Catching Up With Dean Friedman

Mention the name Dean Friedman to diehard music fans and you’re likely to get a one-word response: “Ariel.” That 1977 single, from his eponymous debut album, was a Top 30 hit and remains his most popular song by far, at least in America. But Friedman has actually had a long, somewhat unpredictable career since he arrived on the scene in the singer-songwriter heyday of the 1970s.

Hailing from New Jersey, Dean Friedman was playing music by the time he was in his teens and landed a deal with Cashman and West’s Lifesong Records label in 1975, when he was only 20. The Dean Friedman disc appeared two years later. “Ariel” was of course the hit, and an irresistible one at that, combining a bouncy melody with witty lyrics that name-checked places familiar to many people who grew up in New Jersey or thereabouts. But for all its virtues, “Ariel” wasn’t really indicative of Friedman’s debut. Most of the songs on the album were just as good, but a lot darker. If “Ariel” painted a picture of a blissful new romance, “Woman of Mine” did the opposite, describing the singer’s desire to shut out the world after the end of a relationship. And “Song for My Mother,” the album’s centerpiece, was a dark and moving depiction of a parent’s breakdown.

Friedman returned in 1978 with his sophomore set, “Well, Well” Said the Rocking Chair. If not the minor masterpiece that his debut was, it was still a worthwhile album and probably a more diverse one. Some songs, like “Don’t You Ever Dare” and “I’ve Had Enough” displayed an angrier tone than on the previous disc. Others, like “Lucky Stars” and “The Deli Song,” were lighter and found Friedman joined by other “characters” as he acted out romantic scenarios in song. Rocking Chair’s closing track, meanwhile, was a strange but effective ballad called “Let Down Your Hair,” written about the famous Son Of Sam murders that took place during 1976 and 1977 in New York City.

Rocking Chair didn’t do as well as Dean Friedman did here in America. But in the UK, it was a different story. “Lucky Stars,” which also featured Denise Marsa on vocals, became a major hit there, going all the way to number-three. The follow-up single, “Lydia,” was also a minor hit on that side of the pond. Unfortunately, since the disc and its singles were not hits in the States, Friedman parted ways with the folks at Lifesong Records not long afterwards.

Friedman didn’t release his third album until 1982 and even then it was done independently. That’s a shame because Rumpled Romeo was a top-notch effort, a concept album of sorts about first love. The single was “McDonald’s Girl,” a relentlessly catchy, frequently covered song that was banned by the BBC for mentioning the name of the fast food chain. Other standout songs on Rumpled Romeo include the beautiful ballads “Love is Real” and “Hey Larry.” Really, the entire album flows from start to finish and brims with a sense of romance and innocence.

Since then, Friedman has recorded very sporadically and his output has ranged from children’s songs to more adult fare (a tune called “Fuck Buddies,” anyone?). He has also written quite a bit of music for film and television, in particular Nickelodeon. Friedman also created a VR game called Eat-A-Bug which he licensed to the popular cable channel, and he has some other high-tech inventions to his credit as well. And he continues to tour from time to time, particularly in the UK where he is still a big draw.

I recently caught up with Dean Friedman and have included excerpts from our conversation below.

Tell me a little about your childhood -- where you grew up, how you first got into music, that sort of thing.

I grew up in Paramus, New Jersey -- deep in the bosom of suburbia. Highways and shopping malls. The 'waterfall in Paramus Park' [from “Ariel”] was actually an indoor waterfall in the atrium of the Paramus Park shopping mall. My mom was a singer and there was always some Broadway showtune on the piano or some kind of music filling the house.

Who are some of the songwriters or musicians that inspired you when you were starting out?

I grew up listening to everybody -- from Gershwin and Bernstein to The Beatles, The Stones, Dylan, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor [and] Elton John, plus lots of jazz and country and anything on the radio, really. As a composer, I've been influenced by every idiom, but as a singer-songwriter, specifically, I was definitely influenced by [the] artists I just mentioned… people who told stories using vivid lyrical imagery.

"Lucky Stars" became a huge hit in the UK and you still have a big fan base over there. Do you enjoy being in the UK? Any ideas why that song was so much bigger on that side of the pond than it was here?

I've always enjoyed visiting the UK, in no small part because it's easier for me to make a living when I'm there and I have slightly more access to the media, which makes it easier to reach my audience. And it's the audience that makes all the difference. As to why I'm relatively more successful in the UK than here? Quite simply: business and politics. The label that handled my UK releases knew what they were doing; my U.S. label didn't.

How autobiographical are your songs? Do you generally subscribe to the "write what you know" school of songwriting?

Most of what I write is autobiographical, but I also make frequent use of my poetic license, which I make sure to keep in my back pocket at all times.

Tell me about some of your extracurricular pursuits, like the Eat-A-Bug VR game and the Musical Atrium series.

It all started with my playing around with some of the early synthesizers. I was just having fun twiddling knobs and making cool sounds. One day it dawned on me that they were actually computers disguised as keyboards. I wound up authoring the first consumer guide for Synthesizers, Sequencers and Drum Machines (AMSCO), then starting writing software reviews for audio, video and animation software. I designed a VR video game, using an Amiga computer and software that allowed video camera input. I named it Eat-a-Bug and licensed it to Nickelodeon TV. That led to more VR games for TV and subsequently theme parks and museums around the world.

While doing a VR installation for the Eureka! Children's Museum (Halifax, UK), I pitched a musical playground for kids with whimsical instruments named the Booble, the Honkblatt and the Laser Harp. It was a hit and I started getting commissions to reproduce them for museums and theme parks around the world. I never woke up one day and decided to manufacture musical playground equipment, but, well, that's what happened. You can see them in the COOL STUFF section of www.deanfriedman.com.

Any insight into the inspiration of the following songs, or any memories about them that you care to discuss?

* “Ariel”

Written while fooling around with a four-track TEAC. I thought it might be too simple a plot -- boy meets girl, goes on date, winds up making out. Til two teenage girls on my block heard the song and jokingly accused me of reading their diaries!

* “Let Down Your Hair”

Written about and following the summer of Son of Sam. Women all over the five boroughs were cutting or tying up their hair to look less like the long-haired brunettes he had been shooting all summer. [Hence] "You can let down your hair; the summer's over.”

* “McDonald's Girl”

Was officially banned by the BBC for mentioning a commercial trade name. CBS immediately dropped me. A few years later, covered by then-unknown Canadian band Barenaked Ladies, and became their first radio hit in Toronto. Went to #1 in Norway for The Blenders and over the last few years, dozens of people around the world have produced their own YouTube videos based on the song. Hilarious stuff. I always knew it was a pure pop hit, and it's nice to see it keeps proving itself one.

* “Song for My Mother”

To some degree, everyone's parents are 'crazy.' Some just a little more colorfully than others.

What do you have planned for 2010?

I'm working on a new album [which is] due out by the summer. And I've got a few other music projects I'm eager to get crackin' on. Then another UK tour. Oh, and did I mention I'm still in the middle of cleaning my office? That could take 'til 2011.

Words by Dave Steinfeld