THEA: This is what happens when we start listening to Michael Franks. (We’re just on a little jazz tear here…we’ll be back to our usual writing shortly.)

I suggested to Chad that we should write a new song about an industry other than hospitality (“Keys To The City”, “They All Know My Knock”); we’d already written “Putting One Over On You”, but because Chad knows well the language of the corporate world, it seemed natural to find another office job angle. (Note to those who don’t work in the corporate world: People with “C” titles—Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer—are referred to as C-Suite employees.)

I believe it was also my idea that it should be about a guy who’s very attracted to his CEO but can’t do anything about it. As long as I’ve known Chad, he’s been a huge fan of the double entendre, so I knew this was going to be fun.

A couple of hours later we had a framework (that’s Chad…and I don’t think we touched the chorus at all); the only direction change we had to make was that the song was too subtle at first. Once we decided to let that go and be a bit bolder, it fell into place very quickly. Every one of the suggestive lyrics has an innocent explanation (I will decline to say which of them were my ideas, except for “I was thinking about her feet”…that one I have to claim here, because when I make Chad laugh that’s a victory for me), and there’s an ambiguity in the wrap up we both really loved.

Favorite part: The recurring elevator sound.

THEA: Originally, this bed was one Chad created to write a humorous song about a private detective, but it was just too fast/uplifting/happy-sounding for that. The original hook was “I can tell you who was lyin’”. I loved it and wanted to keep that general idea when when we re-tooled it, and so did he.

We were just kicking around ideas and I thought slick politicians might be a good topic over this groove, and as usual, Chad had the framework done by dinner that night. We modified the hook, made some cosmetic changes (kept the intent, inserted a couple of new ideas and swapped out some of Chad’s original words for better ones) and then added the riffs at the end to drive home the theme.

We love the Michael Franks-style vocal (I love Michael Franks, period), and the background vocals make a little rhythmic change up on the out-choruses that we also love.

“Another one in the can,” as we say around here. [LAUGHS]

THEA: One evening Chad announced that he’d found an old receipt in his wallet, and thought he might try writing a song about it…because he figured “that’s what Donald Fagen might do in that situation”.

I’m sure I had a puzzled (then skeptical) look on my face, but…we went ahead and worked on it.

There’s not a lot more to say about this one, except to say I’m sort of hung up on everything making sense and lyrics laying in the pocket…so a little bit of the quirky poetry and form was sacrificed to the overall story once I started working with Chad on it. The changes ended up being pretty basic but there’s a charming little Fm7 transition to the bridge that is a nice moment if you like that slightly-out-of-place sound, which I do.

We both love Steely Dan. We’ve seen them at least five times and I actually have one of Walter Becker’s guitar pedals, and Chad has a bass pedal he owned…and though—at least for us—there can be no imitation, there is always inspiration, and that’s where the seed of this idea came from.

Anything to add, Chad?

CHAD: This was an exercise exactly as Thea described - if Donald Fagan found a receipt in his wallet from long ago, with the text barely readable, what would he write about? I don’t know what that answer is, but it eventually morphed into what this is - a song about a date at a hard to find bar called “The Merc” in SoHo, and the end of a relationship.

And for the record, they actually did play post-punk bands like Joy Division in the evenings on the house tapes, and not a jukebox. But, for the sake of the song we chose “jukebox” instead.

THEA: Our process here was divergent from what is typical for us. We were working on something else and decided to just let it go (we write humorous songs as well and I think it may have been one of those), but this little ascending hook really stuck in my head. I suggested we re-tool it, and I just blurted out (in that melody): “Every time I STOP. I think about your smile.”

Chad quickly came up with the surrounding story about a guy who can’t concentrate in traffic or at work.

The way it turned out I hear a smooth jazz vocalist with a silky delivery doing it, but that’s probably not the only way it would work. You could soul it up a little, I think, if you wanted to.

There’s something (just a style thing in the performance) on this track I actually hate [LAUGHS] but I won’t say here what it is. If you’re someone who’s ever worked with me, it won’t be hard to figure out. But it’s all appropriate for the chosen delivery, so it’s all good.

The song is “very catchy”, as they say.

Your turn, Chad. Anything?

CHAD: Thea came up with a great hook for this, and that was really all it took. The draft came together pretty quickly, and we both refined the story and lyrics over a few days.

A lot of work also went into getting this arranged the way we wanted the story to be told. It wasn’t easy - trying to get the tools to do what you want can be difficult and frustrating.

We eventually got what we wanted, mostly, and this is the result. It’s also the first, and only, time I’ve ever used the word “baby” in a song.

CHAD: This one is a bit cynical. I’ve been dealing with consultants for much of my career, and it gets pretty annoying listening to corporate double-talk all the time.

I was having one morning where I was getting stressed about it more than usual, so I put pen to paper while in a meeting. It was a LOT more cynical and biting, until Thea and I sat down with it. We cleaned it up, toned down some of the more angry parts, and we ended up with a good song about corporate communications.

She also changed the hook. I don’t remember what it was before - something about “Market Value”, I think - but she definitely made this into something great.

Thea, is there anything you’d like to add?

THEA: I don’t remember it being all that “biting” and I certainly don’t remember it being “angry” (though yeah, you were not happy that morning) but…it probably was. I’m just used to your east coast style of communicating. [LAUGHS]

One of my favorite edits here was nicknaming the first guy “Wingtips”.

THEA: So crazy that this almost wasn’t done in this style. (Don’t ask what we first thought we’d do with it…I don’t want to admit it now. [LAUGHS])

I’m an R&B singer and the first time I heard Jonah Nilsson (of Dirty Loops) sing, I felt like I was going to collapse—because it just doesn’t get any cooler than that.

So here comes Chad, producing this song in this style—AFAIK, he wasn’t really thinking about Loops—just to try it out. When we got to add the Henrik Linder (again, Dirty Loops)-sounding bass solo, we knew we weren’t going to touch it again.

One of our more unusual topics (a cynical concierge…brilliant, Chad!) that needed only a little polish and a few fresh lines from me…and I don’t think we’ll ever top this one.

(Speaking of polish, the lyric “polished answers” sounds like “Polish dancers” when you sing it at this tempo…ask me how I know. So “practiced answers” it was.)

Chad?

CHAD: This one was fun. I’ve traveled a lot over the course of my career, constantly staying in hotels - everything from a Hampton Inn overnight on the way to some other place, all the way to staying a Ritz Carlton long-term working overseas. After a while, you get to know the people that work there. If you’re a people-watcher, you tend to observe and learn things.

I thought this might be a song in some other style - I don’t remember what style - but we eventually stumbled on this style as we were experimenting with different arrangements.

Honestly, I think from an arrangement perspective this one is probably my favorite. I have others that are favorites for other reasons. But this one? It’s just… fun.