Nancy Levinson – Production Assistant
Having just met Michael as he was working on this beautiful song, I was excited and fascinated to see and take part in its production. Observing and then participating was something I had never done in music, although I was a Production Asst. in television so I had been in the control room before, but this was a different story. It made me fall even more in love with him seeing how creative and passionate he was about his music. John Schwalley coming in the studio to do the trumpet and others doing their instruments just amazed me. I also have a feel for music and was so thrilled when Vinnie would look at me and want to know my thoughts…I felt so involved - it was very gratifying and exciting. To this day, I do find it exciting to witness the creativity and all that goes into recording an album.
On a side note, it is true that while Michael did not know me when he wrote the song, everyone who hears it (including Vinnie) thought he must have because it's such a beautiful love song <3. All in all, an incredible experience with many more to follow. 😊
Joe Pisano – Guitar, Assistant Junior Producer
From the beginning when this was just a melody idea to its final production, this is one my favorite compositions. Pooch sang the opening verse while we were sitting in the booth at Vinnie’s studio and I said, “we should record this, so you don’t forget it”. I got this idea from Keith Richards who had the riff idea for ‘Satisfaction’ wake him up, so he put it on tape before going back to bed. Imagine if he hadn’t done that and he forgot it when he woke up. So, I pulled out my phone and recorded the song idea. I am proud that I play the signature finger picking throughout the song. I remember Pooch saying it was reminiscent of the Buddy Holly song ‘Words of Love’. From the trumpet interlude done by John Schwalley, the drum fills that lead into the guitar solo and the beautiful harmony vocals by Pam Costello, this song developed into a beautiful production.
Michael J. Puccio – Composer, Vocalist, Lead Guitar, Producer
I really thought after the two originals on New Moon Smile that I was done with writing music. But you get an idea pick up a guitar and there you go again. A person at work had a sign that said, “Be the reason someone smiles today.”. Wow…that would make a good song! I had the melody and the first two lines by that night when we were in the studio and Joe Pisano recorded a 17 second snippet and the whole song came from that.
I want something simple, but this changed as I wrote the demo. The finger picking which was supposed to be just between the verses went through each verse (I really cannot finger pick, BUT I can play two measures and cut and past them repeatedly on a demo lol). I added a French horn using my keyboard and Renee mentioned that the solo sounded bad, just repeat the second half twice. Wow…. yes, that worked nice. John later played that part on the trumpet. From the beginning I envisioned Pamela singing on this track. This was the first track started for the album - on my 55th birthday December 13, 2017.
And as a side note Nancy did get her VERY own song. LOL