0:00:03 > 0:00:07Pop music - glitz, glamour, stars.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11A global industry worth an estimated 30 billion.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15But none of it would exist without this.
0:00:15 > 0:00:16# Baby love, my baby love... #
0:00:16 > 0:00:19- The song. - It all starts with the song.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22No matter if you're talking about rock and roll, pop music, anything.
0:00:22 > 0:00:28If the song doesn't have it, all the other stuff is just...child's play.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32You see the occasional little jewel or hear the occasional jewel in the pop canon
0:00:32 > 0:00:35and you think, "OK, that's why I like pop music."
0:00:35 > 0:00:37# It's not about the money... #
0:00:37 > 0:00:39So, what makes a great pop song?
0:00:39 > 0:00:41Pop music has to be emotional,
0:00:41 > 0:00:44whether it makes you angry, makes you cry, laugh,
0:00:44 > 0:00:47makes you want to tell somebody you love them.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49It's got to be the record you play before you go out.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51It's got to make you feel good.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56There are certain songs that, everyone loves this song. Even if you say you don't, you really do.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01You usually get a song, a real song, from just something that happens in your head.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05In this series, we talk to some of pop's biggest songwriters
0:01:05 > 0:01:08to find out just how they wrote their hits.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13And we follow professional songwriter Guy Chambers,
0:01:13 > 0:01:16as he collaborates on some brand-new songs.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20Most singles selling over a million in Britain are written with the help
0:01:20 > 0:01:22of professional songwriters like Guy.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26He's worked with everyone, from Tina Turner to Kylie Minogue.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31But it's his collaboration with Robbie Williams that made him famous.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35Together they've sold over 40 million albums.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39So far in this series, Guy's written a ballad with Rufus Wainwright.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42Now he's attempting what every up-and-coming artist is in search of -
0:01:42 > 0:01:45the elusive breakthrough single.
0:01:46 > 0:01:51And he's going to get super-producer Mark Ronson to write it with him.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53We'll follow the process
0:01:53 > 0:01:57from pen and paper to the very first public performance
0:01:57 > 0:02:00and find out some of the secrets of the song-writing trade.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02Hello. How you doing?
0:02:02 > 0:02:05CHEERING
0:02:16 > 0:02:19# Pop, pop, pop music... #
0:02:19 > 0:02:22Pop. It dominates the charts.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24We now buy more of it than any other style of music.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27# ..Pop, pop, pop music... #
0:02:27 > 0:02:31For people who write hit songs, there's serious money to be made.
0:02:31 > 0:02:37Global sales of music may have dropped 40% in the past decade,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40but one international hit can still set the songwriter up for life.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45So what's the secret to a chart-busting single?
0:02:45 > 0:02:47# ..Pop music, talk about... #
0:02:47 > 0:02:48Feeling probably, mostly.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52I mean I've had, what, 78 top tens.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55And I still don't know what a hit is. All I can go by what I feel.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00# If you feel that you can't go on
0:03:00 > 0:03:04# Cos all your hope is gone... #
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Pop music is a diary of contemporary culture.
0:03:08 > 0:03:09You can listen to a good pop record
0:03:09 > 0:03:13and it's rooted in its time.
0:03:13 > 0:03:18# Music makes the people come together... #
0:03:18 > 0:03:20'What makes a good pop song?'
0:03:20 > 0:03:21'Airplay!'
0:03:21 > 0:03:23It's quite essential!
0:03:23 > 0:03:26There's been some dreadful records that've been number one.
0:03:26 > 0:03:31- # Disco, disco duck - Oh, right... #
0:03:31 > 0:03:33The Disco Duck, Agadoo.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37# Aa-ga doo, doo, doo Push pineapple, shake a tree... #
0:03:37 > 0:03:41'A lot of people think what makes a good pop song is that it's been successful,'
0:03:41 > 0:03:42and I hate that mentality!
0:03:42 > 0:03:45"Oh, you've got to admire them. They've done well."
0:03:45 > 0:03:47No, I don't. Arms dealers do well, I couldn't care less.
0:03:47 > 0:03:52# New York, London, Paris, Munich Everybody talk about pop music... #
0:03:52 > 0:03:56The music industry is a cut-throat business and the songwriter's place
0:03:56 > 0:04:01within it depends on their ability to move with the times.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05'The pressure of writing hit, after hit, after hit is immense now.'
0:04:05 > 0:04:08You have to know why you're in the industry in the first place.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13It's an increasingly scientific business, the business of getting pop hits.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15Radio stations will only play
0:04:15 > 0:04:19things that they're convinced their audience will like.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22They'll go out and test these tunes before they'll put them on the air.
0:04:22 > 0:04:28What's happened to pop? It never used to be this way. Or did it?
0:04:31 > 0:04:35The music business has changed an awful lot since Guy Chambers started out.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38He's one of Britain's most successful songwriters.
0:04:38 > 0:04:44- Makka Pakka.- Makka Pakka? Hmm. Daddy doesn't really know that one.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49He knows how to come up with a number one.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52He's had five of them with Robbie Williams.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54MUSIC: "Millennium"
0:04:54 > 0:04:56Guy's written over 1,000 songs.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00In 15 years he's had 21 top tens.
0:05:00 > 0:05:05That's one hit for every 47 songs he's written.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11Now he's going to show us how he does it, with a rare peek into the process.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18He'll be writing a chart song from scratch with music's man of moment.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22ELECTRONIC SOUND EFFECTS
0:05:27 > 0:05:28# Un, deux, trois... #
0:05:28 > 0:05:32Mark Ronson has been dubbed the Prince of Cool
0:05:32 > 0:05:36and is often celebrated as the Phil Spector of his generation.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41A performer in his own right, he came to fame via DJ-ing,
0:05:41 > 0:05:45before becoming one of the new breed of superstar producers
0:05:45 > 0:05:50who helped make stars out of Lily Allen, Adele
0:05:50 > 0:05:52and, most famously, Amy Winehouse.
0:05:52 > 0:05:58# He left no time to regret... #
0:05:58 > 0:06:01Ronson won four Grammys for his work on Back To Black,
0:06:01 > 0:06:06and later bagged a Brit for Best Male Artist.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13Between them, Mark and Guy have sold 60 million albums.
0:06:13 > 0:06:20But can they write a song to put a critically acclaimed newcomer on the musical map?
0:06:20 > 0:06:22- Hey.- Hey, how you doing? - Come in. Welcome.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26- Are you Guy?- Yeah. - Oh, hey. Nice to meet you.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30- I've seen pictures of you but it's always different in the flesh. How's it going?- Good.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34There's always trepidation cos it's like a mixture of...
0:06:34 > 0:06:38First date and then the pressure to actually create something.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42I get a mixture of nervousness and anxiety and excitement
0:06:42 > 0:06:44before I start every project.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47As long as you don't put ridiculously high expectations,
0:06:47 > 0:06:52like, "I'm going to come in and walk out with Angels 2011," it should be all right.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56- Oh, look at this desk.- It used to be in Abbey Road.- Insane!
0:06:56 > 0:06:58We won't necessarily write a hit.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Be great if we did. That would be incredible.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04But hits are very rare things, you know.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07It's like spotting a lion when you're on safari.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10You're more likely to see a few giraffes.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17In the past, a song would have started with real instruments. These days, beats come ready made.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19It'd be nice slowed down.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23SERIES OF BEATS PLAYS
0:07:25 > 0:07:28Just skimming through this...
0:07:28 > 0:07:30SERIES OF BEATS PLAYS
0:07:30 > 0:07:35You've got to start from somewhere, so we're starting from rhythm.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38And the sort of feel of it, flavour of it.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40GUITAR RIFF STARTS UP
0:07:42 > 0:07:44Wow, that's a cool sound.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46PERCUSSION SOUNDS START UP
0:07:48 > 0:07:49How out of tune is that bass!
0:07:49 > 0:07:51'If you sample something,'
0:07:51 > 0:07:54'you have to pay for it and give them a percentage,'
0:07:54 > 0:07:58so usually I just use the sample as an inspiration point to start with
0:07:58 > 0:08:01and you end up replacing it or getting rid of it along the way.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04It's like the same story that the Stones...
0:08:04 > 0:08:07I don't know if it's true, but the Stones used to write their songs by jamming on a Beatles song
0:08:07 > 0:08:11until, after a few hours, it just evolves into something else.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16- You play that...- It could alternate with the bass.- Yeah, yeah.
0:08:16 > 0:08:22HE PLAYS GUITAR RIFF AND SINGS ALONG
0:08:22 > 0:08:26# Then it moves from there, goes da-na da, da-da... #
0:08:26 > 0:08:29HE HUMS THE TUNE
0:08:29 > 0:08:32See what I mean?
0:08:32 > 0:08:34'Every experience is completely different.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39'Sometimes we'll just be sitting in a room for 14 hours and nothing good comes out.'
0:08:39 > 0:08:42JAMMING TOGETHER ON GUITARS
0:08:42 > 0:08:48# They tried to make me go to rehab I said no, no, no
0:08:48 > 0:08:50# Yes I've been black... #
0:08:50 > 0:08:55When I worked on Amy Winehouse's album, we were just making music that we liked
0:08:55 > 0:08:58and after so long of not having hits, I probably thought at the back of my head,
0:08:58 > 0:09:02"I'm never going to have a hit. I might as well just make the music that I like."
0:09:02 > 0:09:06That's when I had a breakthrough moment and started making stuff that WAS successful.
0:09:06 > 0:09:12# ..I'd rather be at home with Ray... #
0:09:12 > 0:09:15There are confines. You're sitting in a room and you're like,
0:09:15 > 0:09:19"Let's not take five minutes to get to the chorus
0:09:19 > 0:09:22"or make a seven-minute epic," but there is also...
0:09:22 > 0:09:25You have to keep your own original voice in it, you know.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29# ..Say no, no, no... #
0:09:29 > 0:09:33There are critics who argue artists like Amy Winehouse are all too rare,
0:09:33 > 0:09:37and that pop has become too formulaic,
0:09:37 > 0:09:39but really, it's always been that way.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43Some of the earliest chart music was created by assembly line.
0:09:43 > 0:09:49But manufactured doesn't necessarily equal bad. Remember this?
0:09:49 > 0:09:54OPENING CHORDS: "Baby Love" by The Supremes
0:09:54 > 0:09:57# Ooo, oo-hoo
0:09:57 > 0:10:01# Baby love, my baby love
0:10:01 > 0:10:04# I need you Oh, how I need you... #
0:10:05 > 0:10:11Motown was the ultimate hit factory, with 192 number ones worldwide.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14Inspired by the car assembly lines in its hometown, Detroit,
0:10:14 > 0:10:18it laid down the blueprint for the perfect pop machine.
0:10:18 > 0:10:24Teams of songwriters and producers churning out songs to strict rules.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27The most famous team was Holland-Dozier-Holland,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30hit-makers for the likes of the Supremes, The Four Tops
0:10:30 > 0:10:33and Marvin Gaye.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35I always called Motown a college with music,
0:10:35 > 0:10:39because a lot of us young songwriters and producers got together
0:10:39 > 0:10:43and we dreamt up different, er, structures
0:10:43 > 0:10:47and things and different things, er, that we felt would be infectious.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51You know, things that would, er, get the kids running
0:10:51 > 0:10:53to the record stores and buying this stuff.
0:10:55 > 0:11:00We would have to have certain chords that brought out the sensitivity.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02Drum beats and different things.
0:11:02 > 0:11:07The marriage between the lyrics and melody had to be right on par.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09They'd take you on a journey.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15- # ..I never loved no-one but you - Don't throw our love away
0:11:15 > 0:11:17# Why you do me like you do... #
0:11:17 > 0:11:21And in those day, those songs were like two, two-and-a-half minutes long
0:11:21 > 0:11:24so, you know, you want to get them in...
0:11:24 > 0:11:28We'd say "get them", in the first eight bars.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32So we had to make sure that those eight bars were very infectious.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45# Sugar pie, honey bunch
0:11:45 > 0:11:48# You know that I love you... #
0:11:49 > 0:11:53Motown's writing teams were often pushed to produce a song an hour.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56They'd judge each other's work in quality control meetings.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00Such was the pressure to produce hits,
0:12:00 > 0:12:04the writers had to mine every ounce of their life experience for ideas.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08My grandfather, watching him when I was a kid,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11my grandmother had a home beauty shop
0:12:11 > 0:12:15and he took his welcoming thing a little bit, you know...
0:12:15 > 0:12:17he was a bit of a rascal, you know!
0:12:17 > 0:12:22So he would say, "Good morning, sugar pie. How're you doing, honey bunch?"
0:12:22 > 0:12:23Flirting, you know, in a way.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27One day, years later, I'm sitting in there, you know...
0:12:27 > 0:12:32HE PLAYS PIANO
0:12:34 > 0:12:37His face came to me and I started thinking.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39# Sugar pie, honey bunch... #
0:12:39 > 0:12:43- # ..Sugar pie, honey bunch - Sugar pie, honey bunch
0:12:43 > 0:12:47# I'm weaker than a man should be
0:12:47 > 0:12:49- # Can't help myself - Can't help myself
0:12:49 > 0:12:52# I'm a fool in love, you see... #
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Now, decades and decades later,
0:12:57 > 0:13:01because of the rules that Motown built,
0:13:01 > 0:13:05we can say that they were a formula, but I don't know.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10They had parameters, they definitely knew what a star was but...
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Sure it was formula, sure. Of course. What was it?
0:13:13 > 0:13:15# ..Tearin' it all apart
0:13:15 > 0:13:17# No matter how I try
0:13:17 > 0:13:20# My love I can't hide... #
0:13:20 > 0:13:23So much art is in the nuance, you know.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25Debussy said works of art makes rules,
0:13:25 > 0:13:27but rules don't make works of art.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30OPENING CHORDS: "Dancing Queen" by ABBA
0:13:31 > 0:13:33Formula or not,
0:13:33 > 0:13:36there are key elements every pop song needs to become a hit.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40Most important is the hook.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43No-one knew that better than '70s legends, ABBA.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46It was one of the secrets of their huge success.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50# You can dance... #
0:13:50 > 0:13:55Benny and Bjorn once said that a pop song has to have at least five hooks.
0:13:55 > 0:14:01A hook is the part of the melody that stands out the most, I suppose.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04# ..Digging the dancing queen... #
0:14:04 > 0:14:08Mamma Mia, for example, starts with something that's really hooky.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12And then the...you know, this hook.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21They put in hooks wherever they possibly could!
0:14:21 > 0:14:24# Mamma mia, here I go again
0:14:24 > 0:14:28# My my, how can I resist you... #
0:14:28 > 0:14:32The hook can be a riff, the chorus, a repetitive lyric.
0:14:32 > 0:14:38It's any bit of the song that sticks in our brains and refuses to leave.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42# ..Blue since the day we parted
0:14:42 > 0:14:45# Why, why, did I ever let you go?
0:14:45 > 0:14:47# Mamma mia... #
0:14:47 > 0:14:51Quite a common thing with uber-catchy things
0:14:51 > 0:14:54is that they have an ability to repel as much as attract.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58I think that's why they're quite scary when you're writing a hit.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02You're thinking, "God, this is great. It's terrible."
0:15:02 > 0:15:05You're thinking it's great and terrible at the same time.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08# Me with the floor show Kicking with your torso
0:15:08 > 0:15:09# Boys getting high... #
0:15:09 > 0:15:11Rock DJ which I wrote with Robbie,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14he didn't really like it. He thought it was cheese!
0:15:14 > 0:15:16Which it probably is.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19# ..I don't wanna rock, DJ... #
0:15:19 > 0:15:23But I just think, "This is really exciting. I'll get on the radio, fantastic."
0:15:23 > 0:15:28But I think the artist is like, "Oh, God, I'll have to sing this for the rest of my life."
0:15:28 > 0:15:34# ..Cos you're keeping me up all night... #
0:15:39 > 0:15:43They obviously want to be cool and monster hits aren't necessarily cool.
0:15:43 > 0:15:48# Karma karma karma karma Karma Chameleon... #
0:15:48 > 0:15:52Boy George did understand that cool wasn't the fastest route to massive commercial success.
0:15:52 > 0:15:58If he hadn't, one of the biggest-selling singles of the '80s might never have happened.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02# ..Red, gold and green, Red, gold and green
0:16:02 > 0:16:05I had to fight to get that on the album.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07I had to physically fight with the band.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09I had to say I was leaving.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11When I first sang it to them,
0:16:11 > 0:16:14they all got pots and pans, starting doing, "Yee-hah,"
0:16:14 > 0:16:17really taking the piss out of me and I was really offended.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20GUITAR PLAYS OPENING BARS
0:16:22 > 0:16:26And I actually think that that guitar that Roy did was a piss-take.
0:16:26 > 0:16:27The dur nur nur...
0:16:27 > 0:16:30I think he was taking the Mickey cos none of them believed...
0:16:30 > 0:16:34I think they knew it was a good song but that it'd be the end of us.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38# Karma karma karma karma Karma chameleon
0:16:40 > 0:16:42# You come and go
0:16:42 > 0:16:44# You come and go-ooh oh... #
0:16:44 > 0:16:48It was really only one of the few times in my life
0:16:48 > 0:16:51where I thought, "No, this is definitely going to be number one."
0:16:51 > 0:16:53It was number one for nine weeks in England.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55I got sick of it in the end. Like, enough now!
0:16:55 > 0:17:01- # ..Every day is like survival - Survival
0:17:01 > 0:17:05# You're my lover, not my rival
0:17:05 > 0:17:08# Every day... #
0:17:08 > 0:17:12If you're having a bad gig and you do that song, game over.
0:17:12 > 0:17:17People just... And I can't do a gig without doing that song.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19I haven't ever and I can't. And I won't ever.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27Neither Guy nor Mark writes lyrics.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29They've asked a singer to do that job.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32- Hi.- Hello.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34Hi. Really nice to meet you. Welcome.
0:17:34 > 0:17:3823-year-old Tawiah is one to watch.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40# Can you see the wind... #
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Recently signed by the chairman of a major record label,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46she's already won a Best Newcomer award
0:17:46 > 0:17:47and has toured with Ronson's band.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51Great things are predicted for her.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55She's even set to sing with chart-topper Cee Lo Green on his next single.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59# Can you see the wind as it blows... #
0:17:59 > 0:18:03I'm really excited. Obviously I have a history with Mark going on tour.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06I was on the road with him for a very long time,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09so to get in the studio and write with him is really exciting.
0:18:09 > 0:18:15Guy Chambers is obviously a huge songwriter so it's an honour.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20So we found some stuff and we kinda... Just one clap loop
0:18:20 > 0:18:24- that was a good start point, it had a good energy.- All right, wicked.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27And then Guy had a cool chord progression.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30I've got a chord sequence. I'll play you what we've got.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32HE STARTS TO PLAY
0:18:48 > 0:18:51- That's cool.- Like it? - Yeah, I like that.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Maybe what we should do is plug in and just...
0:18:54 > 0:18:56- jam around it for a while. - Yeah.- Yeah, OK.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58Just keep it close to your mouth. Yeah, yeah.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Kiss my mic - there's a title!
0:19:01 > 0:19:05Mic, kiss my mic. Yep, yep.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08- Let's see, let's just jam. This is a jam.- Let's do it.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12Before Tawiah can even begin to write lyrics,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15she's going to have to find a vocal melody to fit the track.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18She usually does this by improvising words and sounds
0:19:18 > 0:19:20until something starts to stick.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23# I thought I told you, boy
0:19:23 > 0:19:28# But I didn't cross the line
0:19:28 > 0:19:31# I never told you at the time
0:19:31 > 0:19:35# At the time, way-ah
0:19:35 > 0:19:37# Now we go, now we go
0:19:39 > 0:19:40# Yeah... #
0:19:44 > 0:19:45SHE SCATS
0:19:46 > 0:19:49# ..Da dah da da da da dah
0:19:58 > 0:20:00SHE SCATS
0:20:10 > 0:20:12SHE SCATS
0:20:21 > 0:20:23I don't know. What are you thinking?
0:20:23 > 0:20:26- I like it.- Honestly?- Yeah, no, I do! I like where it goes.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32Tawiah may like it,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35but Mark and Guy don't seem happy with the sound they've created.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Time to change tack.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40Let's try something... Let's try a different rhythm.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43- That one's minor-y, shall we...? Let's try a major-y thing.- OK.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48- Something like that.- Yeah, yeah.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51Something that's a bit... isn't so dark.
0:20:51 > 0:20:57Everyone loves all that African highlife type of guitar thing
0:20:57 > 0:20:59and no-one's claimed it for pop yet.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01Except for I guess Vampire Weekend and...
0:21:01 > 0:21:02Something I've wanted...
0:21:02 > 0:21:06Highlife is a style of dance music made famous in Ghana.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08Mark thinks it's worth exploring.
0:21:08 > 0:21:09RHYTHMIC PERCUSSION
0:21:22 > 0:21:26# Don't stare at the sun It will burn your eyes out
0:21:26 > 0:21:30# I told you so, I told you so
0:21:30 > 0:21:34# I look at the stars
0:21:34 > 0:21:39# I told you so, I told you so
0:21:39 > 0:21:42# That's right, but breathe... #
0:21:42 > 0:21:45Tawiah's spirit was in the song before she walked in the room
0:21:45 > 0:21:48because Guy and I listened to her music and thought,
0:21:48 > 0:21:52what would work? Progressions, sounds, things like that.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54That's always in the back of your head as you start.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56And then, yeah, as soon as Tawiah came
0:21:56 > 0:21:59and started free-styling her melodies over it,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02we all got excited and the energy comes up and it becomes...
0:22:02 > 0:22:07You know, it's not Paul Simon any more, it's like youthful and...
0:22:07 > 0:22:11Paul Simon's great too, don't get me wrong,
0:22:11 > 0:22:13but yeah, of course it's her song.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15Has more of an attitude, I suppose.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17Mm-hmm. All right!
0:22:18 > 0:22:21So it wasn't just a pretty song.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25I think pretty and attitude is always good, great.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28Can we put the kick on it, Lou, so it's just underneath it?
0:22:31 > 0:22:35It's not unusual for songs to be written by a team of people,
0:22:35 > 0:22:37each with different skills.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40Rhythm and structure generally come first.
0:22:40 > 0:22:45Next, the top line, the melody and lyrics.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49But instead of small teams like the early Motown model,
0:22:49 > 0:22:53chart hits today can have a dozen different people credited.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57# On my own, all alone #
0:22:57 > 0:23:00Collaboration is not a dirty word
0:23:00 > 0:23:02but some people took it a little far
0:23:02 > 0:23:04when they get into nine writers on a song
0:23:04 > 0:23:07and then you start to wonder who wrote what?
0:23:07 > 0:23:11STRIKES SINGLE PIANO KEY "..There it is, he's a writer."
0:23:11 > 0:23:14"And oh, yeah there's another word. He's a writer."
0:23:14 > 0:23:16"OK, 'baby'..." "There's another."
0:23:16 > 0:23:19You've got nine writers. What the hell?
0:23:20 > 0:23:24That's suspect to me, you know. I mean, what does nine writers do?
0:23:24 > 0:23:28# Do you believe in life after love? #
0:23:28 > 0:23:32What multiple writers can do is create one of the best-selling singles of all time.
0:23:32 > 0:23:38Cher's Believe has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.
0:23:38 > 0:23:39It had six different writers.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43# ..What am I supposed to do?
0:23:43 > 0:23:44# Sit around and wait for you... #
0:23:44 > 0:23:47One of Believe's writers was Brian Higgins,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50founder of British hit factory, Xenomania.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54I had this theory, I guess a bit of a chaos theory
0:23:54 > 0:23:58that if you throw four or five excellent ideas together,
0:23:58 > 0:24:01that eventually something truly stunning will come out of that,
0:24:01 > 0:24:04or truly original will come out of that.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06It's just a question of if you have the patience to do it.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10From the unlikely setting of this country house in Kent,
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Higgins and his team turn out hits
0:24:13 > 0:24:15for some of the charts' biggest acts,
0:24:15 > 0:24:19including 15 top tens for Girls Aloud.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23An eclectic collection of musicians and writers
0:24:23 > 0:24:29including Higgins' long-term creative partner Miranda Cooper,
0:24:29 > 0:24:33each work on separate sections of tracks.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37Higgins then chooses the best bits, building up songs like jigsaws.
0:24:37 > 0:24:42It's not a committee. If I don't think something's any good, it's no good, that's that.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46There's no point debating it cos I'll never be convinced otherwise.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51# When your stare in my face You're messing with my brain... #
0:24:51 > 0:24:55Xenomania has had 35 top ten hits.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59The very first was Round Round, a number one for Sugababes in 2002.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03# If I'm too complicated That's the way I want to live... #
0:25:03 > 0:25:06We had a drum track which was just stunning
0:25:06 > 0:25:09and so I sat down with Miranda
0:25:09 > 0:25:12on the one day that we had the Sugababes in the studio
0:25:12 > 0:25:16and said, "Right, this is a hit, this piece of music is a hit.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20"I haven't got anything on it. We don't have any song attached to it.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23"What are we going to do about that?
0:25:23 > 0:25:25"You have three hours to come up with something."
0:25:25 > 0:25:28# ..Round round, baby Round round... #
0:25:28 > 0:25:32I came back later and said, "Right, what have you got?"
0:25:32 > 0:25:36And Miranda had gone back through all of the songs she'd written over the last few years
0:25:36 > 0:25:40and sung the chorus of every song against this particular piece of drumming
0:25:40 > 0:25:43and sang to me, # Round round, baby, round... #
0:25:43 > 0:25:45I said, "That's it. That's amazing."
0:25:45 > 0:25:48I grabbed the piece of paper off her, tore upstairs,
0:25:48 > 0:25:53where I had about 15 minutes left with them and got Mutya in the studio immediately. "Sing this."
0:25:53 > 0:25:56And straight away, you know it's a number one record.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59# ..Round round, baby, round round
0:25:59 > 0:26:02# Spinning out on me I don't need no man
0:26:02 > 0:26:04# Got my kicks for free... #
0:26:04 > 0:26:06You literally have eight bars of a chorus,
0:26:06 > 0:26:0915 seconds with loads of this incredible drum track,
0:26:09 > 0:26:13this incredible voice and nothing else.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17I sat in the studio with Nick and Tim, who are two guys that I worked a long time with,
0:26:17 > 0:26:21and got Nick playing a bass and Tim got on the keyboard
0:26:21 > 0:26:23and then me and Miranda sat down
0:26:23 > 0:26:26and started to write verse melodies with the girls in mind.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28We didn't want to lyric it without them
0:26:28 > 0:26:31because we knew they wanted a writing presence.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34So there you have a pop song that's incredibly catchy.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37It's been written over a time span of maybe two or three years
0:26:37 > 0:26:40cos it's drawn on so many different things that have been done.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44It's been written with the artists, who are 17, 18 at the time.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46Do you know what I mean? There's a lot gone into that.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48# Round round, baby, when I go
0:26:48 > 0:26:50- # When I go - When I go
0:26:50 > 0:26:52- # When I go - When I go
0:26:52 > 0:26:54# When I go-oh
0:26:54 > 0:26:56# Go, go, go, go... #
0:26:57 > 0:27:01Ultimately people come to us cos they need songs written
0:27:01 > 0:27:02so everything, to a certain degree,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05if you want to throw the word manufactured at it, you can.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08But there are varying degrees of manufacture.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Diana Ross doesn't write songs but she's a stunning singer,
0:27:11 > 0:27:14and a stunning talent, and no-one would deny that.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17Would you throw manufactured at Diana Ross? Of course not.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19She doesn't write her own songs.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22# You used to wake me up in the morning
0:27:22 > 0:27:27# You used to wake me up in the morning
0:27:27 > 0:27:30By the end of the first day in Guy's studio,
0:27:30 > 0:27:34the three of them have found the bones of the song.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37They've got the structure, melody and a potential chorus.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40# ..You used to wake me up in the morning
0:27:40 > 0:27:43# You used to wake me up in the morning... #
0:27:43 > 0:27:45The track could really explode there.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52This time... # Nah-nah noo-noo... #
0:27:52 > 0:27:55# Ohhh, ohh-ah
0:27:55 > 0:27:58# Oh ooh
0:27:58 > 0:28:01# Wake me up in the morning
0:28:01 > 0:28:04# You used to
0:28:04 > 0:28:07# In the morning, yeah
0:28:07 > 0:28:12# Wake me up in the morning
0:28:12 > 0:28:15# Wake me up in the morning
0:28:15 > 0:28:18# You used to wake me up
0:28:18 > 0:28:20# In the morning Yeah, yeah, yeah... #
0:28:20 > 0:28:22Another word for gone?
0:28:22 > 0:28:24Lost.
0:28:24 > 0:28:25Mm. Lost.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28- I'd say ghost. - Ghost is a good title.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30- You are ghost.- As in toast.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34# And now you're ghost... #
0:28:34 > 0:28:36Vibes.
0:28:36 > 0:28:37Yeah.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39I think the best thing was that,
0:28:39 > 0:28:42Guy, every time you played a change,
0:28:42 > 0:28:44you knew what the right great change was.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47There wasn't a lot of fumbling through chords,
0:28:47 > 0:28:49which is usually what happens when I'm writing.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53Everything inherently felt quite good
0:28:53 > 0:28:56so we didn't have a lot of that fumbling. It's not usually so easy.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58I don't want anyone thinking,
0:28:58 > 0:29:01"So you just sit down with three people and you just...?"
0:29:01 > 0:29:03This just happens to be a pretty,
0:29:03 > 0:29:06- I think this happens to be a good...- Combination.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08..energy in here and it's just, it's just come.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10It's come along well so far.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14One of the key skills for professional songwriters like Guy
0:29:14 > 0:29:18is to be able work instantly and effortlessly
0:29:18 > 0:29:21with different artists in different genres.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24I think today went pretty well.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26It went really well actually. I really like it.
0:29:26 > 0:29:32And I like the fact that it made me play things I wouldn't normally play.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35So it took me out of my comfort zone.
0:29:35 > 0:29:39Tomorrow, it will evolve more, the style of it.
0:29:42 > 0:29:43Until the '60s,
0:29:43 > 0:29:47artists rarely felt the need to create their own material.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51Up till then, it had been the record company's job
0:29:51 > 0:29:55to match singer to professional songwriter.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58But one band would come along and change all that.
0:29:58 > 0:30:03And the way pop music is written has never been the same since.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06There's a historical line here
0:30:06 > 0:30:08to a day in December of 1962
0:30:08 > 0:30:10when the Beatles recorded Please Please Me,
0:30:10 > 0:30:13which went to number one, and they wrote it themselves.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17And that had a catastrophic effect on the music business really,
0:30:17 > 0:30:20making every Tom, Dick and Harry think,
0:30:20 > 0:30:25"I could write my own material because then that would be a reflection on my enormous genius."
0:30:30 > 0:30:35But it's not just about gaining artistic credibility.
0:30:35 > 0:30:37A writing credit on an international hit
0:30:37 > 0:30:40can also add millions to your bank balance.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43So it was only natural that the bigger stars
0:30:43 > 0:30:47would soon start to demand a slice of the songwriter's pie.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50There is an expression, "Add a word, take a third."
0:30:50 > 0:30:54Who's to say that in adding a particular word to a lyric
0:30:54 > 0:30:56or a particular idea, a particular hook,
0:30:56 > 0:31:00you haven't had a huge effect in the commercial appeal of this thing? You could do.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03# Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want
0:31:03 > 0:31:05# So tell me what you want, what you really, really want
0:31:05 > 0:31:08# I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want
0:31:08 > 0:31:10# So tell me what you want, what you really, really want
0:31:10 > 0:31:12# I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna
0:31:12 > 0:31:15# I wanna really, really, really wanna zigaziga. #
0:31:15 > 0:31:17You know, the classic example
0:31:17 > 0:31:20is when the Spice Girls were involved in writing Wannabe
0:31:20 > 0:31:22with Stannard and Rowe.
0:31:22 > 0:31:27They just kind of brainstormed loads and loads of ideas.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29And the zigazaga idea
0:31:29 > 0:31:31was I don't know whose.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33And it went in there,
0:31:33 > 0:31:38and it was part of the great selection box that was that record.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41And so, you know, they get their name on it
0:31:41 > 0:31:44because they played a part in the authorship of it.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46# If you wanna be my lover
0:31:46 > 0:31:47# You have got to give
0:31:47 > 0:31:48# You've got to give
0:31:48 > 0:31:52# Taking is too easy but that's the way it is
0:31:52 > 0:31:54# So here's a story from A to Z
0:31:54 > 0:31:55# You wanna get with me... #
0:31:55 > 0:31:59I've done writing sessions where a certain person hasn't done that much writing
0:31:59 > 0:32:02and...well, I actually wrote that.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05But because they were there and, sort of, some energetic thing,
0:32:05 > 0:32:08- sometimes you go, "Oh,- BLEEP,- give them a share."
0:32:08 > 0:32:10Because they brought something.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12I don't know what it was. Biscuits?
0:32:12 > 0:32:13Cup of tea!
0:32:13 > 0:32:16# You make me so lonely... #
0:32:16 > 0:32:20Elvis realised quicker than most, that there was money to be made.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22As early as the '50s,
0:32:22 > 0:32:25his star power meant he could demand writing credits
0:32:25 > 0:32:28on songs he sang but didn't write.
0:32:28 > 0:32:30And why not?
0:32:30 > 0:32:34The truth is a star can make an average song a monster hit.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37After all, would you have bought THIS?
0:32:37 > 0:32:40HE MUMBLES A MELODY
0:32:40 > 0:32:42# ..Change your mind now. #
0:32:42 > 0:32:46MORE MUMBLING
0:32:46 > 0:32:51PERCUSSIVE, MUMBLED HUMMING
0:32:51 > 0:32:53# Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, oh-no-no. #
0:32:53 > 0:32:55But over five million of us
0:32:55 > 0:32:58rushed out to buy the album when Beyonce sang it.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00# When I talk to my friends, so quietly
0:33:00 > 0:33:03# Look what you did to me. #
0:33:03 > 0:33:07The NME called Crazy In Love the song of the '90s.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10It won a Grammy for writer/producer Rich Harrison.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13# The beat in my heart skips when I'm with you... #
0:33:13 > 0:33:16The way that I write is when I have the instrumental that I like,
0:33:16 > 0:33:19I just grunt a melody,
0:33:19 > 0:33:24you know, and then... I grunt a melody over and over and over again,
0:33:24 > 0:33:27then I pick the one I like, all right?
0:33:27 > 0:33:30And then, um, that's the melody
0:33:30 > 0:33:32and flow for the verse, right?
0:33:32 > 0:33:34Then I grunt over and over and over again.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37That's the melody that I want for the hook.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40# Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, oh-no-no. #
0:33:40 > 0:33:42I didn't have any words in the 'uh-oh' part.
0:33:42 > 0:33:46The 'uh-oh' was just a residual after the grunt hook.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49# Uh, uh, nn, uh, nn, uh, nn
0:33:49 > 0:33:51# Uh-nn, uh-nn, uh-nn, uh-nn-nn... #
0:33:51 > 0:33:53# When I talk to my friends... #
0:33:53 > 0:33:55So she comes in while I'm recording.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58She says, "Run that back."
0:34:00 > 0:34:02I've got to give credit to her, man.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04She knows how to, you know,
0:34:04 > 0:34:07she can see the soul of a record.
0:34:08 > 0:34:11I did not know that'd be the part that everyone would sing.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13# Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, oh-no-no
0:34:13 > 0:34:15# Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, oh-no-no
0:34:15 > 0:34:18# Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, oh-no-no
0:34:18 > 0:34:21# Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, oh-no-no
0:34:21 > 0:34:23# When I talk to my friends, so quietly
0:34:23 > 0:34:24# Who he think he is... #
0:34:24 > 0:34:26It's day two
0:34:26 > 0:34:30and Mark's ready to start sprinkling some magic dust on the track.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33Today, we're going to put down some drums
0:34:33 > 0:34:35so we have a better version of the demo.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37Even if these aren't the final drums,
0:34:37 > 0:34:40it's nice to know what the chorus is going to feel like
0:34:40 > 0:34:41with a live drummer behind it.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44And, er...and then we're also...
0:34:44 > 0:34:47I guess I'm going to sit back and watch Tawiah and Guy write lyrics.
0:34:50 > 0:34:51Yesterday, I guess,
0:34:51 > 0:34:54"You used to wake me up in the morning" was what they picked up on,
0:34:54 > 0:34:59so when I went back home, I kind of listened to the demo
0:34:59 > 0:35:01and it's like what am I saying? "Deep in sleep."
0:35:01 > 0:35:04OK, I'll write that down and, "You never said a word."
0:35:04 > 0:35:09And kind of try and figure out what I'm saying and just the vibe,
0:35:09 > 0:35:13and see if I can make sense of that and write around that.
0:35:13 > 0:35:14So I've got...
0:35:14 > 0:35:18# Oh, something's got to give
0:35:18 > 0:35:20# I can't go on like this
0:35:20 > 0:35:22# What to do, I'm feeling blue
0:35:22 > 0:35:24# Your love I must receive
0:35:24 > 0:35:26# We did not agree
0:35:26 > 0:35:28# To end so suddenly
0:35:28 > 0:35:31# What to do, oh, where are you
0:35:31 > 0:35:36# You used to wake me up in the morning
0:35:36 > 0:35:40# You used to wake me up in the morning
0:35:40 > 0:35:45# You always used to wake me up in the morning
0:35:45 > 0:35:50# You used to wake me up in the morning
0:35:50 > 0:35:52# And now you're ghost. #
0:35:52 > 0:35:56Mark played drums before any other instruments
0:35:56 > 0:35:59and, despite his extensive use of samples,
0:35:59 > 0:36:03for him, nothing sounds better than the real thing.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05And thanks to Guy,
0:36:05 > 0:36:09he has no problem getting top class musicians at a moment's notice.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12You're such a great drummer, man.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14A quick call to ex-Razorlight drummer, Andy Burrows
0:36:14 > 0:36:18and he's only too happy to come in and play.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20Although it's a little bit boring,
0:36:20 > 0:36:22just for the first two choruses,
0:36:22 > 0:36:23could you literally play...
0:36:23 > 0:36:26doo-doo doo-GAT, doo-doo doo-doon-GAT.
0:36:26 > 0:36:27So there's no extra...
0:36:28 > 0:36:30..there's no, cos you're going,
0:36:30 > 0:36:33doo-doo-doon GAT, doo-doon-doon GAT,
0:36:33 > 0:36:35so it's literally like robot shit.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43Can you make it sound, like, Outkast-y,
0:36:43 > 0:36:46- so it sounds like it's just like a break, you know?- Yeah, yeah.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48We'll do it one more time. Is that cool?
0:36:50 > 0:36:53DRUMS AND MUSIC PLAY
0:36:59 > 0:37:04Meanwhile, Guy's picking over Tawiah's lyrics.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09There's a lot riding on this collaboration, so every word counts.
0:37:09 > 0:37:14Tell you what does bug me a little bit, it's the two I's right at the beginning.
0:37:15 > 0:37:17And then I was in a dream.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19- # I was in a dream I was deep in a sleep.- #
0:37:19 > 0:37:22I got one other arrangement idea.
0:37:22 > 0:37:26- # Mama in a dream Dreaming nah, nah, nah.- #
0:37:26 > 0:37:28Somewhere in a dream?
0:37:28 > 0:37:29# Somewhere in a dream. # Yeah.
0:37:29 > 0:37:31- How about that? - # If only I could see.- #
0:37:31 > 0:37:33Yeah, yeah.
0:37:33 > 0:37:34- Yeah.- It's good.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36- It doesn't say too much.- Uh-huh.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39- It's not too much information. - Mm-hm.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42So I'm just thinking, er...
0:37:42 > 0:37:45HE STRUMS GUITAR AND SINGS WORDLESSLY
0:37:52 > 0:37:54Something like, "He haunts me," or...
0:37:54 > 0:37:58Mm. Maybe there's a better word than haunt. It's weird.
0:37:58 > 0:38:02- Not an ugly word! - Haunt.- Haunt.
0:38:02 > 0:38:03Erm...
0:38:05 > 0:38:08# You used to wake me up in the morning
0:38:09 > 0:38:13# You used to wake me up in the morning
0:38:14 > 0:38:17# You used to wake me up in the morning
0:38:17 > 0:38:22# You used to wake me up in the morning, yeah
0:38:22 > 0:38:24# And now you're... In the morning. #
0:38:24 > 0:38:26Or lonely.
0:38:26 > 0:38:33# Lonely, lonely I'm so lonely, lonely. #
0:38:33 > 0:38:34Like that.
0:38:34 > 0:38:38# You used to wake me up in the morning
0:38:38 > 0:38:42# And now I'm lonely, lonely. # Just write that down there.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46- "Lonely, lonely. Now I'm so lonely." - Yeah.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49Did you ever look over Amy's words, Mark?
0:38:49 > 0:38:52When you were working with her. Did she ever show them to you?
0:38:52 > 0:38:56Yeah. She would come in and she would be like, "What do you think of this?"
0:38:56 > 0:38:59I still have, like, scraps of studio that I probably nearly threw away
0:38:59 > 0:39:03with, like, all the lyrics from Back to Black, like chicken scratches,
0:39:03 > 0:39:05like little drawings on the side and shit.
0:39:05 > 0:39:13It's kind of cool. It's good to save them cos you never know what the good ones are either, you know.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17# Wake me up in... # Cool.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23With the lyrics done, they start to add colour to the track.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46Next, the horns, to give it sparkle.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07# You never said a word... #
0:40:07 > 0:40:09Tawiah rounds it off with a belting vocal.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13# It's all I have Why d'you turn so cold?
0:40:13 > 0:40:17# Where in the world Did you take my heart?
0:40:17 > 0:40:22# It's just too quiet now Now that we're apart
0:40:22 > 0:40:25# Something's got to give, I can't go on like this... #
0:40:25 > 0:40:26Love her voice.
0:40:26 > 0:40:28- # What to do, I'm feeling blue... # - Really love her voice.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32# Your love is all I miss Something's got to give
0:40:32 > 0:40:38# I can't go on like this What to do, oh, where are you?
0:40:38 > 0:40:41# You used to wake me up in the morning
0:40:41 > 0:40:45# You used to wake me up in the morning
0:40:45 > 0:40:50# You always used to wake me up in the morning
0:40:50 > 0:40:53# And now you're ghost
0:40:53 > 0:40:54# Oh!
0:40:54 > 0:40:56# And now you're ghost
0:40:56 > 0:40:59# Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
0:40:59 > 0:41:01# You're ghost
0:41:01 > 0:41:07# Oh, oh, oh
0:41:07 > 0:41:09# And now you're ghost. #
0:41:09 > 0:41:13- Great last ghost there, weren't it? - Yeah, that was really good.
0:41:13 > 0:41:19- Thank you.- She records it in just one take, in time to impress the man from her record label.
0:41:19 > 0:41:27It's his job to help steer Tawiah's career and decide whether this could be her breakthrough single.
0:41:28 > 0:41:29# Morning, morning. #
0:41:29 > 0:41:32I heard it really rough last night when I went to bed
0:41:32 > 0:41:35and this morning it was like, "Can I remember the chorus?"
0:41:35 > 0:41:39And I could, and I sung it and texted Tawiah and I was like,
0:41:39 > 0:41:42"I can't believe I still remember the chorus." And they'd hardly laid it down.
0:41:42 > 0:41:48I think it's fresh and it's got so many influences, it's brilliant. Love it.
0:41:50 > 0:41:55It's not unusual for a record company to spend £1 million launching a new act,
0:41:55 > 0:42:00but they'll just as soon drop them like a stone if they don't make an instant impact.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03# Seems like everybody's got a price... #
0:42:03 > 0:42:07This year, Jesse J made a stunning breakthrough with her chart-topping debut Price Tag.
0:42:07 > 0:42:11Add to that a Brit, for Critic's Choice and a platinum album.
0:42:11 > 0:42:17She's become one of the hottest names in the charts.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20I think pop music for me is an exaggeration of life.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23You want to sing along. You know all the words.
0:42:23 > 0:42:28You feel like you're involved in the story, makes you cry, makes you laugh, makes you wanna hit the wall,
0:42:28 > 0:42:31makes you wanna go and tell somebody you love them.
0:42:31 > 0:42:35# It's not about the money, money, money... #
0:42:35 > 0:42:39Price Tag was definitely a song that, once we'd finished it, we all sat down in the studio.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42We always do a listen at the end, and you know when it's good
0:42:42 > 0:42:46because you're there for the whole day and you're going for lunch
0:42:46 > 0:42:48and you're like, # Money, money, money, price tag. #
0:42:48 > 0:42:51And everyone's singing it. The runners are singing it,
0:42:51 > 0:42:54the people that work in the office, and you're like,
0:42:54 > 0:42:56"We only wrote it four hours ago. That's a good sign."
0:42:56 > 0:42:58# Ain't about the ch-ching ch-ching... #
0:42:58 > 0:43:04Jesse began her career writing hits for artists like Justin Timberlake and Miley Cyrus.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08Price Tag was her own take on the difficulties of making it in modern pop.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11# We need to take it back in time
0:43:11 > 0:43:13# When music made us all unite
0:43:13 > 0:43:17# And it wasn't low blows and video...
0:43:17 > 0:43:20# Am I the only one getting tired? #
0:43:20 > 0:43:25For me, music became so much about "I've got this and my cars,"
0:43:25 > 0:43:32and, you know, money and I don't know, just, it became so contrived and it had to fit a box.
0:43:32 > 0:43:33And I wanted to break the mould but
0:43:33 > 0:43:38I wanted to do it in a really pop way cos I love pop music, and, for me, "pop" stands for popular.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41# It's not about the money, money, money
0:43:41 > 0:43:44# We don't need your money, money, money
0:43:44 > 0:43:47# We just wanna make the world dance
0:43:47 > 0:43:49# Forget about the price tag... #
0:43:49 > 0:43:51'The expectation of me as a songwriter
0:43:51 > 0:43:55'is now higher in the media than what I'm actually able to give.'
0:43:55 > 0:44:01I started out as a singer songwriter but, in my last six months in being in the spotlight,
0:44:01 > 0:44:0480% of my time isn't singing or writing songs.
0:44:04 > 0:44:11It's talking about writing songs and singing songs but not actually being given the time to write.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13# Whoa-oh-oh It's not about the money, money... #
0:44:13 > 0:44:18'I could happily live without fame if I could write songs and put songs out.'
0:44:18 > 0:44:23# We just wanna make the world dance, forget about the price tag
0:44:23 > 0:44:26# It ain't about the, oh! Ch-ching ch-ching
0:44:26 > 0:44:29# Ain't about the, yeah, bl-bling bl-bling... #
0:44:29 > 0:44:31'When you're young and inexperienced,'
0:44:31 > 0:44:35there's a kind of beautiful naivete that you can't always have.
0:44:35 > 0:44:39It's kind of, you get a moment of that, you know,
0:44:39 > 0:44:43and I think probably two albums, you still have that.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46The first album is like, you know, just really exciting,
0:44:46 > 0:44:49you throw everything into the pot,
0:44:49 > 0:44:54and then when you get to the second album, I think, usually it's the best album.
0:44:54 > 0:44:58I mean, that's certainly proven historically with a lot of bands, you know.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00The second album is the gem.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03The third album is a nightmare, everyone's falling apart.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06# You sent my letters back... #
0:45:06 > 0:45:10The majority of careers don't survive past the first album,
0:45:10 > 0:45:13but for stars like Sting who do stay the course,
0:45:13 > 0:45:17inspiration can prove harder and harder to come by.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20# You can call it lack of confidence... #
0:45:20 > 0:45:24As you get older, your filters are much more refined.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27You know, the critical mind takes over from the creative mind
0:45:27 > 0:45:32and I think they are opposed and so my critical faculties are highly attuned.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36The creative child in me, you know, that sense of wonder about music,
0:45:36 > 0:45:40is often under the oppression of this critical thing.
0:45:40 > 0:45:42It's, "Oh, you've written that before",
0:45:42 > 0:45:47or "Somebody else wrote that. It's not as good", you know, "Come on try harder."
0:45:47 > 0:45:53And I have to try and lose that, have to try and maintain that wonder and curiosity
0:45:53 > 0:45:57about the creative process that I had when I was a kid.
0:45:57 > 0:46:02# If you need somebody Call my name
0:46:04 > 0:46:07# If you want someone... #
0:46:07 > 0:46:10I have children who are songwriters and they write a song every day.
0:46:10 > 0:46:15Two a day. It takes me months now to write a song. Years.
0:46:15 > 0:46:17# I get up and throw away the key
0:46:19 > 0:46:22# You want to hold on to your position
0:46:22 > 0:46:25# Don't wanna think about me. #
0:46:28 > 0:46:29# But it's not...
0:46:31 > 0:46:34# In today
0:46:34 > 0:46:37# Pretty catchy Yeah, yeah, yeah
0:46:39 > 0:46:42# I would say. #
0:46:44 > 0:46:46All right!
0:46:50 > 0:46:51Thought he was great.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55He was very precise about what he liked and didn't like,
0:46:55 > 0:46:57which I always, I like that.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00I don't like grey area. He's very good at suggesting something
0:47:00 > 0:47:03that's different from what you're doing without you feeling
0:47:03 > 0:47:06like he doesn't like what you're doing. That's a talent.
0:47:06 > 0:47:08I'd like to hear the song on the radio.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11That would be amazing and I'd like to see it on any festival.
0:47:11 > 0:47:15You know, it would be great to, if it became part of her set
0:47:15 > 0:47:18and became part of her first record, that would just be fantastic.
0:47:20 > 0:47:22How long's the track by the way?
0:47:22 > 0:47:26- 3:30.- 3:30. This is a good time.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30Anything longer that four, you commit hara-kiri.
0:47:35 > 0:47:40# When I was young I listened to the radio
0:47:40 > 0:47:45# Waiting for my favourite songs
0:47:45 > 0:47:46# When they played... #
0:47:46 > 0:47:52Ultimately, the aim for any songwriter is to get their song out and get it heard.
0:47:52 > 0:47:55But what's the best way for them to do it?
0:47:55 > 0:47:57There's no Top of The Pops, there's no CDUK,
0:47:57 > 0:48:00there's no Saturday morning TV for kids any more
0:48:00 > 0:48:02because kids and teenagers don't
0:48:02 > 0:48:05gather round television sets any more to watch that sort of stuff.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09I think we're back into the equivalent of the late 1950s,
0:48:09 > 0:48:15where there's very, very, very few opportunities on television to get a mass audience.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18Very few opportunities. So therefore the only way you're really gonna be heard
0:48:18 > 0:48:21by a mass audience is radio, which is just massive.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24I think it's more important than ever before.
0:48:27 > 0:48:32Despite the internet, radio still rules when it comes to having a hit,
0:48:32 > 0:48:35so how does a new artist like Tawiah get on the airwaves?
0:48:35 > 0:48:40The same way most acts do, through a radio plugger.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44We are a bridge between a label and radio.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47You essentially go and see every producer,
0:48:47 > 0:48:49head of music, DJ, broadcast assistant
0:48:49 > 0:48:51at the stations you think it's relevant to
0:48:51 > 0:48:56and you sit down with him, play him the music, tell them all the great things about it,
0:48:56 > 0:49:00why they should play that record over the over 200 they've been given that week.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05When I got into this industry, I had this romantic idea
0:49:05 > 0:49:08that every DJ just went in with a box of his favourite records
0:49:08 > 0:49:12and played them, you know, to all and sundry that would listen.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15Um, quickly learnt that it was just utter fantasy.
0:49:15 > 0:49:20There's a process that pretty much every music radio station will have and that's a playlist meeting.
0:49:20 > 0:49:25The key people of that radio station will sit round, in a meeting room,
0:49:25 > 0:49:28and they will listen to all the records that they figure,
0:49:28 > 0:49:33the new records that should be put on rotation, that should start playing immediately.
0:49:33 > 0:49:39It is clinical to a degree. They're sitting round a table and looking at facts and figures and,
0:49:39 > 0:49:43"OK, well that's got 2% and that's got 3% but that's got 8%
0:49:43 > 0:49:46"but this is 4% and that over there is a bigger margin share.
0:49:46 > 0:49:48They do do that, because that's important.
0:49:48 > 0:49:53I mean, their audience is telling them by voting with their ears or the things on the internet
0:49:53 > 0:49:59or they're, you know, all sorts, or buying tickets or buying a magazine if they're on the front cover,
0:49:59 > 0:50:06but they do have, I hope, they do have still a love for music, and there will be times,
0:50:06 > 0:50:11few and far between, where a radio station will go, "D'you know, we just really like it."
0:50:11 > 0:50:14But, before Tawiah can make a play for the playlist,
0:50:14 > 0:50:17the record label has insisted on some last minute changes.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20# I was deep in sleep
0:50:20 > 0:50:24# Somewhere in a dream No way I could see
0:50:24 > 0:50:27# Or even hear you leave You picked the perfect time... #
0:50:27 > 0:50:33I'm back here with Guy to take another look at the chorus for Ghost.
0:50:33 > 0:50:39We've had feedback and it's all been positive but they're like, "Can you try tweaking the chorus?"
0:50:41 > 0:50:48The A&R guy, Thomas, thought that the song could perhaps be a little bit more sexually interesting,
0:50:48 > 0:50:51might be the best way to put it!
0:50:51 > 0:50:53# I can't go on like this... #
0:50:53 > 0:50:58Well, we're gonna try, "We used to make sweet love in the morning."
0:50:58 > 0:50:59We're gonna try that.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02Which is very obvious, but it might work.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06# You used to wake me up in the morning
0:51:06 > 0:51:11# We used to make sweet love in the morning
0:51:11 > 0:51:14# And now you're ghost Oh, oh, oh
0:51:14 > 0:51:17# Said you're ghost. #
0:51:17 > 0:51:21I try not to be overly precious but there are a few songs
0:51:21 > 0:51:25that I am super precious about, and I'm like, "I'm not changing it."
0:51:25 > 0:51:29So that's how it's staying and I don't care.
0:51:29 > 0:51:33But in this situation I'm pretty open.
0:51:33 > 0:51:38# Where in the world Did you take my heart? #
0:51:38 > 0:51:45So have Guy, Mark and Tawiah done enough to get their track onto the radio and into the charts?
0:51:45 > 0:51:48What's the plugger's verdict?
0:51:48 > 0:51:52# What to do? I'm feeling blue Your love is all I miss
0:51:52 > 0:51:54# Something's got to give... #
0:51:54 > 0:51:58I like this bit. I love this bit with the trumpet.
0:51:58 > 0:52:02# You used to wake me up in the morning... #
0:52:02 > 0:52:06I like the progression of it. It starts not expecting what you're gonna get.
0:52:08 > 0:52:13The more you listen to it, the more it sticks. The first couple of times I liked but I didn't love.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16- I'm definitely warming to it.- No, I have to admit, it's grown on me.
0:52:16 > 0:52:21I wasn't struck by it at all. I still don't like the chorus.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24It sounds like it should be a chorus of another song.
0:52:24 > 0:52:28# And now you're ghost
0:52:28 > 0:52:30# You're ghost. #
0:52:30 > 0:52:34- I like it. - It kind of feels like there might be four singles from the album.
0:52:34 > 0:52:38I was thinking, "Would this be the first single you'd launch your album with?"
0:52:38 > 0:52:41And, if that was, you wouldn't be releasing that album.
0:52:41 > 0:52:47- The intro and the verse, it feels like a songwriter's written it and...- Precisely, yeah.
0:52:47 > 0:52:51He's put that structure in and it's building, it's building, it's building
0:52:51 > 0:52:54- and then the chorus goes where it shouldn't, really.- Yeah.
0:52:54 > 0:52:58I liked it and then but I don't, I don't know.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01I'm talking myself out of the record now.
0:53:01 > 0:53:06- It's not bad.- No. - But...it's not great.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08- And that's, I think... - Yeah, you're right.
0:53:08 > 0:53:13- That's quintessentially what everyone's looking for, is something great and something memorable.- Mm.
0:53:13 > 0:53:17A good plugger would get it on the playlist but would it cut through?
0:53:17 > 0:53:20Would the audience buy it? No, so is it deemed a hit?
0:53:20 > 0:53:22I'm not using the 'H' word.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26# Pop, pop, pop music Pop, pop, pop music
0:53:26 > 0:53:29# All around the world Wherever you are... '
0:53:31 > 0:53:34I think now the industry's kind of all wrapped up.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37Everyone knows what to do, how to create the perfect record,
0:53:37 > 0:53:40how to manufacture the perfect artist and that has its pluses...
0:53:40 > 0:53:45but on the wrong side of that is the fact that everyone's doing the same thing.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48Now it's all sort of done to demographics and market research
0:53:48 > 0:53:53and, you know, target audiences which is not really what artistic things are about, you know.
0:53:53 > 0:53:58And I think, with all these kind of reality shows, you've got the audience dictating the art form.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01Dreadful. Imagine if David Bowie had gone on X Factor!
0:54:01 > 0:54:05What would he have said to him? "Lose the cape, honey, the orange hair ain't gonna work."
0:54:16 > 0:54:18# Well, I'm up on the 11th floor
0:54:18 > 0:54:20# And I'm watching the cruisers below... #
0:54:20 > 0:54:25The number of songs that are purely written from the perspective of someone in a night club,
0:54:25 > 0:54:31that would suggest that there's a fairly narrow lyrical palate that people are operating from right now,
0:54:31 > 0:54:34so right now that's not great but it won't last
0:54:34 > 0:54:38because it will get overtaken by something that really is excellent.
0:54:38 > 0:54:40# Everybody talk about pop music
0:54:40 > 0:54:42# Talk about pop music. #
0:54:42 > 0:54:46Pop's cyclical, so as much as you hate it one day, in six months' time,
0:54:46 > 0:54:50someone's come along that changes it all and everybody is in love with it all again, you know.
0:54:50 > 0:54:55But that's why it's the greatest music genre, because you can do anything with it.
0:54:55 > 0:54:59It's like life itself. It's amazing. You can change the world with a pop record.
0:55:04 > 0:55:08You could try to change the world but most acts would happily settle
0:55:08 > 0:55:13for a hit single and it will be the audience who decides that.
0:55:13 > 0:55:18Tonight, Tawiah is testing her song with a debut live performance.
0:55:18 > 0:55:22Only time will tell if she's done enough to crack the charts.
0:55:22 > 0:55:25I was lucky enough to write a song with Tawiah here.
0:55:28 > 0:55:31And Mark, Mark Ronson who's there,
0:55:31 > 0:55:35and, er, we wrote this song.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40Hello, how're you doing?
0:55:55 > 0:55:57# I was deep in sleep, hey
0:55:57 > 0:56:00# Somewhere in a dream
0:56:00 > 0:56:04# No way I could see Or even hear you leave
0:56:04 > 0:56:06# You picked the perfect time
0:56:06 > 0:56:10# After vodka, lime and soda I'm still in a daze
0:56:10 > 0:56:15# Can't say we were sober Something's got to give
0:56:15 > 0:56:16# I can't go on like this
0:56:16 > 0:56:21# What to do, I'm feeling blue Your love is all I miss
0:56:21 > 0:56:26# Something's got to give I can't go on like this
0:56:26 > 0:56:32# What to do, oh, where are you? You used to wake me up in the morning
0:56:32 > 0:56:36# You used to wake me up in the morning
0:56:36 > 0:56:41# Hey, we used to make sweet love in the morning, yeah
0:56:41 > 0:56:44# And now you're ghost, yeah
0:56:44 > 0:56:46# Hey! And now you're... #
0:56:55 > 0:57:00# You never said a word But you left a note
0:57:00 > 0:57:04# It's all I have Why d'you turn so cold?
0:57:04 > 0:57:07# Where in the world Did you take my heart?
0:57:07 > 0:57:13# It's just too quiet now Now that we're apart
0:57:13 > 0:57:18# Something's got to give I can't go on like this
0:57:18 > 0:57:21# What to do, I'm feeling blue Your love is all I miss
0:57:21 > 0:57:26# Something's got to give I can't go on like this
0:57:26 > 0:57:29# What to do, Oh, where are you?
0:57:29 > 0:57:32# You used to wake me up in the morning
0:57:32 > 0:57:36# Hey! You used to wake me up in the morning
0:57:36 > 0:57:41# Hey! We used to make sweet love in the morning
0:57:41 > 0:57:45# And now you're ghost
0:57:45 > 0:57:47# And now you're ghost... #
0:57:47 > 0:57:50I was dancing along. I would definitely buy it.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53# And now you're ghost
0:57:53 > 0:57:55# And now you're ghost... #
0:57:55 > 0:57:58Excellent song, man. I think that'll go far, definitely.
0:57:58 > 0:58:02# And now you're ghost
0:58:02 > 0:58:09# Oh-oh-oh... #
0:58:09 > 0:58:11I loved it, loved it, loved it.
0:58:11 > 0:58:15# We used to make sweet love in the morning
0:58:15 > 0:58:18# And now you're ghost
0:58:18 > 0:58:20# Yeah
0:58:20 > 0:58:23# And now you're ghost. #
0:58:35 > 0:58:38All right! Thank you very much.
0:58:43 > 0:58:45- # We will, we will... # - Next week, it's the anthem.
0:58:45 > 0:58:49The song that gets everyone going.
0:58:49 > 0:58:54Can Guy and top band The Noisettes conquer what is a fiendishly difficult form?
0:58:54 > 0:58:59Will they be able to write a crowd-pleasing sing-along?
0:58:59 > 0:59:02# It's so quiet now Now that we're apart
0:59:02 > 0:59:06# Something's got to give Can't go on like this
0:59:06 > 0:59:08# What to do, I'm feeling blue
0:59:08 > 0:59:11# Your love is all I miss
0:59:11 > 0:59:13# Something's got to give
0:59:13 > 0:59:15# I can't go on like this
0:59:15 > 0:59:18# What to do, oh, where are you?
0:59:18 > 0:59:22# You used to wake me up in the morning
0:59:22 > 0:59:26# You used to wake me up in de morning. #