Big Hype by Avery Corman

Author:Avery Corman [Corman, Avery]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4532-7042-4
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2012-12-24T17:44:00+00:00

9.

I DIDN’T HAVE TO concern myself for the moment with performing. I felt liberated. I was a writer again. Without the standards I had a unified concept; the material was taking shape as a middle-class song cycle. I wrote a lyric called “Lost in the Middle,” about how overlooked by politicians, advertisers, and Hollywood is the middle class. “Me and My Car” was about how the expense of buying and running a car makes it one of your most important relationships. “Bourgeois Bopping” was a mock rap song about the difficulty of running a household while trying to keep up with trends.

I continued along that line, taking observations about middle-class life and turning them into lyrics. In our neighborhood were several second-rate Chinese restaurants largely frequented by yuppies on the singles scene. The yuppies, with no tradition of eating good Chinese food in New York, filled these places because either they didn’t know better or they didn’t care. What did this tell us about the future, about these younger people to whom my generation was passing the torch? I wrote a song dealing with these feelings, called “Yuppies Don’t Know Chinese Food.”

After another couple of months I had the new songs and once again I made a presentation of the material to Sandy in the living room. She was very enthusiastic this time and said the songs were amusing and fun. Mel suggested that before I perform it for him I work out the music with Henry Ross. Henry had taken over an office in the building where the Steiner studio space was located. I stood before him and sang the songs in the order I thought was most effective. Henry smiled, laughed, he applauded after each song. When I was finished he said it was outstanding, adding after a discreet interval: “The music could use some help. But we were expecting that, weren’t we?”

Over the next three weeks I went to his office each day as Henry worked at the piano and shaped my attempts into genuine music. Melody lines were modified, expanded, or discarded, and finally arranged for piano accompaniment. Next I had to learn the newly adjusted melodies. Henry played the material, recording it for me on a cassette, which I studied at home. He worked with me for a week of rehearsals and then he deemed me ready to perform for Mel.

We went to Mel’s office for the presentation. Henry explained to Mel that a decision was made to have a range of musical influences and rhythms, rather than limit the sound. As he told this to Mel, Henry anxiously cleared his throat and I felt him deferring to Mel’s power. My presentation had become Henry’s. We were collaborators, in a sense, and he was nervous.

We began, Henry accompanying me on the piano in Mel’s office. I had to stop now and then for water and my voice cracked a few times. Throughout, Henry maintained a bouncy, antic performance, smiling, perky. Mel did not see fit to encourage the singer with smiles.

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