By fayette (152.163.188.68) on Tuesday, March 04, 2003 - 07:49 pm:

where were some of the strangest places, that you
came up with a song

By Eli (151.197.38.216) on Wednesday, March 05, 2003 - 10:24 am:

Airplanes, trains, in the toilet, coming out of the shower, in bed, during an amorous moment.

By BankHouseDave (195.93.50.9) on Wednesday, March 05, 2003 - 11:36 am:

Hope you had a pencil with you.

By Ritchie (62.254.0.10) on Wednesday, March 05, 2003 - 11:42 am:

I suspect there's always been lead in Bobby's pencil ;o)

By Eli (151.197.37.171) on Wednesday, March 05, 2003 - 12:48 pm:

Just recently as I was coming out of the shower, a song came to me from out of nowhere and it was s subject that I am not usually associated with and it was right there before my eyes so I scampered around for a pen and my legal pad and it just flowed , and pardon my lingo but I call it "diarreah of thre pen".
So I then went to the computer still wet and typed it in.
That week in NYC I was especially prolific as I wrote a lot of contemporary Gospel songs and several country ones as the "shower one" was.and till this day I have no idea where it came from.
The Gospel ones were divive inspiration as they practicaly wrote themseleves.

On the other side of the coin, if I say to myself "ok, I'm gonna sit down and write a song", usually nothing happens.
Go figure!!

Sideshow still amazes me and when Blue Magic performed it on PBS I said.."did I realy write that song"??
When I first told Vinnie Barrett the idea she said to me "are you on LSD or something? who's gonna buy a record about a sideshow?"
Go figure!!!

By Jim Vitti (68.60.97.20) on Wednesday, March 05, 2003 - 01:23 pm:

Bobby Eli;

I just want to let you know how much I love your song "side show". I still remember the first time I ever heard it -- it just knocked me out!!! That song contains one of the most infectious melody's I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. I'm sure glad you wrote it, and got Blue Magic to perform it. A great job by all -- take a bow, sir!!

Jim

By Eli (151.197.37.171) on Wednesday, March 05, 2003 - 01:34 pm:

Hi Jim..
I am so glad that you like Sideshow so much.
I can remember vividly the day that it was written and I still have the original cassette"demo" in which Vinnie and I are singing it with only my guitar accompaniment and I am saying "this is where the circus sounds should go"
That was such a wonderful and magical time of my life with not a care in the world .
That song has played such a major part of my life.
If i could tell you how many clown pictures both large and small that people have sent me over the years, you would be amazed.
In one instance a neighbor brought over a beautil clown painting and said that my song brought her and her boyfriend back together and caused him to propose marriage!!

also, my song Love wont let me wait has been the catalyst for many pregnancies including Major Harris jr!!!

GO FIGURE!!!!

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Wednesday, March 05, 2003 - 02:25 pm:

The place wasn't all that unusual. I had written the changes to a song I was calling Sunshine ( Where Are You Going ). I didn't have lyrics for it yet but I was assuming it was turning into some sort of love song. In fact R Dean Taylor heard the initial track and wanted to do the song once it was written. However I had earmarked it for Stoney and Meatloaf who I was recording along with Russ and Mike Valvano. One afternoon at my home Mike and I were kicking the track around and we noticed my very young daughter Alisa playing in the backyard.
I don't know how it happened but the song gets turned into a couple singing about a young daughter that died and gets re-titled Sunshine ( Where Are You Going ). Once completed I could barely get myself to listen to the thing. Stony, who was pregnant at the time of recording, would break into tears while trying to sing her parts. Fortunatly the little girl is now a 35 year old woman happily married with a family of her own so all worked out well. I'll never write another song like that again though.

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Wednesday, March 05, 2003 - 02:27 pm:

I meant to say the song got re-titled Sunshine ( Where's Heaven ).

By fayette (64.12.97.7) on Wednesday, March 05, 2003 - 04:17 pm:

i write while i'm riding in my van i will pull over grab a pen and write what pops up.or i will
awaken in the night with lyrics so vividly.as
if they're given to me.