Word: lyricists
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...Putting together a trunk show of hits from a composer or group is a matter of choosing from among three options: a pastiche of tunes (as in Smokey Joe's Cafe from the Mike Leiber-Jerry Stoller songbook, the Billy Joel Movin' Out or Swingin' On a Star from lyricist Jimmy McHugh); a new book that finds slots for the songs (as in the ABBA Mamma Mia!, the Elvis All Shook Up or the Gershwin's My One and Only and Crazy for You); or a bio-musical of the artist (the Buddy Holly tribute Buddy or Hank Williams...
...airwaves. While such a critique has its truth, much of the 50-hating is unjustified, or what Curtis would call “window shopping.” 50 may not be a good rapper, but he is a hell of a songwriter. Lloyd Banks is a talented lyricist with a lot of potential. Young Buck, well, um… he’s got some energy, and his descriptions of violence are still somewhat shocking. Tony Yayo and Olivia are pretty much worthless, as is Spider, Mase, M.O.P., and (sigh) Mobb Deep. In the end, this...
...enhances Oldham’s vocal performance: he forsakes the irritating mumble-whisper delivery of albums past for throatier, fuller vocalizations. As a result, this is one of the few albums in which all of Oldham’s cryptic lyrics are intelligible. And Oldham is some kind of lyricist: his language marries the lovelorn yearning of Leonard Cohen to the incantatory power of Neil Young. On the album’s stand out track, “I See a Darkness.” Oldham writes: “And you know how much I love you/Is a hope...
...Kiss of the Spider Woman. Better than the movie, bolder than the book, this brassy musical centers on a homosexual flirtation in an Argentine prison. Scenes of torture crosscut to film fantasies with hunks and feathers. Comebacks for star Chita Rivera, director Harold Prince, composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb, plus a stellar debut for Brent Carver in a show asserting there can be no freedom without sexual freedom...
Broadway songwriters usually like to stay in the background and let others do the singing. But Stephen Sondheim, the acclaimed composer and lyricist of shows from West Side Story to Into the Woods, has just released a new CD, Sondheim Sings (PS Classics), made up of early recordings on which he performs his songs. He talked with TIME's theater critic Richard Zoglin...