SONG OF THE DAY
“Easy Tonight” by Five For Fighting (America Town, Aware/ Columbia Records, 2000). Written by John Ondrasik.
MY TAKE
This song was featured earlier on this blog in the playlist titled “What Didn’t Make the Cut #5: Driving Songs CD”.
I have loved this song for a decade, though the whole album is deserving of praise (hence I am tagging this blog posting as a “noteworthy album”). I am actually still mostly into this single song though… it slays me in the chorus every damn time!
Windows down, highway at dusk, scream that chorus! Feel the song first and foremost. And then read the incredible bio of the man who created this song below—I had no idea about ANY of this until researching this blog post. What an incredible record of philanthropy! We should be so lucky to have someone like him on this earth as a celebrity.
BRIEF BIO (a la wikipedia)
– The song “Easy Tonight” appears in an episode of the sitcom Scrubs.
– Five for Fighting is the stage name of American singer-songwriter John Ondrasik.
– His 2000 album America Town went Platinum in the US largely because of the success of the song “Superman (It’s Not Easy)”.
– The 2004 album The Battle for Everything was also certified Platinum, mainly due to the hit single “100 Years” and the consistent sales of the album.
– Ondrasik has also released a DualDisc of his 2004 album which has one side containing The Battle for Everything in its entirety with the other side being a DVD containing bonus footage and Five For Fighting music videos.
– Five for Fighting’s fourth album, Two Lights, was released on August 1, 2006, and earned Ondrasik his first career Top 10 album, debuting at #8 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
– Five for Fighting’s fifth album, Slice, was released on October 13, 2009, and the first single off the album, called “Chances”, was released for download on July 21, 2009.
– John Ondrasik was born on January 7, 1965, in Los Angeles, a child of a musical family. – While he also learned to sing opera briefly, he quickly decided that he would like to be a singer/songwriter.
– Ondrasik went to college at UCLA and graduated with a degree in applied science and mathematics continuing to pursue music in his spare time.
– He adopted the name “Five for Fighting,” which is an expression in ice hockey when a player receives a five-minute penalty for fighting.
– Ondrasik’s first album, Message for Albert, was released by EMI in 1997. Capitol Records re-released this album after the success of America Town.
– In 2000, Five For Fighting signed with Columbia Records and released America Town on September 26, 2000. The album made little impact, but “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” became an anthem after the September 11 attacks. Ondrasik would perform the song at The Concert for New York City in late 2001.
– While America Town failed to make the top 50 of the Billboard 200 album charts, its consistent sales eventually led to its going platinum.
– John Ondrasik writes and co-writes music for other artists’ CDs. Those artists include The Backstreet Boys and Josh Groban. He also writes and co-writes for movie soundtracks, such as August Rush, We Were Soldiers, Chicken Little, Everyone’s Hero, Jimmy Neutron.
- Academy Award-winning composer Stephen Schwartz, who penned the songs for musicals such as Wicked, Godspell and Pippin, co-wrote the title track to his fifth studio album, titled Slice, as well as the track “Above The Timberline.”
– In the spring of 2007, Ondrasik created the first video charity website. The website allows fans to upload videos answering the central question, “What Kind of World do You Want?” (taken from his hit song, “World“). The charities the site raises money for include Augie’s Quest, Autism Speaks, Fisher House Foundation, Save the Children, and Operation Homefront.
– In November 2007, Ondrasik coordinated the release of 13 free songs for US military members called CD for the Troops. Ondrasik worked with AAFES to deliver more than 200,000 CDs to US troops around the globe and to offer the music from the CD as free MP3 downloads. – In November 2008, Ondrasik released another free CD for US military members. CD for the Troops II has 14 free songs and was released on Thanksgiving Day. 200,000 CDs were pressed for the release and again made available online at www.aafes.com.
– In November 2009, a third installment of the “For the Troops” compilations was released. The tracks donated for “Stand Up for the Troops” are all contributions from comedians save for Ondrasik’s.
– He also performs on the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon and has done various events for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and Augie’s Quest, raising awareness and funds for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease).
– In 2008, he got involved in the musical movement of spreading awareness about current slavery and human trafficking by performing a live version of “World” for the rockumentary, Call+Response.
– The singer’s ongoing support of servicemen and women, and his dedication to his own wife and children, even led to him receiving a special fatherhood award from the National Fatherhood Initiative’s 2009 Military Fatherhood Award Ceremony.