Robin Frederick facts for kids

Robin Frederick (born 1947) is an American songwriter and author. She has also worked on children's television shows. She used to be a director at Rhino Records. There, she helped create over 60 music albums. Robin has written and produced more than 500 songs. These songs have been used for TV, records, theater, and audio products.

She was also a leader in music groups. She served as Vice President for the Los Angeles chapter of the Recording Academy. She was also president of Los Angeles Women in Music (LAWIM).

Early Life

Robin Frederick was born in Burbank, California, in the United States. She grew up in Florida. Later, she moved back to California. She went to Palos Verdes High School there.

When she was 15, Robin started writing her own songs. She played them on the guitar and piano.

Music Career

Meeting Nick Drake

Between 1966 and 1967, Robin lived in Aix-en-Provence, France. She was a university student there. In March 1967, she performed folk songs in a cabaret. After one show, a musician named Nick Drake met her. He asked if they could play songs together.

Robin played an original song for him called "Been Smoking Too Long." She and Nick became friends. Nick asked for the words to her song. He later recorded it on a home demo tape for his parents. This song appeared on Nick Drake's albums Time of No Reply and Family Tree. Many artists have covered her song. Robin also wrote notes for Nick Drake's Fruit Tree box set.

Working with John Martyn

In the summer of 1967, Robin Frederick met another musician, John Martyn. Robin shared how she spent that summer in London with John. They listened to music like Sgt. Pepper's. She saw John learn to play the sitar very quickly. She also watched him record his album London Conversation. John Martyn later recorded Robin's song "Sandy Grey." She had first written this song for Nick Drake.

While in France, Robin also met Bridget St. John. Robin later wrote "This Is the Story" for them to sing together. This song was released in 2010.

Solo Music Albums

In 1977, Robin Frederick released a single called "I Know Who I Am." The song was written by Alan O'Day.

In 1992, Robin released her own album titled How Far? How Fast?. She wrote and sang all the songs on it. She also helped produce the album with Ken Caillat.

Later, she released more albums. These included Water Falls Down in 2000 and Blue Flame in 2003.

Creating for Kids' TV

Robin Frederick wrote and produced many songs for 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 You and Me Kid. The song was called "Just You and Me, Kid." Robin also helped write music for the Photon Laser Tag game.

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

Writing Books About Music

Robin Frederick became interested in writing books about songwriting after studying Nick Drake's music. She said his use of melody and chords was very advanced. She wanted to share what she learned with others.

Her first songwriting book was Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting, published in 2008. Famous songwriters like Kara DioGuardi and Jason Blume praised it. Jason Blume said it "Should be in every songwriter's arsenal."

Robin has written several other books. These include Shortcuts to Songwriting for Film & TV (2010) and The 30-Minute Songwriter (2014). She also wrote Song Starters: 365 Lyric, Melody, & Chord Ideas to Kickstart Your Songwriting (2016). In 2019, she released Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting Levels One, Two, and Three. Robin has also written articles for Recording Magazine and Keyboard Magazine. She contributed an essay called ‘Anatomy of a Hit Song’ to Songwriter’s Market, 40th Edition in 2016.

Produced Music Albums

Robin Frederick has helped produce many music collections. Here are some notable ones:

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