Product Description

Eighty-eight ways to spot what's wrong with a song - along with expert instruction on how to fix it! Songwriters Pat and Pete Luboff cover it all, pointing out pitfalls and supplying solutions every measure of the way. 144 pages. 8-1/2 x 11.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #291801 in Books
• Published on: 1994-12
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 145 pages

Customer Reviews

Good Information For New Songwriters
I met Pete and Pat Luboff at the Taxi Road Rally in November 2006. I was so impressed with their depth of knowledge of the music business that I bought this book. Glad I did. This book is perfect for a new songwriter like myself. Each chapter represents one of the 88 things. Each chapter is short, very informational, and encouraging. It is an easy read and fun too.

Pete and Pat have been in this business a long time and this book is full of experiences they have learned the hard way. Now they are sharing them with the world.

Credibility Lacking
Some decent information in here, but most of it is common sense. The deceptive title doesn't help matters, either. "88 Songwriting Wrongs" implies 88 specific items to help your songwriting, but you don't get 88, unless you consider items such as "Don't Send Songs By Certified Mail" or "Don't Send Songs To A Company Without A Specific Person's Name" as invaluable songwriting tips. (Yes, those are 2 of your 88 songwriting wrongs.)

When the authors do address specific songwriting mistakes, they do provide some good information, but there is a definite "The more you know about music theory, the worse you're going to do as a songwriter" attitude...there's a definite bias against formal music training, as if the authors feel the need to defend their own lack of training, and attack it as a negative quality in the songwriting world. (Tip #28 is where they really lose all credibility.) It would be one thing if this was Lennon/McCartney writing this book, or Taupin/Elton John...but the authors themselves have only a couple of minor songwriting credits themselves (one for Patty LaBelle, of which they remind you about on every other page, seemingly.)

The book is not a total waste, but it's certainly not the be-all and end-all in songwriting aides. You'll learn more about songwriting by studying the actual masters than by reading this book.

Can't say enough good things about this book
First off the style in which it was written is really cute. It was lighthearted and extremely fun to read. My favorite thing about it was the little stories it had. Things I never knew, that really inspired me. I liked reading about how famous songs were rejected over and over before getting signed and recorded. If you're feeling rejection or dispair, this book will definitely pick you up. It contains great information on writing lyrics. If only it had some more info on the music part of songwriting. The stories are funny and entertaining and the information is really good. I think this book is absolutely mandatory for any songwriter! I don't give many 5 stars but this book gets 5 easily!