Stevie, the Oscar Nominated Songwriter

[SillyDreamer]

I was watching Ellen this morning, and Ellen had Dolly Parton come on and sing the song she wrote for the movie Transamerica. And I got to thinking, well if Stevie was the special guest on Ellen or Oprah, she would probably just sing Landlide. But then I thought about the success that 60-ish female songwriters have been enjoying as a result of writing for popular movies. Dolly, for example, is nominated for an Oscar for her song, and is garnering a lot of publicity because of it. Emmylou Harris won a Golden Globe for the song she wrote for Brokeback Mountain.

Stevie's situation appears to me that she clearly wants to remain in the music limelight but is unwilling to record much new music. This is not an easy thing to do in today's music business. But what if she wrote one really good song for a really good movie? It probably wouldn't make her millions, but I don't think that's really what she's after. Think about it: As much as we love seeing Stevie performing the same songs on the occasional TV appearance in support of some tour (which in turn is in support of nothing, since it's been half a decade since the woman released new material), on which she performs mostly the same songs.... wouldn't it be great to see her garnering respect as a vital artist? These artists that get nominated for Golden Globes, Oscars, etc. are almost always invited to perform them at the awards ceremony. How cool would it be to see Stevie perform at the Academy Awards?

What do you think?

[GavinBrown]

If You Ever Did Believe should have been nominated...

[Jyqm]

Stevie's situation appears to me that she clearly wants to remain in the music limelight but is unwilling to record much new music. This is not an easy thing to do in today's music business. But what if she wrote one really good song for a really good movie?

She's got a pretty good track record of it: "Blue Lamp," "Sleeping Angel," "Violet & Blue," "Battle of the Dragon," "Twisted"...

Think about it: As much as we love seeing Stevie performing the same songs on the occasional TV appearance in support of some tour

We do?

wouldn't it be great to see her garnering respect as a vital artist? These artists that get nominated for Golden Globes, Oscars, etc. are almost always invited to perform them at the awards ceremony. How cool would it be to see Stevie perform at the Academy Awards?

What do you think?

Personally (and I know I'm probably in the minority on this), I put virtually no stock in awards shows of any stripe, so I really don't care one way or the other if she does something like this. It doesn't make too much difference to me if she does something to earn the respect of political entertainment organizations, though I would like her to do something to earn the respect of me. My standards aren't even that high for her these days: an album of new, half-decent, sincere songs would be enough for me.

[Jyqm]

If You Ever Did Believe should have been nominated...

It wasn't eligible. What's her name had recorded a version of it back in the early 80s. (One more reason to add to the list of why Stevie doesn't give away her demos these days.)

[JWS]

I think it would be great if Stevie wrote a hit song for a movie. However, she would, imo, get better recognition if she sang it. Look what Titanic did for Celine Deion. Celine sang on the Academy Awards show for best movie song/soundtrack.

[Ghost_Tracker]

rd much new music. This is not an easy thing to do in today's music business. But what if she wrote one really good song for a really good movie?
What do you think?


Such as the Rhiannon Movie??? Ahhhh, and you think I'm being sarcastic, don'tcha! ( She said in an interview recently that she is currently working on a LONG, illiad-style poem; a longer version of "Rhiannnon" - probably including that "Three Birds" song. And she's planning to make a movie about it. I know she's been talking about that just as long as Londsey's been talking about making a solo album ;) But I think maybe she means it this time. )

Anyway I just don't agree though. As Mick said, she'll be doing this for "Donkey's Years" - she LOVES it. And remember what she said about doing ANYTHING she had to do to raise money for heart disease and leukemia research.... I know maybe she's slowing down a little - for example she only did 6 spins during Stand Back and they weren't exactly all that enthusiatic (contrasted with 19 FULL-THROTTLE spins at Caesar's Palace this summer) - but I honestly don't understand why people are suddenly so pessimistic about this. She's not tired, she's sad, and she will be for awhile.
But that doesn't mean that she wants to quit or even step out of the spotlight. Just an opinion, I could be 100% wrong of course. But from what I've seen, she's dropped just as many "hints" that she wants to keep going, during the past few months. Like anyone else it just depends on how she's feeling that day, and naturally some days are better than others.

[Serrart]

I still don't understand why Jan De Bont treated so badly Twisted. It's a beautiful song and deserved a much better treatment in the storyline. Did they even try to get a nomination for it? There was any campaign? I might be wrong but I think they promoted another song for the Oscars.

I hope she will keep composing for movies, her storytelling is very cinematographic.

Romy

[Sahara]

Such as the Rhiannon Movie??? Ahhhh, and you think I'm being sarcastic, don'tcha! ( She said in an interview recently that she is currently working on a LONG, illiad-style poem; a longer version of "Rhiannnon" - probably including that "Three Birds" song. And she's planning to make a movie about it. I know she's been talking about that just as long as Londsey's been talking about making a solo album ;) But I think maybe she means it this time. )

That's true. Let's hope it happens!

Londsey? Heehee, I love it. ;) :sorry: :xoxo:

The Stand Back twirls from the Vegas shows were ... incredible!

[Jyqm]

I still don't understand why Jan De Bont treated so badly Twisted. It's a beautiful song and deserved a much better treatment in the storyline. Did they even try to get a nomination for it? There was any campaign? I might be wrong but I think they promoted another song for the Oscars.

Oh, they probably had a tough time deciding which song to promote, "Twisted" or "Humans Being"...

Regardless, a good song like "Twisted" wouldn't have won that year. The award went to Andrew Lloyd Vomit for "You Must Love Me." Over "That Thing You Do!", no less.

[Serrart]

Oh, they probably had a tough time deciding which song to promote, "Twisted" or "Humans Being"...

Regardless, a good song like "Twisted" wouldn't have won that year. The award went to Andrew Lloyd Vomit for "You Must Love Me." Over "That Thing You Do!", no less.

I didn't remember about 1997 nominees and went to check. It was the Streisand 'grand refusal' year. :D I agree Stevie probably wouldn't have won, but she deserved to be in the shortlist more than four of those songs (That Thing You do! excluded),

Romy

[Rickypt]

I'm bummed I missed Dolly. :(

As for Stevie, I think she has already earned her respect as a songwriter and a vital artist a million times over. I don't really think she has anything left to prove. If, however, she is still writing songs, then I would like her to record them, movie soundtrack, EP, new CD, whatever. That's what I love about Dolly; we get new music from her almost yearly these days.

[BombaySapphire3]

I'm bummed I missed Dolly. :(

As for Stevie, I think she has already earned her respect as a songwriter and a vital artist a million times over. I don't really think she has anything left to prove. If, however, she is still writing songs, then I would like her to record them, movie soundtrack, EP, new CD, whatever. That's what I love about Dolly; we get new music from her almost yearly these days.
I don't think EmmyLou Harris has much left that she needs to prove either yet she continues to astonish with new and incredible work .I don't see why Stevie couldn't do it too:shrug:

[DestinyRules]

The Stand Back twirls from the Vegas shows were ... incredible!
I was thinking that by the time she got to Nissan on the Gold Dust Tour (since Nissan was a later addition to the tour) that she'd either do just a few slow, half-assed twirls or just drop them entirely from her repetoire. But it almost looked like she saw the video of her Live in Boston twirls and said to herself, "you think I don't have it anymore? Watch this," and then did them ala LIB!

Then, just as I'd convinced myself she would never do the extra vocal "Stand Back" AND a leg kick, she did BOTH at the Nissan show. Then she added about 10 more twirls after her leg kick that were LIB-styled. It all depends on how she's feeling that day. You'd have thought Stevie either felt she had something to prove on 10 July or perhaps somehow she cosmically knew it was my birthday and wanted to give me a kick ass performance as a present.

That was also the night I got to touch her hand. :D

[David]

I was thinking that by the time she got to Nissan on the Gold Dust Tour (since Nissan was a later addition to the tour) that she'd either do just a few slow, half-assed twirls or just drop them entirely from her repetoire. But it almost looked like she saw the video of her Live in Boston twirls and said to herself, "you think I don't have it anymore? Watch this," and then did them ala LIB!How many twirls did she do on LIB? Somebody told me it was around 45, but I didn't believe him.

[SillyDreamer]

I don't think EmmyLou Harris has much left that she needs to prove either yet she continues to astonish with new and incredible work .I don't see why Stevie couldn't do it too:shrug:

Exactly my point. Although I think she would have to choose the movie carefully--so while Twisted was a sort of anthemic summary of the movie in a way that "If You Ever Did Believe" or "Blue Lamp" was not (great songs, but they're just cuts on the soundtrack and don't represent the movie as a whole)Twister would not cut the mustard, IMO.

[Sahara]

I was thinking that by the time she got to Nissan on the Gold Dust Tour (since Nissan was a later addition to the tour) that she'd either do just a few slow, half-assed twirls or just drop them entirely from her repetoire. But it almost looked like she saw the video of her Live in Boston twirls and said to herself, "you think I don't have it anymore? Watch this," and then did them ala LIB!

Then, just as I'd convinced myself she would never do the extra vocal "Stand Back" AND a leg kick, she did BOTH at the Nissan show. Then she added about 10 more twirls after her leg kick that were LIB-styled. It all depends on how she's feeling that day. You'd have thought Stevie either felt she had something to prove on 10 July or perhaps somehow she cosmically knew it was my birthday and wanted to give me a kick ass performance as a present.

That was also the night I got to touch her hand. :D

That is AWESOME. If she ever does the SB twirls in front of me I'll just die right on the spot. I'll die happy though.

As for how many there were on LIB [woooo, that was something else] ... hang on and I'll count!

[Sahara]

At least twelve.

EDIT: Just on Stand Back though, I haven't counted the whole DVD yet! :laugh:

[Rickypt]

I don't think EmmyLou Harris has much left that she needs to prove either yet she continues to astonish with new and incredible work .I don't see why Stevie couldn't do it too:shrug:

I don't either, and I wish she would. I was just responding to the statement about establishing Stevie as a vital artist.

[DestinyRules]

She did about 12-15 twirls during "Stand Back" on LIB. She did about 10-15 during the same point in the song in Nissan '05... then she added about 10 more at about the same speed in the closing coda after the leg kick. The twirling craziness redeemed the song from being somewhat of a play-it-safe vocal.