33 Great Songs 33 Great Songwriters

Great songs don't just happen, many ingredients go into their writing and composition and to understand the song you have to understand the inputs. To some people songwriting is one of the mystical 'dark arts', to others it's a simple mathematical puzzle and, as ever, the truth is somewhere in the middle. In the Great Songs series we will show you how and why great songs are created, we'll increase your understanding, appreciation and enhance your listening experience by unpacking the ingredients in an informative and entertaining way. The series is structured in such a way that fledgling or aspiring songwriters will benefit from the insights via the technical analysis we present, but the casual music lover will also find much to learn and enjoy. To those already on that musical journey this series will help with the road map, to others it could be the key to the first steps. It's possible that the format will reveal to many non-musicians just how achievable becoming a musician is, as someone wise once said, "All you need is three chords and the truth".

What’s with all the lists I hear you ask? The modern world is awash with them, Bucket Lists, Movies to See Before You Die, Albums To Hear Before You Die, Top Ten of this, Top Ten of That, websites devoted to only….. lists! Lists are many things, informative, insipid, imaginative, illogical, inspiring, irritating, indispensable, ridiculous, fantastic and pointless. I could go on; I should make a list… Something’s going on. Actually what’s going on is a reflection of one thing, information overload. In an age where an achievable ambition is to have all the knowledge humankind has ever possessed, gathered on one website that is free to everyone, we can see that something has fundamentally changed. In a mass media age of instant communication it’s also clear that people need good maps to negotiate their way, especially in the area of entertainment where the choices of consumption have grown exponentially since the digital revolution changed everything. The challenge now is to source good, trusted, authoritative information, and that’s where Musycks comes in. Musycks is a philosophical way of analysing the mystical and transcendent dimension found in great songwriting, and communicating it with insight and passion. Now in equal parts to inform, infuriate and in full admission of the silliness on any definitive list, Musycks brings experience and knowledge to the list party. So with that in mind, if you can’t beat them….

Michael J Roberts is a Sydney based musician, producer and writer with extensive experience in the music industry. Michael began as singer-songwriter in bands in Hobart in the late ‘70’s, having two local top twenty hits with songs co-written with his Albatross band mate, and song writing partner, Anthony Ackroyd. Anthony and Michael signed to Glenn Wheatley’s Tumbleweed Music as 19 year olds, before re-locating in the 80’s to Sydney and signing a contract with Chappell Music. The pair worked extensively in musical theatre and comedy shows, before writing ‘Raging’, the first song ever played on ABC’s iconic video show ‘Rage’. Michael also worked in theatre, writing and performing the children’s musical with Judy Nunn and Bruce Venables, The Riddle of the Trumpalar. Michael has produced and supported the successful, award winning children’s group Captain Bandanna, as well as albums for folk stalwarts Kate Delany and Phyl Lobl. Michael co-scored the low budget horror-satire film, Mad Bomber in Love with Phil Rigger, as well as several documentaries for Government agencies. Michael has produced multi Mo Award winning artist Rikki Organ’s debut and follow up albums, My Dad’s First Album, and A Tribute to JOK. Michael produced two UK Americana number one albums for Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter Karl Broadie, in Nowhere Now Here and Black Crow Calling, touring the UK extensively in Karl’s band in 2005 to promote the second, Golden Guitar nominated album. Michael also produced Red Dust, the debut album from Den Hanrahan, and the debut album from ex Home and Away star Craig Thomson, called Long Way There. Michael nurtured and produced Katie Brianna’s debut album, Dark Side of the Morning. Michael writes about his passion for feature film on his own website, Filmycks, (www.filmycks.com) and is currently working on a feature film screenplay and a book on the counter culture of the 1960’s. Michael is a multi-instrumentalist, a piano player and guitarist primarily, but has contributed variously on accordion, mandolin, to albums by Chuck’s Wagon and The Dear Orphans, as well as playing bass on his brother Paul’s debut EP. Michael’s wide experience and extensive knowledge and passion for modern song writing leaves him perfectly positioned to communicate his incisive and informative analysis of the artistry and skill needed to write great songs.