Songwriter Advisor Blog

Songwriters and performers all have musical influences that ultimately help them shape their own unique sound.

It’s important, while we have a few performers today who actually do have great singing talent and are worthy of emulation, to look back at history to remember and/or discover true talents that can help inspire us not only to write songs more effectively but to also sing and perform better.

Johnnie Wilder Jr. and his brother Keith Wilder founded Heatwave in the early 70’s upon finishing their tour of duty with the US army and set themselves on a path to relatively quick success.  They eventually relocated to the UK to team up with the extremely talented songwriter and keyboardist Rod Temperton, who eventually wrote their biggest hit songs, including the one you see in this youtube video.

The song “Always and Forever” is a classic pop standard worthy of being studied on many levels.  To say this song has inspired countless other artists is an understatement, for this song, at the time, became the song by which all other love songs/ballads were measured.

Here are some points to take and use from this song in your own music:

• The easy, singable melody with short phrases - that is…until Johnnie Wilder starts hitting those unbelievable notes at the end of the song.
• The power of simplicity in lyrics.  True - a song with these types of lyrics would probably be regarded on today’s charts as cheesy; just not hard-edged enough and too mushy.  But you can easily take the inspiration of the message of this song and write your own love masterpiece, right?

For you male R&B influenced singer/songwriters looking to get signed, take comfort knowing major players in the industry are looking for true talent all-around, but they definitely don’t expect you to sing like Johnnie Wilder!  However, use his talent as a barometer.  If you can even come close to how talented he was at singing, you’ve got a great chance.

Tragically, Johnnie Wilder Jr.  (July3, 1949 - May 13, 2006) was involved in a car crash in 1979, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down.  He was never able to sing the same after that; but like the warrior he was, he continued producing and songwriting, and at one time, was the most sought after acapella gospel music producers in the US.

Wilder died in his sleep on May 13, 2006 of unknown causes and left behind his wife, a daughter, and his three brothers, including Keith Wilder.

Rod Temperton went on to have an amazing career as a songwriter and wrote three songs on the best selling album of all time; Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”  The most notable songs he wrote for Jackson were, Rock With You, Off The Wall, and Thriller.

It’s important to train yourself in how to think of a song title; indeed, many good songwriters actually have difficulty writing a song without coming up with the title first!  Experienced songwriters know that by choosing a title first, because of their training and songwriting experience, the song usually writes itself.

This is because a title reveals the angle or the flavor of  what you intend to write about, and it becomes much easier to write your song with a laser-targeted idea or plot.

Therefore, once you have the name of the song in place, listen to the words of the title and start conjuring up images and options of what the song could be about.

For example, if you named your song something simple like, “I Think I Understand,” it could be a song about a lover who believes he or she understands the other doesn’t want them anymore, or it may be a song about finally understanding a big life’s lesson of some sort, etc. - possibilities are many!

Song titles are everywhere; the first thing you need to do is train yourself to listen for a great phrase or line from a variety of the following sources:

Television Shows and Movies

Many hit songs have been inspired from watching a television show and using phrases from their scripts - this is perfectly legit as long as you don’t swipe a few lines, obviously.  Remember, what you’re looking for are phrases (between 2 to 6 words max).

The same goes for the watching movies, which is what I recommend highly.  Here’s a simple one I heard the other day -”You Don’t Have To Do Anything”  - sounds like a great title for a country song to me!  Note this is a simple line we’ve probably heard a few times in our lives, but now, while you’re training your ears to pick out song titles, it sticks out at you for the first time!

Listening Intently To Conversation With Other People

You’ll find them either while you’re  participating or just listening (try not to look like you’re eavesdropping).  This is another great way to find song title gems; someone always says something that’ll cry to be part of a song!

Other Songs

These are also a great source for song titles; try to pick out words in the lines of the songs other than the actual titles themselves.

Books

They are a great resource - this should come easy to you if like to read novels especially, because the words tend to be more colorful.

Finally, make a list on a writing pad or database on your computer (I use a text file) every time you come up with a song title; this way, once you have a fairly long list, you can pick and choose a song title with ease.

The trick to training yourself to pick out song titles is to be in a dormant songwriting mode and be a good listener.  For the first few times, don’t be afraid to shake someone’s hand, have a conversation with them, and in the back of your mind think; c’mon dude, I know you’re about to say something I can use as a song title!  You’ll find one.

While watching TV or movies, sit there waiting for the darn title to pop out!  It gets easier with practice.