Word: tunesmith
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Joseph Brooks, the neophyte film maker responsible for this comedy, broke into show biz by scoring a few feature films (The Lords of Flatbush) and winning 21 awards as a Madison Avenue tunesmith. His most famous composition is You've Got a Lot to Live and Pepsi's Got a Lot to Give-a work that seems downright metaphysical when compared with You Light Up My Life, which has crept into the leading ten on Variety's list of top-grossing films...
...during the Beatles era, but in the past few years, with the enthusiastic support of his friend Elton John, has come back as strong as ever. His music, somewhat more urbane, remains essentially unchanged: catchy songs designed for the top of the Pops. Sedaka treats McCartney as a fellow tunesmith of the highest order. "A Pop hit has to have certain hooks you can hang your hat on," Sedaka points out. "The hooks can be either musical or lyrical, but the best is a marriage of both words and music. McCartney does this. A song like Listen to What...
...would-be groupie. Trouble was, none of this tribute pleased Emmett Kelly, 77, who is more famous as the somber, sad-eyed clown Weary Willie than as a singer. Kelly, a former star with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, says his problems were caused by Pop Tunesmith Neil Sedaka. On posters for his album Hungry Years, Sedaka appears in clown face similar to the character Kelly created in 1921 and later copyrighted. "Weary Willie is my makeup and my face. It's an infringement," complained the clown, adding he may sue both Sedaka and Rocket Records...
Sedaka's Back, promises the album cover of Neil Sedaka, 36, the pop tunesmith who set penny loafers dancing with hits like Breaking Up Is Hard to Do. For now, however, Sedaka is simply back out of work. Hired as a show opener for a tour by Richard and Karen Carpenter, Sedaka lasted seven days at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas and then was abruptly fired. "I was asked to leave because of standing ovations," complained the singer-songwriter, whose big receptions by Vegas crowds made him a hard act for the Carpenters to follow. At least breaking...
Student Ascher, meanwhile, seems to be solidifying his position as the nation's No. 1 phoney tunesmith; he is currently working on a pushbutton adaptation of Rubber Duckie. Phone musicians have learned not to begin pushing out a tune as soon as they lift the receiver. If the first number they punch is 0, for example, they will automatically get the operator. Even worse, the tune they select might well complete an expensive call to London or Paris. Experienced players usually place a local call to a friend and tap out new melodies to him only after the connection...