Ep. 76: Paul Anka

This legendary guest is an acclaimed songwriter, entertainer, and actor. Born and raised in Ottawa, Canada, the enormous success of his first number one hit, “Diana” made him a star at the age of 15. Soon after he found himself traveling by bus with the ‘Cavalcade of Stars’ which featured the top names of the day. He honed his craft surrounded by the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Frankie Lymon, and Chuck Berry. And he is the youngest entertainer to ever perform at the Copacabana in New York, as well as the Sahara and Sands Hotels in Las Vegas. The best-known titles of his early career included hits like “Put Your Head On My Shoulder,” “You Are My Destiny," "Lonely Boy," and "Puppy Love," (which also was recorded by Donny Osmond). By age 18, he had five Top 5 hits to his credit. After a few hit songs, he gained confidence in his talent as a writer and wisely knew that being a songwriter meant the power was in the pen. As a result, he went on to write for Connie Francis, Leslie Gore, and Buddy Holly (including the last song Holly ever recorded, “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore”). Other hit songs include the Academy Award-nominated theme for the 1962 film in which he starred, ‘The Longest Day.’ And he notably penned the longest-running theme in television history for The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (“Johnny’s Theme”). In the early ’60s, he became a junior associate of Sinatra and the Rat Pack. Even with the British invasion, he still had chart records. He moved to Italy and outsold the Italians, selling an astonishing 4 million records there. In the late ’60s, he wrote “My Way” for Frank Sinatra and by the ’70s, he had another string of hits like “(You’re) Having My Baby”, “Don’t Like To Sleep Alone”, and “Times Of Your Life” which confirmed his status as an icon of popular music. Additionally, he’s written with Michael Jackson (“This Is It” and “Love Never Felt So Good”) and Drake (“Don’t Matter To Me”). He’s been named the 21st most successful artist in Billboard’s history, putting him alongside music greats Elvis Presley and the Beatles. And he is the only artist in history to have a song in the Billboard Top 100 over 7 consecutive decades. And The Writer Is…Paul Anka!

This episode is sponsored by BMI and ABKCO.

Ep. 75: Jason Robert Brown

He is a composer, lyricist, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, director, and performer – who has been hailed as “one of Broadway’s smartest and most sophisticated songwriters since Stephen Sondheim” (Philadelphia Inquirer). Best known for his dazzling scores to several of the most renowned musicals of his generation, including the generation-defining ‘The Last Five Years,’ his debut song cycle ‘Songs for a New World,’ and the seminal ‘Parade,’ for which he won the 1999 Tony Award for Best Score, he also received two Tony Awards for his score for ‘The Bridges of Madison County,’ a musical adapted with Marsha Norman from the bestselling novel. A film version of his epochal Off-Broadway musical ‘The Last Five Years’ was released in 2015, starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan and directed by Richard LaGravenese. His musical ‘13,’ written with Robert Horn and Dan Elish, is now in production with Netflix to be adapted for the small screen. For the past four years, he has been the artist-in-residence at New York’s SubCulture, where he offers a sold-out concert every month with stars of Broadway and the music world. He is the winner of the 2018 Louis Auchincloss Prize, the 2002 Kleban Award for Outstanding Lyrics and the 1996 Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Foundation Award for Musical Theatre. The New York Times refers to him as “a leading member of a new generation of composers who embody high hopes for the American musical.” And his songs, including the cabaret standard “Stars and the Moon,” have been performed and recorded by Ariana Grande, Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Billy Porter, Betty Buckley, Renée Fleming, Jon Hendricks, and many others. And The Writer Is…Jason Robert Brown!

This episode is sponsored by ABKCO.

Ep. 74: Julian Bunetta

Our guest this week is an Ivor Award-winning songwriter, producer, and musician, who has collaborated with a wide range of artists including One Direction, Thomas Rhett, Maren Morris, Chris Brown, Jason Derulo, Fifth Harmony, Maroon 5, Big & Rich, Leona Lewis, and Little Big Town. He co-wrote and co-produced a majority of One Direction’s last three albums including the hit singles, “Drag Me Down,” "Best Song Ever" and "Story of My Life.” With Thomas Rhett he has co-written and co-produced numerous songs including his No. 1 singles “Craving You (feat. Maren Morris),” from the Grammy-nominated album ‘Life Changes’ and “Look What God Gave Her,” from the CMA Album of the Year nominated album ‘Center Point Road,’ (which he also co-produced). Additionally, he co-wrote and produced Niall Horan’s recent single “Nice To Meet Ya,” the No. 1 Top 40 single “Slow Hands,” as well as “On The Loose” & “Finally Free,” Rudimental’s Ivor Award-winning, multi-platinum single “These Days (feat. Jess Glynne, Macklemore & Dan Caplen),” Harry Styles’ “Two Ghosts,” Amber Mark’s “Put U On (feat DRAM),” Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs’ “Don’t You Forget About Me,” and many more. And The Writer Is…Julian Bunetta!

This episode is sponsored by BMI, ABKCO, and NSAI.

Ep. 73: Tim Pagnotta

He is an ASCAP, BMI and Billboard Music Award-winning, multi-platinum songwriter, producer, and musician. As the principal singer and songwriter for the band Sugarcult, he toured the world for more than a decade with multiple platinum-selling success. From there, his writing and production duties with Neon Trees spawned the hits “Animal," "Everybody Talks," and "Sleeping With A Friend”. He produced the Walk The Moon album ‘Talking Is Hard’- which included the chart-topping song "Shut Up and Dance”. And he has also worked with Weezer, Elle King, The Strumbellas and Coin. Most recently, Pagnotta produced and co-wrote two singles (“Blame It On My Youth” and “Happy Days”) from blink-182’s #1 Billboard Rock and Alternative album, Nine. Tim also co-wrote the new Weezer single, “End of the Game,” which is currently #8 on the Alternative Radio Chart. In total, his songs have sold in excess of 12 million copies worldwide and streamed over 1 billion times. In addition to producing and writing, he is also developing artists and writer / producers - and is also about to launch his publishing venture. And The Writer Is…Tim Pagnotta!

This episode is sponsored by BMI.

Ep. 72: Scott Harris

He is a multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated songwriter, producer, and musician best known for his work with Shawn Mendes and co-writing the Grammy-winning No. 1 song, "Don't Let Me Down" by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya. Additionally, he co-wrote the Shawn Mendes single, "There's Nothing Holding Me Back" which hit #1 at TOP 40, the newest Shawn Mendes single, “If I Can't Have You”, the Grammy-nominated for song of the year “In My Blood”, and the current The Head and The Heart single, “Missed Connection” which hit #1 at alternative radio. Recently, Harris had the singles “Walk Me Home”, which hit #1 at Hot AC radio, and “Hurts 2B Human” by P!nk, “Ballin Flossin” by Chance the Rapper featuring Shawn Mendes and Kesha’s “Best Day” featured in the film, Angry Birds 2. He has also worked with Dermot Kennedy, Alec Benjamin, Julia Michaels, K. Flay, Michael Buble, Jon Bellion, Noah Kahan, Jessie J, Bebe Rexha and X Ambassadors. And The Writer Is…Scott Harris! 

This episode is sponsored by BMI.