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A co-write with Danny Mayo and Bucky Jones .

A Stupid Love Song.
And I mean stupid!
You cannot help but think "...it took THREE songwriters to write THAT?!?"


Ain't It Wonderful


The story behind the song.

Got together with Danny and Bucky for a writing session.
We got to talking about the "stupid love songs" that had made folks a lot of money (and how they spent it).
(Writing session were sometimes a lot more gossiping than writing).
Achy Breaky Heart had broken all the records a couple of years prior.
At one point, I said "Ain't it wonderful what a little love can do?"
And Danny started singing that over and over (Hooks - musical and lyrical - were one of Danny's strengths).
Bucky and I started throwing Bad-Songwriter-Cliches at him. One right after another (It's easy)
And a simple 1-4-5, of course.
Danny wrote a bunch of them down and we spent a few minutes rearranging them (like that mattered) and in no time at all we had a truly stupid love song.
We sang it through a couple of times...clap-alongs began...fits of laughter.
Then Danny said "We need to get this demoed!"
I thought he was kidding. Really.

And then it got demoed. (Really?)
And the publishers got excited about it (Really?)
So it did get pitched (really).
There was some interest from Sammy Kershaw's team, but that didn't last long.
And then it was forgotten (probably a good thing) like they all are...


I've been cringing over this for almost 30 years.
(...when I think about it, which isn't often)
Figured I'd let ya'll in on the cringe.
Like it matters...

(That being said...it would make a great get-the-crowd-going song in concert...so if any of ya are planning a touring career...)



The BAND and various rascals:

RealTracks in song: ~950:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm CountryBoogieA-B Sw 110
RealTracks in song: 4299:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm ModCountrySlowSw16GroovingChords Sw16 060 (Half-Time)
RealTracks in song: 1148:Fiddle, Background CountryBoogie Sw 110 (Outside)
RealTracks in song: 4261:Guitar, Lap Steel, Background BluesShuffleRob Sw 120
RealTracks in song: 3951:Guitar, Lap Steel, Soloist BluesSlow128 Sw 065 (Half-Time)
RealTracks in song: 4264:Guitar, Lap Steel, Background BluesFunky Ev 120
MIDI SuperTracks in song: 2843:Piano, Rhythm BluesShuffleMike Sw 130
MIDI SuperTracks in song: 2166 Piano, Rhythm NewOrleansSwinginPop Sw 130
RealDrums in style:BluesRockShuffle^3-a:Snare, Open HiHat , b:Snare, Ride

The piano sound module - 4Front TruePianos (one of the best in-the-mix pianos out there, I think)
I added the piano stabs via MIDI
Claps are a combination of 3 samples.

Of course, I did not use all of those Lap steels at the same time.
I wanted short slide licks and had to regen those several times to find what I wanted amd the short lead is made up of several short pieces.

Bass & Drums - the story....
The bass came from the original Nashville studio demo (sort of)
I dropped the original demo into the FADR website https://fadr.com/
That separated out the stems. (sort of)

The Drums sounded decent (I was surprised). A bit "space-y". I tried to use them but switched to a BIAB RealDrum - but having the drums "stem" made it much easier to find a RealDrum with a similar pattern - BluesRockShuffle by Shannon Forrest. The timing/patterns are almost IDENTICAL to the stem. There is a chance that Shannon Forrest was the drummer for the demo session - Danny hired the top guys.

The Bass sounded "okay" - though "phase-y"
The site also gives you the MIDI of those - they were absolutely useless.
BUT I dropped the Bass stem (audio) into Studio One, then dropped Melodyne on that - which produces MIDI that you can drag to another track to add a vst.
(the timestretch feature in Studio One allowed me to line them up with the BIAB tracks).
That got close enough that I could fix what was off.
That was then rendered using the MODO BASS 2 (Kontakt instrument).

Background Vocals - The Janettes (that is me and The Amazing Marvelous Mrs. Merritt)


If nothing else, I hope ya Have Fun listening.
And go ahead...let it out.

fj

(Janice, you are the Best!)




lyrics: ('cause I know your gonna want THOSE!)



Ain't It Wonderful


ain't it wonderful
what a little love can do
make a heart feel so brand new
and turn a life around
oh, it's magical
all the joy that love can bring
bombs will burst and bells will ring
have you walking on a cloud
ain't it wonderful

   i wandered through the lonely days and empty night
   you came along took what was wrong and made it right
   you brought me to this place called paradise

repeat chorus

   from the start you had my heart spinnin' 'round
   i can't keep my two feet down on the ground
   i'll sing and shout about this love i've found

repeat chorus endlessly

This is a really solid, feel good toe tapper. And sorry, but it's not stupid sounding at all to me. The lyrics that may have been put together tongue in cheek, but...the results exceeded the intent. Solid production throughout. Nice job recovering what you could of the original demo. Oh, and LOVE The Janettes...

Floyd,

Nothing wrong with this song at all. Yes, it's a lighthearted love song - it does not pretend to be anything else.

I think it sounds great - your vocal with Janice, as always, sounds awesome. Production is stellar.

No cringe here - I enjoyed this immensely.

Bob

floyd

I can see why they were interested in this.
I really enjoyed it - (great outro with Janice & you trading vocals)
As always you and Janice sound great together.
Enjoyed the production notes.

Peter

I don't know ... it sounds old. Old in the sense of "older than OLD dust". My grandma would probably have listened to that.
But if you put it on a "Songs from the Fifties/Sixties" album, it could find a nice home somewhere between "Bye Bye Love" and "Pretty Woman" and no one would say it was cringy.

And, as Ron said, it's a real toe tapper. I enjoyed the listen.
And I think the line "you came along took what was wrong and made it right" is pretty cool!

I love your vocals, I love the Janettes, and thanks for the interesting story behind the resurrection of this song

Contemporary?

Not really.

Toe-tapping goodness that sounds great?

Yes, really.

Feel good country pop with the Janettes? Definitely a smile raiser...love Janice's tag too.

Floyd,

“Stupid Love Song” . . . didn’t Lennon say something similarly disparaging with regard to McCartney’s tunes. Thing is, folks like a simple, straightforward love tune . . . it’s what we can all relate to. This has a very 50’s feel, with a country twang to it. Probably outdated from a contemporary perspective, but it’s still catchy as hell . . . and I can see why you pitched it and why it had some interest. Amazing what a little stupid love song can do!

Good tune, well executed!


My best regards,

Deej

Some people say the world has had enough of stupid love songs
and I lie awake
are the people right??
some people say the world doesn't need another stupid love song
and it keeps me awake all day and night

Then I grab my mouse
and I pick a chord
and I write a song
so I won't be bored
with ebony
and ivory!
side by side on my midi keyboard
cant' you see!!!!!

Oh no!


This world will never get enough of stupid love songs!

Oh no!

Or Christmas Toys!
Or guys named Floyd!!


Man, that was both the best and most stupid song I have ever heard.

Great job!!!

"Stupid is as stupid does" to quote the great philosopher Forrest Grump and writing this was anything but that...it's fun and refreshing and optimistic...no one in love who feels like the song portrays thinks it's stupid...that's why writer's have gotten rich with simple, sing able, silly, swinging...dare I say stupid love songs...well written...well constructed...very well performed...and that's my opinion (unless you think I'm stupid!)

Thanks, Ron. Much appreciated.

I love this song! It has the joyful love-themed lyrics that I'd like to hear a lot more of, plus it's full of joy as a whole piece. Really well done, Floyd.

Hi floyd.

This is GREAT!!! I don't know if it's an insult, it's not meant to be, but this is exactly the kind of song that I can really get behind and empathise with
From beginning to end, my feet were tapping up and down, relentlessly. It was quite a podiatric workout.
I love songs that you open with a chorus. They're not all that common, but they immediately get the listener into the meaty part of the story telling.
This is a winner. Your and Janices vocals sit so well together!
Kudos to you and your two colleagues for creating a fine song.

All the best!
--Noel

Superb. Brilliant. And no; not stupid at all, to my ears (what does that say about me? haha!) Especially loved the clapped off-beat section, and the Janettes were simply wonderful (the moniker is PERFECT) . If that's you being "silly", I'm in trouble

Floyd and team,
Yet through all the silliness you put together an entertaining song! Vocals and harmonies are wonderful! Pitch it to the same people that put Achy Breaky Heart on the map. Your tune is much classier than that one!
Seriously Floyd, I don't think you can produce a silly or bad song! They are always great! Performance and production!

Thanks, T

Thanks for mentioning the Janette’s!

Janice

I can be pretty stupid sometimes, actually most of the time, but I was smart enough to listen to this. It is wonderful! I don't know why but I was expecting something other than a shuffle. However it was the correct choice. It works perfectly. Very good vocal and the harmonies are spot on. Of course the mix and production are excellent. You and Danny must have had some fun. I would have loved to have been writing at the time I lived there. I think it was 1991. This is another one of many of yours that deserved to be cut by someone. I liked it, Tom

HAHAHA. I'm still laughing at what you wrote and I'm sure to smiling the rest of the day. Man, it would be great to sit and listen to your stories.

Yep, the song is also wonderful. It says it all --in all the ways. Terrific harmony from Mrs. Wonderful. Hats off to Danny for curating all the catchy stuff. Man, it only took three of ya to write that? Seriously folks, it IS quite catchy and hooky --not hokey at all. Hats off to the 4 of you.

Know what you mean about "sort of" separating the stems. Man, I saw the making of The Beatles new one, Now And Then, and the quality of separation of vocal from piano from John's old cassette is amazing. There is hope for the future.

Thanks, Bob. Glad ya had fun with it...

Thanks, Peter. It's always great to have J&B along for the ride (as you know....)


BD - It never occurred to me that this would sound that "old". It was the kind of thing that would pop up regularly in Country music from the late '70's through the 90's
A couple of examples? Elvira - The Oak Ridge Boys - 1981 or Achy Breaky Heart - Billy Ray Cyrus - 1992