Meet Harriet Schock of Harriet Schock, More Future Schock Songs, Harriet Schock School of Songwriting

Today we’d like to introduce you to Harriet Schock.

Harriet, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Shortly after leaving the University of Texas with a BA in English, I came to Los Angeles to become a professional songwriter. I started performing my original material in the early seventies. Pretty much the only place singers could sing original material here then was at gay bars. I had a regular weekly show at The Bitter End West on Santa Monica Blvd. Every Monday night I would perform there for about 3 or 4 hours. Because these gentlemen were not there to see the white girl at the piano, I had to devise a way to enroll them into my songs. That’s when I started introducing my songs, something that has become a trademark of mine as a singer/songwriter. I made these unfamiliar songs part of their lives as well as mine by setting up a riddle the song answered. That way, an audience member might actually listen to me rather than merely talking to the guy he was standing next to. These audience members became my first fan base.

At an industry gathering (an ASCAP meeting—American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), I met Roger Gordon, a publisher with Screen Gems which is now EMI publishing. He asked if I was performing anywhere so I told him about the club. He came to hear me and signed me to a publishing deal (which means the writer gets an advance against future royalties as a weekly draw) so I could quit my day job as an advertising copywriter. Screen Gems made demos of me singing my songs and took it to Russ Regain at 20th Century Records and I got signed to a record deal. Russ Regan had the best ears in the business and still does, having discovered Elton John, Barry White and many others. My first album, “Hollywood Town,” had songs on it that got played on the radio just enough to have other artists hear and cover them including the Partridge Family (“That’s the Way It Is with You”), Manfred Mann (“Hollywood Town”) and the song that went to #1 and got a Grammy nomination for Helen Reddy, “Ain’t No Way to Treat a Lady.” I was finally a legitimate songwriter and my parents could stop worrying. My mother could work my hit song into pretty much any conversation, no matter how non-sequitur it may have seemed.

I wrote and recorded 3 albums for 20th Century Records and then disco came into fashion. I left 20th and started writing songs for film and TV. During the eighties, I signed another publishing deal with Motown’s subsidiary, Jobete, where I frequently co-wrote with a wonderful composer from Israel named Misha Segal. In that case, he wrote the music (first) and I wrote the lyrics to fit those melodies. Together we wrote all the songs for The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking, the animated Secret Garden, the Real Life Adventures of Santa Claus, the Baby Makes Five theme song and many, many other songs for projects. Our most covered song has been the love theme song for Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon, “First Time on a Ferris Wheel,” performed for the film by Smokey Robinson and Syreeta. When we went to Mr. Gordy’s house to show him the song, he said he didn’t need a love song for his film. Then he heard it, called the head of Tri Star Pictures at 3AM and told him they were reshooting the end of the film for the song. Since that time, over thirty people have sung it, among them Carl Anderson, Gloria Loring, Nancy Wilson, Smokey Robinson and Rebecca Parris.

In the nineties, I met the legendary record producer, Nik Venet (who discovered Linda Ronstadt, The Beachboys, Jim Croce among many others). He got me writing songs again, both music and lyrics, and performing. He made two more albums with me before he died in 1998. I learned a lot from him, much of which I write about in my book, Becoming Remarkable, for Songwriters and Those Who Love songs. When the century turned, I made a live album and another studio album, produced by Thunder Digital and Nashville Tracks, respectively. Last year, the fabulous singer, Patricia Whiteman, put together an entire show of my songs with my 9-piece band and performed sold-out shows at Vitello’s for 2 shows and The Coffee Gallery Backstage. I also continue to perform with my band mostly in L.A.

In 1985, I got a call from USC asking me to teach songwriting in their undergraduate program. I said it couldn’t be taught. The next year they called me again and I accepted. I discovered I really loved teaching and devised a step-by-step approach whereby songwriting actually could be taught to songwriters of any level—beginners to advanced. For the last thirty years, I’ve been teaching songwriting along with writing, performing, and lecturing.

My careers are a bit like my closet. I see no reason to get rid of what I’m currently doing (or wearing) but I love to add new ones. When I met Henry Jaglom, the iconic filmmaker, I started writing songs and underscores for his films. Eventually, I started acting in them as well as in his play, “Just 45 Minutes from Broadway.” I so enjoyed this new chapter of my life and career, working with amazing actors like David Proval, Tanna Frederick, Julie Davis, Jack Heller and Diane Salinger.

I continue to write songs for film, TV and other artists as my website will explain if you go there and look at the singers and films that have featured my songs. e.g. Roberta Flack, Lee Greenwood, Jeannie Kendall, Charlene, Delta Force II, Trophy Wife, Jakers! plus many more.

And I continue to teach songwriting both online around the world, in classes at my home and privately. I showcase wonderful songwriters every 2 months at a showcase I created six years ago called SNAP—Sunday Night at the Pavilion held at Celebrity Centre in Hollywood.

I live in the Miracle Mile area with my uniquely wonderful husband, Mark Giffin and my photo-bombing cat, Jesse.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I consider myself fortunate that I’ve done what I love for a living for over 35 years. But there’s good news and bad news about making one’s living as an artist. The good news is, I don’t have to get up early in the morning, unless I’m on a film shoot. The bad news is there are no guarantees of income. When I was signed to the publishers I had deals with, there was steady income, but it was all advance against future royalties. Having had a hit early in my songwriting career, when the industry was such that a songwriter could make a lot of money with a single that was on the charts, I did not foresee the days of streaming and pennies where dollars used to lie. Now that Spotify, Rhapsody, Pandora, Napster are household words, I can receive a statement that is thick with pages and see fractions of cents adding up to paltry sums for numerous streams and downloads. Plus, everyone has a home studio so putting out a CD doesn’t require getting signed by a record company who pays for it. In an era when even the inexperienced singer/songwriters release a CD a year, when I say I’ve made 7 albums over the years, millennials smile and say “Who hasn’t”?

I have a mission to improve the craft of songwriting consistently, not only in myself, but also among the songwriters I meet. That’s not always an easy road either. The more advanced writers realize there’s still room to grow, whereas the euphoria of the novice often prohibits such realizations. Luckily word of mouth helps keep me known as a mentor and songwriting consultant.

Another hurdle is it’s not always easy to meet recording artists to write with or filmmakers to write songs for, but since that’s my bread and butter these days, along with teaching, I am always happy to mention it when I’m interviewed. So Adele, if you’re reading this…

We’d love to hear more about your business.
I write songs and teach/mentor songwriters, as well as perform, record and act. I specialize in songs with emotional impact. I think that’s why I’ve had so many songs in film and TV as well as recorded and performed by others. These songs are known for their “ear worm” melodic content, which means that people can’t get them out of their heads. They are also known for the clarity and many levels of the lyric which is both literate and visual. Rather than being based on one repetitive line that hammers home an idea, they slide into the consciousness of the listener and impact him or her gradually. One of my fans suggested it’s the difference between “rape and seduction.”

As a songwriting consultant, rather than teaching “rules,” I offer a step-by-step method that enables a songwriter to go to the next level in his/her songwriting and build all the muscles of songwriting along the way. After doing these steps, a songwriter can often look at earlier work and rewrite, raising the level of earlier songs.

As a performer, I’m known for taking an audience on a journey that’s all about themselves, with humor and insight. There’s an arc to it so that by the end of the evening, the entire room feels better about themselves, their lives and their relationships.

In 2007, Los Angeles Women in Music awarded me an award in Career Achievement and Industry Contribution. The black-tie/red carpet event was held at Hollywood and Highland. It was truly a thrill and a highlight for me.

I suppose these are the things I’m most known for and, therefore, what I’m proudest of. I love my fans and when I view my work through their eyes, I feel I’ve done something right.

What were you like growing up?
I grew up in Dallas, Texas and my father taught me to play the piano by ear when I was 4 years old. He was a dermatologist who had put himself through college and medical school playing in a jazz band. We’d play songs together on the piano and he’d tell me the chords. Eventually I’d say “I know, I know.” From then on, I was playing by ear. When my piano teacher tried to teach me to read music, I’d ask her to play the piece one time to make sure I wanted to learn it. From then on, I was only partially reading the notes, mostly playing it from memory.

I was always a bit eccentric and my mother called me “a character.” I was a tomboy and shot skeet with my father. I was the sub-junior girls’ skeet shooting champion, only because there was no category for someone 8-years old, so they created one. I suppose shooting 100 targets (clay pigeons) with a 16 gauge qualified me for that heretofore non-existent award.

When I was dragged to the grocery store with my mother, I would stand at the stationery aisle and look at the paper. I always loved the process of writing words down. My mother would read to me from books and I’d write down what she dictated. By junior high, I was playing the piano for skits and in college, I was writing musicals to enter into competitions. When we won twice, I thought “Wouldn’t it be great to do this for a living?” When I moved to Los Angeles, my family was very encouraging to me. Now that I teach songwriting and hear about other people’s childhoods, I realize how I fortunate I was to have 3 people rooting me on, my father, my mother and my older sister.

Pricing:

• Introductory song critique online or in person $40
• Songwriting workshop starting Jan 9 $360
• Online songwriting course $550

Contact Info:

• Website: www.harrietschock.com
• Phone: 323 934-5691
• Email: harrietschock@earthlink.net

Image Credits:
Mr. Berry Gordy

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