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Since Billboard magazine began tracking the popularity of music back in 1940, there have been over thirteen hundred #1 songs — however, a majority of those were not written by the artists who performed them. Today on Twenty Thousand Hertz, the world’s leading podcast about all things sound, host Dallas Taylor and writer-reporter Andrew Anderson peel back the curtain of pop music, highlighting the songwriters behind some of the biggest singles of the last forty years. In interviews with Desmond Child and Gizzle, this brand new episode showcases an oft-unsung side of the industry, while delivering the inside scoop on working with the likes of Bon Jovi, KISS, Ricky Martin, Snoop Dogg and more.
Listen to “Hidden Hitmakers” Here
The episode begins with a dive into the history of contemporary songwriting - moving from the writers and publishing companies of the Brill Building into early rock n’ roll, through the British Invasion, and eventually arriving at the modern pop era. Next, the show introduces Desmond Child. As one of the most successful songwriters of all time, Desmond has penned top-10 hits in every decade since the 1970s, working with artists as eclectic as Alice Cooper, Cher, Hanson and Katy Perry. While he started out playing the NYC circuit with his own band, Desmond Child & Rouge, his solo aspirations ultimately led to his big break as a songwriter. Admiring his band from the audience, KISS guitarist Paul Stanley approached Desmond, and suggested they write together. From that first session, the disco-rock spectacular “I Was Made For Loving You” was born. Even though Gene Simmons hated the track, Desmond found himself opening countless new doors to collaborations with Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Kelly Clarkson and many others.
In dissecting the tactics of a chart-topping track, Desmond finds it’s always best to start with a strong title. It’s a method he used when writing “You Give Love a Bad Name” with Bon Jovi, and the same approach he then took when dreaming up “Livin’ La Vida Loca” for Ricky Martin, which he reveals was first inspired by a Southwestern chicken chain.
GRAMMY award-winning rapper and songwriter Gizzle agrees. “The hook is what's going to bring the average listener in and the masses,” she says. “And then once you got the hook, it's like, ‘Okay, phew! I can breathe on these verses.’” Gizzle had her first songwriting experience with a local producer while in college, but now, if you name a hip-hop artist from the last 10 years, chances are good that she’s worked with them.
Early on, the legendary Teddy Riley took Gizzle under his wing, and since then, she has written for Nicki Minaj, Puff Daddy, Snoop Dogg, Travis Scott, Ty Dolla Sign and many more. For Gizzle, songwriting is always a balance between bringing her own fresh perspective, and considering what the audience wants to hear. “I think that songwriters and the songs that they write, it's the news…It's always an indication of the times, you know? It's how we go back and reflect on how we've grown throughout these eras,” she concludes. “So that's why it's important for songwriters and artists and producers to make these records that resonate…Because it speaks to a lot of people's experience and understandings and feelings that they felt, but weren't able to express.”
Twenty Thousand Hertz is currently nominated for Best Knowledge, Science or Tech Podcast, and Best Production & Sound Design at the 2022 Ambies Awards. In addition to the overlooked world of hit songwriting, Twenty Thousand Hertz has recently explored common chord progressions, synesthesia, perfect pitch, vocal nodes and more as part of its mission to elevate sound to the same level of care, curation and attention as our other four senses.
For an extended cut of “Hidden Hitmakers” - including the story of how Desmond Child became Aerosmith’s “silent sixth member” after working on “Dude Looks Like A Lady” - listeners can sign up to become a Twenty Thousand Hertz contributor HERE.
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