{"id":159338,"date":"2023-07-20T14:39:05","date_gmt":"2023-07-20T13:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=159338"},"modified":"2023-07-20T14:39:05","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T13:39:05","slug":"theres-a-safe-room-we-go-to-where-the-two-of-us-can-say-anything-to-each-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/theres-a-safe-room-we-go-to-where-the-two-of-us-can-say-anything-to-each-other\/","title":{"rendered":"‘There\u2019s a safe room we go to where the two of us can say anything to each other.’"},"content":{"rendered":"

MBW\u2019s World\u2019s Greatest Songwriters series celebrates the composers behind the globe\u2019s biggest hits. This month we talk to George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam – better known as Boy Meets Girl, the writing duo behind some of Whitney Houston’s biggest hits and much, much more. World\u2019s Greatest Songwriters is supported by AMRA<\/a> \u2013 the global digital music collection society which strives to maximize value for songwriters and publishers in the digital age.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/a><\/i><\/a><\/figure>

Meet cutes don\u2019t come any cuter.<\/p>\n

Originally from Seattle, George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam first met at a wedding they\u2019d been hired to perform at. They went on to not only get married themselves and have a child together, but also form a band and write the songs that would soundtrack a million other fledgling romances and lifelong matches. No wonder their band is called Boy Meets Girl.<\/p>\n

After that initial meeting, Merrill brought Rubicam into his band Sparrow to provide a third-part harmony alongside him and his then-songwriting partner. But it was only when Rubicam heard Merrill playing music down the hall and wandered over to spontaneously sing lyrics over his melody that they realized the musical chemistry between them.<\/p>\n

When Sparrow broke up, Merrill and Rubicam formed Boy Meets Girl and moved to Los Angeles. They ended up signing a publishing deal before a record deal which meant that, while they recorded their debut self-titled album (featuring Top 40 hit, Oh Girl<\/em>), other songs of theirs were also being shopped around.<\/p>\n

Janet Jackson turned down a little ditty called How Will I Know<\/em>, but it was passed on to a then-relatively unknown singer called Whitney Houston. Houston later came back for another song, I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)<\/em> meaning that, by the time Boy Meets Girl enjoyed a monster hit of their own, stone-cold 1980s classic Waiting For A Star To Fall<\/em> (originally intended for Houston after it was inspired by seeing a shooting star at a Whitney concert at LA\u2019s Greek Theatre), they\u2019d already featured on two No.1 US hits.<\/p>\n

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div> <\/div> \n

Their songs had also been recorded by the likes of Dolly Parton & Smokey Robinson, Bette Midler and Deniece Williams (the pair even sang backing vocals on Williams\u2019 No.1, Let\u2019s Hear It For The Boy<\/em>) and, for a while, pretty much everything they touched turned to gold, or even Platinum.<\/p>\n

Promoting second album, Reel Life<\/em>, Boy Meets Girl headed off on a world tour, which mainly served to teach Merrill and Rubicam that they were much happier in the studio. But, just after they\u2019d delivered the third Boy Meets Girl album, New Dream<\/em>, staff changes at RCA\/BMG saw them unceremoniously dropped before it could be released.<\/p>\n

Shocked, they largely walked away from the industry to concentrate on family life, until a knock at the door from UK songwriter\/producer Eliot Kennedy got them back in the saddle, co-writing early 2000s hits for the likes of OTT and Girl Thing.<\/p>\n

Around the same time, the pair divorced \u2013 or \u201ctransitioned out of our marriage\u201d, as they put it \u2013 but while they\u2019re no longer a couple, they clearly still have a rapport, constantly finishing each other\u2019s sentences and laughing at each other\u2019s jokes.<\/p>\n

Their songwriting partnership, meanwhile, is now into its fifth decade and still thriving: they released the 5<\/em> EP in 2021 with another EP in the works; Waiting For A Star To Fall<\/em> remains a radio perennial; and their Whitney songs continue to be rediscovered via the recent Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody<\/em> biopic. They sold most of their publishing catalog to Primary Wave in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe two of us are hungry to write again,\u201d declares Merrill. \u201cWe\u2019re hungry for what the next one\u2019s going to sound like. When Shannon plops down her ideas in front of me, we still access that same wonder.\u201d<\/p>\n

One day, their life story will probably be turned into a rom-com blockbuster. But for now, as the duo Zoom in promptly \u2013 no waiting for a star to call here! \u2013 from separate California locations to answer MBW<\/em>\u2019s questions, it\u2019s time to talk about perhaps the greatest love of all: songwriting.<\/p>\n

\n
ARE THE SONGS YOU WRITE TOGETHER DIFFERENT NOW THAT YOU\u2019RE NO LONGER A COUPLE?<\/h6>\n

Shannon Rubicam:<\/strong> <\/span>Well, we\u2019re not writing about us so much anymore! But we have a similar feeling within us as we always have, tempered by longevity and life itself. We\u2019re writing about a broader spectrum of feelings, with that overview you get with age and experience.<\/p>\n

George Merrill:<\/strong><\/span> It\u2019s helped me define the word \u2018intimacy\u2019 in a different way. Whether it\u2019s a co-write or you\u2019re on your own, you have to go to an intimate place to get the nugget that\u2019s meaningful to the outside world. Shannon and I figuring out a way to continue to write has required another level of intimacy for the two of us. It\u2019s actually been very broadening for the relationship.<\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong> <\/span>That sort of friendship requires a lot of trust, and songwriting together always has. You really have to trust your co-songwriter. You\u2019ve got to be honest in your lyric writing \u2013 I\u2019ve written lyrics that aren\u2019t really honest to myself and they\u2019re usually really crumby songs. You can\u2019t finish them because you\u2019re not starting from a real place, and you don\u2019t have anywhere to go.<\/p>\n

\n
ARE YOU ABLE TO TELL EACH OTHER WHEN YOU DON\u2019T LIKE A SONG?<\/h6>\n

GM:<\/strong><\/span> It\u2019s part of the editing process, sure. We\u2019re at another level as far as that goes. I have a pretty good idea of what and who she\u2019s talking about when she wants to express herself, so there\u2019s a safe room we go to where the two of us can say anything to each other.<\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong><\/span> We\u2019re kind editors, but we\u2019re straightforward. We both usually know when something is really not working, one or the other isn\u2019t relating to it. We\u2019re pretty good these days at just moving on.<\/p>\n

\n
DO YOU KNOW WHEN A SONG IS FOR BOY MEETS GIRL AND WHEN IT\u2019S FOR SOMEONE ELSE?<\/h6>\n

SR: <\/strong><\/span>Our intention was always to write for ourselves. It just so happened that we ended up with How Will I Know<\/em> hitting first, as we were recording our own album.<\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> <\/span>There were certain songs where we knew it was really a Boy Meets Girl song. Funnily, we assumed Waiting For A Star To Fall<\/em> would be a Whitney Houston song, just because of the divinity of how it came about. But when Clive Davis passed on it, we realised it was definitely a song for us.<\/p>\n

\n
DID JANET JACKSON REGRET TURNING DOWN HOW WILL I KNOW?<\/h6>\n

SR:<\/strong> <\/span>Well, Janet was working on her Control<\/em> album at the time so I don\u2019t think anyone could be disappointed having created that body of work, that was pretty ground-breaking. She made a good call that How Will I Know<\/em> wouldn\u2019t have fitted in, and it certainly benefitted us, because it ended up with Whitney.<\/p>\n

\n