People always ask; "How do you write a hit song?" They don't actually ask me that, but I have my opinions just the same. First you need to realize just what is a hit song? Most laymen will say a hit song is any song that appears on the charts, gets substantial radio airplay and sells copies. But if you've ever watched a record company exec listen to your demo tape you know they're listening for a particular song format. They want to hear a short, catchy and unique intro followed by a short, catchy and unique verse followed by a repeating chorus. This is the formula of a hit song. Sound and musical style also enters into it as it can sound immediately passé or dated if the currently popular drum sound or echo effect isn't used but those are arrangement issues, not song writing issues.
Record company professionals always say the surest way to have a hit record is to record a hit song, meaning do a remake of an old hit. As an aspiring songwriter this advise doesn't help you unless you realize that you can rewrite an old hit song. Many people including Paul MacCartney have admitted to using this technique.
Using the Homage approach to hit song writing gives you some advantages such as a ready formed hit song format. You already know how long your intro, verse and chorus are going to be and how many verses and choruses you're going to have. You may also have the key and mode and even the basic chord structure. Mostly though, you will have a mood or vibe from which to build your hit.
A great example of an album chock full of Homage Hits is Paul Revere & The Raiders - Greatest Hits. An American answer to the British Invasion even to the point of wearing Revolutionary War uniforms, their big hits of the era are virtual remakes of the British invaders' songs.
* Just Like Me - This copy of the Kinks' power chord tune, All Day and All of the Night, even features the hectic guitar solo style first heard on the Kink's hit, You Really Got Me.
* Kicks - The twelve string intro with the sliding bass line is right out of the Byrds' Mr. Tambourine Man.
* Hungry - The fuzz tone guitar doubling the bass riff would have been cutting edge in 1966 if not for the Rolling Stone's Satisfaction of 1965.
* Steppin' Out - Listen to the chord structure, the pulsating bass line and the twangy guitar of the intro and then tell me this hasn't anything to do with the Nashville Teens' Tobacco Road.
I'm not criticizing the band at all for recording songs that bare such striking similarities. The Raiders didn't write their material and most of their hits were written by the major songwriters of the day such as Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil (Kicks and Hungry). I am saying that those songs are good examples of taking a proven formula and changing it enough to make it something original and your own. One of the benefits of rewriting a hit song, besides writing a potential new hit, is that because you're consciously duplicating a previous work you know how far to go to make it sound original. Many times you're caught by surprise when you've written what you think is a completely original composition only to have someone point out it is uncomfortably close to an oldie. At least if you do it intentionally you'll know what to expect.
Neal Warner is an artist, writer, filmmaker, member of the multimedia band, The Tooners and founder of Director's Clip the Music Video Sponsorship Site ( http://www.directorsclip.com/ ).
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