Cusp Song of the Day: Reflections

In a book with 21 Supremes songs, "Reflections" appears first—appropriately, since in writing Cusp I spent years reflecting on the events and music of the book's era. The song plays at Mark's 1967-themed party in Chapter 2, and indeed it was released in 1967 at a seminal moment for the group. That year's name change from "The Supremes" to "Diana Ross & the Supremes" was a key step in Berry Gordy's plan for Diana's superstardom.

The song was among the last of a long string of Supremes releases written and produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland, featuring Florence

Ballard, and with backing by the Funk Brothers. Its psychedelic sound and use of synthesizers made it a perfect fit for the Summer of Love, when it charted. It rose to number 2.

My first errata: In the listing of songs in The Cusp of Everything, I mistakenly credit this song to The Supremes. In fact, it was the first single released under the name Diana Ross & the Supremes. A rookie mistake!

Cusp Song of the Day: Could It Be Magic

A lyric from this song is the title of Chapter 3: Along with Pilot’s “Magic,” Barry Manilow’s “Could It Be Magic” plays on the radio at Arthur Treacher’s during Karen and Patrick's first date. One reference to magic might be a fluke. But two? He must be the one!

The year 1975 was huge for Manilow, who had four hits: "Mandy" (number 1), "It's a Miracle" (number 12), "Could It Be Magic" (number 6) and "I Write the Songs," which hit the charts late in the year and rose to number 1 in January of 1976. 

In a long-lost article I read back in the '70s, Manilow discussed writing "Could It Be Magic," saying he felt it pour out of him. Playing it back, he was overcome with how great it was, until he realized that it completely ripped off Chopin's "Prelude in C Minor," which he had been playing prior to sitting down to compose. At first he was disappointed by his lack of originality, but ultimately decided to go with it, even opening the single with a segment from the classical piece. One version has just 13 seconds, but the longer version starts with 53 seconds and really shows Chopin's contribution to pop history. 

Cusp Song of the Day: Jive Talkin'

Losing two disco icons in one week is heartbreaking. Robin Gibbs' death following so closely on the heels of Donna Summer's means the two will be forever linked, like a 125-beats-per-minute version of Princess Diana and Mother Teresa. OK, probably not the best comparison, but honestly, Donna Summer and (one of) the Bee Gees, in the same week? Sorry, Jackson Browne, but that's the true disco apocolypse. I'm less than a decade younger than these influential artists and with their conjoined deaths I can feel my generation moving through the python of time like a dying rat.

But I digress. The purpose of this feature is to spotlight a song that appears in The Cusp of Everything, providing background on its history and its context within the book. Two Bee Gees songs appear in Cusp, both released during its 1975-76 timeframe: the number 1 hit "Jive Talkin'" in Chapter 8 and the sweet "Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)" in Chapter 16—more on that one later. The Bee Gees also had a hit with "Nights on Broadway" during this year, an impressively prolific period, but nothing compared to the era-defining success of Saturday Night Fever beginning in 1977. ("Jive Talkin'" is on that soundtrack album as well as Main Course, their 1975 album release, although the song does not appear in the movie.)

The lyrics of "Jive Talkin'" refer to a lovestruck fool being lied to by the woman he cares about; to someone feeling guilty for faking emotions it has a special resonance. The song, a hit in the summer of 1975, plays on a jukebox at the Labor Day closing-night party of Playland, the amusement park where Karen and Patrick have worked and fallen in love.

Cusp Song of the Day: Magic

From Chapter 3: "Oh, it's magic. Never believe it's not so!" If you heard this on the radio during a first date, would you take it as a sign? You might if you were a yearning-for-love teen in 1975. Pilot's "Magic" plays for Karen and Patrick on their first date, at an Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips. Coupled with another magic-themed song (more on that one tomorrow*), it makes a powerful argument for falling in love over tartar sauce.

Pilot, probably not the only '70s one-hit wonder with a greatest hits album, entered the US pop charts for the first (and last) time in May 1975 with this song. It rose as high as number 5. Producer was Alan Parsons.

My son somehow heard this song and fell in love with it. We played it numerous times during carpool and I included it in Cusp because of him.

* Robin Gibbs' death today warrants a tribute that will run May 21. Part 2 of Karen and Patrick's "magic" will appear May 22. 

Cusp Song of the Day: Stand!

From Chapter 2: Karen, Cusp's main character, grew up indoctrinated into pop music by her mother Bonnie, an expert in Top 40. Bonnie even had an arrangement at a local record store to set aside one of every new single released, so she could buy her favorites.

When they were younger, Karen and her sister Ruth stacked up these records inside the family's stereo console and programmed their own dance parties. When she thinks about Sly and the Family Stone's "Stand!" Karen is remembering those days.

The song hit #22 in 1969 and followed the band's number 1 hit "Everyday People."

Personally, for years I thought this song was about a guy named Stan.

Cusp Song of the Day: Love to Love You Baby

From Chapter 12: Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby" was released around Thanksgiving 1975 and entered the pop charts Christmas week, ultimately climbing to number 2. Essentially an extended orgasm you could dance to, the song was shocking at the time, especially in its 17-minute-long form. In The Cusp of Everything, to deflect the awkwardness of sharing the listening experience with Mark, Karen compares it to "In-a-Gadda-da-Vida," a non-orgasmic song that also filled an album side.

Summer herself was never comfortable with the sexual nature of the song, although she came up with the concept and wrote it with Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte (it was produced by Bellotte). From a debut derided as a pornographic novelty, Donna Summer and her "Love to Love You" collaborators went on to have a remarkable string of hits over the course of six more albums.

Unlike lesser artists who are unable to shake off their early embarrassments, Summer was instead defined by her incredible vocal range, effortless artistry, success in multiple musical formats and striking beauty. She in turn defined a generation. Her untimely death yesterday receives a fitting tribute from my former Billboard colleague and friend Paul Grein.

I can't resist sharing a classic Donna Summer performance. I'll never get sick of "Last Dance," a huge hit at the end of my final semester of college that beautifully defines that time for me. This is a particularly nice version. Thanks to my sister Lisa for the link.

Press for The Cusp of Everything

My terrific publicist has been getting the word out. Here are a couple of links:

Scarsdale Patch 
AltSounds

Check them out!

Cusp Song of the Day: One of These Nights

The title of Chapter 1 is "One of These Nights." The song plays on the radio as Karen drives to her summer job at Rye Playland on the book's opening page. She describes it as her "current favorite" song, in part because of its lyrics, which talk of demons and desires. What teenager doesn't know about those?

One of These Nights, released in 1975, was the Eagles' fourth album, and most successful to date. But its 4 million sales were quickly eclipsed by two Eagles releases the following year: Hotel California (16 million copies) and their first greatest hits collection (29 million copies). You could say the band was on the cusp of its commercial peak.

"One of These Nights" hit the Billboard Top 40 chart in June 1975, going to number 1 later that summer. It was their second number 1 hit, after "Best of My Love" the year before.

Cusp Song of the Day: Remember Me

From Chapter 7. "Bye, baby. See you around." Mark plays "Remember Me" for Karen on the Mamaroneck Inn's jukebox to help her accept that her "summer romance" is ending. She likes it, but doesn't find it completely appropriate—especially the line, "Remember me as a big balloon."

The song, by the incomparable Ashford and Simpson, was Diana Ross' third solo single, immediately following the number 1 "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." (More—much more—about that one later!) "Remember Me" only reached number 16 when it was released in 1971. As Mark notes in Cusp, it's off her Surrender album.

To me, one of the more interesting aspects of this and other Diana singles of the post-Supremes era is the heavy use of background singers. On later Diana Ross and the Supremes releases, the voices of Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong are practically nonexistent as Diana heads toward solo stardom.

Cusp Song of the Day: Thank God I’m a Country Boy

From Chapter 7: John Denver liked "Thank God I’m a Country Boy" so much he put it on two consecutive album releases: a studio version on 1974's Back Home Again and a live version on 1975's An Evening with John Denver. In June 1975, the live version became his third number 1 hit.

The song's role in Cusp comes at the Mamaroneck Inn, the diner  where Mark and Karen escape from Eric's dreadful party. They discuss Karen's potential breakup with her current boyfriend, and Mark offers to play a song to help her through. He punches a code and up comes "Thank God I'm a Country Boy," with audience clapping and hooting. Karen worries that Mark might not really "get" her, but he quickly explains that he picked something completely different, that this must be the tail end of another person's selection.

What did Mark pick? Check back tomorrow!

Cusp Song of the Day: All Around My Hat

From Chapter 6: "All Around My Hat" is played in Cusp at a party given by Eric, widely known to have terrible taste in music. So terrible, in fact, that guests Karen and Mark become friends in part due to their shared disdain for his musical programming. They escape together to a diner, and make their own selections from the tabletop jukebox.

Steeleye Span is allegedly still active after more than 40 years, despite numerous personnel changes and a lack of commercial success. The British folk band has released more than two dozen albums, but only one – yes, 1975's All Around My Hat! – actually went gold. The title track was released as a single but, unsurprisingly (just listen to it!) did not make Billboard's pop chart. The band specializes in "traditional" music only slightly catchier than Gregorian chants: non-charting reels and jigs, for example. "All Around My Hat" incorporates part of an early 19th-century song, which doesn't help endear it to Cusp's characters, or the music-consuming public.

Sorry to any Steeleye Span fan(s) for my uncharacteristic snarkiness!

Cusp Song of the Day: Tombstone Blues

From Chapter 2: Another song from Mark's 1967-themed party.

Partygoers were encouraged to come in costume – 1967 wasn't so far removed from Cusp's 1975 timeframe, but in many ways it was another era. One guest comes as Bob Dylan. As he leaves, he paraphrases a line from "Tombstone Blues": "Remember man – the sun isn't yellow, it's chicken!" He then grabs Karen's friend Gwen and they take off for a night she will regret terribly.

"Tombstone Blues," while unquestionably a quotable classic, wasn't released as a single. Highway 61 Revisited, the album from which it came, reached number 3 on the Billboard Album chart in 1965, and spawned the number 2 pop hit "Like a Rolling Stone." (It was probably blocked from the top spot by the Beatles' "Help," but I'd have to check with my friend Paul Grein to know for sure.)

Cusp Song of the Day: Somebody to Love

The title song from Chapter 2: When it plays in the summer of 1975, Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love" was already dated. In fact, the band itself had evolved into Jefferson Starship and had a current hit with "Miracles." Still, "Somebody to Love" is always powerful and its message resonant. "Wouldn't you love somebody to love?" Well, yes, the characters in Cusp would - as would everyone else on the planet.

We hear "Somebody to Love" at a  party where we first encounter Mark, the host. He'd seen the 1967 movie Riot on Sunset Strip and wanted to re-create the era with a 1967 theme party. All the music played at the party, which gets a little out of hand, comes from that year.

The song, from Surrealistic Pillow, features Grace Slick on vocals and was written by her one-time brother-in-law, Darby Slick. It reached number 5 on the Billboard pop chart.

Cusp Song of the Day: That’s the Way of the World

First in a series. Cusp Song of the Day spotlights a song from the book, providing chart history and background on its context in the story.

From Chapter 1: "That’s the Way of the World" by Earth, Wind and Fire. One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite bands. It was hard to limit tunes from EWF in the book; same with songs from Stevie Wonder and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. I never get tired of them, and many of those I love the most date to the early to mid '70s.

"That’s the Way of the World" makes its Cusp appearance on July 4, 1975 (a "special day"). It plays on a transistor radio during fireworks at Rye Playland, where Karen, the main character, works at a summer job. The lyrics set a tone: the world isn't a perfect place; it can turn a child's heart cold. But sorrowful days will fade if you stay young at heart and use your life to make a difference.

The single was released June 18, 1975 and reached number 12 on Billboard's pop chart.

Spoiler alert: another EWF song provides the soundtrack to the final scene in Cusp's sequel, which spans 1976-78.Yes, I have a lot to say about the '70s!

In My Hands!

Today I received the proof copy of The Cusp of Everything. It arrived on my front doorstep like any other shipment from Amazon, and when I opened it it looked like a real book! I was reminded of the moment my newborn son was first put in my arms and I suddenly realized the overpowering, if incredibly obvious, "Oh my God, it's a baby!" OMG, it's a book!

I love the cover even more in physical form than I did on a computer screen. It's colorful, it evokes the '70s, and it was made by my friend's company North South Studios. The font is from Astigmatic One Eye Typographic Institute. Tonight I feel like an author for the first time in my life.

Basis in Reality

The Cusp of Everything is a novel, but the journalist in me couldn't resist including factual material. My 1975 diary, calendar (above) and scrapbook were jumping off points. (Yes, my teen years are well-documented!)

I included in Cusp some of the same Westchester locations where I hung out back then. What flashbacks I had seeing those names again: Playland, Elmsford Drive-In, Cook's, Loyal Inn, Milk Maid, Tung Hoy, Korvettes, Cue Lounge, Sal's Pizza, Westchester Premier Theater, Steak & Brew, Mamaroneck Inn, Greenburgh Diner, Tommy's Tavern, Single Wing, Le Shack, The Sting, Candlelight...I think they're all gone now except for Playland and the Candlelight!

The Back Seat

One of the main characters in The Cusp of Everything is a 1967 Oldsmobile 98 Luxury Sedan the main character, Karen Walsh, purchased with babysitting money. Its backseat gets quite a workout!

A Time of Change

The Cusp of Everything is a two-pronged metaphor. In the classic coming-of-age sense, it means turning 18, feeling like your real life is about to start. In this book, it also refers to the massive changes occurring during the 1970s: taboos lifted on premarital sex, birth control, abortion, divorce, homosexuality, interracial relationships. The 1970s are when the upheavals of the 1960s hit the mainstream and everything changed.

Getting Ready for Publication

Self-publishing means a massive "to do" list and a constant state of panic. Formatting the book, both print and electronic versions. Coming up with a cover. And a blurb. And an author bio. Hiring a publicist and working with her to develop a target list. Starting to tweet. Getting the website together. Not to mention feeling like the book is actually, finally, completely finished: no more tweaking. No more asking for advice.

Letting go is the hardest part. The rest is just logistics.

May 15, 2012 is the date. Watch for it!

What's It All About?

The Cusp of Everything is the first novel with a soundtrack, a time-travel back to Westchester County, New York on the eve of America’s Bicentennial. More than 200 songs run through the text, setting the tone for the era and the action. From “classic rock” before it was classic and “Old School” when it was still new, to Top 40 and the early days of disco, with a special helping of Diana Ross and the Supremes, Cusp’s music runs the gamut of what was in the air at the time. Listen along at the companion website: cuspofeverything.com.

Cusp is about being on the threshold of adulthood, hoping for “real life” to start, fervently anticipating growing up and moving on. The term also refers to the massive societal shifts of the 1970s, when taboos were lifted on premarital sex, birth control, abortion, divorce, homosexuality and interracial relationships.

Karen Walsh dreams that moving to the big city and finding love will solve all her problems. After a failed summer romance, commuting to classes feels like a lonely extension of high school, but without the familiar faces. Only her deepening friendship with Mark Cassone provides a bright spot. Together they plan their escape from the suburbs, aching for a new and rewarding life in Manhattan.