David Foster: Music Lover By Ryan Johnson Intro. To Music 1010, sec. 48

David Foster: Biography  Composer, singer, musician, songwriter, and producer.  Born November 1, 1949 on Vancouver Island, B.C.  Father was a maintenance worker, mother was a housewife  Foster was the only boy of 7 children

David Foster: Biography  Began piano lessons at 4 years old  Able to replay note for note an entire song he heard 2 or 3 times by age 7  By age 10, was an accomplished classical pianist “I owe much of my success to my classical foundation” (Foster 32).

David Foster: Biography  By age 11, moved past classical music into popular music of the 50s  Middle school band teacher allowed him to switch instruments he learned several instruments

David Foster: Biography  At 12 years, created rock-n-roll dance band  At 13, made more money than his father with gigs  At 13, received scholarship to Univ. of WA Summer Music Program for high school students

David Foster: Biography  Traveled to London with band and did gigs at 16 years old  Father passed away when he was 18 after telling him to pursue his dream of music.

David Foster: Biography  At 19, moved with band, Skylark, to L.A.  Skylark got a record deal with Capitol Records  Song, “Wildflower” made #9 on the Billboard charts  Band broke up, he stayed in L.A.

David Foster: Biography  At 24, B.J., his wife and agent, had their 1 st child  1st “real job” with a paycheck was playing piano for the Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring Tim Curry and Meat Loaf.

David Foster: Biography  Helped arrange music for George Harrisson and Barbara Streisand.  Career morphed from studio pianist to producer.

David Foster: Biography  Numerous producing invitations from celebrity musicians.  Won awards for work with Lionel Richie, Peter Cetera, Barbra Streisand Left: Foster and Barbra Streisand

David Foster: Biography  In 1985 he “scored the music for ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’” and produced songs for movies: Footloose, Ghostbusters, Pretty Woman, and Three Men and a Baby (Foster 107).

David Foster: Biography  1990s, introduced to Celine Dion  1992, worked with Whitney Houston on The Bodyguard soundtrack.  Till present, has worked with Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, Natalie Cole, and many more famous musicians.

David Foster: Composition History “Hard Habit to Break”  released in 1984  Foster produced and arranged  performed by Chicago  On album, Chicago 17  been re-made by All-4-One, R&B group Foster worked with

David Foster: Composition History “Love Theme From St. Elmo’s Fire”  Foster composed, produced and arranged  recorded in 1985 by Atlantic Recording Corporation.  found on the St. Elmo’s Fire Soundtrack  song reached #15 on the Billboard Charts in 1985

David Foster: Composition History “Love Theme From St. Elmo’s Fire”  Song and album were nominated for 3 Grammy awards for: Best Instrumental Composition Best Pop Instrumental Performance Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture (Foster 220).

David Foster: Composition History “I Have Nothing”  released in 1992 by Arista Records  performed by Whitney Houston  written by both Foster and his third wife, singer and songwriter, Linda Thompson  released on The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Left: Foster and Houston at 1992 Grammy Awards

David Foster: Composition History “I Have Nothing”  Nominated for: Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals (credited to Foster and William Ross) Best Song Written Specifically for Motion Picture or TV in 1993 (credited to Foster and Linda Thompson).  The Bodyguard Soundtrack won Record of the Year in 1993.

David Foster: Listening Guide: “Hard Habit to Break”  Song has 4 verses, a Chorus, Bridge, Chorus w/add- on, and a Fadeout.  in quadruple/simple meter, in the major key, with a conjunct melody.  Two main vocalists (guitarist Bill Champlin and Peter Cetera) trade off singing the 4 verses of the song.  Vocals are in a high tenor key (relatively high for male vocals), and blend with the synthesizer playing.  *see Notes for timings and details

David Foster: Listening Guide: “Hard Habit to Break”  Chorus is in duple meter, not quadruple like verses 2-beat rhythm creates tension Tempo picks up Dynamics-higher pitch at second half  Verse 3, changes back to quadruple/simple meter  Link to video featuring Cetera and Champlin Link to video featuring Cetera and Champlin  *see Notes for timings and details

David Foster: Listening Guide: “Love Theme From St. Elmo’s Fire”  Song is in quadruple/simple meter  Is instrumental, or a musical poem that has 2 themes A & B) that are alternately played.  Various synthesized sounds: Saxophone, violins, piano, drums, cello/strings  Link to video Link to video  *see Notes for timings and details

David Foster: Listening Guide: “I Have Nothing”  Song is in quadruple/simple meter, major key  Song has Intro, 4 Verses, Pre-chorus and Chorus  Includes synthesized and “real” instrumental sounds, along with vocals to create varied dynamics.  Link to music video Link to music video  *see Notes for timings and details

Works Cited  Blue Desert: the Home of West Coast Music. David Foster Web. 26 Sept  Chicago. Chicago: the Band Web. 26 Sept  Foster, David. Hitman. New York: Pocket Books: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., Print.  Imdb.com, Inc. Biography for David Foster Web. 26 Sept  Warner Bros. Records. Hit Man: David Foster & Friends. WB, Web. 25 Sept