Desmond Child GRAMMY Award Winning Songwriter Monday December 13, 2004 Interview by Dan Kimpel Produced by Denise Bradley Cinegrill at Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel 7000 Hollywood Blvd 8pm Desmond Child 9:30pm Edgar Cortazar, Willis McNeil and John Stowers « previous show | next show »

With remarkable consistency songwriter and producer Desmond Child has spent more than two decades as one of the music industry's most successful creative forces, racking up no less than 59 Top 40 singles.

Child has managed to apply his talents to a wide-ranging list of artists; he's worked with everyone from Cher to Iggy Pop, from KISS to Kelly Clarkson. Recently, Child's songs have appeared on Joss Stone's Mind Body Soul, which debuted at number one in the U.K., and Hilary Duff's self-titled album, which entered the U.S. chart at number two. The only things those two stardom - but Child's career has been distinguished by just such diversity.

"Desmond's a chameleon," Aerosmith's Steven Tyler told Rolling Stone. "The first time we met, we wrote 'Angel' in about an hour and 45 minutes - and I'm not bullshitting. The guy's a fucking genius."

"The Desmond you don't know about," says Jon Bon Jovi, "is the one who not only taught me the next level of songwriting but so many of the true aspects of friendship: truth, honor and loyalty. We've been through a lot together - the ups and the downs…and the ups again."

Born in Gainesville, Florida, Desmond saw first-hand how tough the pursuit of a musical career can be early on as he watched his mother, Cuban composer Elena Casals, attempt to get her songs placed.

In 1973, Child's musical ambitions took him to New York City, accompanied by his friend Maria Vidal. A few months later they formed Desmond Child and Rouge and the group signed with Capitol. Child's songs caught the ear of KISS guitarist Paul Stanley, who asked Desmond to co-write a track for the band's 1982 Killers album. The result was "I Was Made for Loving You," one of the biggest hits of KISS' long career. A delighted Stanley gave Child's number to the struggling New Jersey rockers Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, and in the basement of the house where Sambora still lived with his parents, the three banged out what would become Bon Jovi's first number-one single, "You Give Love a Bad Name." The collaborators followed that coup with two more chart-toppers: "Livin' on a Prayer" from the band's breakthrough Slippery When Wet album and "Bad Medicine" from the follow-up, New Jersey.

Child soon duplicated the feat with Aerosmith, collaborating on "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" and "Angel" (from the band's 1987 comeback album, Permanent Vacation) and, "What It Takes" (Pump, 1989) and the Grammy-winning "Crazy" (Get a Grip, 1993). During the same period, along with co-writing Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You" and Alice Cooper's "Poison," he began branching out from his rock base, collaborating with Michael Bolton and Diane Warren on "How Can We Be Lovers" and co-writing (again with Warren) and producing "Just Like Jesse James" for Cher. He also found time to record the solo album Discipline (Elektra, 1991), which contained his own Top 40 hit, "Love on a Rooftop."

In the late '90s, Child reached back to his Latin heritage via his collaboration with Ricky Martin. Their efforts resulted in the number-one worldwide smash "Livin' La Vida Loca" (produced and co-written by Child) and the 1998 World Cup Theme "The Cup of Life" (which he co-wrote and co-produced), a chart-topper in 20 countries. "Livin' La Vida Loca" received Grammy nominations for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Album, and is enjoying a second life as the end-title of Shrek 2. Martin's second English-language album, Sound Loaded (1999), contained seven Child co-writes, including the hits "She Bangs" and "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely," the latter a duet with Christina Aguilera, as was the Spanish version of the song, "Solo Quiero Amarte." In addition, Child co-wrote "Weird" for Hanson's debut album, Middle of Nowhere, which has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.

In January of 2000, Child combined his hitmaking skills and experience with those of Winston Simone and David Simoné as the three song men formed Deston Songs. While still in its infancy, the publishing company started notching up hits, including the Baha Men's "Who Let the Dogs Out" and the above-mentioned "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely." Since those auspicious beginnings, Deston has gone on to score smashes with artists as varied as 50 Cent, Celine Dion, LeAnn Rimes, Clay Aiken (whose recording of "This Is the Night" was the biggest single of 2003) and Diana DeGarmo (whose "Dreams" was the second biggest single of 2004).

"We started Deston Songs because we wanted to create a publishing company for the songwriter that catered to a songwriter's special needs," says Child, who frequently collaborates with other Deston writers. Modeled after the traditional Tin Pan Alley publishing houses, the company is devoted to creating a positive, encouraging and creative environment for songwriters. While pitching songs has become all but a lost art in today's music business, pitching and placing songs is Deston's chief priority - making it a valuable resource for record labels and a godsend for songwriters.

Now, nearly 20 years after beginning his long-term relationship with the number one in that New Jersey basement, Child remains as in-demand as ever; the latest clients of this perennially hot property include LeAnn Rimes, Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Diana DeGarmo, Jesse McCartney, Hilary Duff, Joss Stone and his old pals Bon Jovi. His singular achievements as a songwriter, producer and music publisher make Desmond Child one of the most inventive and successful hitmakers in pop history.

Edgar Cortazar
...a modern poet who's creations have touched the heart of superstars such as Luis Miguel, with whom he collaborated as a lyricist on 3 songs on his recent multi-platinum Grammy nominated "33" album. Cortazar is a first call demo singer with more than 350 demos to his credit and is currently recording his own album on the Warner Brothers Latin Division label. Born into a musical family, Edgar has been influenced by art from his grandfather, Ernesto Cortazar, who composed most of Mexico's popular music hits in the 40's and 50's and by his father, Ernesto Cortazar Ducker, who created background music for more than 600 movies in Mexico. As a voiceover artist, he can be heard on radio spots and commercials for Ford, Disney, Chrysler, Telemundo, Univision and Frito Lay. Cortazar's credits with Disney's Latin Music Division as a Composer / Lead voice and Background Vocalist include Canciones de Viaje (Travel Songs) 1997and Multiplicando! (Multiplaying!) 1999.

John Stowers
has been called one of the most promising singer/songwriters in Southern California. "A rootsy pop rocker with surprising soul." John grew up in rural Missouri listening to his older brother's classic rock and soul records. He draws from this rich musical history when writing his songs. There are echoes of everything from Liverpool to Memphis in his music. John recently won a 2004 Billboard World Song Contest Award. His song "Jimmy's Song" was one of the final 3 winners in the R&B/Blues category. John is currently working with producer Ed Tree to complete his debut CD due out early next year.

www.johnstowers.com

Willis McNeil
had success in Honolulu Hawaii with the R&B funk band TKO, singing lead vocals and rhythm guitar. He had the opportunity to try some of his originals with that band and created quit a local buzz with radio airplay and live performances. He later decided to move to the Bay area. The Northern California Song Writers Association is where his serious song writing journey continued. He flourished wih award winning lyrics, melodies and musical arrangements. Here in LA, Willis has played with many bands singing and playing guitar at such venues as; BB Kings Universal City, Harvels, Hard Rock Café, McCabes, Lunarias, and Angel City Film Festival to name a few.

"Willis' brilliance in delivering lyrics to the audience is like a quiet storm over a melodic sea."

www.willismcneil.com

Dan Kimpel,
one of the media's foremost authorities on pop music and songwriters, contributes to a variety of print and electronic mediums, including LA's Music Connection. 14 million monthly passengers hear Kimpel's interviews with songwriters and recording artists on United Airlines flights. Author of the best-selling book, Networking in the Music Business, Dan has taught a course based on this text at Sir Paul McCartney's Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts since 1998 Dan has produced concerts and events with Sheryl Crow, Sting, Paul Simon, Joii Mitchell, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Quincy Jones, Tom Petty, Burt Bacharach, Kenneth Babyface Edmonds, Glen Ballard and Diane Warren.

www.dankimpel.com