Lamont Dozier (of Holland-Dozier-Holland fame) wrote this song in 1965. It was made famous by the Four Tops and hooray for Mowtown hit factory, pop music and all that...
What's interesting (I think) about this song is that the pressure inflicted on the song writers of the time was so immense that every ounce of inspiration was being exhausted. So where then does inspiration come?
Dozier tells the story of his father and how he ran a boutique/hair dressers and was a bit of a ladies man at the door way. He'd great his regular customers with 'Sugar Pie' and 'Hello Honey Bunch' and Dozier growing up would hear this and have stick in the deep recesses of his mind and memory.
Like everything we get exposed to, our mind records it all. It's always recording like a tape player (remember them?) and the red light never goes off. If we keep revisiting the same material, we're essentially over recording the same tune and our minds aren't much of a useful ideas centre. That's a comment for another time.
The point I make on this occasion is that before you search for inspiration for your next idea, look no further than the deep recesses of your mind. It might take a while for something to bubble up, but I promise there is a gem there.
I'm not a song writer but I imagine I’d have a few lyrics if I wanted to tell a story on life by weaving the lamentations of my Dad into the narrative!
I do facilitate ideas sessions though and everything that people say has the potential to unlock and idea. It's just a question of getting relaxed enough to share and not judging anything you were once told. Having a great idea is also about playing with something that’s been sitting in your head for a while. Listen to what it’s saying and soon you’ll hear the song...
Suger Pie Honey Bunch... you know that I love you... (catchy eh?)
No comments:
Post a Comment