Confessions of a Serial Songwriter
(Book). A 2017 Best Spoken Word Album Grammy Nominee! Confessions of a Serial Songwriter is an amusing and poignant memoir about songwriter Shelly Peiken's journey from young girl falling under the spell of magical songs to working professional songwriter writing hits of her own. It's about growing up, the creative process the highs and the lows, the conflicts that arise between motherhood and career success, the divas and schemers, but also the talented and remarkable people she's found along the way. It's filled with stories and step-by-step advice about the songwriting process, especially collaboration. And it's about the challenge of staying relevant in a rapidly changing and youth-driven world. As Shelly so eloquently states in Confessions of a Serial Songwriter : "If I had to come up with one X factor that I could cite as a characteristic most hit songs have in common (and this excludes hit songs that are put forth by an already well-oiled machine...that is, a recording artist who has so much notoriety and momentum that just about anything he or she releases, as long as it's 'pretty good,' will have a decent shot at succeeding), I would say it would be: A universal sentiment in a unique frame ." Peiken has tapped the universal sentiment again and again; her songs have been recorded by such artists as Christina Aguilera, Natalie Cole, Selena Gomez, Celine Dion, the Pretenders, and others. In Confessions of a Serial Songwriter , she pulls the curtain back on the music business from the perspective of a behind-the-scenes hit creator and shares invaluable insight into the craft of songwriting.
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Confessions of a Serial Songwriter
(Book). A 2017 Best Spoken Word Album Grammy Nominee! Confessions of a Serial Songwriter is an amusing and poignant memoir about songwriter Shelly Peiken's journey from young girl falling under the spell of magical songs to working professional songwriter writing hits of her own. It's about growing up, the creative process the highs and the lows, the conflicts that arise between motherhood and career success, the divas and schemers, but also the talented and remarkable people she's found along the way. It's filled with stories and step-by-step advice about the songwriting process, especially collaboration. And it's about the challenge of staying relevant in a rapidly changing and youth-driven world. As Shelly so eloquently states in Confessions of a Serial Songwriter : "If I had to come up with one X factor that I could cite as a characteristic most hit songs have in common (and this excludes hit songs that are put forth by an already well-oiled machine...that is, a recording artist who has so much notoriety and momentum that just about anything he or she releases, as long as it's 'pretty good,' will have a decent shot at succeeding), I would say it would be: A universal sentiment in a unique frame ." Peiken has tapped the universal sentiment again and again; her songs have been recorded by such artists as Christina Aguilera, Natalie Cole, Selena Gomez, Celine Dion, the Pretenders, and others. In Confessions of a Serial Songwriter , she pulls the curtain back on the music business from the perspective of a behind-the-scenes hit creator and shares invaluable insight into the craft of songwriting.
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Confessions of a Serial Songwriter

Confessions of a Serial Songwriter

by Shelly Peiken
Confessions of a Serial Songwriter

Confessions of a Serial Songwriter

by Shelly Peiken

Paperback

$19.99 
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Overview

(Book). A 2017 Best Spoken Word Album Grammy Nominee! Confessions of a Serial Songwriter is an amusing and poignant memoir about songwriter Shelly Peiken's journey from young girl falling under the spell of magical songs to working professional songwriter writing hits of her own. It's about growing up, the creative process the highs and the lows, the conflicts that arise between motherhood and career success, the divas and schemers, but also the talented and remarkable people she's found along the way. It's filled with stories and step-by-step advice about the songwriting process, especially collaboration. And it's about the challenge of staying relevant in a rapidly changing and youth-driven world. As Shelly so eloquently states in Confessions of a Serial Songwriter : "If I had to come up with one X factor that I could cite as a characteristic most hit songs have in common (and this excludes hit songs that are put forth by an already well-oiled machine...that is, a recording artist who has so much notoriety and momentum that just about anything he or she releases, as long as it's 'pretty good,' will have a decent shot at succeeding), I would say it would be: A universal sentiment in a unique frame ." Peiken has tapped the universal sentiment again and again; her songs have been recorded by such artists as Christina Aguilera, Natalie Cole, Selena Gomez, Celine Dion, the Pretenders, and others. In Confessions of a Serial Songwriter , she pulls the curtain back on the music business from the perspective of a behind-the-scenes hit creator and shares invaluable insight into the craft of songwriting.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781495049255
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date: 03/01/2016
Pages: 288
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Shelly Peiken (Los Angeles) is a Grammy-nominated songwriter. She has been a prolific, behind-the-scenes force in the music business for more than two decades. Her songs have sold in excess of 50 million records. She is best known for penning culturally resonant, female-empowerment anthems such as Christina Aguilera's No. 1 hit “What a Girl Wants” and Meredith Brooks' smash “Bitch.”

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Introduction 1

The Muse 5

SongSex 9

Snapshot: Crystal Blue Persuasion 10

Movin' on Up 11

Carly Simon 22

So Sue Me 24

Underneath It All 27

The Mother App 28

Snapshot: I Saw the Light 30

The Antidote 31

A Visit from Jim 40

The Opportunists 43

Wilson (No) Phillips 46

Daring to Suck 50

That Song! 51

A Perfect Storm 57

Bitches & Babies 58

Snapshot: Sara Smile 60

Her Name Was Christina 61

Miss America 66

One on One 70

Human & the Chrissies 72

Christina-The Sequel 77

Cars & Cats 78

Free Falling 81

Almost Doesn't Count Almost Didn't 82

Snapshot: Maggie May 85

So Sue Me (Twice) 86

No. 1 91

I Could Cry 94

Come On Over, Shelly 99

Breaking Away 101

Napster 104

Suzan, My Wife 106

The Mother App Revisited 109

Map to My Song 111

Snapshot: Time Travel 115

Cirque du Beatles 117

6 Degrees of John Lennon 119

Snapshot: Across the Universe 122

Eargasms 123

Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus 126

What a Girl Wants (The Movie) 127

Turn the Page 131

Snapshot: Fast Car 133

Where Have All the Albums Gone? 134

So Sue Me X3 137

Forever Young 139

Snapshot: What's Love Got to Do with It? 142

Nashville 143

Stumbling 146

Snapshot: Creep 148

Tom & Delilah 149

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes 153

Toplining 156

17 Minutes of Britney 158

Come Together 163

How Hard Can You Get Me 164

Double Dipping 167

Kum Ba Yah 170

Gleeful 174

Snapshot: Beautiful 177

Worst Session Ever 178

Farewell, My Muse 184

The Competition 186

Snapshot: Human 189

He Ain't Heavy 190

Get Off My Cloud 192

Fucking You 195

The Way It Wasn't 198

(Not So) Gently Down the Stream 202

What on Earth Is a Hit Song? 205

Ain't Gonna Happen 210

Suddenly 213

Grammy Fever 217

The Future Always Comes 220

Should I Stay or Should I Go 222

Snapshot: Complicated 225

Tick Tock 226

The Pitch 228

A Little Help from My Friends 232

Accidentally on Purpose 235

To Sell or Not to Sell 238

So You Want to Be a Songwriter 242

Little Earthquakes 244

Landsliding 247

The Gap 248

I Hope You Dance 253

Afterword 255

Thank you 257

Glossary 259

Index of Songs 263

Index 265

Photograph, Text, and Lyric Credits 270

About the Author 276

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