Robin Frederick facts for kids

Robin Frederick, born in 1947, is an American songwriter and author. She has also helped create shows for children's television. She used to be a director at Rhino Records, where she helped produce more than 60 music albums. Robin has written and produced over 500 songs for TV shows, music albums, plays, and other audio projects. She was also a leader in music organizations like the Recording Academy and Los Angeles Women in Music.

Early Life and Music Beginnings

Robin Frederick was born in Burbank, California, in the United States. She grew up in Florida but later moved back to California. There, she went to Palos Verdes High School. When she was 15, Robin started writing her own songs. She played both the guitar and the piano.

Songwriting Adventures

Meeting Nick Drake

Between 1966 and 1967, Robin lived in Aix-en-Provence, France, where she attended university. In March 1967, she was performing folk songs in a cabaret. After one show, a musician named Nick Drake introduced himself. He asked if they could play some songs together. Robin played an original song for him called "Been ... Too Long." She and Nick became friends, and he asked for the words to her song. Nick Drake later recorded this song on a home demo tape for his parents in 1967.

The song "Been ... Too Long" was later released on Nick Drake's albums, including Time of No Reply and Family Tree. Many famous artists have covered this song, such as Placebo and Graham Coxon. Robin also wrote notes for the Fruit Tree box set, which is a collection of Nick Drake's music.

Working with John Martyn and Bridget St. John

In the summer of 1967, Robin Frederick met another musician, John Martyn. Robin shared in an article how she spent that summer in London with Martyn. They listened to famous albums like Sgt. Pepper's and music by the Incredible String Band. She remembered watching John Martyn quickly learn to play the sitar. Robin also wrote a song called "Sandy Grey" for John Martyn, which he recorded.

While living in France, Robin also met Bridget St. John. Robin later wrote a song called "This Is the Story" for Bridget and herself to sing. This song was released in 2010.

Robin's Solo Music

In 1977, Robin Frederick released a single song called "I Know Who I Am." Later, in 1992, she released her own album titled How Far? How Fast?. She wrote and sang all the songs on this album. She also helped produce it with Ken Caillat. Robin released two more albums: Water Falls Down in 2000 and Blue Flame in 2003.

Music for Kids' TV and Toys

Robin Frederick wrote and produced many songs for popular Disney Channel TV shows. These included Welcome to Pooh Corner and Dumbo's Circus. She also wrote the music and words for the theme song of another Disney Channel show, You and Me Kid. Robin also helped create the music for the Photon Laser Tag game.

From 1985 to 1987, Robin wrote songs and scripts for the talking doll, Cricket. She was the songwriter, producer, and voice director for this project. Robin also helped write songs for several Disney albums. These included Disney's Twelve Days of Christmas (1991), The Little Mermaid: Songs from the Sea (1992), and Mickey Unrapped (1994), which featured Whoopi Goldberg. All these albums were released by Walt Disney Records.

Books About Songwriting

Robin Frederick became very interested in how songs are put together, especially after studying Nick Drake's music. She realized how special his melodies and chords were. This led her to want to share her discoveries with others.

Robin's first book about songwriting was Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting, published in 2008. Famous songwriters like Kara DioGuardi and Jason Blume praised the book. Since then, she has written several other books, including:

• Shortcuts to Songwriting for Film & TV (2010)
• The 30-Minute Songwriter (2014)
• Song Starters: 365 Lyric, Melody, & Chord Ideas to Kickstart Your Songwriting (2016)

In 2019, she released new versions of her first book, Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting Levels One, Two, and Three. Robin has also written articles for Recording Magazine and Keyboard Magazine. In 2016, she contributed an essay called ‘Anatomy of a Hit Song’ to the Songwriter’s Market, 40th Edition book.

Selected Production Work

Robin Frederick has also worked as a producer on many music collections. Some notable ones include:

• Animaniacs - Variety Pack (1995)
• Hanna-Barbera Classics, Vol. 1 (1995)
• Bugs & Friends Sing the Beatles (1995)
• MAD Magazine – MAD Grooves (1996)
• Sailor Moon – Songs From The Hit TV Series (1996)
• Basketball's Greatest Hoop Hits (1998)
• Schoolhouse Rock! Lunchbox Set (2000)