Right before the beginning of this changepocalypse in which we all find ourselves, I made a pitch to one of my biggest heroes, in the hopes that I would become one of his biggest heroes.
David "Hit Man" Foster is a Canadian music producer and composer. He's best known for his televised concerts featuring Celine Dion, Pia Toscano, Michael Buble, Andrea Bocelli, the late Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Tevin Campbell, and many more. He's written hundreds of songs, but he's best known for what I describe as "songs that give you an uncontrollable urge to sway in your seat, wave a lighter, and donate to charity." His near-ubiquitous tunes, many of which have lyrics by ex-wife Linda Thompson, include "The Power of the Dream," "Tears Are Not Enough," "Hard to Say I'm Sorry," "Love Lights the World," "Voices That Care," "You're the Inspiration," "They're All Our Children After All," "Grown-Up Christmas List," and "The Prayer," which is famous for the Plan B that Foster executed when Andrea Bocelli got sick and couldn't show up to sing with Celine Dion. The Plan B was an 18-year-old named Josh Groban, whom you might have heard of.
As you can tell from the beautiful-sounding titles of many of his songs, David Foster is a model caring entertainer. In the 1980s, during his time as producer for Earth, Wind & Fire as well as Chicago (the band, not the city or the musical), he met with a young hospitalized girl whose only wish was to see her sister once more before she met her likely death. David Foster decided to pay for plane tickets for the sick girl's entire family to come and visit her. This began not only The David Foster Foundation but decades of work with hundreds of charities. In fact, many of his most famous songs were originally written as singles from which all proceeds would be donated to charity. When asked about using music to support pro-social causes, he says, "It's more than a gift. It's more than a responsibility. It's a must."
A Foster-produced charity album entitled "For Our Children Too" was given as a gift to my mother at a baby shower. I was the baby, and I wound up listening to the CD many times. I loved it. The CD and its songs have stayed with me for so long that last year, I wrote a Broadway musical adaptation of the album, which you can print and read here.
This as-yet-unproduced musical was the centerpiece of a pitch I made to Foster a couple weeks ago. I emailed his publicist:
Dear Marc,
It is my understanding that you are David "Hit Man" Foster's producer. I can only imagine what an exciting, rewarding job this is.
My name is Leo. I am on the autism spectrum and I'm conquering the difficult task of embracing my difference as my superpower. I love to express my feelings and passions by writing musical scripted stories. I have a good ear and a great love for music, and Mr. Foster's has been in my life for as long as I can recall.
If you'd like to see the "four videos of myself playing the piano," here they are:
He's been posting mini-concerts with his wife, Katharine McPhee, on their Instagram, as seen above. (For the record, I do not have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, Tumblr, or even MySpace. I am psychologically against social media.)
David "Hit Man" Foster is a Canadian music producer and composer. He's best known for his televised concerts featuring Celine Dion, Pia Toscano, Michael Buble, Andrea Bocelli, the late Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Tevin Campbell, and many more. He's written hundreds of songs, but he's best known for what I describe as "songs that give you an uncontrollable urge to sway in your seat, wave a lighter, and donate to charity." His near-ubiquitous tunes, many of which have lyrics by ex-wife Linda Thompson, include "The Power of the Dream," "Tears Are Not Enough," "Hard to Say I'm Sorry," "Love Lights the World," "Voices That Care," "You're the Inspiration," "They're All Our Children After All," "Grown-Up Christmas List," and "The Prayer," which is famous for the Plan B that Foster executed when Andrea Bocelli got sick and couldn't show up to sing with Celine Dion. The Plan B was an 18-year-old named Josh Groban, whom you might have heard of.
As you can tell from the beautiful-sounding titles of many of his songs, David Foster is a model caring entertainer. In the 1980s, during his time as producer for Earth, Wind & Fire as well as Chicago (the band, not the city or the musical), he met with a young hospitalized girl whose only wish was to see her sister once more before she met her likely death. David Foster decided to pay for plane tickets for the sick girl's entire family to come and visit her. This began not only The David Foster Foundation but decades of work with hundreds of charities. In fact, many of his most famous songs were originally written as singles from which all proceeds would be donated to charity. When asked about using music to support pro-social causes, he says, "It's more than a gift. It's more than a responsibility. It's a must."
A Foster-produced charity album entitled "For Our Children Too" was given as a gift to my mother at a baby shower. I was the baby, and I wound up listening to the CD many times. I loved it. The CD and its songs have stayed with me for so long that last year, I wrote a Broadway musical adaptation of the album, which you can print and read here.
This as-yet-unproduced musical was the centerpiece of a pitch I made to Foster a couple weeks ago. I emailed his publicist:
Dear Marc,
It is my understanding that you are David "Hit Man" Foster's producer. I can only imagine what an exciting, rewarding job this is.
My name is Leo. I am on the autism spectrum and I'm conquering the difficult task of embracing my difference as my superpower. I love to express my feelings and passions by writing musical scripted stories. I have a good ear and a great love for music, and Mr. Foster's has been in my life for as long as I can recall.
I have enclosed four videos of myself playing the piano, two in which I play Mr. Foster's compositions and two in which I play my own. I have also enclosed my script for a Broadway musical in which I believe Mr. Foster may take an interest, considering his recent artistic aims towards Broadway. I also credit him as a huge inspiration for this particular story, as it's based on a compilation album he produced that I have listened to, and loved, since a very young age.
I sincerely hope Mr. Foster enjoys my imaginative output, and I would be honored if he would like to meet me in person in regard to the musical script I have created.If you'd like to see the "four videos of myself playing the piano," here they are:
Plus: me at age 6 on the piano
This might have gotten to David Foster if he hadn't first spent a short time in the hospital himself (I don't think it was COVID), then gotten locked in his house like the rest of us.
After this crisis took hold, I reasoned that if I couldn't pitch it to the man himself, I could share the love and joy with everyone on the Internet.
I think I'm in agreement with him that using music to heal hearts and support pro-social causes is not a gift, not a responsibility, but a must.
I think I'm in agreement with him that using music to heal hearts and support pro-social causes is not a gift, not a responsibility, but a must.
CLOSING QUESTION (Leave your answers in the comments)
Do you think that David Foster should write a song to help the world get through this difficult time, and/or to celebrate the world's relief, resilience, and empowerment in the aftermath? Do you think I should? Do you think we could write one together, considering music is his strong suit and lyrics are mine?
The most important part of reading The Corona Light is to pay it forward - by literally forwarding! Let's bring inspiration, hope, and empowerment to as many people as we can!
The most important part of reading The Corona Light is to pay it forward - by literally forwarding! Let's bring inspiration, hope, and empowerment to as many people as we can!
I think if anyone feels moved to do so they should...and actually many artists have done and are doing so from John Legend to Chris Martin of Coldplay to a teacher who put out a call for the many high school and college students that won't be able to perform their spring musicals or concerts. Share your joy!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you shared these videos and I do hope you get a chance to share them with David Foster. Whether he releases a song about this crisis or not, I'd love to see more of your creations on this. I really liked the One Event Together video. I could hear the whole orchestra in my mind as I listened to you play.
ReplyDeleteMaybe somebody should slide this into D.F.'s D.M.'s...
ReplyDelete