Thursday, February 26, 2009

Hair: Hall of Fame

The songwriting duo that created HAIR, Gerome Ragni and James Rado, will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in June. Read the story here.

HAIR was an album I played to death as a teenager. There were a couple clunkers -- Good Morning, Starshine comes to mind -- but the musical was filled with a number of examples of masterful songwriting and clever lyrics.

One of my favorite songs was "Frank Mills." What amazed me then -- still does, actually -- is that the lyrics don't rhyme. They're poetic, thoughtful, visual and precise and the melody is sweet and soaring. The song just works in its own funky way. Love it when artists dare to step way outside the lines.

Hair was a milestone in musical theater - glad to see the creators honored. Here's the original Broadway version of Frank Mills:

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