Over the next year Terje Fjelde has agreed to listen to nothing but David Foster on his iPod. He’s loaded the thing with over 1,200 songs produced, arranged, composed, and/or played by David Foster. A deal with the devil? He keeps wondering.

In 1982, hot on the heels of his success as a producer and songwriter for Chicago 16, David Foster started recording his first solo album for a Japanese label. Following in the footsteps of his easy listening forefather Burt Bacharach, he recorded instrumental versions of hit songs he had written for other artists. That is, some of them were already hits — and others had lyrics added to them and became hits later on.

“I just rolled a twenty-four track machine and a board into my music room and a bunch of synthesizers. l got up every morning and went into the music room and started recording. It was great and really therapeutic. The guys from the Tubes heard l was doing an album that was one step up from elevator music and they said ‘you’re not producing us again.” David Foster, March 1985

Foster himself has stated that the record is “nothing major,” and most people will indeed identify the self-titled 1986 album on Atlantic as his solo debut. The Best of Me is almost exclusively the sound of Foster’s keyboards, so in a sense the title is appropriate. In addition to an acoustic piano and the Fender Rhodes, there are a lot of antiquated synth sounds which I, for one, find rather charming, but will probably make most of you think of groceries and frozen food. (more…)

Over the next year Terje Fjelde has agreed to listen to nothing but David Foster on his iPod. He’s loaded the thing with over 1,200 songs produced, arranged, composed, and/or played by David Foster. A deal with the devil? He keeps wondering.

Today’s entry is dedicated in its entirety to a genuine soft rock classic, a formidable milestone which embodies just about everything I love about this kind of music. It’s more or less a re-post of an entry I did for my own blog a couple of year ago, but no one read it then and I can’t think of a better way to describe it, so here we go:

Kenny Loggins - “Heart to Heart,” from High Adventure (1982)

Kenny Loggins was never the one who kicked you in the ass with his no-nonsense musical attitude. He’s more like the musical equivalent of a friendly pat on the shoulder - and yes, he’s frequently nonsensical. But that doesn’t really bother me. He’s had a couple of magical moments in his career, and this is one of them. As far as I’m concerned, “Heart to Heart” is the definition of smooth music - and I mean that in a good way. It was co-written by Loggins with Michael McDonald and David Foster.

The song is firmly rooted in 1982. There’s a synth ambiance, but it’s tasteful and discrete. It has a warm and analogue feel. Had he recorded this a year later, the acoustic piano riffs would’ve been “Jump”-style synth riffs fronting a static synth bass and drum machines. A couple of years earlier, and he’d surely have vocoded the background vocals to a disco beat or something like that. Thank God for 1982.

From the three opening chords you can tell this is going to be done just right. On the one hand you’ve got Michael McDonald starting up his groove on the Fender Rhodes, on the other you’ve got David Foster syncopating away on his acoustic piano. Enter two percussionists (Lenny Castro and Paulinho Da Costa), a drummer (Tris Imboden - the guy who replaced Danny Seraphine in Chicago) and some excellent thumb bass fills (courtesy of Derek Jackson), and we’re off.

This is it. (more…)

Over the next year Terje Fjelde has agreed to listen to nothing but David Foster on his iPod. He’s loaded the thing with over 1,200 songs produced, arranged, composed, and/or played by David Foster. A deal with the devil? He keeps wondering.

Lee Ritenour - “If I’m Dreaming (Don’t Wake Me),” from Earth Run, 1986. Vocals: Phil Perry. Foster played keyboards and synth bass.

I bring excellent news, good friends! After nearly a lifetime in the music business, David Foster has decided to call it quits to write his autobiography. It’s long overdue — we’re finally getting Foster’s take on his own reputation as an all-powerful, evil mastermind of popular music, not to mention juicy details from his collaborations with thousands of artists and musicians over the years. I can’t wait to get behind the scenes of all those magnificent recording sessions that he participated in during the early ’80s — this is the real story of “yacht rock.” Unless, God forbid, he decides to focus on his marriages, his kids or the later parts of his career.

It’s due November 11 - just in time for the Christmas season. And he’s so modest: It’s called “Hitman: Forty Years Making Music, Topping the Charts, and Winning Grammys” and comes with an accompanying double CD with, let’s face it, very little punch — among the contributors are Babyface, Eric Benet, Andrea Bocelli, Michael Bublé, Peter Cetera, Charice, Celine Dion, Kenny G and… well, you get the idea. Boz Scaggs is on it, though.

The good news (for me) is that there will be no need to go on writing about David Foster here on Popdose come November 2008. Yes! Christopher Cross can finally reclaim my iPod. Cross has never collaborated with Foster, at least not to my knowledge. Bomb! And for God’s sake, don’t hit me with some Google search proving me wrong. I can’t take it anymore! (more…)

Over the next year Terje Fjelde has agreed to listen to nothing but David Foster on his iPod. He’s loaded the thing with over 1,200 songs produced, arranged, composed, and/or played by David Foster. A deal with the devil? He keeps wondering.

It’s time for another Theme Week! I’ll leave it up to you to figure out what’s the theme, though. It should be pretty obvious.

I heard Donna Summer’s “Livin’ In America” (1982), produced by Quincy Jones, for the first time when I watched a documentary about Quincy released around the same time as his album Back On The Block in 1989. He had invited a bunch of hot rappers such as Ice T, Melle Mel, Big Daddy Kane and Kool Moe Dee to join him along with a stellar cast of musicians but, me being a very pale and very Scandinavian teenager, I just didn’t get the rap and hip hop thing at all in 1989. Well, I still don’t for the most part, but that’s another story. Anyway, I was for all purposes hoping for The Dude, Part 2 at the time of its release, and thus Back On the Block turned out to be a huge disappointment. It just didn’t sound smooth enough for me at the time by far, which I guess is kinda telling — and utterly and completely incomprehensible: Have you ever heard “Setembro (Brazilian Wedding Song)” or “The Secret Garden”? Smooth as silk. Or “Tomorrow (Better You, Better Me)” with a very young Tevin Campbell on lead vocals? The only thing with an edge on it is Tevin’s braces.

Still, that’s probably why I remember “Livin’ In America” so well from the soundtrack - it was one of very few tracks with Quincy’s smooth, early 1980s pop sound. I loved what I heard and went straight out and bought Donna Summer from 1982 and I was happy as a hippo for months, playing my new old Donna Summer album all the time whilst everybody else was listening either to the Stone Roses or Roxette. I was so out of touch with anything resembling hipness. Some things never change. (more…)

Over the next year Terje Fjelde has agreed to listen to nothing but David Foster on his iPod. He’s loaded the thing with over 1,200 songs produced, arranged, composed, and/or played by David Foster. A deal with the devil? He keeps wondering.

I’m procrastinating. I really don’t want to think about David Foster today, Neither do you, of course, but I’m bound by my promise to write about the guy every week for a year, so I’m kinda stuck here.

The weather’s really beautiful — and that rarely ever occurs in Norwegian summertime. I’m hangin’ out with my friends and family by the mountainside, and all I really want to do is to join them for a beer or maybe play some soccer - but I’m stuck in my room with freakin’ David Foster. Am I sensing fatigue? Well, maybe a little bit, but it’s just a phase. I’ll be back at the top of my game next week, I promise — when the weather has returned to its usual cold, grey self. Autumn is just around the corner.

Anyway, we’ve covered the ’70s pretty well so far, wouldn’t you agree? It’s worth mentioning that Foster’s career got its first big boost in 1979, when he won a Grammy for co-writing Earth, Wind & Fire’s “After the Love Is Gone” with Jay Graydon and Bill Champlin. This award set him up for all kinds of wonderful adventures in sound as the ’80s dawned, but I figure everyone knows the tune, so we’ll just skip it gently. (more…)

Over the next year Terje Fjelde has agreed to listen to nothing but David Foster on his iPod. He’s loaded the thing with over 1,200 songs produced, arranged, composed, and/or played by the man. A deal with the devil? He keeps wondering.

I guess congratulations are in order. David Foster became an uncle this month, and he now has a nephew named Parker Foster Aiken.

David’s 50-year-old sister Jaymes Foster was artificially inseminated by Clay Aiken, of all people, and the dark-haired baby boy was born at 8:08 AM on Friday, August 8 (could it possibly have been a c-section?), weighed six pounds, two ounces, and was 19 inches long. Amazing.

I wonder who they named him after. Colonel Parker? Nah, that’s kinda weird considering that David recently divorced Elvis Presley’s ex-girlfriend. Charlie Parker? Dorothy Parker? Hardly.

Probably Sarah Jessica Parker.

You know, every now and then I dream of the decadent lifestyle of a successful writer-producer-something-anything in the hills of Beverly. But it only takes a quick glance at the surreal lives of these plastic-coated people to realize it would be like entering the Roman Empire just before the fall of Rome.

It’s comforting to see sturdy old people like uncle David staying true to themselves in the face of the impending Dark Ages, though, never giving an inch to the decay, with a mere three wives and half a dozen kids or so, everything under fairly conventional circumstances, or so it seems. Bear in mind that whenever I say “it seems” in this series I appear to be wrong.

(more…)

Over the next year Terje Fjelde has agreed to listen to nothing but David Foster on his iPod. He’s loaded the thing with over 1,200 songs produced, arranged, composed, and/or played by David Foster. A deal with the devil? He keeps wondering.

The Olympics are coming up, folks, and what better time to take a look at Mr. Foster’s efforts in the games over the years?

David Foster boasts a proud Olympic history — he composed the classic pop instrumental “Winter Games” and conducted the orchestra during the ceremonies at the Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1988; he conducted alongside John Williams at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and provided a song for Celine Dion at that; he wrote Leann Rimes a tune for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and, finally, he stroke up the band with Andrea Bocelli’s “Because We Believe” at the closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

Now the moment we’ve waited for is coming true
And our hopes and our dream will soon shining through
And the feeling we know is here to stay
And whatever may come, we’ll see it through remembering today.

If only, my friends, if only. (more…)

Over the next year Terje Fjelde has agreed to listen to nothing but David Foster on his iPod. He’s loaded the thing with over 1,200 songs produced, arranged, composed, and/or played by David Foster. A deal with the devil? He keeps wondering.

Are you bored? What can I say? My David Foster experience is a breeze. It’s fun. It’s educational. My posts so far are almost snark-free, I’m turning into a blind-eyed David Foster apologist a la the loyal hordes of Trent Reznor. Is this real, or is it a subliminal reaction to my unsound David Foster exposure? It’s too early to tell for sure, but you can rest assured I’ll be keeping a close eye on my condition, and keep you updated on any sign of mental decay.

Dolly Parton - “Here You Come Again,” from Here You Come Again (1977)

David Foster collaborated with Dolly Parton on several occasions, but this was probably their most important encounter. You may even say that a little bit of pop music history was made during the recording of this Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil song. Then again, you may not. Anyway, here’s David Foster in 1986:

I love that sound of the Rhodes and the piano together. We stumbled across that when we were doing “Here You Come Again” for Dolly Parton. Gary Klein was the producer, and I was playing keyboards. I don’t remember whether I started on the Rhodes or the acoustic, but after we got the track, I said, “Hey, why don’t try the exact same part again on the other piano?” I did it, and it was this very cool sound. That sound stuck with a lot of people for a few years.

I loved that sound, too. I still do, actually, but I’m embarrassed to admit it, so therefore I speak in the past tense. (more…)

Over the next year Terje Fjelde has agreed to listen to nothing but David Foster on his iPod. He’s loaded the thing with over 1,200 songs produced, arranged, composed, and/or played by David Foster. A deal with the devil? He keeps wondering.

Let’s return to the 1970s today, shall we? Up for some pre-teen pop, maybe? Wait, don’t go! It’s better than you may think.

The Keane Brothers by The Keane Brothers (1977) is another early David Foster production. The record was released when John Keane was 11 and Tom Keane 12, and all songs (save one) were written by the brothers themselves. Both of them were multi-instrumentalists and they were coached by their dad, Bob Keane, musician, producer and owner of Del-Fi Records. These guys were pretty amazing — take a look at this clip from a TV show in early 1977. It’s John on drums and Tom on piano and vocals. “Amy (Show The World You’re There)” refers to Amy Carter, by the way:

The Keane Brothers consists of light pop with some unmistakable David Foster trademarks. He produced and arranged the album and, as usual, he’s in good company: The Tower of Power horn section, Bill Champlin on background vocals and arrangements, Larry Carlton and Jay Graydon on guitars, Jeff Porcaro, Ed Greene and Nigel Olsson on drums and Lee Sklar and Mike Porcaro on bass.

All these guys had settled as first-call studio players by this time, and you can find them on most of Foster’s productions (and just about everything else recorded between 1977 and 1990) along with the rest of the gang: Dean Parks, John Robinson, Dave Hungate, Abe Laboriel, Mike Landau, Ray Parker, Jr., and so on — you’re a Popdose reader, so you probably know the deal.

Now that you know who plays on all these records I’m writing about, I guess there’s no need for me to ever bring it up again. Too bad; I love listing session musicians. (more…)

In a recent smackdown bitch slap Chartburn discussion that will be published tomorrow, we had cause to discuss the merits of “She’s a Beauty” by the Tubes. I won’t disclose the consensus, because we’d rather all of you read the post and not rely on my Dose-opedia version. Suffice it to say that I suddenly had an urge to revisit the band’s work. I avoided the earlier and — some would rightly say — weirder stuff like “White Punks on Dope,” and aside from a solitary spin of my vinyl version of The Completion Backward Principle (1981), I didn’t swim too far into the dangerous waters where the deadly David Fosters lurk (even though that’s where all their best material is floating).

First up was the Todd Rundgren-produced Love Bomb, a recording that is wildly uneven, even for a band that prided itself on unevenness. (”Wild Women of Wongo”? “Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman”? Issues, anyone?) There wasn’t much to say about the album. I liked the tune “Piece by Piece,” but you could get that on the Tubes’ 1992 best-of compilation, so memory lane tends to be awfully unkind to ol’ Love Bomb.

(more…)