Will Powers was the stage name used by celebrity photographer, Lynn Goldsmith, when she created a self help comedy music album.[1] The 1983 album, entitled Dancing for Mental Health, used affirmations set to music to poke fun at the self help entrepreneurs who "build the listener's inner self and encourage personal growth through the thought that anything is possible".[2] Will Powers is portrayed by Goldsmith during the spoken word sections as well as in the sung sections; her voice processed through a vocoder. Key musical collaborators were Jacob Brackman and Steve Winwood. Additional contributors to the recording included Sting, Nile Rodgers, Todd Rundgren, Carly Simon and Tom Bailey.[3] Her best known track from the Dancing For Mental Health album was the hit single, "Smile".
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Examples of the affirmations included:
Miguel: Make it habit. Make it happen.
Bruce: Where there’s Will, there’s a way.
Ellen: The greater your problem, the greater your opportunity.
Sophie: Your problem is a gift to help you change.
Rosalita: Hableme el unico del mundo, digame: Como te hace ese sonido, tan glorioso, que aun hora con anticipacion de el, me ha reducio a un bestia, gruendo, entusiomandose y paliptando.
Donna: Act the way you want to feel. If you want to be happy, start now..
Three singles were released - "Kissing With Confidence", "Adventures in Success" and "Smile".
The album credits "special thanks" to Steve Winwood, Todd Rundgren, Sting, Nile Rodgers, Carly Simon, Sly and Robbie, Jacob Brackman and the Will Powers Supporters: Chris Blackwell, Ellen and Pascual Nieves, Ellen Foley, Andy Cavaliere, Donna Hellman, Bashiri Johnson, Mary Beth Hurt, Maria Vidal Fernandez, Meatloaf, David Sanborn, Steve Stanley, Griffin Dunne, Karen Allen, Warren Beatty, Glenn Close, Ian Hunter and Tom Bailey. Mixed by Todd Rundgren, "Kissing With Confidence" was released as a single in the UK, peaking at #17 in the UK Singles Chart. Carly Simon was the uncredited lead singer.[4]