Will Powers
Encyclopedia
Will Powers was the stage name
used by celebrity photographer, Lynn Goldsmith
, when she created a self help comedy music album
. 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". 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. Her best known track from the Dancing For Mental Health album was the hit single
, "Smile".
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..
", "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.
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
used by celebrity photographer, Lynn Goldsmith
Lynn Goldsmith
Lynn Goldsmith is an American recording artist, a film director and a celebrity portrait photographer. Her work has appeared on the covers and in publications in many countries for the past 35 years. She has done over 100 album covers...
, when she created a self help comedy music album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
. The 1983 album, entitled Dancing for Mental Health, used affirmations
Affirmations (New Age)
Affirmations in New Age and New Thought terminology refers primarily to the practice of positive thinking—fostering a belief that "a positive mental attitude supported by affirmations will achieve success in anything." More specifically an affirmation is a carefully formatted statement that should...
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". Will Powers is portrayed by Goldsmith during the spoken word sections as well as in the sung sections; her voice processed through a vocoder
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
. Key musical collaborators were Jacob Brackman
Jacob Brackman
Jacob Brackman is an American journalist, writer, and musical lyricist.After graduating from Harvard University in 1965, he went to work for Newsweek as a journalist. He remained there for six months and was then hired by The New Yorker...
and Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
. Additional contributors to the recording included Sting, Nile Rodgers
Nile Rodgers
Nile Gregory Rodgers is an American musician, producer, composer, arranger, and guitarist.-Biography:...
, Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
, Carly Simon
Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...
and Tom Bailey. Her best known track from the Dancing For Mental Health album was the hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
, "Smile".
Lyrics
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..
Albums
- Dancing for Mental Health
- "Adventures in Success" (Goldsmith, Sting)
- "Dancing for Mental Health" (Jacob BrackmanJacob BrackmanJacob Brackman is an American journalist, writer, and musical lyricist.After graduating from Harvard University in 1965, he went to work for Newsweek as a journalist. He remained there for six months and was then hired by The New Yorker...
, Goldsmith, Stevie Winwood) - "Opportunity" (Brackman, Goldsmith, Winwood)
- "Kissing with Confidence" (Brackman, Goldsmith, Nile RodgersNile RodgersNile Gregory Rodgers is an American musician, producer, composer, arranger, and guitarist.-Biography:...
, Todd RundgrenTodd RundgrenTodd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
, Winwood) - "Will Powers" (Brackman, Goldsmith, Winwood)
- "All Thru History" (Tom Bailey, Brackman, Goldsmith, Winwood)
- "Happy Birthday" (Brackman, Goldsmith, Winwood)
- "Smile" (Brackman, Goldsmith, Rodgers)
Singles
Three singles were released - "Kissing With ConfidenceKissing With Confidence
"Kissing with Confidence" is a song by Will Powers from her 1983 album Dancing for Mental Health. It was written by Goldsmith, Jacob Brackman, Nile Rodgers, Todd Rundgren, and Steve Winwood.Mixed by Rundgren, it was released as a single in the UK, peaking at number seventeen on the UK Singles Chart...
", "Adventures in Success" and "Smile".
The album credits "special thanks" to Steve Winwood, Todd Rundgren, Sting, Nile Rodgers, Carly Simon, Sly and Robbie
Sly and Robbie
Sly and Robbie is the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production team of drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare who joined in the mid 1970s after having established themselves separately in Jamaica as professional musicians...
, Jacob Brackman and the Will Powers Supporters: Chris Blackwell
Chris Blackwell
Christopher Percy Gordon "Chris" Blackwell is a British record producer and businessman, who was the founder of Island Records, acknowledged as the most successful and groundbreaking independent record company in history. Blackwell has been a music industry mogul for over fifty years...
, Ellen and Pascual Nieves, Ellen Foley
Ellen Foley
Ellen Foley is an American singer and actress, who has appeared on Broadway and television, where she co-starred in the sitcom Night Court. In music, she has released three solo albums but is best known for her collaborations with the singer Meat Loaf.- Early life and career :Foley was born in St....
, Andy Cavaliere, Donna Hellman, Bashiri Johnson, Mary Beth Hurt
Mary Beth Hurt
Mary Beth Hurt is an American actress of stage and screen.-Personal life:Hurt was born Mary Supinger in 1946 in Marshalltown, Iowa, the daughter of Delores Lenore and Forrest Clayton Supinger. Her childhood babysitter was actress Jean Seberg, also a Marshalltown native...
, Maria Vidal Fernandez
Maria Vidal
Maria Vidal is an American singer who had one hit single with the song, "Body Rock" in 1984; it also reached #8 on the US dance charts, and #11 in the UK.Vidal was originally a member of the band, Desmond Child & Rouge, but went solo with a self-titled debut album...
, Meatloaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
, David Sanborn
David Sanborn
David Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
, Steve Stanley
Steven Stanley
Steven J. C. Stanley , is a Jamaican audio engineer, record producer and keyboardist who has worked in the reggae, dub and rock music genres since 1975, most notably with Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club and Black Uhuru....
, Griffin Dunne
Griffin Dunne
-Personal life:Dunne was born Thomas Griffin Dunne in New York City, New York, the son of Ellen Beatriz Dunne and Dominick Dunne. His mother founded the victims' rights organization Justice for Homicide Victims and his father was a producer, writer, and actor...
, Karen Allen
Karen Allen
Karen Jane Allen is an American actress best known for her role as Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull...
, Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
, Glenn Close
Glenn Close
Glenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...
, Ian Hunter
Ian Hunter
Ian Hunter is the name of:* Ian Hunter , South African/British actor* Ian Hunter , cricketer with Derbyshire County Cricket Club* Ian Hunter , Australian association football player...
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
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. Carly Simon was the uncredited lead singer.