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ATWT'S MUSIC ENHANCES THE MOMENTS
(from SOU)
Do you think AS THE WORLD TURNS uses enough music? According to Jill Diamond, who is ATWT's musical director and Procter & Gamble's music supervisor, "Yes, based on the style of the show. My personal feeling would be to put more songs in the show, such as more montages, but music is a supportive arm, and headwriter Doug Marland is a very good writer and his dialogue is very good, and music should not be intrusive, it should just be color." Jill, who has been with ATWT for five years, notes that she receives the most mail about character themes. "We have hundreds of requests from people wanting to use love scenes for their weddings. We have had Whitney Houston, Jermaine Jackson and Tony Bennett on the show, but what happens with the character is always the most important."
"Fairly recently we did a thing with George Benson," Jill recalls. "The song was called 'You Don't Know Where Love Is,' and it was used with Iva and Kirk. But of course my favorite use of music is where the music stands alone without dialogue and speaks for the scene. I think that would be any music director's favorite use of music."
Jill estimates that AS THE WORLD TURNS probably uses music less than the other P&G shows as far as intensity, "But when referring to the amount of music used on all three shows, I would say that ATWT uses less than ANOTHER WORLD, but is possibly on par with GUIDING LIGHT."
Her goal as music supervisor is "to make sure that the music fits the show and enhances the moment. Oooh, that sounds good," Jill laughs. "I swear I just made that description up. But it is true. We try to put out the most professional package you can, keeping in mind the budget and time restraints."
As far as current projects, Jill reveals, "We have a dynamite new theme coming on. The favorite part of my job is when we introduce a new song and it becomes very popular. We had that happen fairly recently with 'If I Ever Fall In Love Again,' which I found as a demo. It was then sold to Kenny Rogers and Anne Murray and then it became a Grammy contender, and it is on both of their albums. That is what I love, and I'm excited about the new category on the Daytime Emmys for best new song on a soap."
Interesting music trivia that most ATWT viewers may not know is that the song that Anne Sward (Lyla) sang, 'Never Ask Me To Say Goodbye,' was written by Anne for the character. Anne Sward is not the only songbird that nests at Oakdale's restaurant Mona Lisa, as Lisa herself (Eileen Fulton) often performs.
"The other song that is extremely popular that we get hundreds of requests for, particularly around June," Lisa reveals, "is 'From Now On,' which Anne has been singing for a couple of years. It is amazing to me that people do respond that much. It is amazing that they listen. From what I understand, the thing that they listen least to is the show's theme. I do think as soap operas continue to get more sophisticated, companies will be paying more attention to music, doing their own. It is just economically more feasible and such a powerful part of the soaps."
--by Richard Spencer
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