We are excited to post our interview with Kenny Nolan, the singer and songwriter behind some of pop music’s most enduring hits including timeless classics like “Lady Marmalade” and “My Eyes Adored You.” He has now entered a new creative chapter with his wonderful new album “Oh Peaceful Mountain”. In addition to his own hits “I Like Dreamin’” and “Love’s Grown Deep,” Nolan’s album reveals a reflective and musically adventurous point in his career, exploring new musical styles and crafting lyrics that convey hope, compassion and love for one another.
Interview by Nica Strong.
Nica Strong: How did you get started in the music business?
Kenny Nolan: When I was a kid, 11 or 12, I was really into music. I listened to Motown, and the Beatles influenced a lot, and I felt it in my bones that I can do this. In 1968 I was at a meeting, and the guy that took my songs around played it for Mike Curb, the youngest president at MGM. He heard a couple of demos that I put on tape for this guy and he said ‘That’s it” and signed me at 18 years of age. And I started to write songs – the first song was with a big group called The Grass Roots.
I wrote a song on their Leaving it All Behind album calledBack to Dreamin’. Then I got another cut with Dobie Gray, called Honey, You Can’t Take it Back on White Whale Records. He did a great job on my song and it did well. Then I wrote a song for Donny Osmond and the Osmond Brothers, called Flirtin’ on the B-side on a single and featured on their 1971 album, The Osmonds. I then started to get things done on my own. And in 1973 I met Bob Crew who produced the Four Seasons, [and others]. I started to bring ideas – the first idea I brought in was that I was looking for songs with the word Georgia, because in ’74 there were a ton of songs with the word Georgia… Midnight Train to Georgia.
NS: Georgia on my mind…
KN: Georgia on my mind. So I’m looking through a book at the library, and I see a line that says blue eyes in Georgia, and the funny thing about me is when I hear a title in my head, or see a title it comes through with a melody. So, I took that title and turned it into a song that eventually flipped into a song that went to #1 by Frankie Valley, called My Eyes Adored You. I was sitting on the piano bench and singing it for Frankie and at the end of the song I sang ‘and my eyes adored you’ (singing) and I said that should be the title. That went to #1 and just around the same time – and this is going to blow your mind – The Rolling Stones were doing a tour called, Get your yah yahs out! (Nica laughs) This was on the sides of buses. Get your ya-yas out, jump up, jump down, get crazy! Get high! Get, you know. but it hit me differently. It hit me, I said, “Who would say that? Get your yaya… A prostitute walking down the street in New Orleans.” I changed it – I went back to the to my house. “Getcha getcha ya ya da da.” And it went into Creole. Lady marmalade.
NS: When I heard I was interviewing you, I said I need to know the history behind that! (laughs)
KN: co-wrote it with Bob Crew, and at the end of the song I kept saying, “Bob, we need to put French in this song”. So I walked over and opened up a French language book. Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir. Well, that means, do you want to sleep with me tonight?
NS: Yes, I did know that. (laughs)
KN: Patti Labelle didn’t realize it, and that was how I finished the song. Alan Toussaint produced Patty Labelle and cut the song, and when I heard it I was stunned because the way I sang it I did in a high, screechy kind of voice, but Patty killed it. When I talked to Epic Records, Jerry Griffith, who was the head of R&B at Epic Records in New York, said, “Kenny, I’m going to send this to you, and you’re going to have your 1st number one record.” Well, he sent it to me, and I flipped out. What they did to that song was impossible, but they did it! It was probably one of the greatest records I have ever heard to this date, and Lady Marmalade was number one by Christine Aguilera, Maya, Little Kim, and Pink.
NS: Yeah, it’s the lead song in Moulin Rouge.
KN: And the song was a number one hit again, released a little before Moulin Rouge, by a girl group called All Saints, a UK band in 1998 and the original version by Patti Labelle in 1974.
NS: It’s also number one at the same time of your other song. So that is an honor.
KN: Yes, and I had another number one hit that year, Get Dancin’ with the Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes And I’m singing, Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And do.do.do dot dot get dancing (singing). That was a huge hit, the number one record.
NS: How were you feeling during those times?
KN: I couldn’t tell you, and I had another big hit that year with Jim Gilstrap who sang with Stevie Wonder. We recorded a song that I wrote called Swing your Daddy that was huge. So, I had 4 hits. And then I had a bunch of hits in England. In 76, I started to produce other albums, and then I wrote a song called, I like Dreaming and that was number 2. So, then I went from that, and I met The Deele, Babyface and L.A. Reid.
NS: Shoot ‘Em UP Movies!
KN: Yes!
NS: And then Atlantic Starr’s Masterpiece.
KN: Oh, yeah, yes! That was huge – it was number 2, pop and I did that. Now, getting a little more up to date, I have a new album out called Oh Peaceful Mountain. It’s really beautiful. And it’s inspirational. Some of the songs are to God.
NS: Oh, I would love to hear that! That’s the soul there.
KN: It’ll move you. I have 4 singles out now online. They’re all over the place, and that’s what I want people to hear now, because some of the music is inspirational.
NS: You have such a big span in terms of like what you’re doing with your music. Where do you even start the creative process when you’re writing your music?
KN: I’m a title writer. If a title jars me. Oh, I forgot another record that I produced. Tavares. Remember them?
NS: Tavares. Yes, you did A Penny for Your Thoughts.
KN: A nickel for a kiss, a dime if you tell me that you love it. Couple of big awards.
NS: This is what I mean, you did Labelle, then, Jimmy, Atlantic Star, The Deele, Tavares, then disco. You must have so many things running around in your head, titles and music… do you hear the title and then the music and lyrics, or…
KN: Yeah. I got a title in my head about 2 and a half years ago, a song called O Peaceful Mountain, and it’s the title of the new album. It’s a song that starts (sings) O peaceful mountain, peaceful mountain! May I lay my burdens down. It’s a beautiful thought. And all of a sudden I started to write songs for the Lord. I came up with a song called In every way to the Lord, and I’m your servant. it’s an incredible album. Check it out. There’s a song on there that I swear could have been a Lionel Richie song, but it has nothing to do with Lionel Richie. It’s called Closer (Than My Shadow). All of these are titles – I never start on a song without a title.It just happens.
Nica Strong: Such a great idea with the faith. Now you add gospel and faith – so many different facets. You’ve had a long career, and you’re going to keep having a long career because you’re able to adapt.
KN: I have a song on that album called Be a Friend. It’s a kindness song and it’s… all I can tell you is, you have to hear it, you’ll enjoy it.
NS: I am truly just blown away by everything you’ve done.
KN: And, I did “I like dreaming”. And then I had a follow up that won me the billboard new artist of the year award called “Love’s Grown Deep”. You probably have heard it. Love’s grown deep, deep into the heart of me. You’ve become a part of me. Let us plant the seed and watch it grow (singing). It was top 5, a lot of different areas all over the world, and that won me the artist, the billboard artist of the year. And you know who I beat… Andy Gibb.
NS: No way!
KN: Way!
I couldn’t make that statement if it wasn’t real and that song is still an incredible record. It’s on my first album. And what else? It’s beyond me right now. I have to look on my list. I have 18, 20 hits.
NS: In terms of your career as a whole, what would be a good piece of advice that you would give to a young songwriter today that you wish you had known when you were starting out.
KN: The most important piece of advice I can give is that it’s all about the song. It starts with a song, it starts with an inspiration, it starts with an idea. And if you really truly love the art of writing your thoughts down, or writing your songs down, you won’t do it in the beginning for the money. You can’t just BOOM – make a living at it. I started here and then went here and then went here. You have to do it because you love it. It’s inside of you. And all these songs that came to me were because they were inspirations. I mean, I look at get your yayas out (laughs).
NS: Oh, my goodness, that’s going to be the thing I think about every time I hear that song now (laughs).
KN: And masterpiece was Atlantic star.
NS: It was a masterpiece. Masterpiece was a masterpiece.
KN: So beautiful that the way they did it! They came to my house when my daughter was bat mitzvahed and they sang it the week that it was number 1 or 2.
Nica Strong: That had to be such an amazing experience!
KN: I’m telling you, they were great! The songs were much, much more substantial back then. Back then you had to come into a record company or come into a publisher with a song. Not oh, you hear this little digital thing here, and you hear this little beat here. That’s not what it’s about. The only thing that has longevity in this business is the value of the song. And, thank God, the Lord’s been kind to me, and I’ve written a lot of those.
NS: Yeah.
KN: Usher did a cover of a penny for your thoughts on his first album. It’s called I will. It went… (sings) Here’s a penny for your thoughts, a nickel for a kiss… and it was just a rip of a hit song that I wrote, that’s been a hit in a lot of different areas all over the world. But I had the people I work with take care of that, and so they clean that up. Usher was a nice guy. He came over to my house right before his album came out. When was that 88, 89 90. Yeah. He came over with his mom.
NS: Because he was just a kid then.
KN: Yeah. He came over with Jonnetta, His mother.
NS: I know she’s a tough cookie.
KN: Yeah, Jonnetta was very to the point, and she said, “Usher, you need to re-record A Penny for Your Thoughts”. So he took it, and they changed it up a little bit, and they couldn’t get away with it. It’s pretty hard to steal something that’s basically a classic. Really, the Tavares record was great. Oh, yeah, they they got a ton of airplay and it was up for a couple of awards.
NS: What do you think about the music today versus the music of early Motown?
KN: I’ve been remade a few times. And some of the stuff is… I like Bruno Mars and a number of different groups. But I don’t think the songs are substantive. They’re not full of meaning. And Lionel, Richie wrote Three Times a Lady. That song killed me because it’s emotional. My song Oh, Peaceful Mountain! sounds like it could have been a Lionel Richie song called Closer Than My Shadow. So many beautiful songs on that album and some inspirational, some God speaking, you know. Yeah, that’s it. So that’s me in a nutshell. The album just came out on the 11th of this month. The singles are online.
NS: Any parting words that you would like to give?
KN: This is all you young ones and older ones, and whatever ones you are. stay in it, but stay in it, for the quality of the song. Stay in it. Don’t try to make it now. Just make it beautiful. Make it work because it can work in a lot of different ways. It’s much more than just a bar with a chord.
