Seth Swirsky
Encyclopedia
Seth Swirsky is an American
pop music
songwriter
(including the Grammy-nominated "Tell It To My Heart
"), author
, recording artist, filmmaker, political writer and baseball memorabilia
collector
-- a self-described "Manic Expressive."
In 1980, at the age of 20, Seth Swirsky wrote the national jingle
for Thomas'
English Muffins.
After graduating from Dartmouth College
in 1982, Swirsky wrote the Grammy-nominated hit "Tell It To My Heart
" with Ernie Gold for Taylor Dayne
. The song was on the Billboard
Pop Singles Chart for six months in 1988, reaching #7 (gold single pictured left).
The song was also a #1 hit in Germany
and Sweden
and #3 in England
. In 2002, Kelly Llorenna
’s version of the song went to #9 on the British charts. The song won Swirsky an ASCAP songwriter’s award for being one of the most performed songs of the year. In 2006, the song was recorded by the Royal Gigolos and spent two weeks on the Swiss charts at #2. It was featured as a clue in The New York Times
crossword
in 1998.
Swirsky wrote Dayne's follow-up top ten hit, "Prove Your Love
," with Arnie Roman. That song was a #7 Billboard pop hit as well as a #1 Billboard dance hit. It reached #1 in Switzerland
, #4 in Germany
and #8 in England
.
Swirsky wrote "Love is a Beautiful Thing," which was recorded by Al Green
for his 1995 album Your Heart's in Good Hands. The song also appears on his 2002 Love, The Essential Al Green Greatest Hits Collection. It was Green's last charted single (#56 in the UK
). The song was originally written for and recorded by Charles and Eddie
on their 1991 debut album, Duophonic. Green's version was featured in the movies The Pallbearer
(1996), Sorority Boys
(2002), Two Weeks Notice
(2002) and The Cookout
(2004). Krystal Harris
sang it for the movie Legally Blonde
in 2001. Al Green's version was also used as Revlon
's theme song in their international ad campaign in 2004. Tina Turner
's version of "Love Is a Beautiful Thing" was on the Princess Diana Tribute Album in 1997. On a trivial note, the song was Brad Pitt
and Jennifer Aniston
's wedding
song.
Swirsky composed "Instant Pleasure" for Rufus Wainwright
, which was featured in Adam Sandler
's Big Daddy (1999). The song also charted with Rockell
in 2000. Swirsky's song "You Got The Power," written with Albert Hammond, Jr., was featured in the Bronson Pinchot
movie Second Sight
(1989). He wrote "Did You Give Enough Love
" with Arnie Roman for Celine Dion
(a top 20 song in Canada
), "Tear it Up" with Gardner Cole for Michael McDonald
(a Billboard top 20 Adult Contemporary hit and top 40 British charting single), "After All" for Air Supply
, "Not Gonna Be the One" for Olivia Newton-John
's Greatest Hits album, Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992
(which reached #2 in Australia
and #12 in the UK) and "Christmas Lullaby" for Faith Evans
. He also wrote (with Jack Ponti
) "Hard On Me" for the 1980s German heavy metal band Bonfire
. Others he has written songs for include Jane Weidlin of The Go-Go's
, Peter Allen
, Lara Fabian
, The Four Tops, The Spinners
, Deniece Williams
, Brenda K. Starr
, Trey Lorenz
, Melissa Manchester
, Rita Coolidge
, Exposé
and Wild Orchid
.
During his career he has collaborated with Eric Carmen
of Raspberries
, David Pack
of Ambrosia
, Marshall Crenshaw
, Felix Cavaliere
of The Rascals
, Cy Curnin of The Fixx
, Eric Schenkman of Spin Doctors
, Michael Bolton
, Natalie Merchant
, Jim Ellison
of Material Issue
, Gerry Goffin
, Chynna Phillips
and Steve Kipner
, among others.
filed a copyright infringement lawsuit claiming that a Mariah Carey
song, "Thank God I Found You," plagiarized
"One of Those Love Songs", a song which Swirsky and Campbell wrote for Xscape
's 1998 Traces of My Lipstick
album.
In the precedent setting "Swirsky v. Carey" decision, which clarified the standard for proving copyright infringement
, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
overturned the initial 2002 dismissal of the case. The case was settled out of court in April 2006.
drummer Dorian Crozier
, include Andy Sturmer
of Jellyfish
, The Rembrandts
, Michael Chavez of John Mayer
's band and Justin Meldal-Johnsen
of Beck
. Several tracks from the album were featured on XM Radio
's The Loft
's "In Spite of All the Danger" program.
, declared, on air, that Watercolor Day was the station's "Album of the Summer." The Audities (which consists of writers, musicians, industry observers and pop music fans) named Watercolor Day the #2 album of 2010 in their year-end poll (out of 310 pop records released that year). Rich Rossi, writing for PowerPopOverDose.com, listed the "Watercolor Day" as his #1 powerpop album of the year. Powerpopaholic and Pop Fair named Watercolor Day as the 4th Best Power Pop album of 2010. In Tim Cain
's 2010 Top 20 year-end "Best Of" list in the Illinois Herald Review, he included Watercolor Day at #14. DJ Bob Brainen of the New York City radio station WFMU
listed Watercolor Day as one of his Top 9 records of 2010. Internet Radio DJ Sparky Shockpop named Watercolor Day as the #1 record on his Top 30 of 2010 year-end list.
, was released in February 2007. The first song from the CD, "Cruel Girl," charted #1 in Billboard Magazine as "Coolest Song In The World This Week" (July 22, 2007) on Little Steven
's Underground Garage
radio show. The song was chosen to be on The Coolest Songs in the World, Volume 4 CD on Wicked Cool Records in 2008. The Red Button has also been featured on The Loft
's "In Spite Of All The Danger" program and on Sirius Radio's Idiot's Delight with Vin Scelsa
.
On August 7, 2007, they gave their first performance at Spaceland in Los Angeles to a packed house, as part of David Bash
's International Pop Overthrow
pop music festival.
The CD was also ranked the "Top of the Pops - Overall Best of 2007" by VillageRecords.com.
In a year-end poll of the top pop records of the year, She's About to Cross My Mind was ranked #1 (out of 125) by Absolute Powerpop. Pop music journalist and author of "Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide," John Borack, ranked "She's About to Cross My Mind" #1 in his Top 20 Best Albums of 2007. Pop journalist and International Pop Overthrow founder David Bash ranked the album #8 (out of 125) in his year-end 2007.
In addition, the CD was named the #2 Best CD of 2007 by a Powerpopaholic Reader's Poll.
Another song from the album, Cruel Girl, was named the 2nd Best Song of 2007 by Popbang Radio. Audities ranked The Red Button album as 2nd best pop album of the year in their 2007 year-end poll.
A second album by The Red Button, entitled "As Far As Yesterday Goes," was released on June 21, 2011.
The first single on "As Far As Yesterday Goes" -- Caught in the Middle -- was named "The Coolest Song in the World" (for the week of July 11, 2011) on "Little Steven" Van Zandt's syndicated radio show The Underground Garage.
The song Picture from The Red Button's second album was nominated for Best Pop Song at the 2011 Hollywood Music and Media Awards in Los Angeles on November 17, 2011.
Swirsky's baseball
collection includes the ball that went between Bill Buckner
's legs in the 1986 World Series
(it was originally owned by Charlie Sheen
; Swirsky got it in April, 2000. the only known bottle of 1986 sparkling wine from the Red Sox celebration that would never be; Reggie Jackson
's 3rd home run
ball from the 1977 World Series
; a ball signed by The Beatles
the night they played their famous Shea Stadium
concert in 1965; Tom Seaver
's 1969 World Series
jersey; the only known surviving ball from the second game of Johnny Vander Meer's two consecutive no-hitter
s, and the letter written by baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis
banning Shoeless Joe Jackson
from playing Major League Baseball
, among other historic items. The Buckner ball went up for auction on October 15, 2011 for $1 million. It failed to sell. Many pieces in the collection were featured in baseball retrospectives at the Queens Museum of Art
and The Bronx Museum of the Arts in 2004.
The "Buckner Ball" that brought Ray Knight home with the winning run in Game 6 of the '86 World Series – voted by Mets fans as the most memorable moment in Shea Stadium history – was on display at the Mets Hall of Fame & Museum at Citi Field during the 2010 baseball season. The February 2011 edition of Tuff Stuff Magazine did a feature on Swirsky's memorabilia collection as did the July edition of Collecting and Antiques Magazine.
players including Ted Williams
, Cal Ripken, Jr.
and Whitey Ford
.
Every Pitcher Tells A Story, Swirsky's second book, was a Los Angeles Times bestseller. The book consists of his correspondence with Major League baseball
pitchers including Pedro Martínez
, Roger Clemens
, Tom Glavine
and 70 others.
Something to Write Home About, the third book in the trilogy
, consists of letters to Swirsky from both ballplayers and fans of the game, including Sir Paul McCartney
, President George W. Bush
, President George H. W. Bush
, Senator Ted Kennedy
, former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, journalist Tim Russert
, sportscaster Bob Costas
and Peter Tork
of the Monkees.
Swirsky has been featured in many books including How to Raise an American Patriot: Making it Okay for Our Kids to Be Proud to Be American and John Lennon Called Me Normal.
, Graham Nash
, Art Garfunkel
, Justin Hayward
of The Moody Blues
, actor Jon Voight
, Susanna Hoffs
, former first daughter Luci Baines Johnson
, former New York Yankee Bernie Williams
, Rick Nielsen
of Cheap Trick
, Brian Wilson
of The Beach Boys
, actor Henry Winkler
, Indianapolis Colts
football owner Jim Irsay
, Smokey Robinson
, Donovan
, Beatles longtime producer Sir George Martin
, May Pang
, Beatles engineers Norman Smith, Ken Scott
and John Kurlander and American cultural icons Frank Gifford
and Bob Eubanks
, among others.
Beatles Stories made news when it was revealed by John Lennon
's former personal assistant—one of the over 50 interviewees in the movie—that, by the time of his death, Lennon would have voted for Ronald Reagan
in the 1980 elections and, that by the end of his life, he was embarrassed by the naivete of his song "Imagine
".
Swirsky's short film The Last Giant (which consisted of on-camera reminiscences of 1930s major league baseball All-Star Harry "The Horse" Danning
, who was the last living member of the New York Giants baseball team until his death in 2004) was a 2007 Official Selection in both the (Washington) D.C. International Film Festival (DCIFF) and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum's 2nd Annual Film Festival.
Swirsky has contributed articles to online sites such as Real Clear Politics, The National Review (NRO), The Huffington Post
and PoliticalMavens.com. One of his pieces, "Why I Left the Left," caught the attention of Karl Rove
, who invited him to lunch at the White House
in July, 2006.
Week In Review, Newsweek
,, Forbes and People Magazine. USAToday did a feature story on him in 1997. He has been a guest on many major talk shows, including The Today Show, Good Morning America
, and Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld
on the Fox News Channel
. He has been a guest on ESPN
's Outside The Lines
as well as The Dennis Miller Show.
In 1999, Swirsky was featured in a PBS
documentary about his eclectic life called The Passion of Play.
was once lived in by Rube Goldberg
, famed for his complex devices which performed simple tasks in convoluted and indirect ways.
Seth Swirsky is married (1990) to Jody Gerson. She is a music publisher, who became the co-president of Sony Music Publishing in 2008. She is also a movie producer (Drumline
, ATL
). In 2009 and 2010, she was named by Billboard Magazine as the 3rd most influential woman in the music business.
Swirsky has three children with Jody. Their eldest son, Julian, age 17, is a songwriter and producer known as Julkeyz. He has written and produced for Nicole Scherzinger
(of the Pussycat Dolls
), Bow Wow and Justin Beiber.
Swirsky's mother, Joan, is the author of 12 books on an array of subjects.
At his 50th birthday party, at his home, Seth participated in a sing-a-long duet with Davy Jones
of The Monkees
captured in three sequences on film by photographer Henry Diltz
.
Swirsky sang the National Anthem at Wrigley Field, before the Cubs-Braves baseball game on August 23, 2011.
On November, 17, 2011, Seth Swirsky, along with former Shalamar
singer Howard Hewitt, presented Smokey Robinson
with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2011 Hollywood Music and Media Awards.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
(including the Grammy-nominated "Tell It To My Heart
Tell It to My Heart
"Tell It to My Heart" is a song recorded by dance-pop vocalist Taylor Dayne, released as her first single from her debut album of the same name in late 1987. The single was Dayne's first major exposure, and she soon became known for her up-tempo, dance-oriented music.-Background and writing:The...
"), author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, recording artist, filmmaker, political writer and baseball memorabilia
Sports memorabilia
The term sports memorabilia usually refers to anything that can be directly connected to a sports event or personality. These items are generally gathered by the fans of the particular sport, athlete or team that the item signifies or by collectors who find value in the rarity time-value of these...
collector
Collecting
The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector. Some collectors are generalists, accumulating merchandise, or stamps from all countries of the world...
-- a self-described "Manic Expressive."
Songwriter
Jingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
for Thomas'
Thomas'
Thomas is a brand of English muffins and bagels in North America. It is owned by Bimbo Bakeries USA, which also owns Entenmann's, Boboli, Stroehmann, and Arnold bread companies. It advertises as having "nooks and crannies" in the muffins, making it less dense than competitive brands...
English Muffins.
After graduating from Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
in 1982, Swirsky wrote the Grammy-nominated hit "Tell It To My Heart
Tell It to My Heart
"Tell It to My Heart" is a song recorded by dance-pop vocalist Taylor Dayne, released as her first single from her debut album of the same name in late 1987. The single was Dayne's first major exposure, and she soon became known for her up-tempo, dance-oriented music.-Background and writing:The...
" with Ernie Gold for Taylor Dayne
Taylor Dayne
Taylor Dayne was born Leslie Wunderman on March 7, 1962 before later adopting her current stage name. She is an American pop vocalist, songwriter, and dance artist. Overall, she has had eighteen individual hit songs reach the top ten in Billboard magazine...
. The song was on the Billboard
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
Pop Singles Chart for six months in 1988, reaching #7 (gold single pictured left).
The song was also a #1 hit in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and #3 in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. In 2002, Kelly Llorenna
Kelly Llorenna
Kelly Llorenna is an English female dance music and Euro-trance singer, who was raised in Oldham, Greater Manchester.-1992: Debut with N-Trance:...
’s version of the song went to #9 on the British charts. The song won Swirsky an ASCAP songwriter’s award for being one of the most performed songs of the year. In 2006, the song was recorded by the Royal Gigolos and spent two weeks on the Swiss charts at #2. It was featured as a clue in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
crossword
Crossword
A crossword is a word puzzle that normally takes the form of a square or rectangular grid of white and shaded squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases, by solving clues which lead to the answers. In languages that are written left-to-right, the answer...
in 1998.
Swirsky wrote Dayne's follow-up top ten hit, "Prove Your Love
Prove Your Love
"Prove Your Love" is a song recorded by dance-pop vocalist Taylor Dayne, released as the second single from her debut album in 1988. Like her previous single "Tell It to My Heart", it is a high energy dance track with aggressive vocal delivery....
," with Arnie Roman. That song was a #7 Billboard pop hit as well as a #1 Billboard dance hit. It reached #1 in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, #4 in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and #8 in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Swirsky wrote "Love is a Beautiful Thing," which was recorded by Al Green
Al Green
Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...
for his 1995 album Your Heart's in Good Hands. The song also appears on his 2002 Love, The Essential Al Green Greatest Hits Collection. It was Green's last charted single (#56 in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
). The song was originally written for and recorded by Charles and Eddie
Charles and Eddie
Charles & Eddie were an American soul music duo, that had four Top 40 hits in the UK Singles Chart in the 1990s. Their biggest was the worldwide hit single, "Would I Lie to You", taken from their 1992 debut album, Duophonic...
on their 1991 debut album, Duophonic. Green's version was featured in the movies The Pallbearer
The Pallbearer
The Pallbearer is a 1996 American romantic comedy film starring David Schwimmer, Gwyneth Paltrow, Toni Collette, Michael Vartan, Michael Rapaport, and Barbara Hershey. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival....
(1996), Sorority Boys
Sorority Boys
Sorority Boys is a 2002 comedy film directed by Wallace Wolodarsky, about a group of college guys who dress up as women to prove their innocence for a crime they didn't commit.-Plot:...
(2002), Two Weeks Notice
Two Weeks Notice
Two Weeks Notice is a 2002 romantic comedy film starring Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock from Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was written and directed by Marc Lawrence. Upon release, the film received a successful box office run both in the United States and globally.-Plot:Lucy Kelson is a...
(2002) and The Cookout
The Cookout
The Cookout is a 2004 comedy film, directed by Lance Rivera. It is co-written by and features Queen Latifah, and is also the feature film debut for her mother Rita Owens.-Plot:...
(2004). Krystal Harris
Krystal Harris
Krystal Marie Peterson is a singer-songwriter/instrumentalist who primarily plays the piano. Krystal has been singing since she was just 18 months old, and began playing the piano at 3 years of age. She also plays the cello, the keytar, the drums and the flute...
sang it for the movie Legally Blonde
Legally Blonde
Legally Blonde is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic, written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, and produced by Marc E. Platt...
in 2001. Al Green's version was also used as Revlon
Revlon
Revlon is an American cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care company founded in 1932.-History:Revlon was founded in the midst of the Great Depression, 1932, by Charles Revson and his brother Joseph, along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the "L" in the Revlon name...
's theme song in their international ad campaign in 2004. Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
's version of "Love Is a Beautiful Thing" was on the Princess Diana Tribute Album in 1997. On a trivial note, the song was Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
and Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston is an American actress, film director, and producer, best known for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends, a role which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career,...
's wedding
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
song.
Swirsky composed "Instant Pleasure" for Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
, which was featured in Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler
Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, musician, and film producer.After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, Sandler went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 million at the box office...
's Big Daddy (1999). The song also charted with Rockell
Rockell
Rachel Alexandra Mercaldo , better known as Rockell, is an American Freestyle music, Club/Dance, Hi-NRG and Pop singer-songwriter.-Music career:...
in 2000. Swirsky's song "You Got The Power," written with Albert Hammond, Jr., was featured in the Bronson Pinchot
Bronson Pinchot
Bronson Alcott Pinchot is an American actor. He has appeared in several feature films, including Risky Business, Beverly Hills Cop , The First Wives Club, True Romance, Courage Under Fire and It's My Party...
movie Second Sight
Second Sight (film)
Second Sight is a 1989 comedy film from Warner Bros., starring John Larroquette, Bronson Pinchot, Stuart Pankin and Bess Armstrong. In the film, a paranormal detective , a psychic and a nun search the streets of Boston, Massachusetts for a missing person who has allegedly been kidnapped.Although...
(1989). He wrote "Did You Give Enough Love
Did You Give Enough Love
"Did You Give Enough Love" is a song by Céline Dion, released in 1993 as the sixth and final single from her second album, Celine Dion. It was released on July 17, 1993 as a radio single in Canada only....
" with Arnie Roman for Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
(a top 20 song in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
), "Tear it Up" with Gardner Cole for Michael McDonald
Michael McDonald (singer)
Michael McDonald is a five-time Grammy Award winning American singer and songwriter. McDonald is known for a soulful baritone singing style and a multi-octave range. He began his career singing back-up vocals with Steely Dan...
(a Billboard top 20 Adult Contemporary hit and top 40 British charting single), "After All" for Air Supply
Air Supply
Air Supply is an Australian soft rock duo, consisting of Graham Russell as guitarist and singer-songwriter and Russell Hitchcock as lead vocalist. They had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight Top Ten hits in the United States, in the early 1980s...
, "Not Gonna Be the One" for Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
's Greatest Hits album, Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992
Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992
Back to Basics is a greatest hits album by Olivia Newton-John that was released in 1992, and the first compilation to contain both her country and pop hits. The album contained four new tracks: "Deeper Than A River", "Not Gonna Be The One", "I Want To Be Wanted" and "I Need Love"...
(which reached #2 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and #12 in the UK) and "Christmas Lullaby" for Faith Evans
Faith Evans
Faith Renée Evans is an American singer-songwriter, recording artist, record producer, actress and author. Born in Florida and raised in New Jersey, Evans relocated to Los Angeles during 1993 for a career with the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B...
. He also wrote (with Jack Ponti
Jack Ponti
Jack Ponti is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, manager, label executive, and consultant.-Career:Jack Ponti is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, manager, label executive, and consultant who started his career in the music business playing guitar in the rock band...
) "Hard On Me" for the 1980s German heavy metal band Bonfire
Bonfire
A bonfire is a controlled outdoor fire used for informal disposal of burnable waste material or as part of a celebration. Celebratory bonfires are typically designed to burn quickly and may be very large...
. Others he has written songs for include Jane Weidlin of The Go-Go's
The Go-Go's
The Go-Go’s are an all-female American rock band formed in 1978. They made history as the first all-female band that both wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the Billboard album charts....
, Peter Allen
Peter Allen
Peter Allen was an Australian songwriter and entertainer. His songs were made popular by many recording artists, including Elkie Brooks, Melissa Manchester and Olivia Newton-John, with one, Arthur's Theme, winning an Academy Award in 1981...
, Lara Fabian
Lara Fabian
Lara Fabian is a Belgian-Italian international singer who also holds Canadian citizenship. Multilingual, she sings in French, Italian and English....
, The Four Tops, The Spinners
The Spinners (U.S. band)
The Spinners is a soul music vocal group, active for over 50 years, and with a long run of pop and R&B hits especially during the 1970s. The group, originating from Detroit, still tours regularly ....
, Deniece Williams
Deniece Williams
June Deniece Chandler known by her stage name Deniece Williams is an American Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and record producer who achieved success in the 1970s and 1980s...
, Brenda K. Starr
Brenda K. Starr
Brenda K. Starr is an American singer-songwriter. She is well known originally in dance-pop, but now mostly in salsa-based music...
, Trey Lorenz
Trey Lorenz
Trey Lorenz is an African American singer and songwriter. He was born in Florence, South Carolina and is a graduate of Wilson High School.-Biography:...
, Melissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Beginning in the 1970s, she has recorded generally in the adult contemporary genre. She has also appeared as an actress on television, in films, and on stage....
, Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American vocalist. During the 1970s and 1980s, she charted hits on Billboard's Pop, Country, Adult Contemporary and Jazz charts.-Career:...
, Exposé
Exposé (band)
Exposé is an American vocal group. Primarily consisting of lead vocalists Ann Curless, Jeanette Jurado, and Gioia Bruno, the group achieved much of their success in the late 1980s and early 1990s, becoming the first group to have four top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart from their debut...
and Wild Orchid
Wild Orchid (band)
Wild Orchid was an American pop vocal group. -History:Wild Orchid began in 1990 when Renee Sandstrom and Stefanie Ridel met in their southern California high school's drama department. What brought Renee and Stefanie together was their shared love of poetry, music, and taste for fame. Soon after...
.
During his career he has collaborated with Eric Carmen
Eric Carmen
Eric Howard Carmen is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist.He scored numerous hit songs across the 1970s and 1980s, first as a member of the Raspberries , and then with his solo career, including hits such as "All By Myself", "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again", "She Did It",...
of Raspberries
Raspberries (band)
Raspberries is an American power pop/pop rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. They had a run of success in the early 1970s music scene with their crisp pop sound, which Allmusic later described as featuring "exquisitely crafted melodies and achingly gorgeous harmonies." The members were known for their...
, David Pack
David Pack
David Robert Pack , is a Grammy Award Winning Artist, Producer & Music Director of Global Events. His career began as the front man, vocalist and guitarist with the rock group Ambrosia popular in the 1970s and 1980s.-Career:...
of Ambrosia
Ambrosia
In ancient Greek mythology, ambrosia is sometimes the food or drink of the Greek gods , often depicted as conferring ageless immortality upon whoever consumes it...
, Marshall Crenshaw
Marshall Crenshaw
Marshall Crenshaw is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist best known for his song "Someday, Someway".-Biography:...
, Felix Cavaliere
Felix Cavaliere
Felix Cavaliere is an American songwriter, singer, music producer, and musician.Although he was a member of Joey Dee and His Starlighters best known for their hit "Peppermint Twist", he is best known for his association with The Young Rascals during the 1960s. The other members of The Rascals...
of The Rascals
The Rascals
The Rascals were an American blue-eyed soul group initially active during the years 1965–72. The band released numerous top ten singles in North America during the mid- and late-1960s, including the U.S. #1 hits "Good Lovin'" , "Groovin'" , and "People Got to Be Free"...
, Cy Curnin of The Fixx
The Fixx
The Fixx is an English rock band formed in London in 1979. Their hits include "One Thing Leads to Another," "Red Skies," "Stand or Fall," "Saved by Zero," "Sign of Fire," "Are We Ourselves?," "Secret Separation," "Driven Out," "How Much Is Enough?," and "Deeper and Deeper," which was featured on...
, Eric Schenkman of Spin Doctors
Spin Doctors
Spin Doctors is an American alternative rock band formed in New York City, best known for their early 1990s hits, "Two Princes," and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong," which peaked the Billboard Hot 100 charts at #7 & #17 respectively....
, Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
, Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Anne Merchant is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She joined the alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and left it to begin her solo career in 1993.-Early life:...
, Jim Ellison
Jim Ellison
Jim Ellison was the frontman for the band Material Issue. He tirelessly promoted his band, booked tours, and secured a major-label deal in 1990. Ellison — along with bassist Ted Ansani and drummer Mike Zelenko — would lead the renaissance of powerpop in the early 1990s...
of Material Issue
Material Issue
Material Issue was a 1980-1990s power pop trio from Chicago. The band's trademark was pop songs with themes of love and heartbreak, where a number of song titles using girls' first names.-History:...
, Gerry Goffin
Gerry Goffin
Gerry Goffin is an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 with former songwriting partner and first wife, Carole King. he has co-written six Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers.-Career:Goffin enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserve after graduating from...
, Chynna Phillips
Chynna Phillips
Chynna Phillips is an American singer and actress, known for being a member of Wilson Phillips. She is also known for being the daughter of The Mamas & the Papas band members John and Michelle Phillips and the half-sister of Mackenzie Phillips, Bijou Phillips, Jeffrey Phillips , Tamerlane...
and Steve Kipner
Steve Kipner
Steve Kipner is a multi-platinum-selling songwriter and record producer with hits spanning over a 40 year history, including chart-topping songs such as Olivia Newton-John's "Physical", Chicago's Grammy-nominated "Hard Habit to Break", "Genie In A Bottle" by Christina Aguilera, for which he won an...
, among others.
Mariah Carey plagiarism lawsuit
In 2000, Swirsky and co-writer Warryn CampbellWarryn Campbell
Warryn Campbell is an American record producer. He specializes in gospel music and R&B.-Career:His work includes production and songwriting credits for Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Xzibit, Yolanda Adams, Dayna Caddell, Mos Def, Missy Elliott, Kierra Sheard, Brandy, Dave Hollister, Men of Standard,...
filed a copyright infringement lawsuit claiming that a Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
song, "Thank God I Found You," plagiarized
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
"One of Those Love Songs", a song which Swirsky and Campbell wrote for Xscape
Xscape (band)
Xscape, was a female American R&B group that originally started out as a quintet and then became a quartet. The group had a string of hit songs during the 1990s...
's 1998 Traces of My Lipstick
Traces of My Lipstick
Traces of My Lipstick is the third and final studio album by American girl group Xscape released on May 12, 1998, under the So So Def label....
album.
In the precedent setting "Swirsky v. Carey" decision, which clarified the standard for proving copyright infringement
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...
overturned the initial 2002 dismissal of the case. The case was settled out of court in April 2006.
Recordings
Swirsky was named in Music Connection Magazine's December 2010 issue as one of the Hot 100 unsigned artists of the year.Instant Pleasure
In 2005, Seth Swirsky's first solo album, Instant Pleasure, won Best Pop Album at that years Los Angeles Music awards. Guest appearances on the 11-song album, produced by JewelJewel (singer)
Jewel Kilcher , professionally known as Jewel, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actress and poet...
drummer Dorian Crozier
Dorian Crozier
- Drummer :A session drummer whose credits include Pink, Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers, the film Rent, Celine Dion, Backstreet Boys, and David Cook...
, include Andy Sturmer
Andy Sturmer
Marvin Andrew Sturmer is an American musical artist, writer and producer. He was one of the founding members of the band Beatnik Beatch, which led to the formation of Jellyfish.- Jellyfish :...
of Jellyfish
Jellyfish (band)
Jellyfish were a power pop band from San Francisco. It formed after Beatnik Beatch broke up in 1989. The core members were drummer/singer/songwriter Andy Sturmer and keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter Roger Joseph Manning, Jr...
, The Rembrandts
The Rembrandts
The Rembrandts are an American pop-rock duo formed by Phil Solem and Danny Wilde in 1989. They had previously worked together as members of Great Buildings in 1981...
, Michael Chavez of John Mayer
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer is an American pop rock and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and music producer. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his...
's band and Justin Meldal-Johnsen
Justin Meldal-Johnsen
Justin Meldal-Johnsen is an American musician and bassist, best known for his work with Grammy Award-winning artist Beck. He served as the touring bassist for Nine Inch Nails during their final tours.-Recording career:...
of Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
. Several tracks from the album were featured on XM Radio
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
's The Loft
The Loft (XM)
The Loft is a music channel on Sirius XM Satellite Radio, broadcasting on Sirius channel 30 , XM channel 30 and Dish Network channel 6029. Until February 9, 2010, it was heard on DirecTV channel 836...
's "In Spite of All the Danger" program.
Watercolor Day
Swirsky’s second solo album, Watercolor Day, was released on May 18, 2010. The title song, Watercolor Day, won Best Pop Song of the year at The Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA’s) on November 18, 2010. The headline for Goldmine Magazine for their May 10, 2010 issue was "Seth Swirsky’s Watercolor Day is the first great power pop record of 2010." It was named the #4 Best Pop record in their 2010 year-end poll. Mike Marrone, the Program Director of the satellite radio station XM/Sirius The LoftThe Loft
The Loft is the location for the first underground dance party that was created by David Mancuso on February 14, 1970 in New York. Since then, the term The Loft has come to represent Mancuso's own version of a non-commercial party where no alcohol, food, or beverages are sold...
, declared, on air, that Watercolor Day was the station's "Album of the Summer." The Audities (which consists of writers, musicians, industry observers and pop music fans) named Watercolor Day the #2 album of 2010 in their year-end poll (out of 310 pop records released that year). Rich Rossi, writing for PowerPopOverDose.com, listed the "Watercolor Day" as his #1 powerpop album of the year. Powerpopaholic and Pop Fair named Watercolor Day as the 4th Best Power Pop album of 2010. In Tim Cain
Tim Cain
Tim Cain may refer to:* Timothy Cain, major computer game developer for Interplay and Troika Games* Tim Cain, major recording artist for children and one of the founders of the Sons of Champlin* Tim Kaine, Governor of Virginia...
's 2010 Top 20 year-end "Best Of" list in the Illinois Herald Review, he included Watercolor Day at #14. DJ Bob Brainen of the New York City radio station WFMU
WFMU
WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, broadcasting at 91.1 MHz FM, presenting a freeform radio format...
listed Watercolor Day as one of his Top 9 records of 2010. Internet Radio DJ Sparky Shockpop named Watercolor Day as the #1 record on his Top 30 of 2010 year-end list.
The Red Button
Swirsky's album of pop songs, She's About to Cross My Mind recorded with Mike Ruekberg under the group name The Red ButtonThe Red Button
The Red Button is an American pop band consisting of Seth Swirsky and Mike Ruekberg.Swirsky is a well-known pop songwriter, while Ruekberg is a songwriter and performer in the Los Angeles area. Their debut album, She's About to Cross My Mind, was released in 2007 by Grimble Records...
, was released in February 2007. The first song from the CD, "Cruel Girl," charted #1 in Billboard Magazine as "Coolest Song In The World This Week" (July 22, 2007) on Little Steven
Steven Van Zandt
Steven Van Zandt is an Italian-American musician, songwriter, arranger, record producer, actor, and radio disc jockey, who frequently goes by the stage names Little Steven or Miami Steve...
's Underground Garage
Underground Garage
Underground Garage is the name shared by two related but different radio outlets, a syndicated show and a satellite radio station, both created and supervised by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt to present rock 'n' roll and garage rock on radio...
radio show. The song was chosen to be on The Coolest Songs in the World, Volume 4 CD on Wicked Cool Records in 2008. The Red Button has also been featured on The Loft
The Loft (XM)
The Loft is a music channel on Sirius XM Satellite Radio, broadcasting on Sirius channel 30 , XM channel 30 and Dish Network channel 6029. Until February 9, 2010, it was heard on DirecTV channel 836...
's "In Spite Of All The Danger" program and on Sirius Radio's Idiot's Delight with Vin Scelsa
Vin Scelsa
Vincent Anthony Scelsa, better known as "Vin," was born on December 12, 1947 in Bayonne, New Jersey. He is the host of a freeform radio show known as Idiot's Delight....
.
On August 7, 2007, they gave their first performance at Spaceland in Los Angeles to a packed house, as part of David Bash
David Bash
David Bash is the founder and CEO of The International Pop Overthrow Music Festival, which is currently held annually in 16 cities around the world, including Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, San Diego, Phoenix, Denver, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Dallas, Austin, Boston, New York, Toronto,...
's International Pop Overthrow
International Pop Overthrow
The International Pop Overthrow is an American-originated music festival devoted to power pop music and related genres.Taking its name from Material Issue's 1991 album of the same name, the festival began in 1998, and has been held annually in the LA area since then...
pop music festival.
The CD was also ranked the "Top of the Pops - Overall Best of 2007" by VillageRecords.com.
In a year-end poll of the top pop records of the year, She's About to Cross My Mind was ranked #1 (out of 125) by Absolute Powerpop. Pop music journalist and author of "Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide," John Borack, ranked "She's About to Cross My Mind" #1 in his Top 20 Best Albums of 2007. Pop journalist and International Pop Overthrow founder David Bash ranked the album #8 (out of 125) in his year-end 2007.
In addition, the CD was named the #2 Best CD of 2007 by a Powerpopaholic Reader's Poll.
Another song from the album, Cruel Girl, was named the 2nd Best Song of 2007 by Popbang Radio. Audities ranked The Red Button album as 2nd best pop album of the year in their 2007 year-end poll.
A second album by The Red Button, entitled "As Far As Yesterday Goes," was released on June 21, 2011.
The first single on "As Far As Yesterday Goes" -- Caught in the Middle -- was named "The Coolest Song in the World" (for the week of July 11, 2011) on "Little Steven" Van Zandt's syndicated radio show The Underground Garage.
The song Picture from The Red Button's second album was nominated for Best Pop Song at the 2011 Hollywood Music and Media Awards in Los Angeles on November 17, 2011.
Baseball collection
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
collection includes the ball that went between Bill Buckner
Bill Buckner
William Joseph Buckner is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. Despite winning a batting crown in , representing the Chicago Cubs at the All-Star Game the following season and accumulating over 2,700 hits in his twenty-year career, he is best remembered for a fielding error during Game 6...
's legs in the 1986 World Series
1986 World Series
The 1986 World Series pitted the New York Mets against the Boston Red Sox. It was cited in the legend of the "Curse of the Bambino" to explain the error by Bill Buckner in Game 6 that allowed the Mets to extend the series to a seventh game...
(it was originally owned by Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....
; Swirsky got it in April, 2000. the only known bottle of 1986 sparkling wine from the Red Sox celebration that would never be; Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...
's 3rd home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
ball from the 1977 World Series
1977 World Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 11, 1977 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New YorkThe Dodgers drew first blood off Don Gullett in the first when Davey Lopes walked and scored on a Bill Russell triple. Ron Cey made it 2–0 on a sacrifice fly...
; a ball signed by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
the night they played their famous Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
concert in 1965; Tom Seaver
Tom Seaver
George Thomas "Tom" Seaver , nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "The Franchise", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched from 1967-1986 for four different teams in his career, but is noted primarily for his time with the New York Mets...
's 1969 World Series
1969 World Series
The 1969 World Series was played between the New York Mets and the Baltimore Orioles, with the Mets prevailing in five games to accomplish one of the greatest upsets in Series history, as that particular Orioles squad was considered to be one of the finest ever...
jersey; the only known surviving ball from the second game of Johnny Vander Meer's two consecutive no-hitter
No-hitter
A no-hitter is a baseball game in which one team has no hits. In Major League Baseball, the team must be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at least nine innings. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter"...
s, and the letter written by baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Kenesaw Mountain Landis was an American jurist who served as a federal judge from 1905 to 1922 and as the first Commissioner of Baseball from 1920 until his death...
banning Shoeless Joe Jackson
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Joseph Jefferson Jackson , nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American baseball player who played Major League Baseball in the early part of the 20th century...
from playing Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
, among other historic items. The Buckner ball went up for auction on October 15, 2011 for $1 million. It failed to sell. Many pieces in the collection were featured in baseball retrospectives at the Queens Museum of Art
Queens Museum of Art
The Queens Museum of Art is an art museum and educational center located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the borough of Queens in New York City, United States.-Overview:...
and The Bronx Museum of the Arts in 2004.
The "Buckner Ball" that brought Ray Knight home with the winning run in Game 6 of the '86 World Series – voted by Mets fans as the most memorable moment in Shea Stadium history – was on display at the Mets Hall of Fame & Museum at Citi Field during the 2010 baseball season. The February 2011 edition of Tuff Stuff Magazine did a feature on Swirsky's memorabilia collection as did the July edition of Collecting and Antiques Magazine.
Publications
Baseball Letters, the first of Swirsky's three books, was published in 1996. This bestseller consists of his handwritten correspondence with Major League baseballMajor League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
players including Ted Williams
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
, Cal Ripken, Jr.
Cal Ripken, Jr.
Calvin Edwin "Cal" Ripken, Jr. , nicknamed "Iron Man", is a former Major League Baseball shortstop and third baseman. He played his entire 21-year baseball career for the Baltimore Orioles ....
and Whitey Ford
Whitey Ford
Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who spent his entire 18-year career with the New York Yankees. He was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.-Early life and career:...
.
Every Pitcher Tells A Story, Swirsky's second book, was a Los Angeles Times bestseller. The book consists of his correspondence with Major League baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
pitchers including Pedro Martínez
Pedro Martínez
Pedro Jaime Martínez is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He is an eight-time All-Star, three-time Cy Young Award winner, and 2004 World Series champion...
, Roger Clemens
Roger Clemens
William Roger Clemens , nicknamed "Rocket", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who broke into the league with the Boston Red Sox, whose pitching staff he would help anchor for 12 years. Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, more than any other pitcher. He played for four different teams over...
, Tom Glavine
Tom Glavine
Thomas Michael Glavine is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher.With 164 victories during the 1990s, Glavine was the second winningest pitcher in the National League, second only to teammate Greg Maddux's 176...
and 70 others.
Something to Write Home About, the third book in the trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
, consists of letters to Swirsky from both ballplayers and fans of the game, including Sir Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
, Senator Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
, former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, journalist Tim Russert
Tim Russert
Timothy John "Tim" Russert was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC's Meet the Press. He was a senior vice president at NBC News, Washington bureau chief and also hosted the eponymous CNBC/MSNBC weekend interview...
, sportscaster Bob Costas
Bob Costas
Robert Quinlan "Bob" Costas is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s.-Early life:...
and Peter Tork
Peter Tork
Peter Tork is an American musician and actor, best known as a member of The Monkees.-Early life:Tork was born Peter Halsten Thorkelson in Washington, D.C.. Although he was born in 1942, many news articles report him as born in 1944 in New York City as this was the date and place given on early...
of the Monkees.
Swirsky has been featured in many books including How to Raise an American Patriot: Making it Okay for Our Kids to Be Proud to Be American and John Lennon Called Me Normal.
Film
Swirsky's full-length documentary, Beatles Stories, was chosen as an Official Selection at the 2011 European Independent Film Festival—considered the Sundance of Europe -- and had its world premiere in Paris, France on April 3, 2011. It was an Official Selection at The 2011 Newport Beach International Film Festival, where it made its North American premiere on April 29, 2011. It made its East Coast premiere at The Gold Coast International Film Festival on June 2, 2011. It was also an official selection at The 2011 Las Vegas Film Festival, Santa Fe Independent Film Festival, Bend Film Festival and Kansas International Film Festival. The documentary consists of filmed interviews that he conducted with people who had a personal story or recollection about themselves and one or all of The "Fab Four". Some of the more than 110 individuals that Swirsky interviewed for the film are former personal assistant Fred Seaman, Sir Ben KingsleyBen Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
, Graham Nash
Graham Nash
Graham William Nash, OBE is an English singer-songwriter known for his light tenor vocals and for his songwriting contributions with the British pop group The Hollies, and with the folk-rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Nash is a photography collector and a published photographer...
, Art Garfunkel
Art Garfunkel
Arthur Ira "Art" Garfunkel is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and actor, best known as being a member of the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel...
, Justin Hayward
Justin Hayward
Justin Hayward is an English musician, best known as singer, songwriter and guitarist in the rock band The Moody Blues.Hayward was born in Dean Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, England...
of The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues are an English rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed....
, actor Jon Voight
Jon Voight
Jonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight is an American actor. He has received an Academy Award, out of four nominations, and three Golden Globe Awards, out of nine nominations. Voight is the father of actress Angelina Jolie....
, Susanna Hoffs
Susanna Hoffs
Susanna Lee Hoffs is an American vocalist, guitarist and actress. She is best known as a member of the all-female pop band The Bangles.-Early life:...
, former first daughter Luci Baines Johnson
Luci Baines Johnson
Luci Baines Johnson Turpin, formerly Nugent, is the younger daughter of U.S. President Lyndon Johnson and his wife, the former Claudia Alta Taylor . Her name was originally spelled "Lucy"; she informally changed the spelling in her teens...
, former New York Yankee Bernie Williams
Bernie Williams
Bernabé Williams Figueroa Jr. is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and Puerto Rican musician.-Early life:...
, Rick Nielsen
Rick Nielsen
-External links:* * *...
of Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973. The band consists of members Robin Zander , Rick Nielsen , Tom Petersson , and Bun E...
, Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
of The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
, actor Henry Winkler
Henry Winkler
Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE is an American actor, director, producer, and author.Winkler is best known for his role as Fonzie on the 1970s American sitcom Happy Days...
, Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
football owner Jim Irsay
Jim Irsay
James Irsay is the owner and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League.-Biography:...
, Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
, Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
, Beatles longtime producer Sir George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
, May Pang
May Pang
May Fung Yee Pang is best known as the former girlfriend of John Lennon. She had previously worked as a personal assistant and production coordinator for Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono....
, Beatles engineers Norman Smith, Ken Scott
Ken Scott
Ken Scott is an English record producer and recording engineer.-Career:Scott started at the age of 16 working in the tape library at Abbey Road Studios. He became a recording engineer working with such acts as The Beatles, Jeff Beck, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and Procol Harum...
and John Kurlander and American cultural icons Frank Gifford
Frank Gifford
Francis Newton "Frank" Gifford is a Hall of Fame former American football player and American sportscaster.-Early life:Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Lola Mae and Weldon Gifford, an oil driller....
and Bob Eubanks
Bob Eubanks
Robert Leland "Bob" Eubanks is an American television/radio personality and game show host, best known for hosting the game show The Newlywed Game on and off since 1966, where he was known for using the catchphrase, "Makin' Whoopee"...
, among others.
Beatles Stories made news when it was revealed by John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
's former personal assistant—one of the over 50 interviewees in the movie—that, by the time of his death, Lennon would have voted for Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
in the 1980 elections and, that by the end of his life, he was embarrassed by the naivete of his song "Imagine
Imagine (song)
"Imagine" is a song written and performed by the English musician John Lennon. It is the opening track on his album Imagine, released in 1971...
".
Swirsky's short film The Last Giant (which consisted of on-camera reminiscences of 1930s major league baseball All-Star Harry "The Horse" Danning
Harry Danning
Harry Danning, nicknamed Harry the Horse was a professional baseball player. He played his entire Major League Baseball career as a catcher for the New York Giants, and was considered one of the top defensive catchers of his era. He batted and threw right-handed...
, who was the last living member of the New York Giants baseball team until his death in 2004) was a 2007 Official Selection in both the (Washington) D.C. International Film Festival (DCIFF) and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum's 2nd Annual Film Festival.
Political writings
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
and PoliticalMavens.com. One of his pieces, "Why I Left the Left," caught the attention of Karl Rove
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until Rove's resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...
, who invited him to lunch at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
in July, 2006.
Media
Seth Swirsky's works have been written about in The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
Week In Review, Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
,, Forbes and People Magazine. USAToday did a feature story on him in 1997. He has been a guest on many major talk shows, including The Today Show, Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, and Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld
Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld
Red Eye w/Greg Gutfeld is a late-night/early-morning satirical talk show on the Fox News Channel, airing at 3:00 am ET Tuesday through Saturday. The show features panelists and guests discussing the latest news in politics, pop culture, entertainment, business, sports, and religion...
on the Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
. He has been a guest on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
's Outside The Lines
Outside the Lines
Outside the Lines, or also referred to as OTL, is an American television program on ESPN that looks "outside the lines" and examines critical issues in American sports on and off the field of play....
as well as The Dennis Miller Show.
In 1999, Swirsky was featured in a PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
documentary about his eclectic life called The Passion of Play.
Personal
The house that Swirsky grew up in Great Neck, New YorkGreat Neck, New York
The term Great Neck is commonly applied to a peninsula on the North Shore of Long Island, which includes the village of Great Neck, the village of Great Neck Estates, the village of Great Neck Plaza, and others, as well as an area south of the peninsula near Lake Success and the border of Queens...
was once lived in by Rube Goldberg
Rube Goldberg
Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer and inventor.He is best known for a series of popular cartoons depicting complex gadgets that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. These devices, now known as Rube Goldberg machines, are similar to...
, famed for his complex devices which performed simple tasks in convoluted and indirect ways.
Seth Swirsky is married (1990) to Jody Gerson. She is a music publisher, who became the co-president of Sony Music Publishing in 2008. She is also a movie producer (Drumline
Drumline (film)
Drumline is a 2002 American film directed by Charles Stone III. The screenplay, which was inspired by The Southwest Dekalb High School Drumline , was written by Tina Gordon Chism and Shawn Schepps...
, ATL
ATL (film)
ATL is a 2006 American drama film, and the feature film directorial debut of music video director Chris Robinson. The screenplay was written by Tina Gordon Chism from an original story by Antwone Fisher, and is loosely based on the experiences of the film's producers Dallas Austin and Tionne...
). In 2009 and 2010, she was named by Billboard Magazine as the 3rd most influential woman in the music business.
Swirsky has three children with Jody. Their eldest son, Julian, age 17, is a songwriter and producer known as Julkeyz. He has written and produced for Nicole Scherzinger
Nicole Scherzinger
Nicole Prescovia Elikolani Valiente Scherzinger is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, record producer, model, and actress. Scherzinger is perhaps best known for being the lead vocalist of the Pussycat Dolls....
(of the Pussycat Dolls
Pussycat Dolls
The Pussycat Dolls are an American pop girl group and dance ensemble based in Los Angeles; currently consisting of Lauren Bennett, Vanessa Curry, Kristal "Lyndriette" Smith, Tiffany "Taz" Zavala, Kia Hampton and Paula Van Oppen. The Pussycat Dolls were founded by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995...
), Bow Wow and Justin Beiber.
Swirsky's mother, Joan, is the author of 12 books on an array of subjects.
At his 50th birthday party, at his home, Seth participated in a sing-a-long duet with Davy Jones
Davy Jones (actor)
David Thomas "Davy" Jones is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees.-Early life:...
of The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
captured in three sequences on film by photographer Henry Diltz
Henry Diltz
Henry Stanford Diltz is a folk musician and photographer, who has been active since the 1960s....
.
Swirsky sang the National Anthem at Wrigley Field, before the Cubs-Braves baseball game on August 23, 2011.
On November, 17, 2011, Seth Swirsky, along with former Shalamar
Shalamar
Shalamar was an American music group, primarily of the 1970s and 1980s, that was originally a disco-driven vehicle created by Soul Train booking agent Dick Griffey and show creator Don Cornelius. They went on to be an influential dance trio, masterminded by Soul Train producer Don Cornelius...
singer Howard Hewitt, presented Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2011 Hollywood Music and Media Awards.