(excerpted from the book "Inside The Hits: The Seduction of a Rock and Roll Generation" by Wayne Wadhams)

Obviously, classic HITS span an enormous variety of sounds and styles, arranging, and production techniques, from the minimalist "What's Love Got to Do With It" and "Every Breath You Take" to the lavish orchestrations of "Walk On By" or "Saving All My Love for You." Within any group of hits, we will find few specific techniques--musical or recording--in common. To discover real commonalities, we must dig deeper to uncover the emotional basis of popular music and the ways in which it communicates messages to a broad audience. Beyond this, there are a few commonly observed conventions, particularly with song form and lyrics, and an unspoken set of dramatic questions that most great records answer, either directly or indirectly, to connect the artist and audience.

Toolkits for Enjoyment, Understanding, and Vivisection

We all know the purpose of a teddy bear or security blanket. These childhood companions serve the same purpose as Greek worry beads, a favorite pair of slippers, or a lucky necktie: they comfort us when we feel insecure, support us when we feel vulnerable, and prevent us from "losing it" emotionally in times of personal stress.

On an bodily level, a warm shower before going to bed forces our internal thermostat to cool us off and helps put us to sleep. So does a cup of warm milk or herbal tea. Conversely, a cold shower shocks us and tells the body to warm up and get going. Two cups of coffee--especially with sugar--kick our brain into action in the morning, give us a shot of energy, and keep the plumbing "regular." Onions and garlic allegedly stimulate the libido; alcohol relaxes taboos and makes us somewhat tired. We use drugs, prescription and recreational, solely for the effect they have on our bodies or minds.

Once we know how things affect us individually (the same thing may affect two people quite differently), we use them like tools to control our mental and physical states. In general, we have two possible goals: (a) to reinforce or enhance the way we already feel, or (b) to change our current mood or energy level. Music is among the most powerful tools for this brand of mind and body control. Many of us have a selection of "never fail" records that reliably push our buttons every time we hear them.

Need some energy Friday after work to get up for partying? Need to get your head back in shape the next morning while the hangover peters out? Something to bring on tears when you're down, or something stoic to prepare you for a potentially traumatic event? Here are some of the records I use for various situations. They're not all huge hits, but they work every time--for me:

Friday night "power bar":  
Fleetwood Mac, "Say You Love Me"
Donald Fagen, "I.G.Y."
Hangover mender:       
Bach Keyboard Partitas
Segovia playing classical guitar
Doobie Brothers, "What a Fool Believes" or "Minute by Minute"
Instant tears:         
The Beatles, "Yesterday"
James Taylor, "If I Keep My Heart Out of Sight" (from JT)
Paul Young, "Every Time You Go Away"
Preparing for trauma:   
More Bach
Toto, "Africa"
The Beatles, "Hey Jude"
Tom Rush, The Circle Game album

From this short list, it's easy to guess my age as fifty-ish, that I am white, and smack in the middle of baby-boomer experience and lifestyle. Write down your own list of old--reliables, and compare this with the lists of one or more friends. Doing this will help you understand how your musical vocabulary arose, what events in your life helped bond you with the records on your list, and what styles or types of emotional messages you respond to most easily.

It's All Folk 'n' Roll to Me

As we will see in detail later, all popular music is folk music at heart. By definition, popular music appeals to a wide audience, cutting through racial, cultural, and economic divides. Its audience need not be musically educated or sophisticated; it is not written for ecclesiastical or courtly purposes; it works even if we ain't been to college. It speaks to issues and emotions we all have in common. Stuffy or intellectual topics (unless wrapped in a clearly pop package, like the Police's Ghost in the Machine) generally don't go over well with mass audiences.

Doing a rough count of Billboard's Top 5,000 hits of the rock era by subject, about eighty percent deal with aspects of love. Of these, about half are "I love you (or him or her)" and "It's wonderful" songs, from the Jackson Five's "ABC" to the Ohio Express' "Yummy Yummy Yummy." Another significant category covers the "It's not working" situations, from Earth, Wind & Fire's "After the Love Is Gone" to the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'." Then there are the love--weirdoes, ranging from Robert Palmer's ritualistic "Addicted to Love" to the Kinks' crotch-busting "You Really Got Me," or Sammy Hagar's "Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy." Love--in all its masks--is clearly humanity's top pop concern. The same has been true in classical music since 1800, when liturgical music began to take a back seat to the back seat.

The remaining twenty percent of pop music subjects include a hearty helping of third-person criticism, from Helen Reddy's "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" to Carly Simon's pithy "You're So Vain." Philosophy and/or inspiration make appearances in hits from Dionne Warwick's "Alfie" and Peggy Lee's hedonistic "Is That All There Is," to Debbie Boone's fervent "You Light Up My Life" and Herb Alpert's "Zorba the Greek." Social diatribe and commentary are also prevalent, from Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" and Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust," to CSN&Y's "Teach Your Children" and "Woodstock."

On a lighter side, there are pure entertainment (sometimes "novelty") hits: Ray Steven's absurd "Ahab the Arab"; David Seville & the Chipmunks' "Alvin's Harmonica"; Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers' "Monster Mash"; the Beatles' "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" or "Yellow Submarine" (which my group used to sing on stage as "Yellow Soup Tureen.") Somewhere in here, we also find instrumentals, from Vangelis' "Chariots of Fire" to the Champs' "Tequila," Average White Band's "Pick Up the Pieces," and Meco Monardo's disco version of the "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band." Hybrids like M.C. Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" also abound.

While love leads the pack, almost any subject can grace a hit record. Conversely, not every song about love is a hit, so if you're getting ideas about writing a statistically likely hit lyric, forget it. In 1965, friends programmed a computer with the titles of thousands of hits and their sales figures, then asked the computer to come up with a likely hit song title. It responded, "Go Away, Old Man." Maybe the software was a bit primitive, but I trust that you get the point.

Musically, popular music must be simple enough that most listeners can figure it out and hum along. At the very least, they should be able to remember key melody or lyric lines and so-called hooks. Memorability is enhanced by repetition. While the meaning of the title line of the Police song "Spirits in the Material World" is a bit obscure, they sing it four times in each chorus over the same simple melody line. We find ourselves singing along, long before our mind asks, "What the hell is that about?" Even if we never ask that question, the song achieves its pop goal: heard, enjoyed, remembered, bought. If all you want to do is dance, the record works. If you want the buried mind/matter message, that's there too.

Folk music began when humanity began. Ancient Egyptians sang in the fields and cities, describing animals and birds, the Nile, the Gods, the government, and their own emotions--the same as Adam de la Halle did in 1283 when he composed Robin and Marion, a Broadway musical filled with catchy refrains. Same as John Bull and his English Renaissance contemporaries, who wrote bawdy barroom ballads like "Oh, No, John!" and "With a Dildo." Same as the dark, visionary blues songs of Robert Johnson in the 1930s; the love, prison, and children's songs of Leadbelly and other Southern masters; and later Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Curtis Mayfield, U2, and leaping ahead, Dr. Dre and Puff Daddy.

Key Elements of a HIT

There is no way to say for sure what specific elements, sounds, or aspects of a record make it a hit. Yet every hit has a few key things that grab our attention and make it memorable. Reviewing a long list of hits, we find that many of the same or analogous elements work over and over to create charisma. Some of these have to do with the song itself; others, with the way it is arranged, performed, recorded, or produced. Finally, some factors may work from the outside-current events, trends in society, marketing.

While it may seem simplistic to reduce every record to generic elements, doing so can help us understand how much great records have in common, and how they meet our expectations for structure, story, emotion, and other bottom-line entertainment values. Here's a list of the common factors that again and again act as key elements in so many hits.

Melody: Verse, Chorus, Title Line, Intro, and Turnarounds

Lyric: Title, Story, Attitude, Relevance, or Timeliness

Song form: Simple and Familiar, or Unusual

Arrangement: The Build, Steady or Wildly Dynamic, Hooks and Riffs, Repeats, Harmony Vocals, Bass Line, Stylistic or Ethnic "package"

Performance: Rhythmic Groove or Feel, Energy or Intensity, Mood, Lead Vocal, Solos

Recording: Excellent or Unique

Production: High or Unusual Production Value, Overall Sound and Blend, Space or Ambience, Unusual or Specific Sounds (instruments or studio effects)

Artist: Public Persona, Previous Work, Looks

Outside factors: Market Timing, Marketing/Promotion

A few of these terms need clarification. By "Relevance or Timeliness," I mean with regard to current events or things on the public mind; Aretha Franklin's "Respect" was quickly snapped up as the theme song for the Civil Rights and Women's Liberation movements. A "Steady Build" may happen in one rising tide of energy, as in Tracy Chapman's "Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution," or (more normally) have one intermediate drop in energy before a final assault, like the Turtles' "Happy Together." "Wild Dynamics" indicate an arrangement that stops and starts, has sudden key changes, or incorporates lots of other musical changes and surprises, like the arrangement of the Beach Boys' "I Get Around."

The repeating five-note guitar phrase that runs through the Kinks' "You Really Got Me," can be called a "Hook" or "Riff." "Groove" refers to the way a record "moves," influencing how we move or dance in response to its rhythmic persona. The loose, happy groove of the Temptations' "My Girl" contrasts sharply with the tight, driving "Feel" of Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff."

"Energy or Intensity" do not necessarily imply a fast tempo, as Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" or Michael Jackson's "Thriller" show. Instead, intensity comes from an aggressive attitude on the part of musicians and singers, as in "You Really Got Me." "Production Value" refers to the apparent level of musical luxury, often created by full orchestration, harmony, or choral background vocals. "High Production Value" adds emotional scale to a record, from Dionne Warwick's "Walk On By" to "My Girl" to Toto's "Africa."

A short list of KEY ELEMENTS of each hit appears at the beginning of the discussion and analysis of each record. Stay focussed on these as you read and listen. In Part V, these keys are amplified with more complete descriptions of signatures of each record. Before the glossary, there is a "Key Elements Matrix" that indicates key elements used in each of the records discussed. This may help you to see which records--however different or separated in time--relied on the same elements to become hits. Single-word descriptions of the emotional quality of various elements also appear in some cells of the matrix.

The first thing you may notice from the matrix is that the melody, the lead vocal, and repeats (most often of the title) are key elements of almost every hit. After these come distinctive harmony vocals, the groove and/or feel, and surprisingly, the recording, either for its high quality, spatial aspects, or other factor.

(excerpted from the book "Inside The Hits: The Seduction of a Rock and Roll Generation" by Wayne Wadhams)