've Got The World On A String" (Harold Arlen - Ted Koehler). The annual Cotton Club series was in Harlem, New York where the standard was introduced by Cab (Cabell) Calloway's Orchestra with Cab singing himself. Frank Sinatra moved to Capitol Records the same year he recorded "I've Got The World On A String" for the first time teamed with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. This was the popular version of the tune and in 1953 it peaked at num…

Keith Anderson sings "Lost In This Moment" (Keith Anderson - John Rich - Rodney Clawson) from his 2008 album "C'mon". Keith has an engineering degree from Oklahoma State University and was a prospect for the Kansas City Royals until a shoulder injury pushed him to the sidelines. The first single from the Big (Kenny Alphin) & (John) Rich 2007 LP "Between Raising Hell And Amazing Grace" was "Lost In This Moment". The single topped the Country chart, peaked at number twelve Adult Contemporary a…

The "5" Royales (lead vocalist Johnny Tanner, Obadiah Carter, Otto Jeffries, Clarence and Lowman Pauling) single "Think" (Lowman Pauling) was released in 1957 and peaked at number nine on the R&B chart. Although a variety of groups used the name, The "5" Royales went their separate ways in 1965. The Godfather Of Soul, James Brown and The Famous Flames (Bobby Bennett, Bobby Byrd, Bill Hollings and Lloyd Stallworth) covered "Think" in 1960 reaching number seven R&B and thirty-three on the Top…

Richard Strauss composed "Also Sprach Zarathustra" in 1896 inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's novel. The full performance of this piece lasts approximately thirty minutes. What is most familiar is the fanfare called "Sunrise" that was used in Stanley Kurbrick's 1968 masterpiece "2001: A Space Odyssey". This is the first recording made in 1935 with Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Elvis Presley made use of the fanfare at the beginning of his concerts during the seventies.…