In 1979, Wood finally took the solo plunge, releasing her self-titled debut (though Novi and Ernie both appeared on the album). Lauren Wood spawned the hit single “Please Don’t Leave,” a duet with Michael McDonald who at the time was one of the most in-demand voices in popular music. Two years later, Wood returned with her sophomore set, Cat Trick. Although not as popular as her previous album, the disc was notable in that it marked the first appearance of the song “Fallen.”

After Cat Trick failed to provide her with another hit single, Wood seemingly vanished from the music business for an extended period. But the key word here is “seemingly.” In fact, she remained extremely busy between the early '80s and the late '90s. Wood wrote songs for a very diverse list of artists including Gladys Knight, Sammy Hagar, Animotion, Johnny Mathis and even Cher; she got tons of work as a voice-over artist; and she launched her own feline-themed gretting card company called Cat Tricks. Perhaps most significantly, though, she scored her long-awaited second hit when “Fallen” was included in the soundtrack of the box office smash Pretty Woman nearly a decade after it first came out.

In 1998, Wood finally released her third solo album. Once again called simply Lauren Wood, it came out on her own label, Bad Art Records. 17 years is a long time in the music business (unless you’re The Eagles) and her third album didn’t exactly set the charts on fire. But it got Wood’s name back in circulation and it was a solid effort that contained some outstanding songs – including a reprise of “Fallen.”

In 2006, Wood returned with her best album yet, Love, Death & Customer Service. Wood’s husky, distinct vocals sound as good as ever, and her writing has grown deeper over the years. Indeed, Love, Death & Customer Service finds her tackling that trifecta of important subjects. She addresses love in several songs, from the opener, “Contradictions” (which should be all over adult-contemporary radio) to the charming “You’re Mine.” Wood takes on death in the epic album-closer, “Walk Toward the Light.” And on “You Gotta Love Those Guys,” she pokes fun at what my be the most depressing subject of all: customer service. In addition. Wood offers two covers on the album including a sublime take on Joan Armatrading’s “Can’t Let Go.” If all this isn’t enough, Love, Death & Custoner Service contains what may be the coolest CD booklet of any album released in the last decade.

I’ve spoken with Lauren Wood several times over the years and it’s always a pleasure. Here are some excerpts from our latest conversation.


When did you first get bitten by the music bug? Who were some of the musicians and/or songwriters who influenced you when you were growing up?
I got the music bug when I first saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan as a child.  I was blown away by their totally unique sound and their funny, self-deprecating sense of humor. Their music is still fresh and exciting even after all these years. 

Also, my parents played a lot of recordings of Broadway shows, especially Rodgers and Hammerstein. I adored Richard Rodgers’ gorgeous melodies and distinctive chord changes. I was also highly influenced by Motown, George Gershwin, Randy Newman, Paul Simon, Laura Nyro, Joni Mitchell and classical music.  My parents did a cool thing.  Instead of threatening me with punishment to encourage me to practice classical piano, they gave me “cash for hours practiced” that allowed me to buy my favorite pop singles at the time.  Good move.


Let’s talk about the big three subjects that led to the title of your latest CD, Love, Death & Customer Service. There are a number of love songs on the album, but the final track, “Walk Toward the Light,” is an elaborately produced song that is clearly about death.  Can you tell me what inspired it?
I already had two different CDs entitled simply Lauren Wood (20 years apart) so I knew I had to come up with an album title this time.  When I looked through the song titles on this recording, I didn’t like any of them for an album title.  So, I’m thinkin’ to myself, when I’m interviewed (like now) about this album and the interviewer says, “So tell me , Lauren, what is this album about?”, I would say, “Hmmmm….Well, let’s see… it’s about love…..death…..and…..customer service!”.  Eureka! I have a title…and it’s a funny one, too!

The “love” part was the ending of a 13-year relationship and the beginning of a new one. The “customer service” part is in “You Gotta Love Those Guys”, which speaks of waiting endlessly for an actual person to get on the line. And the “death” part refers to “Walk Toward the Light”, which is a very personal song inspired by losing four much-loved family members, two  very close friends and my beloved pet cat Ducky in a rather short period of time.  I started to write it when my Uncle Larry (who was like my West Coast father), passed away.  I finished it a couple of years later when my Aunt Franny (who was like my West Coast mom) passed away.  I played it publicly for the first time at my incredibly wonderful father’s memorial service.  I was grief stricken over these losses…and it propelled me to write and produce the most difficult and epic song I’ve ever recorded.  It’s eight minutes and 19 seconds long.  Within this song, I tried to recreate the life/death experience. It starts off in the hospital and you hear these kinds of bubbling sounds that are supposed to represent life support systems, and I am by the side of my loved one, just being there, when there is nothing more that can be done.  It continues with the passing over to the other side…then the grief and sadness…and then concludes with the celebration of the person’s life.  I can only hope that some of this is truly expressed in the song, and that people catch on.  It’s pretty wild that it’s gotten some radio airplay.  I guess some radio station program directors have “gotten it”, and relate to it.  To play a song that’s over eight minutes long is pretty [much] unheard of! 


On a related note, “You Gotta Love Those Guys” is about customer service reps – a subject that nowadays is almost as terrifying as death.  (For what it’s worth, I recently told the customer service rep at my HMO to go fuck themselves.)  Please share with me your thoughts on customer service.
Oh yeah, customer service drives me crazy.  First, you have to always push the button for English (am I racist?), then you get a million other prompts, and then you finally to get someone with such a thick Indian accent (racist again?) that you have to keep saying…”Whaaaat?” Just when you think you might get an answer to your problem, they accidentally disconnect you and you start the process over again.  You call back….and FINALLY you find out they can’t help you anyway.  Here’s a tip:  I always try to call around lunchtime so I can prepare and eat lunch while I wait.  Also, it doesn’t hurt to fix yourself a cocktail.


There are two covers on the new CD – The Zombies’ favorite, “Time of the Season” and a great rendition of Joan Armatrading’s “Can’t Let Go.” What led you to tackle these two songs?
I was in the studio with my band quite a few years ago, and we were recording some other tracks.  I started noodling with the keyboard part you hear in the intro [to “Time of the Season”] and my cousin Novi started playing the same melody on the viola, creating a rather interesting sound.  Then the whole band kicked in and started playing a groove to it.  It really wasn’t a song or anything at that point. But after a while, I started singing “Time of the Season” to it and we all proceeded to play the chords to the rest of the song.  We all looked at each other and went, “cool!” and we recorded the basic track right there.  A few years later, when I started recording tracks for Love, Death & Customer Service, I  remembered this track, and thought the feel of this track would work well for this album, so I completed it.  I also felt it was important to stay away from the original feel and sound of The Zombies’ recording because it was such an incredible record, that I wouldn’t dare touch it unless I gave it a whole new different life.  

As far as Joan Armatrading’s “Can’t Let Go,” I simply loved the song from the moment I first heard [her] recording and so wished I had written it.  I completely related to the lyric and I love the melody. Later, a friend gave it to Joan, who I heard usually doesn’t care for other people’s recordings of her songs.  She said, “Hmmm…not bad!” I felt flattered!


Tell me about your greeting card company, Cat Tricks.  You seem like a big fan of cats and of animals in general.
Yes, most definitely, I love animals, especially cats, dogs, elephants, gorillas, chimps and bonobos and even the bottom of the food chain:  those little “ratties!”  Essentially, I love all the furry creatures of the world.  My dad owned a pet shop in Pittsburgh, PA.  (“How Much is That Doggy In The Window” was written about my dad’s store.)  He taught me to love and deeply care for animals at a young age.  Animals affect me in the deepest part of my soul, and I am just fascinated with inter-species communication.

My greeting card company started when I needed an opening act at a club.  I do a very long sound check at gigs, and once the sound is set, and the equipment is placed on stage, I don’t want anyone touching the mixing board or moving my gear.  (Diva.)  That leaves no room for another band’s setup.  I also like people to be in a good mood when I come on stage, because I love to say things to make my audiences laugh.  So I’m thinking I need something funny as an opening act. 

Well…I had this wonderful kitty named The Bunny who would let me dress her up and do almost anything with her, and she just loved the attention and treats she got for doing it.  I had found a ridiculous record in a thrift store called “The Care and Feeding of Your Cat” released by Purina Cat Chow that had a really funny and kinda simplistic/pompous attitude and voiceover, [the kind] that was rampant in the '50s. I called my friend Sherry Barnett, who is a wonderfully creative photographer, to come over and do a photo shoot with The Bunny that would illustrate what was being said on the record, but with us doing everything wrong.  It turned out great and we decided to turn it into a slideshow that I would use as an opening act for my next gig.  When the audience saw the slideshow, they fell off their chairs laughing.  Sherry and I looked at each other and said, “I smell money!”  We took those photographs and turned them into greeting cards.  Cat Tricks was born!


Your most well-known song is probably “Fallen.” When and where did the tune first appear and how did it come to be included on the Pretty Woman soundtrack? Any memories of that whole experience?
I wrote “Fallen” around 1979 and recorded it for my 1981 Warner Bros. album Cat Trick. When Warner Brothers asked me what I thought the single was, I said “Fallen” [was] my favorite track and should be the single.  They said “Huh…? It doesn’t have drums or a real chorus.  It can never be a hit.”  So they released an uptempo song (and my least favorite of the album). It failed…and they dropped me. 

Ten years later, I was approached by a friend of mine who was an independent publisher and he asked if I had any favorite material that he could promote to film and TV.  I gave him “Fallen.” He gave it to a liaison at Disney and they liked it and tested it on screen on a rough cut of something called “3000,” which was supposed to be Richard Gere’s comeback movie.  At first they wanted a major artist to re-record it to help bolster soundtrack sales, but when the director, Gary Marshall, heard that he said, “No way, I want this track  as is – in my movie.”  So they used my original Warner Brothers track, added two instruments and re-mixed it.  Then they re-titled the movie “Pretty Woman” and used the Roy Orbison track and my track for the movie trailers…and the rest is history.  My song became highly identified with the movie.  EMI told me they had never received so many phone calls about a recording before.  The phone lines were ringing off the hook.  Suddenly, I was a genius.  Who knew?

You’ve collaborated and written songs with a diverse range of artists over the years.  Who haven’t you worked with or written for that you’d like to?
I am in awe of Annie Lennox and Joni Mitchell and would be thrilled to be in any kind of studio situation with either of them.  I think John Mayer is brilliant and would love to be in the studio with him. And of course, working with any surviving Beatle would be heavenly.


Any plans for 2009?
Yeah…I’d love to organize my closet.

-Dave Steinfeld