Here’s a quickie Coffee Talk question for you:

Why is it that in popular music the singer of the song is referred to as the author of the song?

For example, why is it on American Idol (not that I’m watching it or anything) you hear contestants say, “I’m going to sing ‘Oops, I Did It Again’ by Britney Spears.”

You never hear someone say, “I’m going to sing ‘Oops, I Did It Again’ by Max Martin.

Can you imagine if it was that way in the theatre?

“Hi , Simon, Randy and Paula.  I’m going to sing ‘This Is The Moment’ by Robert Cuccioli.”

Something tells me that Frank Wildhorn, who has been on both sides of this discussion (‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’ by Whitney Houston) might have a problem with this.

Or what about, “Hi snotty British guy, big guy no one knows, and ex-80s star on too much prescription medication.  I’m going to sing “Pretty Women” by Johnny Depp and Alan Rickman.”

Sacrilege to our Shakespeare!

Our Authors get more respect here.  Because they deserve it.

And frankly, Max Martin deserves it too.  With all due respect to those battling mental craziness and psycho-pseudo managers (and also on too much prescription medication), he is more talented than the “artist” he helped create.

Ooooh, there’s another question!  Why are the performers called artists and the scribes called writers?  Aren’t the writers artists too?

There you go.  As Ms. Myers would say . . . “Discuss.”

Oh, and why are Simon’s teeth so white?  Every time he smiles I feel like that girl in Poltergeist and I want to start walking towards them!  (Ok, I am watching – but this is my first season!)