How the smash musical comedy scored with Journey, Queen covers by Nicole Frehsee
When the creators of Fox's Glee gathered to screen the pilot of the high school choir comedy, they called in a special consultant: former Journey singer Steve Perry. "We were all biting our fingernails," says the hit show's musical director, Adam Anders, who reworks classic tunes and pop hits - including "Don't Stop Believin'" - into Broadway-style numbers. "He sat there, silent, and when the song finished, he said 'Can I meet whoever produced this? It's great.'"
Perry isn't the only fan: Hours after the Glee pilot aired on May 19th - it followed American Idol's finale - the cast's Journey cover shot to Number One on the iTunes chart; it has sold more that 500,000 digital downloads to date. The song is just one hit spawned by the show since its debut: Covers of Rihanna's "Take A Bow", Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" and Queen's "Somebody To Love" have all popped up in the iTunes Top 10, and more than 2.5 million singles from the show have been downloaded. "We didn't think the music would be this explosive," says Rob Stringer, chairman of Epic/Columbia, Glee's label. "It's hard to sell music these days, but this proves that if you're on prime-time TV, you can get into people's homes and get them excited."
In November, Glee: The Music, Volume 1 - a 17-song set that includes a choir-backed rendition of Kanye West's "Gold Digger" and a jazzy take on Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself" - debuted at Number Four on Billboard's Top 200. "We think it will be a very big gift item this year," says Amazon's Drew Herdener. Volume 2 - featuring Kelly Clarkson and Van Halen covers - is due out December 8th, and future installments are planned for next year. "People love interpretations," says Stringer, who has also signed the show's eight stars to record deals. "Plus, we use great songs that can withstand the transition."
Glee's creator, Ryan Murphy, helms the song selection. "It's a very organic process," Anders says. "We just shoot ideas back and forth." So far, only one artist has turned the show down: Bryan Adams, whose "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" Anders wanted for a love scene.
Big mistake: The original versions of Glee's covers have seen a substantial sales bump, sparking the interest of artists from Cyndi Lauper (she successfully lobbied for a "True Colors" cover) and Gavin DeGraw (he sent Anders his CDs). "Billy Joel's manager called me and said 'Billy wants his songs in Glee - you need to help him,'" says Anders, who is prepping an all-Madonna episode set for 2010. "I said, 'Cool. I'll see what I can do.'"
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