Foghat Collaborate With Fan on New Single
After more than 40 years together, the members of Foghat have developed a special bond with their fans. So when it came time to add lyrics to their latest single, they knew exactly where to look.
The new track, titled 'The Word of Rock n' Roll,' started out as an instrumental named '495 Boogie' on Foghat's most recent album, 2010's 'Last Train Home.' An immediate fan favorite -- and the most-downloaded song on the album -- 'Boogie' was given a set of lyrics by Alabama radio personality Charlie Ocean, who passed them along to the band.
Inspired by Ocean's gift, the members of Foghat decided to reach out to fans by starting a contest to solicit new lyrics for the song, opening it all up for votes and then enlisting Ken Dashow of WAXQ FM Classic Rock Radio and Jeb Wright of Classic Rock Revisited to help them judge the finalists. The end result? 'The Word of Rock n' Roll.' You can hear it above.
The winning lyrics were written by Phil Dessinger, a songwriter whose previous credits include an Off-Broadway musical and a campaign for UNICEF-Special Olympics. According to the band, Dessinger is "the son of an original member of the CBS Orchestra through the golden years of live radio and TV [who] followed his dad to all of the shows and grew up at what is now called the Ed Sullivan Theater."
"Congratulations Phil Dessinger! Nice Job!" enthused the band in a press release. "Great lyrics ... great story! Great positive song: 'Love my life, come on! May be a grind, but I’m strong.'"