 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
December, 2006
 
Stay True to Yourself
A Hit Songwriter Imparts Some Words of Wisdom by Hal Selzer "Folk, roots music, with a little bit of blues in there, and a little bit of rock and roll in there, and a little bit of country," says hit songwriter Robert Hazard, in talking about his current work. "It's a funny thing, but privately it's something I've always been doing. Now I'm doing it publicly, putting my cards on the table." Hazard is known for writing one of the biggest hits of the past 25 years, "Girls Just Want To Have Fun," which Cyndi Lauper took to the top of the charts all over the world. "It's a really interesting story," he explains. "I wrote the song around 1979. I wrote it really quick and the song started to grow on me, 'This song is really a pop hit,' you know, I really thought that. Around 1980 or 1981 I did a showcase for A&M Records. Rick Chertoff was an A&R man for them and he didn't sign me to his label. Three or four years later he called me on the phone: 'Remember I came to the showcase? The song "Girls Just Want To Have Fun"? Boy, do I have a singer for that song!' Years later, after he heard it. That's how it happened. I didn't put much faith in it. He had big plans for the song. His arrangement for the little ska thing happening, he had the whole thing he wanted to do. It was really great. My version was a straight-ahead rock thing, like the Ramones doing 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun.' He added all that color." The single reached the Top 10 in 15 different countries, including No. 1 in Australia, Brazil, Chile, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and Norway, No. 2 in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., No. 3 in Austria, the Netherlands, Italy and South Africa, and No. 6 in Germany and Switzerland. It became a huge part of 1980s culture. Not only did the song became an anthem for female attitude, but it set fashion trends, as the video showed Lauper wearing bright, outrageous clothes that looked like they came from a thrift store." Hazard's advice to aspiring songwriters is to stay focused on what you believe in and who you are as an artist. "I'd say that the most important thing is freedom," he says. "Don't say anything you don't want to say; say what you really want to say, and start looking for the words and the melodies that you want to say. And don't lie, don't edit yourself, do what you want to do. I'm in my 50s and it took me this long to learn it, and that is you've got to have fun! I look at it as a kind of a game, or a kind of a puzzle, and you're on cloud nine when you wrote this song, and it's done. Don't try to do something that you can't do. Do what you can do the best you can, and that's it. You've just got to be free; you've got to just go with the flow. And that's not always easy to do. I've gone through periods where you're just dry and I don't have anything to say. If you don't have anything to say, don't. Go play basketball or something." An important thing in staying true to yourself is learning to say no when necessary, even if it means giving up an opportunity in the short run. When someone tells you what they are looking for, don't try to morph into what they want you to be. "Industry people, sometimes you have to say, 'OK, see ya,'" says Hazard. "You have to just walk away from that; it's just not going to work. I'm not saying that there aren't things that are successful, that are very well thought out and planned, but I don't think it's going to be successful in the long run if you're a serious songwriter. When I wrote 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun,' commerciality was the last thing on my mind. But then after I wrote it, and I'm sitting there with it and I'm playing it, I'm thinking, This is a hit song, and I really started to play with it. I knew I had a gem. I also knew that it wasn't for me to sing." Hazard is still a vital songwriter and has just released a new album, The Seventh Lake, which is garnering extensive critical acclaim. He is also playing select tour dates. For more information on the new album and upcoming shows, check out www.roberthazard.com. |