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Eric Bazilian
First published on Lauperland.com
January 1st, 2021
By Curtis Newart
Eric Bazilian (Photo credit: Thron Ullberg)
New Year's Day greeting!
Thank you Eric! All the best to you and yours... xx Lauperland
Eric Bazilian is
an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer.
In addition to his work with Cyndi Lauper, he's best known as a founding member of The Hooters, and for writing the song "One Of Us", made famous by Joan Osborne.
Bazilian has written or co-written songs for Ricky Martin, LeAnn Rimes, Bon Jovi, Robbie Williams, Ronnie Spector, Journey, Midge Ure and Scorpions.
Bazilian's new music includes the singles "Heaven Ain't Gonna Save Us" and "I Miss Everything".
He's also launched a YouTube series called Under The Hood with Eric Bazilian, where he demonstrates classic riffs from The Hooters.
Bazilian worked with Alexxis And The Medicine in Philadelphia, and Manu in Slovenia, before "riding out the pandemic storm" in Stockholm.
He also has a home with a recording studio in Pennsylvania.
Eric Bazilian and Cyndi Lauper at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA (1984) (Photo credit: Mike D'Adamo)
She's So Unusual
In 1982, Bazilian worked with college friends Rob Hyman and Rick Chertoff, plus William Wittman on Lauper's first major label album She's So Unusual.
Bazilian played guitars, melodica ("hooter"), and saxophone (check out his sax work and vocals on "Yeah Yeah" below). He also did arrangements and sang backing vocals on the rest of the album.
Cyndi Lauper - Yeah Yeah
Eric Bazilian, Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman
Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual (1983) (Photography: Annie Leibovitz)
© Sony Music Entertainment
She's So Unusual
Track List:
1. Money Changes Everything
2. Girls Just Want to Have Fun
3. When You Were Mine
4. Time After Time
5. She Bop
6. All Through the Night
7. Witness
8. I'll Kiss You
9. He's So Unusual
10. Yeah Yeah
She's So Unusual was the first debut album by a female artist to score four top 5 hits on the Billboard Hot 100:
Girls Just Want To Have Fun
Time After Time
She Bop
All Through The Night
The album's fifth single, "Money Changes Everything", charted at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album earned Lauper the Best New Artist award at The 27th Annual Grammy Awards in 1985.
She's So Unusual sold 16 million units worldwide.
New from Eric!
Bazilian is working on an untitled solo album due for release in the Spring of 2021. Check out his first two singles below.
Eric Bazilian - Heaven Ain’t Gonna Save Us
Eric Bazilian - I Miss Everything
Under The Hood with Eric Bazilian
She's So Unusual Early Works
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Early Guitar Demo) She's So Unusual: A 30th Anniversary Celebration (2014)
The 1957 Stratocaster guitar that Bazilian played on the She's So Unusual album, including the hit songs "Time After Time" and "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" (Photo courtesy Eric Bazilian)
Cyndi Lauper - Money Changes Everything (Demo) She's So Unusual: A 30th Anniversary Celebration (2014)
The Rickenbacker 12-string guitar that Bazilian played on "Money Changes Everything". (Photo courtesy Eric Bazilian)
"In the mid 1970s,
while studying Physics at the University of Pennsylvania, I met my musical soul mates and closest friends, Rob Hyman and Rick Chertoff," says Bazilian. "We bonded in a creative unit which remains strong to this day."
Bazilian and Hyman formed The Hooters in 1980.
"In 1982, we took a break from the stage to arrange and record Cyndi Lauper’s debut album, She’s So Unusual, which was being produced by Rick Chertoff. Rob and Cyndi wrote “Time After Time”, which features some of my proudest moments as a guitarist."
Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time (Official Video)
"Eric's a true musical soulmate,
a wonderful friend, a brilliant writer who
can also play almost anything,
and he still rocks like he's 15."
-Rob Hyman
Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA in August of 2016 (Photo courtesy Eric Bazilian)
The Hooters - Live In Germany
Recorded live at the Rock Of Ages Festival
Seebronn, Germany
July 29, 2018
Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman of The Hooters (Photo Credit: Paul & Tine Bossenmaier)
Bazilian And Hyman
collaborated on Lauper's 1993 Hat Full of Stars album, which featured the talents of Wittman, Junior Vasquez, Allee Willis, Nile Rodgers and Anton Fig.
Cyndi Lauper - That's What I Think © Sony Music Entertainment
Lauper's hit 1993 single, "That's What I Think" from her Hat Full of Stars album was written by Lauper, Hyman, Willis and Bazilian.
Cyndi Lauper - That's What I Think
Cyndi Lauper - Feels Like Christmas (Live on A&E)
The "Feels Like Christmas" track was written by Bazilian, Hyman and Lauper and was also included on Lauper's Merry Christmas...Have a Nice Life! album (1998).
Cyndi Lauper - Someone Like Me
Cyndi Lauper - Dear John
Cyndi Lauper - Product Of Misery
"Boys Will Be Boys"
The Hooters and Cyndi Lauper - Boys Will Be Boys
"Boys Will Be Boys" is a song by The Hooters released in 1993 as the second single from their fifth studio album Out of Body.
The song was written by Hyman, Bazilian and Lauper (who provides guest vocals).
"White Man's Melody"
Cyndi Lauper - White Man's Melody
"White Man's Melody" was composed by Bazilian, Chertoff, David Forman and Hyman (1998).
Bazilian plays the mandolin,
keyboards, bass, drums, guitar, melodica and saxophone.
His father was a psychiatrist and his mother was a classical pianist.
He has been a Beatles fan since the age of ten.
At 16 years old, he started writing songs for his first band, Evil Seed.
In the mid-1970s he attended the University of Pennsylvania where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics.
While there, he met Hyman and Chertoff, with whom he formed the band Baby Grand. They released two albums together - Baby Grand (1977), and Ancient Medicine (1978).
Baby Grand self-titled debut album cover (1977)
Baby Grand self-titled debut album back cover (1977) L to R: David Kagan, Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian
Baby Grand - Ancient Medicine (1978)
The Hooters
The Hooters (L to R) Tommy Williams, Fran Smith Jr., Eric Bazilian, Rob Hyman and John Lilley (Not pictured: David Uosikkinen) (Photo Credit: Paul & Tine Bossenmaier)
The Hooters' first album Amore sold over 100,000 copies in Philadelphia alone.
After signing with Columbia in 1984 The Hooters released the album Nervous Night, which included Billboard Top 40 hits "Day By Day", “And We Danced”, and "Where Do The Children Go". The album sold over 2 million copies.
The Hooters Philadelphia Music Alliance plaque in Philadelphia, PA.
They performed at Live-Aid in Philadelphia (1985), the Amnesty International Concert (1986), and at Roger Waters’ The Wall - Live in Berlin (1990).
The Hooters - 500 Miles
"In 1989 we released Zig Zag, and our cover of “500 Miles” which brought us to Scandinavia and cemented our long-standing relationship with Germany."
The Hooters - Johnny B
"We followed our Columbia debut with One Way Home in 1987, containing “Johnny B”, which opened the door to Germany for us, and “Satellite", which brought us to England's Top Of The Pops", said Bazilian.
The Hooters - All You Zombies
"The ever-shifting landscape of the record business saw the band move to MCA Records in 1993, and the release of Out Of Body, which achieved Gold and Platinum status in Sweden and Norway."
Eric Bazilian (Photo Credit: Paul & Tine Bossenmaier)
"Featured tracks were a duet with Cyndi Lauper entitled “Boys Will Be Boys”, and the ballad “Private Emotion”, later covered by Ricky Martin on his La Vida Loca album, produced by my legendary friend Desmond Child."
Musical Influences
(L to R) Rob Hyman, David Uosikkinen, Andy King, Paul McCartney, Eric Bazilian, John Lilley, and Linda McCartney
Bazilian lists his musical influences as The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Jeff Beck, The Rolling Stones, Fairport Convention, The Strawbs, Traffic, The Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Autosalvage, and Quicksilver Messenger Service.
"I've worn many hats,
as a guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and producer," says Bazilian. "I got to wear them all while involved with Joan Osborne’s debut album Relish which was nominated for six Grammy Awards in 1996, including Song Of The Year for "One Of Us"."
Joan Osborne - One Of Us © Universal Music Group
"Many doors were opened as a result of this, and I had the opportunity to write for, and sometimes produce, artists including Billie Myers ("Kiss The Rain"), Robbie Williams ("Old Before I Die"), Amanda Marshall ("Believe In You"), Ricky Martin ("Private Emotion" and “Lo Mejor Di Mi Vida Eres Tu") and Scorpions (”The Best Is Yet To Come”)."
In 2000, Bazilian released his debut solo album The Optimist.
Eric Bazilian - The Optimist
A Very Dull Boy, his sophomore effort, followed in May, 2002.
Eric Bazilian - A Very Dull Boy
In 2012, he released What Shall Become Of The Baby?, a collaboration with his good friend Mats Wester.
Eric Bazilian & Mats Wester - What Shall Become Of The Baby?
Ebaz Does The Doop
Ebaz Does The Doop
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, "doop" is a rhythmic, repeated syllable in the song that Philadelphia Union soccer fans sing whenever their home team scores a goal.
HOT SEAT
Eric Bazilian (Photo credit: Dallyn Pavey Uosikkinen)
Breakfast cereal: Steel Cut Oats
Next Halloween costume: Buddy the Elf
Birthday wish: peace
Fave cartoon: The Rugrats
Fave movie: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Fave song: I Want to Hold Your Hand
Celebrity run-in: Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr
Celebrity crush: Helen Mirren
Fragrance: sweat
What do you drive: I actually don’t have a car since mine was crushed by a tree, so now I drive Public Transportation
Pet peeve: people moving my shit
Room service food: coffee
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