Dean Friedman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dean Friedman | |
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 Dean Friedman in concert April 18, 2007 in New York
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| Background information | |
| Born | May 23, 1955 |
| Origin | Paramus, New Jersey, United States of America |
| Genre(s) | Pop Music, Jazz, Folk |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Songwriter, Producer, Author, Virtual Reality designer, Video Game designer |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, Piano, Electronic keyboard, Harmonica |
| Voice type(s) | Tenor |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Website | http://www.deanfriedman.com |
Dean Friedman (born May 23, 1955, New Jersey) is an American singer-songwriter who plays piano, keyboard, guitar and other instruments, including the harmonica.
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[edit] Music
Raised in Paramus, New Jersey, Dean Friedman received his first guitar when he was 9, in 1964, and started writing songs. When he was a teenager, he played weddings and bar mitzvahs as part of Marsha and the Self-Portraits[1], sent out demos and majored in music at City College of New York where one of his teachers was guitarist David Bromberg. [2] By the time he was 20, in 1975, he had a manager and a recording contract with Cashman and West's Lifesong label.
In the USA he is described as a one-hit wonder, following his 1977 hit song "Ariel", which reached # 26 on the Billboard national pop charts and stayed in the charts for eight weeks. "Ariel" is a "quirkily irresistible and uncategorizable pop song about a free spirited, music loving, vegetarian Jewish girl", from Paramus, New Jersey, where he grew up. [3] It is the only Billboard top 40 song to contain the word Paramus. It describes the girl Ariel, "standing by the [since dismantled] waterfalls at Paramus Park", one of the many shopping malls in Paramus.
Although "Ariel" did not make the UK charts, "Lucky Stars", a duet with Denise Marsa taken from his second album "Well, Well", Said The Rocking Chair, made # 3 in the UK in late 1978, and both "Woman of Mine" and "Lydia" were lesser chart hits there.
Unlike many one-hit-wonders, Friedman has continued to write and perform songs into the 2000s. [4] [5]
[edit] Influences
The songs of Dean Friedman have been covered by several contemporary bands, including The Barenaked Ladies, Ben Folds Five, The Tone Rangers, and The Blenders. The lead singer of Barenaked Ladies, Steve Page, sings background vocals on Friedman's album Songs For Grownups (1998). [6]
The British band Half Man Half Biscuit recorded, in 1986, a song entitled "The Bastard Son of Dean Friedman", a claim Friedman emphatically denies [1].
[edit] TV and films
Friedman has written, performed and produced the theme music to several TV series including Boon, starring Michael Elphick. Other TV credits include Nick Arcade (Nickelodeon) and Eerie, Indiana (NBC). He also composed, performed and produced the soundtrack to the cult horror film I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle in which he performs the track "She Runs on Blood, Not Gasoline". [6]
[edit] Other (non-musical) work
In 1985, Friedman produced a seminal work on the newly emerging synthesizer industry called Complete Guide to Synthesizers, Sequencers, and Drum Machines. Whilst dated, this tome is still of use in evaluating devices that crop up on the second-hand market. Friedman also set up the "New York School of Synthesis" and provided a series of videos entitled "Intro to Synthesis". Friedman presents the rudiments of this topic in an audio-visual format, whilst incorporating a unique sense of humor.
In 1986, Friedman saw a demo of a powerful Virtual Reality program that put the user right inside a video game using a video camera (similar to the technology used by the Eye Toy).
Friedman was impressed by the technology and wrote an article for Electronic Musician magazine. In 1989 he designed a game called Eat-A-Bug which was licensed to Nickelodeon TV and served as a prototype for the series Nick Arcade, for which Friedman produced a dozen games. He is now the President and Creative Director of InVideo games. [6]
[edit] Controversy
The record label which produced "Ariel" insisted Friedman change the song's second verse which refers to the eponymous Ariel as "...a Jewish girl", believing that radio stations may use it as an excuse not to play the record. The third verse was also removed to make the single shorter for radio. The management company received threats from the Jewish Defense League protesting against the edit and, at Friedman's insistence, the original version was put on the album.
Friedman's second single "McDonald's Girl" was officially banned by the BBC because the chorus mentioned the name of the fast food restaurant. [6]
During 2005, as part of a tie-in to one of his tour sponsors, Friedman's tour of the United Kingdom was almost canceled after it was revealed he intended to distribute cannabis seeds to purchasers of his new album. Although it is not illegal to own or distribute cannabis seeds in this manner "unless they get wet", the suggestion caused friction with a number of venues on the tour, so the intended distribution was not carried out.
[edit] Revival
Friedman's album, The Treehouse Journals was financed entirely by his fans via his website. Friedman invited people to finance the cost of the as-yet unrecorded album by making an advance purchase and by making limited edition signed copies available. This tactic has been adopted by other bands, including Marillion. He continued to tour, playing small venues. [5]
He copied this tactic again in 2005, with the album Squirrels in the Attic. His sister, [Racelle Rosett Schaefer, is a noted television writer who was executive producer of the show Blossom, starring Mayim Bialik.
As of 2007 he lives in Peekskill, New York with his wife, Alison, and two children: Hannah Friedman (1986- ), and Sam Friedman (1990- ).[6] [3]
[edit] Quote
- "The internet makes it possible to get rid of the middleman, once and for all!" — Dean Friedman[citation needed]
[edit] Discography
- Squirrels in the Attic (2005)
- The Treehouse Journals (2002)
- Songs for Grownups (1998)
- Dean Friedman In Concert – Shepherds Bush Empire (1998)
- Bloomsbury Live! (1995)
- Live! At The Duke of York (1985)
- Rumpled Romeo (1981)
- "Well, Well", Said the Rocking Chair (1978)
- Dean Friedman (1977)
- Music From "Boon" - TV Soundtrack
- I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle - Soundtrack
- Dean's "Kids Songs"
- A Million Matzoh Balls
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Dean Friedman: Information and Much More from Answers.com
- ^ Dean Friedman. MSN Music. Retrieved on 2007-02-14.
- ^ a b "The View From/Peekskill; Rock-and-Roll Dreams Die Hard on Internet", New York Times, June 20, 1999. Retrieved on 2007-07-21. "Remember Ariel? The young girl from deep in the bosom of suburbia, who sang mighty fine 'Tears on My Pillow' and 'Ave Maria' ? If this fictitious character rings a bell, chances are the name Dean Friedman does too. In 1977 Mr. Friedman wrote the rock song Ariel about a pretty hippie from Paramus, New Jersey, and scored big with it; several other hits followed. But the music industry has a way of sending promising careers on surprising trajectories, and Mr. Friedman all but disappeared from the rock scene, at least in America."
- ^ "Why Dean is no one hit wonder", Manchester Evening News, July 12, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-21. "In 1977, when he was 22, US singer-songwriter Dean Friedman was dismissed as a one hit wonder after his first smash single, Ariel. But today, with several hit singles and a best-selling album behind him, he is once more making music and back on the concert circuit, returning to Manchester on Thursday at the Royal Northern College of Music."
- ^ a b "Dean Friedman", New York Times, July 9, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-07-21. "Makor, 35 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 601-1000. Dean Friedman had his one big hit with the pop-rock love song Ariel in 1977, but he has continued to write and sing wry, amiable songs ever since. Tomorrow night at 9:30; tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door (Pareles)."
- ^ a b c d e Dean Friedman Bio. Retrieved on 2007-02-14.
