Songwriter Michael Masser unedited interview (early 1986)
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- čas přidán 11. 07. 2015
- This is an unedited interview that I did with composer Michael Masser (1941-2015) that was done for an evening TV magazine show called "PM Magazine" that was never aired because the show was cancelled before there was time to edit it and schedule it for airing.
Masser composed the music for such hit songs as 'Touch Me in the Morning," "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)," "It's My Turn," "Saving All My Love for You," "The Greatest Love of All," "Hold Me," "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love," "If Ever You're in My Arms Again," "Didn't We Almost Have It All," etc.
He worked with some of the biggest pop music artists of the 1970's and 1980's including Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, George Benson, Barbra Streisand, Robert Flack, Peabo Bryson, Teddy Pendergrass, and Jeffrey Osborne.
After the Masser interview, there is a short interview with Jeffrey Osborne (who wrote the lyrics to the Masser song "All at Once") discussing what it was like working with Michael Masser. Jeffrey also recorded a Michael Masser/Dan Hill song called, "In Your Eyes": • Jeffrey Osborne - In Y...
A few people have commented on the "Comments" thread that it appears that I am being rude to Michael because I don't let him finish his answers. Although that is an understandable assumption, let me explain what that was all about. Michael and I decided that we wanted to get as much information out as possible because there would be limited air time (i.e., five to ten minutes). So in the first part of this unedited interview, while it appears that I'm being "rude" because I am always cutting in, I wasn't. You will notice that as the taping progressed, I let him do longer and longer responses because we had gotten the information we wanted at the beginning of the taping.
Writing good songs is incredibly difficult. This guy was some kind of genius.
It's weird because, you can go through periods of flow, where there is no procrastination, and then get blocks, then procrastination and then wonder how you were every in that flow and wonder how the fock to get back there!! lol
Rest in peace, Mr. Masser.
Your beautiful music will never be forgotten.:)
Little did he know how massive the greatest love will be. This dude wrote the soundtrack to the 80s. A true giant. Every song he wrote has a memory and place for me. My favorite Kanye song also has his imprints (Heard ‘em Say). Dude wrote 4 of Whitney’s top five songs. That’s massive. By the way also wrote Natalie Cole (Miss You Like Crazy) and George Benson (Nothing gonna Change), both in the top 2 songs for the artist
Thank for echoing and expanding on my sentiments 🫡
This man is a legend . He left so much joy in the world . May he Rest In Peace .
Greatest love of is a good track, Whitneys vocals made it great but Linda Creeds lyrics are timeless. No matter what generation you come from the message is clear and strong.
Michael, your music has moved and touched me for 35 years. You were and still are my favourite composer. I only found out today (25th September 2015) that you died in July and the news has really upset me. Thank you for all the beautiful music and your wonderful electric piano sound. RIP and thank you.
I was listening to all these songs he wrote without knowing it and today I needed to dig in who wrote Greatest Love Of All and led me here. It was so inspiring to hear what he had to say. I'm so thankful he followed his heart.
Same feeling here
how lucky we are to be able to listen to one of the great composers.
Touch me in the morning, Do you know where you're going to, Greatest love of all, Saving all my love for you, In your eyes, Tonight I celebrate my love for you, All at once, Miss you like crazy, Starting over again (a special favourite), Nothing's gonna change my love for you. He wrote all these & more, gorgeous melodies all. A great stylist who will be sadly missed. RIP.
Just to add to what you have already said and you said it well, "Greatest love of all" lyrics was written by the late Linda Creed. She co-wrote many hits with Thom Bell, while working as a staff writer for Philadelphia International. Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff record label. And now you know. Lol
Michael Masser is such a talent and gifted soul. The world was blessed to hear some beautiful songs written by him sang by great performers. God Bless him. R.I P. Mr. Masser.
Michael Masser has always been one of my favorite songwriters. As a songwriter myself, I will miss him dearly. R.I.P. my brother.
What an incredibly undersung pop song composer of the modern era. I never hear his name uttered, but the songs he wrote. Incredible. His music is a strong part of my upbringing.
Same here, agree 💯
It's just the way it is. People in the vast majority of cases don't give a monkey's about songwriters, except when the singer is the writer. But yes, I agree.
@@MrMikomi and some of the ultra ignorant constantly credit the singer as the songwriter, without any research
RIP Michael Masser. I loved his song "Tonight I celebrate my love" very much, among others.
If I had met Mr. Masser I would have broken down and cried, so many of his songs having moved me to places I never thought I could go. There is no better song writer.
And I know what he means by the male provider stuff. It can be a very oppressive load.
I agree. HIs music talks to me in a way no other musician has done.
I feel the same way about breaking down and crying. He was just unbelievably great. So many of us feel this way because he effected us all so greatly with his compositions.
Hello dear Israel! I feel that way too about his songs, they made me cry a lot with tears of joy and love.. i see love, i see pain, i see God in his songs, i just can't express it .. because of his songs, i believe, that after journey of this life, there will be something, where we all will meet each other and be together to sing, to joy, to love.. and love will be "young and new", like it was once.. and so many songs we will sing together..
Mr. Masser must've spent years working as a lawyer, but also perhaps as a drifter searching for where his soul wanted to go...
Then since when his first song touched us in the morning.. his soul was beautifully massive as he was desparate sharing his passion/love with everyone with his music just like Whitney and all the singers he touched with his music did to their fans...
Look at how he goes to piano and touches it and plays it following his feelings... as if he had already been a songwriter for tens of years...
Thank you Mr. Masser for having been brave to go "back" to music, generously sharing your gift with billions of people on this planet, through incomparable Godsends including Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Natalie Cole, and many others. May you rest in peace, however the greatest love of all you showed through music is still breathing. What the world still needs is love...
Michael was one of the greatest musical genius
I haven't been a music fanatic for a long time, I just like listening to music. For me personally, this interview was one of the most interesting I have seen so far.
He played the piano in someone that i used to love very beautiful,the best!
Thanks for giving us this interview! A fascinating story. Also good advice. If you're not happy with your life even if you have a successful career, don't close off your inner voice. Great interview, I would have liked to know more about he broke into the industry. I bet he was up against a lot of walls.
THANK YOU MICHAEL MASSER FOR WRITING SOMEONE THAT I USED TO LOVE 👍 SUNG BY THE LEGENDARY SINGER NATALIE COLE 🤗🤗🤩 MY FAVORITE FEMALE SONGSTRESS OF ALL TIME 👍👍🤗❤️
Genius Song Writer....Man he wrote some GREAT Songs...!!!
Absolutely beautiful!!!Another genius passed away.
The guy was a genius.
THANK YOU
Nice to see all these comments here, i've always been somekind of songwriter collector, always interested who wrote the songs, if not the artist him or herself and michael masser somehow in some way was the number one, i can't explain why 'cause i like many songwriters, but some kind of beauty in his melodies, sad he passed away
my songs. Your still my mine saving all my love 4 u. so sorry you r not here. u left All at once............ Remember when we held on in the rain......
Thank you for sharing such a wonderful and informative video. I have watched it many times for inspiration and education. Michael ‘s music continues to enlighten and uplift me...
Michael Masser wrote many beautiful songs, but my favorite is All At Once.
Thank you so much for sharing this!
Feeling again.
Wow! great interview and nice to know the story behind the hits
Charlie, see the comment by WesGriffin below.
@@davidkramer4006 Humm! the old story and dirty tricks of the entertainment industry. It happened to me as a photographer but I'm strong believer Karma.
Thank you so much for uploading this Mr David Kramer.
I came here to find out about him because of the music he wrote for the movie Stir Crazy. I didn’t know any of these things about him. Wow!
makes me cry.
+deborah Savage Me too. I adored his sound and music.
Natalie Cole told the story about his absolute obsession with getting "miss you like crazy" to come out perfect...they did almost 100 takes.... that's how it became one of my favorite songs to this day
Yeah, well look who was singing it…lol
what an inspiration.
Wow, thanks for posting this, I enjoyed it very much. Is this Masser's only interview? I can't seem to find any others on CZcams or even on google.
Hmm, Good job Uncle Michael.
He wrote “ It’s My Turn “
next level genius
Fun Fact, David Kramer - In South Africa we also have a legendary Afrikaans Singer/Musician/Entertainer called David Kramer - Google or CZcams him...
Thank you for posting this, he was a genius. What was Michael like please? He is the only person I admire that I never met. I would have loved to have met him and I certainly would have asked for and treasured his autograph. There aren't many I would ask. It wasn't meant to be. :-(
+PhotoMusicMan
Didn't you read my reply to your comment above about whether he was nasty?
+David Kramer I didn't ask if he was nasty, I just heard he was difficult. I obviously worded it wrong and I apologise that it did not come out as I meant. I hope they release the music we haven't heard, such a waste if they don't. Thanks David.
PhotoMusicMan
I'm sorry if I read more into your question than was there. I guess I'm so used to people in general equating "difficult' with "nasty" when referring to bosses in any business that I responded the way I did.
So I guess the correct answer is that yes, Michael Masser was difficult in the studio.
David Kramer Difficult as in asking a singer to do 60 takes?That is called wanting it perfect. I know Natalie Cole said he was tough but all you have to do is listen to the finished results. I first heard the Theme from Mahogany when I was 11 in 1973 and have adored Michael's music ever since. The beauty of the internet is I have found all the music that I know of. I so hope they release more.
PhotoMusicMan
It shouldn't take 60 takes to get perfection. I believe he had Jeffrey Osborne do around 125 takes for "In Your Eyes." Other producers get perfect results with much fewer takes.
I'll tell you a story that one of the musicians who worked with Michael told me:
After they were done doing a take, Michael said, "Perfect, now lets do it again!"
One of the studio musicians responded, "Michael, if it's perfect, then why do we have to do it again?"
This goes for filmmakers also. You hear stories about Stanley Kubrick and David Fincher being notorious for shooting dozens of takes for each scene.
I don't know what to tell you, PhotoMusicMan. I'm not sure what the reason is. It could be insecurity on the part of creative people who want more than what is needed. It could be some other psychological need for doing this other than insecurity. You asked me a question and I explained to you why Michael was considered tough to work with.
This was the guy Gordon Lightfoot practically sued for plagiarism 2 years after this interview. Many people who were aware of the lawsuit he had toward the Whitney Houston song “The Greatest Love Of All”, thought Lightfoot was going after Whitney for stealing the melody from his choruses for “If You Could Read My Mind”, but little did they know, she didn’t write the song. He (Masser) was Lightfoot’s target and the “defendant” of the case, because he wrote the music. “It really rubbed me the wrong way,” Lightfoot said in an interview, “I don’t want the present day generation to think I stole my song from him.” Lightfoot dropped the lawsuit, because Whitney was nominated for a Grammy for that song that year, and if Lightfoot won, and Masser lost, it would have disqualified Whitney Houston from the running, and shortened or submerged her singing career. The case was settled out of court with Masser apologizing for his mistake/error.
My Love .. Hold Me.
+Susan Buckner
I still remember where I was the first time I heard that extraordinary melody he wrote for "Hold Me." I knew it was a Michael Masser song before I confirmed it later on.
wink! yes. He has that unique touch in your heart strings
+David Kramer As soon as I heard the wonderful electric piano intro I knew it was him. I have been collecting all the music of his I could find for years. I hope they now release Streisand singing 'Halfway Through The Night' and his other unreleased songs.
+PhotoMusicMan
When I did that interview with him in the studio, he was recording a solo version of his song "You Are the Love of My Life" with Whitney Houston. I saw her there and heard her recording it. He was supposed to set up an interview with her for me to ask her questions about working with him, but he screwed up and it never happened.
Michael also told me that the best recording he's ever heard of "In Your Eyes" was a version done by Kool and the Gang, but that too was never released.
+David Kramer OMG I hope they release that one, I love that song. I wonder how much is in the vaults that is finished. Was he kind to you because I heard he could be very tough. Thank you.
Did he mention love theme from THE MAN WITH ONE RED SHOE?
No Jon.
A pity. I always wondered about that. Did they want him to score SHOE or not? He wrote a love theme in 84 and then left the film.
Has this man ever released a bad song?
why did he suddenly stop writing in 1989? are there any songs after that ?
+Alexis Troulinos
Because the music scene was changing (unfortunately). He also may have felt that he said all he had to say.
In the early 1990's, I was told by his main arranger Gene Page that he sold his catalog to a publishing company. Gene also told me that someone had seen Michael at some sort of composers' gathering that was generally a sign that they were through composing.
That was always the question for me, as a great fun. He was at the top of his career in the mid 80s with all these great songs with Natalie Cole and Whitney and all of a sudden he stops. It's not that he reduced the number of the songs or some of them failed. He just stopped after having all these hits. Like melodies stopped coming to his mind all of a sudden
Alexis Troulinos
It's very possible that he "dried up." Keep in mind that two of those Whitney Houston hits-The Greatest Love of All and Saving All My Love for You-were written (and first recorded by others) in the 1970's.
Yes
Funny how an unsung hero program was never done on him
I've never heard of that program. He made a short appearance on a show called "You Write the Songs" that was hosted by Ben Vereen back in 1986.
Shameful? - Great Guy. The greatest love of all was allegedly created by Billy Beck of the Ohio players during an audition for the movie - an engineer recorded an impromptu rehearsal at Michael Masser studio. They were denied the contract to produce the sound track but his material was used without compensation of credit. youtu.be/d9CYSfEg_ around time stamp 16:40 he talks about it.
had no clue he stole the music for greatest love of all by Billy Beck of Ohio Players
DJ, what Billy Beck song are you referring to? I do know that the middle section of the song is the exact same notes as the bridge of Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Can Read My Mind." Lightfoot sued him. Lightfoot eventually dropped the lawsuit because it was reflecting badly on Whitney Houston and he felt that he didn't have a right to hurt her because she was an innocent bystander.
Here's the section in "If I Could Read Your Mind"
czcams.com/video/v5tr_L31StI/video.html
Here's the section in "The Greatest Love of All."
czcams.com/video/IYzlVDlE72w/video.html&t=71
@@davidkramer4006 He ended up paying Lightfoot for the plagiarism, but I think Lightfoot donated the money to charity or something.
@@jpeyton62 Here is the Wikipedia entry on that controversy. I'm not sure how they can first write that Lightfoot dropped the suit, and then it was settled out of court.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Love_of_All?wprov=sfla1
"Lightfoot has stated that he dropped the suit when he felt it was having a negative effect on Whitney Houston, as the suit was about Masser and not her. Ultimately the case was settled out of court and Masser issued a public apology."
@@davidkramer4006 Interesting about the plagiarism issue. What surely stands out in that song (musically, not talking about the incredible lyric) was not the bridge section, but the spectacular chorus. I noticed the similarity in the bridge to Lightfoot's song when I was about 16 when I had the sheet for both songs and I was playing them on the piano.From memory the printed versions were even in the same key. I have no doubt it was an accident, but it must have occurred to him earlier on before the lawsuit; why he didn't just change that section or co-credit Lightfoot, who knows.
I think a problem for Masser was that, although he had an extraordinary ear, apparently he could not read music. This can make writing the sort of songs that Masser rights very chaotic and time-consuming. That is why traditionally musicians spent a lot of time studying harmony and counterpoint first. Then when you do write writing is faster and more efficient. Burt Bacharach also emphaised the importance of "learning how to notate".
I also think Masser peaked early, his best songs were written between 1973 and 1977.
what is going on with the skin color?
I don't understand your question? This was on videotape that was transferred to a DVD a few years ago that was then uploaded to CZcams. It's the quality of the recording medium, not Masser himself.
Michael is great, but the control freaks are ruining his flow. He should've told them to shove it!
Michael and I decided that we wanted to get as much information out as possible because there would be limited air time (i.e., five to ten minutes). So in the first part of this unedited interview, while it appears that I'm being "rude" because I am always cutting in, I wasn't. You will notice that as the taping progressed, I let him do longer and longer responses because we had gotten the information we wanted at the beginning of the taping.
Thanks for explaining; makes more sense knowing the circumstances.
Agree 💯
find it odd he says how he took music in new directions and strange sounds nobody ever heard before. Really? His music is about as mainstream as possible. Romantic ballads with a good melody, I love the theme from Mahogony. But Arnold Schoenberg, Mike Masser is decidedly NOT.
terrible interviewer some respect wouldv been nice