Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear (your name here if it applies), happy birthday to you. Hello again Fools fans, especially if you’ve got a birthday anytime soon. And if you do, wasn’t it cool of me to sing that birthday song to you. Yes..yes….it was. As you know I would do anything for you-you only have to ask. But to be honest, while I would never forget your birthday, I must admit that the song reference also serves another purpose. I am currently in the midst of writing the next ‘batch’ (musical term meaning bunch or quantity) of Fools tunes and so I am reviewing the classics- that I may learn from the Masters.I don’t know who the genius was who wrote the ‘birthday song’ but damn that guy or girl had it goin’ on. A catchy melody, some clever repetition and a full circle wrap up. This is the classic formula for many rock hits as well. And believe it or not, we rock stars do follow a format when we write our rock songs. You may think it’s all about things like ‘feeling’ and ‘inspiration’ but we hit makers have an actual formula for the songs we write. Any song worth it’s salt has been tirelessly worked to the point where all the vital ingredients have been added in a very calculated way. Yes we are the puppet masters. Need a song about love? We know what chords will elicit the proper heart string tugging winsome quality. Need a song about..well you name it…we have the chords and the know how to have you either laughing in your beer or crying in your soup. And we dont care which it is…because ..damn it…were artists and we just paint what we see. Our job is to bring you to your knees…not to worry about what happens when you get there. Im not supposed to tell you this but there is an actual book that us songwriters have that spells out most of this stuff . Just forget I mentioned it but you better believe that people like Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger know what Im talking about. And why would I bring up the subject of this book now? Because godammit I lost mine and as I mentioned earlier Im trying to write the next friggin bunch of Fools tunes. I ve looked everywhere and it just wont be found. To be honest, I may have lent it to one of the younger bands that visit the Fools Mansion (Green Day?…The Killers?) and to be even more honest, since theyre musicians, why would they give it back. So I am left to try and do the best I can without the book. I dont want to scare you but my song writing prior to the book was pretty feeble. Remember songs like Love is like a Chair or Intro to our Outro”?…No?…well no one else does either cause thats what I was writing before the book. There were some exceptions. One song I wrote before I got hold of the book came to me fully formed in a dream (Night Out) and another was meant to be a hard pounding screamer but ended up as a spoken rap over a jazzy background (She Makes Me Feel Big). So who knows what will happen this time. Ill probably write at least a couple about love cause damn-aint love grand. And Ill probably write a couple of screamers cause theyre fun. But after that who knows. I may write a song about driving a car, or having a straight job, or…I dont know…takin a crap. Its just nice to keep your options open and lord knows Im a man who cant stand a closed door. And believe me Im not easy to live with when Im in my writing mode. People around me get used to comments like “fer crissakes I need a word that rhymes with dove and is about a deep emotional feeling between two people!” Or ” I cant friggin talk right now Im writing a song about communication!” But as the old saying goes “you cant make an omelet without breakin some tables and chairs so let the wood chips fall where they may”. Anyhow Fools fans, as you continue to see-I do it all for you. So until next time, dont be surprised if you end up in one of my songs…I dig you people…adios…Mike