Sunday, March 20, 2011

LEARN TO WRITE HITS - CAT INDUSTRY DAY MARCH 26

Hi Music CAT People,

I strongly encourage everyone to come to the CAT INDUSTRY DAY, next Saturday (March 26.)

We will have a very special guest, Alex Forbes, a chart-topping and platinum-selling songwriter. Alex will be giving a presentation on writing hit songs and getting them published.

I strongly recommend showing up for this. Alex will be presenting at 11 am.

Below is Alex's bio and a link to her website:

http://www.alexforbesmusic.com/

With numerous Billboard-charting singles, over 75 releases, and millions of album sales under her belt, Alex Forbes's songs range from Rock to Dance to straight-ahead Pop. Her specialty is writing instantly catchy melodies and lyrics that capture the essence of life in strikingly vivid ways.

Recent successes include “Melt Away,” featured in the Denzel Washington film “Déjà Vu,” and New Zealand superstar Hayley Westenra's recording of“You Are Water” on her Billboard-charting Classical/Pop album, “Odyssey.”

Many of Alex's newest songs are "on hold" or recorded and awaiting release dates. The artists include the Dutch singer/songwriter VenVelzen, Australian club music act The 808's, and American artists Jessica Clemmons, and Bloom. One of the Bloom songs, "This Is The Life," was recently featured on "The Hills."

Alex's first hit, the now-classic dance song “Too Turned On,” performed byAlisha, still receives abundant airplay many years later. This initial success led to a series of hit singles including Taylor Dayne's massive hit “Don't Rush Me” (#2 Pop, #3 AC, #6 Dance, multi-platinum album, ASCAP Pop Award), Rockell's classic freestyle version of “In A Dream,” (#6 Dance, #72 Pop) and Joey Lawrence's Top 20 Pop hit “Nothin' My Love Can't Fix,” the latter of which Alex also co-produced.

High points also included collaborating with Cyndi Lauper on a song for her film, “Off and Running,” and co-producing Martha Wash, whose powerhouse voice was featured in the Weather Girls and C+C Music Factory, and who recorded Alex's “Leave a Light On.”

Alex's songs have been placed in many feature films, while others have appeared in TV shows and an Off-Broadway show. Overseas, Alex's songs have been hit singles for Fan Club (New Zealand), Indra (France), Patti Day(U.K.), Papa Dee (Sweden) and Marie Frank (Denmark, Gold Album).

Over the years Alex has worked with some of the music world's most renowned writers and producers, including Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex, Morrissey), longtime collaborator Jeff Franzel (Shawn Colvin, Josh Groban), Steve Addabbo (Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega), and DJ Gomi(Mariah Carey, Madonna).

Alex received a Creative Writing degree from Stanford University, and was mentored in the art and craft of pop songwriting by the legendary Doc Pomus ("This Magic Moment," "Save The Last Dance For Me").