Post by Diamond Girl on May 19, 2005 7:11:42 GMT -5
A tune for tourism: Grosse Pointe man's song to help sell Detroit (Detroit Free Press) By Jaweed Kaleem, Detroit Free Press
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
May 13--Can a song save Detroit?
Officials at the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau hope one can at least bring tourists and businesses to town, especially for the July 12 All Star game and Super Bowl XL in February. So they've released a Detroit tribute called "What It's Like in The 'D.'"
The tune, officially released last month to coincide with the Motor City Music Conference, is being used to advertise Detroit in western Michigan and parts of Ohio. The bureau plans to spend more than $244,000 in print and radio ads through mid-November selling the city.
"It's closer than you think," sings Greg Brown of Detroit, and "there's always something more."
"The song is to teach you to be proud of the city you're in," said Brown, an airbrush artist at Creative Studios Airbrush Co. in Oak Park. "It's a Detroit anthem."
John Nixon of Grosse Pointe wrote the track, which he said has elements of classic rock, funk, gospel, electronic music and echoes of Detroit's Motown era.
Nixon, 39, found Brown through a friend in music circles. Brown isn't known as a performer, but has sung jingles and commercial music before.
"It's not a war zone. It's not a place without culture," Nixon said.
Nixon, who grew up in Warren, has been composing advertising music for 15 years. He runs Coda music in Birmingham, where he put together the song at Ron Rose Studios. He's lived in the Detroit area all his life, leaving briefly to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
His is not the first song to be written about Detroit, but is one of the most positive.
"Amityville" by Eminem crowns the city as "the murder capital.""Motor City is Burning," sung by John Lee Hooker, is about the 1967 Detroit riot.
"What It's Like in the 'D' " ... "may not be the" city's "savior, but it is the start" of a larger renaissance, Nixon said.
The bureau last released a Detroit song in 1998 called "It's a Great Time in Detroit," for a similar ad campaign.
Nixon says his song is along the lines of Sammy Davis Jr.'s "Hello Detroit," which brags on the city.
"You got to check it out," he said. "Give it a fair shot and you'll have a better understanding of what it's like."
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To see more of the Detroit Free Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to www.freep.com
Copyright (c) 2005, Detroit Free Press
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
May 13--Can a song save Detroit?
Officials at the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau hope one can at least bring tourists and businesses to town, especially for the July 12 All Star game and Super Bowl XL in February. So they've released a Detroit tribute called "What It's Like in The 'D.'"
The tune, officially released last month to coincide with the Motor City Music Conference, is being used to advertise Detroit in western Michigan and parts of Ohio. The bureau plans to spend more than $244,000 in print and radio ads through mid-November selling the city.
"It's closer than you think," sings Greg Brown of Detroit, and "there's always something more."
"The song is to teach you to be proud of the city you're in," said Brown, an airbrush artist at Creative Studios Airbrush Co. in Oak Park. "It's a Detroit anthem."
John Nixon of Grosse Pointe wrote the track, which he said has elements of classic rock, funk, gospel, electronic music and echoes of Detroit's Motown era.
Nixon, 39, found Brown through a friend in music circles. Brown isn't known as a performer, but has sung jingles and commercial music before.
"It's not a war zone. It's not a place without culture," Nixon said.
Nixon, who grew up in Warren, has been composing advertising music for 15 years. He runs Coda music in Birmingham, where he put together the song at Ron Rose Studios. He's lived in the Detroit area all his life, leaving briefly to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
His is not the first song to be written about Detroit, but is one of the most positive.
"Amityville" by Eminem crowns the city as "the murder capital.""Motor City is Burning," sung by John Lee Hooker, is about the 1967 Detroit riot.
"What It's Like in the 'D' " ... "may not be the" city's "savior, but it is the start" of a larger renaissance, Nixon said.
The bureau last released a Detroit song in 1998 called "It's a Great Time in Detroit," for a similar ad campaign.
Nixon says his song is along the lines of Sammy Davis Jr.'s "Hello Detroit," which brags on the city.
"You got to check it out," he said. "Give it a fair shot and you'll have a better understanding of what it's like."
-----
To see more of the Detroit Free Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to www.freep.com
Copyright (c) 2005, Detroit Free Press
