Don DeLillo: Are you more proud of "Meet Me Have Way" than you are of say, "Danger Zone," or "Footloose"?
Kenny Loggins: Well, first of all, thanks for not calling it "
Highway to the Danger Zone." Most people call it that and I've always thought, "Hey, before you come at Kenny Loggins like that, do a little research." Second of all, "Meet Me Half Way" is my favorite soundtrack song. "Danger Zone" and "Footloose" and even "I'm Alright" from
Caddyshack--
Don DeLillo: Yes, I know where "I'm Alright" is from.
Kenny Loggins: --all of those songs are important to me, important to Northern Californians, but "Meet Me Half Way" was composed completely in seclusion. I'd taken my guitar to Alaska during the winter and holed up in a friend's cabin outside of Juneau. After weeks of fumbling around, struggling with depression and writer's block, "Meet Me Half Way" came to me like an Alaskan geisha, covered in face paint in the depths of my despair.
Don DeLillo: Isolation is a double-edged sword.
Kenny Loggins: Absolutely. I wrote it and sang it a few times to myself, then I cried and fell asleep for what must have been several days. When I came back to California, Sly called me and asked for a meeting. When he told me it was about arm-wrestling truck-drivers and divorce, I knew I had the song ready.
Don DeLillo: And yet he would eventually leave you off of the
Judge Dread and
Demolition Man soundtracks. Was that a slight?
Kenny Loggins: No, that's just Hollywood. At some point, people want something different than Kenny Loggins songs driving their soundtracks to #1. I mean, who's better than me?
Don DeLillo: What was that?
Kenny Loggins: I said, "Who's better than me?"
Don DeLillo: Where did you get that from?
Kenny Loggins: I don't follow.
Don DeLillo: That's from one of my books.
Underworld.
Kenny Loggins: It's just something I say, something my Jujitsu teacher says. What did you say the name of the book was?
Don DeLillo:
Underworld. It has the World Trade Center on the cover.
Kenny Loggins: Oh, is it a 911 novel?
Don DeLillo: No, that's another one.
Kenny Loggins: Honestly, Don, I've never read one of your novels.
Don DeLillo: Well all novelists are really just failed soundtrack songwriters.
Kenny Loggins: Now you're mocking me.
Don DeLillo: I wrote
White Noise and you wrote "Footloose" and yet somehow
Interview Magazine pairs us up for this conversation. Yes, I'm mocking you.
Tagged as:
Danger Zone,
Footloose,
Highway to the Danger Zone,
research,
Underworld
Don DeLillo: Are you more proud of "Meet Me Have Way" than you are of say, "Danger Zone," or "Footloose"?
Kenny Loggins: Well, first of all, thanks for not calling it "Highway to the Danger Zone." Most people call it that and I've always thought, "Hey, before you come at Kenny Loggins like that, do a little research." Second of all, "Meet Me Half Way" is my favorite soundtrack song. "Danger Zone" and "Footloose" and even "I'm Alright" from Caddyshack--
Don DeLillo: Yes, I know where "I'm Alright" is from.
Kenny Loggins: --all of those songs are important to me, important to Northern Californians, but "Meet Me Half Way" was composed completely in seclusion. I'd taken my guitar to Alaska during the winter and holed up in a friend's cabin outside of Juneau. After weeks of fumbling around, struggling with depression and writer's block, "Meet Me Half Way" came to me like an Alaskan geisha, covered in face paint in the depths of my despair.
Don DeLillo: Isolation is a double-edged sword.
Kenny Loggins: Absolutely. I wrote it and sang it a few times to myself, then I cried and fell asleep for what must have been several days. When I came back to California, Sly called me and asked for a meeting. When he told me it was about arm-wrestling truck-drivers and divorce, I knew I had the song ready.
Don DeLillo: And yet he would eventually leave you off of the Judge Dread and Demolition Man soundtracks. Was that a slight?
Kenny Loggins: No, that's just Hollywood. At some point, people want something different than Kenny Loggins songs driving their soundtracks to #1. I mean, who's better than me?
Don DeLillo: What was that?
Kenny Loggins: I said, "Who's better than me?"
Don DeLillo: Where did you get that from?
Kenny Loggins: I don't follow.
Don DeLillo: That's from one of my books. Underworld.
Kenny Loggins: It's just something I say, something my Jujitsu teacher says. What did you say the name of the book was?
Don DeLillo: Underworld. It has the World Trade Center on the cover.
Kenny Loggins: Oh, is it a 911 novel?
Don DeLillo: No, that's another one.
Kenny Loggins: Honestly, Don, I've never read one of your novels.
Don DeLillo: Well all novelists are really just failed soundtrack songwriters.
Kenny Loggins: Now you're mocking me.
Don DeLillo: I wrote White Noise and you wrote "Footloose" and yet somehow Interview Magazine pairs us up for this conversation. Yes, I'm mocking you.
