Although I hate Owl City the new cover of "Waving Through A Window" got me thinking about radio potential for the score. Does anyone think that pop covers could get radio play, or even maybe tracks from the OBC recording?
It barely happened for Hamilton despite the ridiculous success of the cast album and the mixtape going to #1. So I doubt it. Most of DEH's score are ballads as well so not particularly radio friendly.
I thought that might have been because the lyrics of Hamilton are so closely tailored to their subjects and characters/action. The lyrics in DEH on the whole aren't quite that specific.
You're totally right though, if Hamilton couldn't achieve radio success what can.
I sincerely thought Hamilton had a chance to make the radio, and it never did. Hell, the mixtape barely did. Waving Through A Window is the only DEH song that could work on radio anyway.
froote said: "It barely happened for Hamilton despite the ridiculous success of the cast album and the mixtape going to #1. So I doubt it. Most of DEH's score are ballads as well so not particularly radio friendly.
I'm not so sure. The song that I think could be very radio friendly is You Will Be Found, because aside from being a great song, it resonates with the right demographic in terms of the radio audience I could see Adele or some other popular ballad singer making a killer cover. I'd produce that record
"
CZJ at opening night party for A Little Night Music, Dec 13, 2009.
Except Adele only appears to sing her own songs every 5 years or so, never mind covering a song from a musical she's probably never heard of.
You Will Be Found is a decent musical theatre song but I'm pretty sure if someone heard it on the radio they'd think they'd accidentally changed the station to a religious one. It's very cheesy out of context and wont appeal to the type of people type of people that are making DJ Khaled and Kendrick Lamar go to the top of the charts. Rap and EDM is really what sells these days and DEH can't be further from that.
I actually think they messed up any chance of radio play through this Owl City cover. In my opinion Waving Through a Window is the only song that would have had any chance whatsoever but not with this awful cover by a group that haven't had a successful song since they debuted.
Katy Perry also did a cover of “Waving” in 2018 and it was very meh. No shade to Katherine, cause I live for her, but if she can’t successfully turn this song into a radio friendly pop-ballad, I’m not sure who could. And I deff don’t see it for Adele.
To quote Madame Rose, Pasek and Paul write show tunes for “deaf, dumb and blind.” I find their music so bombastic and overwritten. It punches you in the stomach with no subtlety. Occasionally I feel they find a gem like Words Fail or So Big So Small.
That’s not to say it’s not good pop music. It is. I just don’t find it’s good theatre music that shows you the nuanced inner world of a character. It feels generic. I think they should write for Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Dua Lupa, etc.
I think when they write for stage it’s in a limbo where it’s not exactly right for radio.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
^ agreed, Bettyboy. They just released a new song for Pink's greatest hits/documentary CD, and it's really good! They've lost the specificity that "Dogfight" or "A Christmas Story" have, but they can write the hell out of a pop tune.
"I saw Pavarotti play Rodolfo on stage and with his girth I thought he was about to eat the whole table at the Cafe Momus." - Dollypop
In the same way that earnestly anthemic "This Is Me" caught on, I'd expect "You Will Be Found" to be translatable into a hit on radio. Lord knows if you live in the tri-state area and listened to local radio, you heard "You Will Be Found" every commercial break for like a year it was coming to Broadway.
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008
One of the biggest problems with modern pop musicals is that the pop music is quickly outdated. 2021 pop is very disco. In the current music market, I just don't know if Evan Hansen stands out enough to get radio play.
Maybe Due Lipa's cover of Requiem will prove me wrong, though...