Jon Aldrich
As one can imagine, many of the most successful singers, musicians, bands, songwriters and recording engineers in the world are products of the premier music college in Boston’s Back Bay, Berklee College of Music. One particular Berklee professor, Jon “J.D.” Aldrich, is an excellent example. He introduced the college’s songwriting program some five decades ago and his students have gone on to pen tunes for household names including Britney Spears, Selena Gomez, Harry Styles, Halsey, Lady Gaga, Gwen Stefani, Kelly Clarkson, Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Kesha, Linkin Park, Randy Travis, Imagine Dragons and many others.
MUSICAL BEGINNINGS, SPEARHEADING SONGWRITING STUDY
Aldrich was born in New York state in 1949 and started playing guitar after his father quit trying to learn and gave him his cheap Harmony Stella, which was a very popular model among folk and folk-blues players. He taught himself to play the rock ‘n’ roll hits of the day discovering that he was a fast learner, and in 1968, 19-year-old Jon was part a band called The Ashley Brothers, who landed a deal with Capitol Records.
While studying at State University of New York on a math scholarship, a friend encouraged him to visit Berklee and as soon as he did he did he knew he’d found a new home and enrolled. With the help of one of his professors, Tony Teixeira, Aldrich approached the college’s administration about designing a songwriting class for the curriculum. The powers that be agreed that it was an excellent idea, and Berklee became the first college in the world to offer a for-credit course in songwriting, with Aldrich as the teacher. After the course grew in popularity, Berklee became the first college to offer a major in songwriting, which it continues to do today.
“I JUST FALL IN LOVE AGAIN,” ANNE MURRAY
As a regular part of class assignments, Aldrich had his students write “popular” songs in various genres. During one assignments, when they were performing their country-style songs (most about trucks, guns and dogs), the entire class was very impressed with one particular student’s efforts and Aldrich assisted with a bit of polishing. In 1979, that song, “I Just Fall in Love Again,” became a smash for Canadian singer Anne Murray, soaring to #1 in both the Billboard Country and Adult Contemporary charts, #12 in the Billboard Hot 100 and #11 in the Cash Box Top 100. Interestingly, The Carpenters recorded it in 1977 but A&M Records decided not to release their rendition, and Dusty Springfield recorded it in 1978 but it failed to chart.
As a ‘”thank you” to his teacher, the student sent Aldrich a sizable check for his contribution to the song, but Aldrich tore up the check and sent it back with a note saying that the student, not Jon, had written the chart topper. Weeks later, several large boxes arrived at Alrich’s apartment containing state-of-the-art recording equipment and a note that read, “Try tearing this up.”
JINGLES, TELEVISION PROGRAMS, STUDIO/LIVE COLLABORATIONS
Aldrich put his songwriting skills to use by writing, arranging, producing and singing jingles for radio and TV and became one of the top jingle writers in the US. He has been involved in literally thousands of local, regional, national and international commercial jingles including ones for McDonald’s, Sears, Liberty Mutual, Keds and Tropicana, to name a few.
His work has appeared in numerous TV shows including Captain Kangaroo, The Archies Cartoon Show, The Richie Rich Cartoon Show, Sesame Street and Peter Pan Record Company, among others. Songs that he wrote, produced and performed have been used in the shows Touched By An Angel and The Jamie Foxx Show, on networks such as The Disney Channel and The Hallmark Channel and in many Hollywood films. He’s played in countless recordings sessions including those for Muzak (the South Carolina-based company that provides actual “elevator music”) and radio and television I.D. packages. Musical legends with whom he’s recorded and/or appeared live include Paul Simon, Gloria Estefan, Grand Funk Railroad, Leslie West (Mountain), Queen Latifah, Christopher Guest, New Kids on the Block and Gabe Kaplan (of Welcome Back Kotter fame).
JD, BILLY & KEN, CURRENT ACTIVITY
While teaching at Berklee in the ‘70s, Jon started an oldies trio called JD, Billy & Ken that instantly caught on in some of the better-known Boston nightclubs of the day including the Scotch n’ Sirloin, Brandy’s, Great Scott’s and The Pier. Back then, it was very common to see lines forming around the block to see the band and now, nearly 50 years later, they’re still performing and Aldrich is still at Berklee. “I don’t ever want to stop doing all of this,” he says about performing, recording, teaching and songwriting. “It’s way too much fun!”
