2-3) Explain the 10 elements that "hit" songs have in common.

Every songwriter, artist, record label, and Production Company is constantly in search of the elusive “hit” song to put them on the map. This seemingly eternal quest is what fuels the engine of the music industry. A hit song can come from anyone at anytime, yet the quest has long been so elusive because no one factor can guarantee whether the song will have enough of a broad-based appeal to qualify as a “hit”. Even established superstar artists have no way of determining the sales potential of a record.

In the early 1980’s, Michael Jackson made musical history when his album “Thriller” went on to sale an unprecedented 35 million copies. Many of the singles released from the album also spent many weeks resting in the penthouse of the charts at the number 1 slot. Despite the staggering success of the album and the massive publicity that followed for all things Michael, Jackson’s follow-up album, “Bad” did not do nearly as well “only” selling a few million copies--a failure in so many words since Jackson’s label had expected to sell at least as many as “Thriller”.

This fact showed the industry that even with the same artist, same production quality, same publicity machine, and same appeal, a “hit” would forever be the flirtatious tease who never settles for the suitor who appears to be the sure thing.

David Baskerville, author of “The Music Business Handbook” has analyzed hit records over the decades and has come across 10 common traits that each have had, qualities which propelled them to the front of the crowd and onto the charts whether they were Country and Western, Rock, Rap, R&B, Jazz, Funk, Reggae, etc. Those common characteristics are:

1) The song has an appeal to it that resonates with the listener immediately. It has been shown that some songs strike a chord with listeners by the way a certain beat or rhythm is played, or by the prominence of an instrument in the track. As a bass player myself, I am often drawn to recordings which feature a well-played bass, such as that played by Louis Johnson on “Billie Jean” from the “Thriller” album.

2) This immediate appeal becomes ingrained into the listeners mind, making the song memorable. “Who Let the Dogs Out” by the Baha Boys--as aggravating as that song became--proves this point perfectly.

3) The wording of the song uses imagery which is very poetic and special. In the mid-70’s The Isley Brothers released a song called “Living for the Love of You”. Over 30 years have elapsed and yet the song still holds listener’s attention due to the poetry in the lyrics that bring to life a story of a man deeply in love with his woman.

4) The song is well-crafted, with a beginning, middle and end.

The Babyface-penned song, “We’re Not Making Love" as recorded by Dru Hill deconstructs a love affair gone bad, and tells it in such a way as to show just how bad love gone astray can be.

5) The lyrical and musical content holds to a central theme of the song with no digressions. Kenny Rogers hit musical paydirt with “The Gambler”, a song which has a grizzled old-timer relating his life-lessons to a young mentor. The story starts in a linear narrative fashion that details the gambler’s hard-won lessons in life, and concludes with his death.

6) The song has an indefinable enchantment; an element of mystery that transports the soul of the listener--and we don’t know why. When Eminem released “Lose Yourself” from the “8-Mile” soundtrack, I felt the composition, written by Eminem and another Michigan-native, Luis Resto, was pure genius--despite the fact that until then I hadn’t particularly like Eminem’s rap style. Each time the song would play on my car radio, I found myself turning up the volume.

7) The song has an appealing initial performance captured in the recording process. For the movie “Titanic”, the producers brought in Celine Dion to record “My Heart Will Go On,” the tune which would be the theme song for the love story between the characters Jack and Rose. At the recording session for the song, Celine was asked to sing a “scratch” vocal--one that would be re-recorded later-- so as to allow the other session musicians to better pace their own performances. When the red “record” button was hit, Celine performed the song in one take, a take that proved to be so astounding that it became the one released as the final version.

8) The record label promotes the song heavily. No record can sell if no one knows about it. Period. Effective promotion ensures that the most people possible can hear--and therefore buy--the song.

9) The recording of the song suits the taste of the current market. Just because a record is well-produced, well-recorded, and well-promoted does not mean it will be well-received and become a hit. Your re-make of “Disco Duck” may go nowhere if the public is no longer--thankfully! -- interested in disco.

10) The record is effectively distributed and is made available nationally. A while back, one of my students had a record he had just completed and was coming to me to talk about getting airplay for the record. He had his plan of attack rehearsed in approaching the stations and felt convinced that the stations would air the song once they heard how much of a quality product it was. I stopped him cold with one simple question: once the public hears how great your record is, where could they go and buy it? He was at a total loss of words for he had never figured distribution of his product into his marketing equation. Too may people, unfortunately, do the same thing. For a song to become a hit, the public must be able to buy it. Subscription satellite is now witnessing this reality due to the fact that many consumers have went into their local stores to purchase a CD after hearing it on XM radio or Sirius, only to discover that the record was either totally unheard of or not available at that time. Either way, the record company had lost a potential customer by not having the CD available in the market songs from it was airing in.

As , literally, the “beat goes on” in the music industry, the lessons needed to thrive and survive in it are not at all difficult to grasp The traits listed here require that the production of “hit” material be approached with the respect that such a creative process deserves. In order to become a success at the “hit”-making process of songwriting, incorporate the characteristics each of these traits embody with each new production and then step back and witness history in the making.